The mega project is expected to generate additional employment opportunities in the region and boost the economy of the region.

Besides, Naveen also foundation stone for 1.20 MTPA green ammonia plant of ReNew E-Fuels Pvt Ltd with an investment of Rs 22,000 crore and 25,000 MTPA modern chemicals factory of Silox India Pvt Ltd with Rs 500 crore investment. These projects are likely to generate employment for 5,000 youths, a CMO release said.

“I am happy to lay the foundation stone of JSW’s mega steel plant, the green ammonia plant and the chemical plant. The complex has brought an investment of Rs 90,000 crore for Odisha,” the CM said, while thanking the industrialists for making these investments.

Chairman 5T and Nabin Odisha VK Pandian was also present.

The Sajjan Jindal-led company had announced to invest Rs 65,000 crore in the projects, which is likely to generate employment for 30,000 youth, in a phased manner in 2022. The company got the environmental clearance from Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in January 2024 and already owns substantial iron ore reserves in the state.

It is proposed to come up over 2,950 acres of land, earlier earmarked for Korean Steel Major Posco in 2005.

An all-weather multi-cargo greenfield captive jetty will also be developed adjacent to the steel plant at Jatadhari Muhan with an investment of Rs 2,104 crore. It will cater to inbound and outbound cargo requirements of the steel plant and help in reducing infrastructure cost for steel production. The proposed jetty will be built over 68.83 hectares of land for which both environmental and forest clearance have been granted earlier, company sources said.

According to Kushal Biswas, honorary wildlife warden, Khurda, the Forest department received reliable information on Saturday night that two persons had kept the parrot chicks for sale in Nuapola under Jagatsinghpur Sadar block of the district.

On the direction of Cuttack Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), a team of Forest officials was formed to rescue the parrots. The team conducted a raid on the house of the two persons in Nuapola early Sunday morning.

“During the raid, the Forest officials found 72 parrot chicks kept in three separate boxes in the house. They also apprehended the two persons. The detained persons have admitted that they had kept the parrots for sale,” Biswal said.

Stating that possession, sale and trade of parrots is prohibited under Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Act-2022, he said the birds will be released at a safe habitation soon.

The two persons have been kept in Jagatsinghpur Forest Range office for questioning. Efforts are on to ascertain the source of procurement of parrots and involvement of other persons in the illegal trade.

Based on reliable information, a team of Vigilance officials intercepted Prasanta Kumar Mohapatra, traffic inspector in the office of RTO, Jagatsinghpur, at Tarini Chhaka, Biribati near Cuttack while he was proceeding to Bhubaneswar in a car on Friday.

On checking Mohapatra, Rs 4.27 lakh, suspected to be ill-gotten cash, was found in his possession. As he could not account for the money satisfactorily, the amount was recovered from him and seized.

Following the interception, the Vigilance carried out search at two locations of Mohapatra from DA angle. They were also questioning the traffic inspector to ascertain the source of funds.

The RI, Ramakanta Behera, had demanded the illegal gratification from the complainant to submit an enquiry report in a partition suit filed by him for issuing separate RoRs (pattas). The entire bribe amount was recovered from him and seized, a vigilance release said.

While a case has been registered at Cuttack Vigilance police station under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, simultaneous searches are on at two locations linked Behera to ascertain whether he had accumulated assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, it added.

This time, the Education Ministry has selected 75 teachers – 50 schoolteachers, 13 teachers from higher education and 12 teachers from Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship – for the award, which carries a certificate of merit, a cash award of Rs 50,000 and a silver medal.

Subhash Chandra Rout, a retired Headmaster of Brundaban Government High School in Jagatsinghpur district, and Sashisekhar Kar Sharma, Headmaster of Kenduapada Government High School in Bhadrak district, have been selected for the award from Odisha for their innovative concepts of teaching, including ‘Ring the bell and drink water’ to improve water intake among kids, ‘Sabu dina jiba school’ to reduce dropouts, zero period activities on Saturday, technology-based learning, low-cost teaching-learning materials, ‘my book my buddy’ and sing and learn for foundational literacy and numeracy.

Rout’s innovative teaching methods have helped to improve student learning outcomes. He used storytelling method to remove the fear for mathematics from their minds and make learning joyful.  He also promoted extracurricular activities and helped to reduce the dropout rate. Popularly know as Subhash sir, he retired about a month ago but still takes classes there. He had received the state award for his contribution to the field of education in 2005.

Sharma has been praised for his commitment to quality education and his efforts to improve the learning environment through innovative teaching materials and programmes. He is best known for his smart classroom teaching using modern technologies. “The award will inspire me to work more dedicatedly for the schools and students,” he told the media.