According to sources, all the three, identified as Raisen Murmu, his wife Pana Murmu and brother Chandramohan of Nayarangamatia village within Udala police limits in the district had gone to attend Jahira Puja organised by the villagers.

While the puja was going on, Raisen had gone to get a chicken to be used in sacrificial ritual of the puja. As he got late in fetching the chicken, the villagers including his wife and brother were upset.

On Raisen’s arrival, they questioned him over the delay. However, the puja continued after he explained about the delay. But Chandramohan and Pana continued to engage in argument.

Agitated over it, Raisen accused his wife of supporting his brother because of her affair with him. Enraged over it, Pana picked up a wooden plank and hit him. Raisen sustained critical injury on the head and died on the spot.

On being informed, a team from Udala police station went to the village and arrested Pana and Chandramohan. They sent Raisen’s body for post-mortem and started investigation after registering a case.

The trains are Badampahar-Tata Nagar MEMU, Badampahar-Rourkela Weekly Express and Badampahar-Shalimar Weekly Express. Prior to this, there was not a single mail/express train to Rairangpur station.

Governor Raghubar Das, Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Bishweswar Tudu and state minister and local MP Sudam Marndi were present on the occasion.

The President also laid the foundation stone for redevelopment of Badampahar railway station and inaugurated the new Rairangpur Postal Division.

She is scheduled to board Badampahar Shalimar Express and travel 32 km to Rairangpur with 200 school students. This is first time the President will be travelling in a normal AC train instead of a special Presidential train.

Later in the evening, she will grace the 15th annual convocation of Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla.

RAILWAYS STATEMENT

>> Shalimar-Badampahar Weekly Express will be the first-ever express train connecting Shalimar near Kolkata in West Bengal with Badampahar in Odisha.

>> The second weekly express train will connect the mineral rich areas of Badampahar with Rourkela, the Steel City of India.

>> Tatanagar-Badampahar MEMU will be important for daily commuters and will run six days a week except Sunday. This will be an additional service between Badampahar and Tatanagar, an important industrial city of Jharkhand.

These trains will pass through mineral rich areas of Odisha, industrial areas of Jharkhand and will facilitate faster connectivity with the State of West Bengal. People from nearby areas will also be able to avail this train service for visiting Kolkata and Howrah for various purposes. Students and job aspirants of Badampahar / Rairangpur area will have easy access to the premier educational institutes and corporate houses in West Bengal.

Better connectivity will boost the growth and development of Mayurbhanj district as these new trains will encourage tourists from West Bengal and Jharkhand to explore and enjoy the picturesque landscape and dense jungles.

Odisha Governor Raghubar Das, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda and Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Tribal Affairs Bishweswar Tudu and a host of other dignitaries will be present on the occasion, official sources said on Sunday.

Eklavya Residential Model School is a flagship scheme of Central government for imparting quality education to the tribal students. In 2019, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 452 new Eklavya Residential Model Schools were sanctioned, one in every tribal block with 50% or more ST population and 20,000.

The PM launched the scheme on September 12, 2019 from Ranchi Jharkhand. The recurring cost per student was also enhanced from Rs. 61,000 to RS 1,09,000. Later in 2022, the construction cost of EMRS was enhanced from Rs 20 crore and Rs 24 crore to Rs 38 crore and 48 crore in plain areas and hilly areas respectively. With 288 schools sanctioned before 2019 under the old scheme, Ministry of Tribal Affairs would be setting up total 740 schools by March 2026, including construction of 452 schools approved in 2019.

Ministry of tribal affairs is implementing this scheme through National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) on the lines of Navodaya Vidyalayas.. The NESTS is also recruiting more than 38,000 teaching and non-teaching staff for these schools.

The state governments are required to provide encumbrance free land of about 15 acres for construction of these schools. In Odisha, total 114 schools are to be constructed, of which 106 have been sanctioned. Of these 114 schools, 27 schools are under the old scheme and 87 under the new schemes. At 8 locations, the process of provision of land is under process. As on date 32 locations schools are functional and buildings of 31 schools are complete, including 4 under the new scheme.

The President will inaugurate Kuliana, Mayurbhanj, for which budget of Rs. 38 cr is sanctioned by Ministry of Tribal Affairs. It is being constructed by Hindustan Steel Construction Ltd (HSCL), a public sector enterprise under Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Out of 87 new EMRS sanctioned in Odisha, Mayurbhanj district alone has got 19 schools one in every block, which is the largest for any district in India. In the last two years, in coordination with the state Government, the construction work at 48 places in Odisha is in progress of which 19 schools are in Mayurbhanj. Union Minister Bishweswar Tudu is MP from Mayurbhanj.

The Kuliana EMRS campus is constructed in about 12 acres of land. It will be having 16 class rooms for 480 students comprising of 240 girls and 240 boys. There are separate hostels for boys and girls, mess, residential accommodation for Principal, teaching and non-teaching staff, administrative block, playground, computer and science laboratories. These schools will prove to be a milestone for the overall development of tribal students of this area.

