Tag: Column

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Sundari, the Royal Bengal tigress who was brought to the Satkosia tiger reserve from the Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh under the first-ever inter-state tiger translocation project in the country last year, remains confined to her enclosure after a brief period of independence when she was allowed to roam free […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: For all Nature lovers safety of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles, who nest on the beaches of Odisha between November and March every year, remains an overriding concern. This is because hundreds of them are killed every year by fishing trawlers which routinely violate the fishing restrictions imposed by the authorities […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Chilika, the largest brackish water lake of Asia, has turned into a plumed wonder with hundreds of migratory birds presently lazing in its cerulean waters. This is the best time of the year to visit the lagoon when it is bathed in exotic colours with winged guests making all kinds of noises. […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: The signs are ominous. The seizure of brown sugar and other narcotics by the police in the last one year or so is believed to be just the tip of the iceberg. Drug mafia appears to be well entrenched in the state with its tentacles spreading everywhere. What is worrisome is […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Odisha is among the top beneficiaries of Centre’s CAMPA fund meant for compensatory afforestation. It has received more than Rs.5000 crore on this account this year which is much more than the share of bigger states like Maharashtra and Rajasthan. The fund, as evident from its nomenclature, is aimed at restoring […]

By Sandeep Sahu There is such a deluge of ‘shocking’ news these days that we have stopped being shocked by most such news. But this one is in a category all its own. Forced by his elder sister against his will to go to school, a Class IX student in Mayurbhanj district shut himself up […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Maoist rebels have warned the residents of a particular village in Malkangiri, state’s most formidable Red citadel, against using their mobile phones. Orapadar, located in the district’s Swabhiman Anchal ( earlier known as the cut-off area), is a dark hinterland with connectivity the biggest problem being faced by the people. With […]

By Sandeep Sahu As the world prepares to usher in the New Year, I am steeling myself to say, with a heavy heart, goodbye to the BBC Hindi service radio. By the time this piece reaches you, the iconic service on 25 and 41 meter band of short wave radio that had kept millions of […]

By Sandeep Sahu Moderating a session as part of a seminar/workshop/discussion can be a thankless job, more so when you are not an expert on the topic being discussed, but a member of the ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ tribe like yours truly! You read up all that you need – and more […]

By Sandeep Sahu The corona virus scare could not have come at a more convenient time for the ruling dispensation. It provided the government the excuse it was looking for to adjourn the ongoing budget session of the Assembly just when things were getting too hot to handle in the House over the suspicious deal […]

By Sandeep Sahu [My sincere apologies at the very outset. The time for this particular piece was yesterday, which was the 84th Utkala Dibasa (the day Odisha was born as India’s first linguistic state back in 1936). But the issues it discusses, in my view, will remain relevant not just a day after D Day, […]

By Sandeep Sahu Poor Pradipta Dalabehera! He must be feeling cheated at earning the ‘dubious distinction’ of being the only person in the state named as having tested positive for the deadly n-Corona virus. While revealing not just his name but other crucial details like his plot number and the area he lived in on […]

By Sandeep Sahu Access to the ‘powers that be’ is the staple that no journalist can do without. In fact, the pecking order of a hack is often determined by the number of ‘contacts’ and ‘sources’ s/he has in high places. But ‘access’, as any journalist with reporting experience would tell you, don’t come gratis. […]

By Sandeep Sahu Life during lockdown is debatably the new living order. Officially, the nationwide lockdown is still on and will remain in force for 10 days more. But if you are out on the streets, you don’t quite realise it. Lockdown 4.0 is only a shadow of Lockdown 1.0 imposed on March 24 midnight. […]