The three-day international event is being organised by the Department of Biotechnology and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India.

Global Bio-India 2023 features various scientific workshops and exhibitions on Biotechnology innovations and products. It connects the stakeholders from policy, industry, startups, research and related spheres under one common forum to deliberate on the current status and future potential of Bio-Technology in India.

The Department of Science and Technology, Government of Odisha has joined the Global Bio-India 2023. 10 major biotechnology startups of the state are exhibiting their unique ideas and products at the Odisha Pavilion.

The startups are from technology incubators such as the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) and KIIT TBI. The Odisha Pavilion at the event, comprising of these startups was inaugurated by Ashok Chandra Panda, Minister, Science & Technology Dept, Govt of Odisha.

“With vast BioResources, new age Innovation & Research, Incubation, Modern Bio-Tech Park, an enabling Industry Ecosystem coupled with a dynamic policy framework IPR2022 under the vision of Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik, Odisha is making rapid strides in the BioTech sector to be a part of the global BioEconomy”, highlighted the Minister while speaking in the plenary session on BioTech Ecosystem at Global Bio-India 2023.

He further added that under the Odisha Millets Mission, various Nutri-cereals are being promoted in Odisha. The state government is taking steps to bring millets into the ambit of Biotechnology policy in the coming days.

A special session was held on Monday highlighting the policies and investment programs introduced by various states for the expansion of the biotechnology industry. Chithra Arumugam, Principal Secretary, Department of Science and Technology attended the session and spoke about the various initiatives being undertaken in the same by the Government of Odisha.

“The Odisha government is prioritizing the BioTech sector. Biotechnology startups are being promoted through various technology incubators in the state. Similarly, a special Biotech Park has been instituted by the government at Andharua near Bhubaneswar. In the coming days, Bharat BioTech is going to produce vaccines here. Along with this, the new biotechnology policy that the state government is going to bring shall be instrumental in the rapid growth of BioEconomy in the state,” said the Principal Secretary.

On Monday, a leading figure in India’s Biotech sector and Executive Chairperson of Biocon India, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw visited the Odisha Pavilion. She interacted with the startups from the state and appreciated Odisha’s fast progress in the sector.

The Crime Branch arrested the 8 persons on the basis of investigation into the complaint of Dillip Kumar Jalan, a resident of Bhubaneswar, that he and his wife had become victims of insurance fraud of Rs 76,15,955.

As per the complaint, Dilip’s wife had an HDFC life insurance policy with maturity value of Rs 20 lakh. In July, several unidentified persons contacted him from different mobile phone numbers to upgrade the policy. One such offer was to upgrade the existing policy to Rs 2.75 crore and facilitate an early release.

Convinced by the callers, Dilip deposited Rs 76,15,955 in four separate bank accounts in SBI (2), Kotak Mahindra (1) and Axis Bank (1) between July 5 and September 28 as per their directions.

He deposited Rs 28.73 lakh in SBI account of Pramoda Bali, Rs 8.32 lakh in SBI account of Tej Kumar, Rs 27.54 lakh in Axis Bank account of Kavya Singh and Rs 11.56 lakh in Kotak Mahindra account of Asish Kumar.

Official sources said that the Governor called on the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan during his first visit to the national capital after taking charge.

During his visit to New Delhi, Das also paid a courtesy visit to the Prime Minister. Both held discussion on several issues.

It may be noted that while Das happens to be a former Jharkhand Chief Minister, President Droupadi Murmu was also Governor of that state.

Das was sworn in as the 26th Governor of Odisha at Raj Bhawan in Bhubaneswar on October 31.

“The electoral bonds shall be valid for 15 calendar days from the date of issue and no payment shall be made to any payee political party if the electoral bonds are deposited after expiry of the validity period. The electoral bond deposited by an eligible political party in its account shall be credited on the same day,” a notification issued by the Finance Ministry said on Saturday.

The electoral bonds will be encashed by an eligible political party only through a bank account with the authorised bank, it added.

Introduced in 2017, electoral bonds are interest-free bearer bonds and an individual, company, or firm can purchase these from SBI branches after giving the basic KYC details.

Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency to political funding. Registered political parties that have secured not less than 1 per cent of the votes polled in last Lok Sabha or legislative assembly elections are eligible to receive funding through electoral bonds.

The 32-year-old engineer by profession and resident of Delhi had managed to escape from Pune police custody, triggering a massive manhunt in several states, Hindustan Times reported.

Delhi Police Special Cell officials also detained several individuals in connection with the case. Details about these detainees and their potential involvement in terrorist activities are yet to be disclosed. According to the authorities, further investigation is underway.

Shafi Uzzama’s arrest is part of the NIA’s ongoing efforts to apprehend individuals linked to the Pune ISIS module case. The NIA had earlier released pictures of four terror suspects wanted in connection with this case and declared a reward of Rs 3 lakh each for credible information leading to their arrest. Shafi Uzzama, along with Talha Liyakat Khan, Rizwan Abdul Haji Ali and Abdulla Faiyaz Shaikh alias Daiperwala, was the subject of an extensive nationwide manhunt.

Pune ISIS module case

Shahnawaz and two others, Mohammad Imran Mohammad Yunus Khan and Mohammad Yunus Mohammad Yakub Saki, were arrested by the Kothrud police in Pune on July 18 following their attempted theft of a two-wheeler. When the police were taking them to their residence at Kondhwa in Pune for a search, Shahnawaz jumped out of the police vehicle and managed to escape.

Police found that Khan and Saki, originally hailing from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh, were allegedly involved in a separate terror case registered in Rajasthan, where explosives were discovered in a car in March 2022. Both Khan and Saki carried a bounty of Rs 5 lakh each on their heads.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) took over the investigation on July 22. During the course of their inquiry, the ATS arrested additional suspects, including Qadir Dastagir Pathan, an IT engineer, and SN Kazi, at Kondhwa. The agency invoked sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against Khan, Saki, and other accused.

The investigation took a critical turn when Khan and Saki revealed that Shahnawaz had stored acid at Bopatghat near Kondhwa. The NIA sought the assistance of the Bomb Disposal and Detection Squad to seize the acid along with various chemicals used in bomb-making.

ATS also seized several other materials and found 500 GB data in the laptops and mobile phones of the accused which contained links to YouTube videos on making bombs and Google images of various places, Hindustan Times reported.

Director General of GAA R K Sharma had a series of discussions with the Director General, IIPA S N Tripathi for establishing a collaborative framework between the two institutions that culminated into signing of this MoU in New Delhi on Friday.

The shared vision and persistent efforts of Sharma and Tripathi would enhance quality of teaching and learning experience of both the institutions. This will help build the capacity of training eco-system at all potential intersections and avenues in the State as well as nation. This collaboration will improve the knowledge, attitude and aptitude of public servants of the State and lead to constructive impact on the pace of good governance, an official release said on Sunday.

The MoU was signed by Amitabh Ranjan, Registrar, IIPA and Aradhana Das, Additional Director, GAA. The partnership will foster faculty exchange, joint research projects, and sharing of facilities, etc.

To provide wider exposure on Public Administration and Governance, and to build self-confidence of the young and budding administrators, GAA organised one-week long training programme of 127 OAS Probationers of 2020 (DR) batch during recently at IIPA.

This is for the first time OAS probationers visited Rasthrapati Bhawan, Parliament House, PM Sangrahalaya, War Memorial and National Museum, etc. Being facilitated by IIPA.

Gehlot remained there for two to three hours before the two of them traveled to the Nizammudin train station. They arrived at ISBT, Kashmere Gate, but shifted their plans to Himachal Pradesh when they were unable to obtain tickets to Goa, according to the officer.

“When the pair arrived at ISBT, they started arguing. Gehlot claims that receiving back-to-back calls from his family during the fight pushed him over the edge and caused him to become aggressive.

Around eight in the morning on February 10, he then strangled Nikki inside the vehicle using the data cord from his mobile phone.

The murder occurred close to the Kashmiri Gate area, and Gehlot, a B. Pharma graduate, drove 45 kilometers with the body to his dhaba in the village of Mitraon. There, he placed it in a refrigerator and continued with his February 10 wedding.

Police have not yet confirmed the accused’s admission, and the investigation team is presently reviewing CCTV video of the whole path to determine the crime’s progression.