The President is also scheduled to grace the inaugural session of the 36th Annual Conference and Literary Festival of All India Santali Writers’ Association at Baripada on Monday.

Union Minister Bishweswar Tudu revealed about President’s 2-day visit to the state while speaking to the media on Tuesday. “Since the President will be visiting the state, we are planning to inaugurate the Ekalvya Model School, which has been completed, in Mayurbhanj. Five to six more such school will be opened in the district by the end of December. Work is also in progress in other districts,” he said.

Rairangpur MLA Naba Charan Majhi had earlier told the media that she would attend All-India Santhali Writers’ Conference at Baripada on November 20. “The President will spend the night at her residence at Rairangpur. She will flag off Kolkata (Shalimar)-Badampahar-Kolkata (Shalimar) Weekly Express and Badampahar-Rourkela-Badampahar Weekly Express the following day. She will also inaugurate a Skill Development Centre at Pahadpur,” he said.

Mayurbhanj district in Odisha has been granted three of the four pairs of trains recently approved by the Indian Railways in the South Eastern Railway jurisdiction.

Notably, this will be Murmu’s second visit to her home district since being sworn in as the President in July last year. However, no official communication on her visit has been issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

In May, the President had laid the foundation stone for the Skill Training Hub and Community Centre at Pahadpur, visited Brahma Kumaris Centre, Hatbadra, to launch the Addiction Free Odisha’ campaign of the centre and attended a civic reception hosted in her honour by the Rairangpur Municipality at Rairangpur Stadium. The following day, she paid her tributes to Pt Raghunath Murmu on his birth anniversary and later visited Similipal Sanctuary. She graced the 12th convocation of Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University at Baripada on May 6 before flying back to Delhi.

Also Read: President Droupadi Murmu Reaches Mayurbhanj On 3-Day Odisha Visit

During her last visit to Odisha in July, Murmu had interacted with a group of medical students sponsored by (the) ATUT-BANDHAN family and laid the foundation stone for a new building block of Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar. She also attened the valedictory function during the 75th-year celebrations of the High Court of Orissa in Cuttack, addressed the annual function of SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, and graced the convocation of the National Law University, Odisha.

According to sources, the home guard, Sangita Marandi had gone to an ATM kiosk to withdraw some cash from her account. Before she inserted her bank card into the cash dispensing machine, she found some cash sticking out from it.

As nobody was present in the kiosk to claim the money, she took it out. On counting the cash, it amounted to Rs 10,000. She immediately took the money and informed district SP B Gangadhar about the incident.

“Since there was nobody inside the kiosk, I knew that somebody might have forgotten to take the money or left it there by mistake. As the money did not belong to me, I handed it over to senior officials,” said the home guard.

Following investigation, police came to know that the money belonged to a doctor. On being informed, the doctor came to the police station and introduced himself as Dr Nimai Charan Hembrum.

Dr Hembrum told the police that he had gone to the same ATM kiosk and tried two times to withdraw the cash. But the money did not come out of the machine even after second attempt and he came away. The machine may have dispensed it later due to some technical glitch, he claimed.

After verification of the doctor’s identity and claim, the police returned the money to him. The district police has announced a cash reward of Rs 2,000 for the home guard.

“I thank the police, particularly the lady home guard, for her honesty. For their efforts, I could get back my money,” said Dr Hembrum.

The incident reportedly took place at Bankidihi village under the jurisdiction of Bishoi police station on Tuesday. The woman has been identified as Parvati Naik.

According to sources, there was heated argument between the woman and her husband over some family issue. The fight took an ugly turn when the infuriated woman took her infant son and threw him into a canal in the village. The exact reason behind the incident is yet to be ascertained.

Villagers rescued the floating body of the infant from the canal and immediately informed the Bishoi police about the incident.

A team of police personnel visited the spot, seized the body, and sent it to Rairangpur Hospital for postmortem. The police have also taken the woman into custody and launched an investigation into the incident.

The Collector along with SP B Gangadhar were reportedly seen sporting the T-shirts during a mini marathon organised by the Mayurbhanj Special Development Council.

Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi, a former IAS officer who has been slamming the state government over a bureaucrat calling the shots, strongly disapproved the Mayurbhanj collector wearing such a T-shirt. “Very unfortunate as well as ridiculous! Collector, Mayurbhanj, Odisha! Degeneration of the official standards to this extent. These officials must know that season is not the same always,” she wrote on X.

Later speaking to media, BJP vice president Lekhasri Samantsinghar also slammed Mayurbhanj Collector and SP for wearing BJD‘s T-shirts with CM‘s logo. “This is a display of disregard for constitutional values. The collector must be aware that it is against the conduct rules to express allegiance to any particular party. There is a strict separation of powers between the legislative, executive, and judiciary in the Constitution.” she said.

The BJP leader said that the officers are sending a wrong signal to the society, particularly youth who look up to them as role models. “I would like to tell Vineet Bharadwaj that he has a long career ahead of him and there is no guarantee that the BJD will continue to remain in power. Therefore, he should concentrate on his job and not engage in party activities. I also hope that he realises that he has committed a grave mistake by wearing that T-shirt,” she said.

Lekhasri added that by involving government officials in such activities, the BJD has also indicated that it no longer trusts its party workers. 

Notably, Aparajita too had earlier accused the ruling BJD of engaging government officials in party programmes. She tweeted about a government official addressing a Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD) meeting and also shared a video of master book keepers of Self Help Groups (SHG) taking oath to ‘obey’ a BJD MLA.

Last month, she raised the use of helicopter by 5T secretary V K Pandian, a 2000-batch IAS officer, to travel 30 km to 40 km from the state capital. She also disapproved of officers taking on the mantle of an elected representative. “The MPs and MLAs are not visible and the Chief Minister is under house arrest,” she had alleged, stepping up her attack on the ruling dispensation.

On June 28, she along with BJP Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal had lodged a complaint with the DoPT against the Odisha cadre officer whom they accused of clearly violating the Conduct Rules for the All India Service (AIS) personnel by conducting public meetings and announcing new government schemes.

The saffron party also alleged that the ministers, MLAs and MPs of ruling BJD have accepted the slavery of the bureaucrat.

In his defence, the collector told the media that it was a government event.

The millet brand ambassadors from Odisha are Raimati Ghiuria, a pioneering farmer from Kundra block in Koraput, and Subhasha Mahanta of Mayurbhanj. Besides talking about benefits of the highly nutritious coarse grains to the world leaders and delegates at Bharat Mandapam, they will also elaborate on the lifestyle of the tribals and efforts made to preserve millet, sources said.

While stating that the world will now get to learn about the success of Odisha Millet Mission, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also posted about the duo on his official X handle.

Speaking to media, Raimati said that she speak about millets and will be carrying her collections to Delhi to showcase them to the world leaders.

The G20 Summit is set to be held in Delhi on September 9 and 10. The spouses of G20 leaders will be taken on a curated tour of the 1,200-acre Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) campus on September 9. They will also get an opportunity to interact with farmers and agriculture-based startups about the country’s heritage, farming practices and successes in the field of food production. A millet-based feast, prepared by celebrity chefs, will be hosted for the dignitaries. The guests will get to know how to make rangoli with millets, reports said.

This is significant as 2023 is being marked as the International Year of Millets.

The accused was identified as Rakesh Kumar Patra, Revenue Inspector( RI), Jaypur Circle under Badampahad Tehsil of Mayurbhanj. He had demanded Rs 5000 bribe from a complainant in order to demarcate his 5 plots.

Based on the complaint, a trap was laid by Vigilance officials and Patra was caught while accepting the bribe money from the complainant, a Vigilance release said. The entire bribe money has been recovered from the possession of Patra.

Following the trap, simultaneous searches are going on at two locations of Patra from Disproportionate Assets angle.

In this connection, Balasore Vigilance registered a case under section 7 of Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Investigation is in progress against the accused RI.

The projects are being constructed at a cost of Rs.2,127 crore in Bangriposi, Samakhunta, Kuliana, Suliapda, Morada, Rasgovindpur, Betnoti, Udala, Gopabandhu Nagar, Kaptipada, Tiring, Bahalda, Jamda, Rairangpur, Saraskana, Bisoi blocks. The projects will be operationalised in phases from October onwards.

He directed the officials to ensure the completion within the timelines. Pandian also reviewed the ongoing Subarnarekha Irrigation project works. Currently, 20,000 acre in Betnoti block is covered, which will increase to 72,000 acre in the coming years, while 11,000 acre in Badasahi will be covered.

He also reviewed the progress of ongoing Mega Lift Irrigation Projects at a cost of Rs. 179 Crores that will irrigate 14,910 Ac in Kuliana, Betnoti and Saraskana Blocks which are in Tender Stage and directed the officials to ensure completion within the timelines.
Pandian also reviewed the progress of various road projects at a cost Rs.245 crore in Bangriposi, Moroda and Udala blocks. He reviewed the progress of Ama Hospitals in Bangriposi, Morada, Betnoti and Udala blocks.

During the day, he participated in the public grievance meetings at Bangriposi, Morada, Betnoti and Udala. He interacted with the public regarding their grievances. He conveyed that Hon’ble Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik gives top priority towards citizen grievances and assured early resolution of the petitions submitted.

He interacted with Mission Shakti Groups at Baripada and assured them support from the government for their activities. He visited the Mission Shakti Cafe in Baripada and appreciated their initiative.

Special Secretary to CM R Vineel Krishna, IG Himansu Lal, Collector Vineet Bhardwaj, SP Batula Gangadhar and other district level officials accompanied him during the visit.