The Revenue and Disaster Management department, in a notification on Thursday, said the state government offices as well as Revenue and Magisterial Court (Executive) will remain closed for half day in view of “Ram Lalla Pran Pratistha” at Ayodhya.

These offices will remain closed till 2 pm on January 22 (Monday).

Earlier, the Central government had also announced half day holiday for its offices and industrial establishments across the country on the occasion.

The state governments in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, and Madhya Pradesh have announced January 22 as a public holiday to celebrate the consecration of idols in the Ram temple. Schools will remain closed in Haryana, which has also declared dry day on the occasion.

In Odisha, Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Sambalpur MLA of BJP Jaynarayan Mishra had requested Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to declare a public holiday in the state on the occasion.

Speaking at a function, organised to felicitate the winners of Zonal Sargiful-2023, in Bhubaneswar, Naveen said, “Achieving personal success in life is great. But when we accomplish something unique for our state and nation, it adds greater meaning and success to our lives.”

He advised the students to seize the opportunities provided by mother tongue-based education, computer education and health check-up programmes, initiated by the state government and encouraged them to excel in studies, pursue their chosen careers and fulfill the aspirations of their parents.

Minister of ST & SC Development Jagannath Saraka said the two zonal-level Sargiful-2023 events held in Sundargarh and Gajapati have shown innovative ways to explore the talents of students from across the state.

Addressing the gathering, Minister of School and Mass Education, Revenue and Disaster Management Sudam Marandi said, “When I was a student in a tribal school, opportunities to explore our talents were scarce. Now, due to the initiatives of the government, especially by educating tribal students in Anwesha schools through English language education, there has been a sea-change in the success of tribal children.”

In her welcome address, Roopa Roshan Sahoo, Secretary, ST & SC Development, M&BCW department underscored the talents of students from tribal communities. “During Sargiful-2023, Odisha’s 30 districts were grouped into two zones of Gajapati and Sundargarh. Over 1,300 students participated in more than 18 workshops and 13 competitions. Of them, 297 students won prizes in different categories.”

The attendees were also shown short videos showcasing the organisation of Zonal Level Sargiful-2023 and the various activities of the ST & SC Development, M&BCW Department.

The chief minister also released Students’ Magazine on Sargiful-2023 and a coffee table book with paintings by the students of various tribal schools on the occasion. The participating students presented a memento in 62 tribal languages (including 13 PVTG groups) to the chief minister.

Director of ST, ST & SC Development, M&BCW Department Indramani Tripathy was present.

The Zonal Sargiful event in Sundargarh began on December 7 with participation of over 600 students from 15 districts. Activities such as elocution, quiz, painting, sports competitions and cultural programmes reflected their tribal heritage.

A few days later, Zonal Sargiful 2023 took place in Gajapati from December 14 with students from 15 districts participating in it. The festival included a science exhibition, math games, a magic workshop and a cultural event featuring instrumental music.

The marathon raids against Boudh Distillery Private Limited, its promoters and others entered the fifth day on Sunday. The raids were launched on December 6 by the taxman on charges of tax evasion and “off-the-book” transactions.

The sources told PTI that Rs 351 crore cash has been counted and the process has ended.
The counting involved nine teams of about 80 people from the tax department and various banks, working in shifts in a 24×7 cycle.

Another team of 200 officials, including security personnel, drivers and other staff, joined in after the taxman found 10 almirahs stuffed with cash apart from some other locations.As many as 200 bags and trunks were used to transport the cash for depositing it in various bank branches in Odisha, the sources said.

The department believes that the entire cache of currency is “unaccounted” money earned from cash sales of country liquor by the business group, distributors and others.
It is the highest-ever cash seizure made by an agency in the country as part of an action against a single group and entities linked to it, the sources had said.

Some of the high-value seizures in the past include one from 2019 when the GST Intelligence raided a Kanpur-based businessman and seized cash amounting to Rs 257 crore and another instance where cash amounting to Rs 163 crore was unearthed by the I-T department during searches against a road construction firm in Tamil Nadu in July 2018.

The department is also recording the statements of the executives and other staff who were present at the searched locations and will soon issue summonses to the main promoters of the company for recording their statements.

It was not clear what amount of cash and other documents were seized from Sahu’s house.
The maximum cache of currency, largely in Rs 500 denomination, was recovered from the premises of the company in Balangir district, the sources said.

The BJP on Sunday stepped up its attack on the Congress and other opposition parties, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying it is now clear that their “propaganda” about probe agencies being misused was driven by the fear that their corruption will be exposed.

In a statement, the senior BJP leader questioned the “silence” of INDIA bloc leaders, saying he can understand why the Congress is keeping mum but wondered why parties like the TMC, DMK, JD(U) and the RJD were doing the same.

While the Congress has distanced itself from the MP, claiming that the party has nothing to do with his business, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accused the Centre of targeting only the Congress and asked why no searches were carried out against BJP leaders.

Jharkhand Congress in-charge Avinash Pandey said, “Since he is Congress MP, he should make an official statement about how such a big amount of money came to him.” Union Tourism Minister and BJP leader G Kishan Reddy asked why Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was “silent” on the issue.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Friday assured the people that the money looted from the public will be returned and had posted a Hindi newspaper report where the cash recovered by the IT department was shown stacked.

Taking to X, he had said, “The countrymen should look at the pile of these notes and then listen to the honest speeches’ of their leaders …Whatever has been looted from the public, every penny will have to be returned, this is Modi’s guarantee.

Speaking to reporters, senior BJD leader and former Minister Debi Prasad Mishra said the formal induction of Pandian will definitely give a further boost to the party’s development perspective.

Stating that Pandian had been serving the people of Odisha as a bureaucrat, Mishra said the former IAS officer will work for taking forward Naveen Patnaik’s vision for the development of the state.

Known for his efficiency, Pandian has been working with the CM and his presence in the party will benefit all, he said.In his response, senior leader and MP Amar Patnaik said Pandian’s induction into BJD will not only strengthen the party but also give further momentum to the process of development in the state.

Stating that the agenda of the Chief Minister as well as of Pandian is development, Patnaik said the aim is to ensure that Odisha is transformed into the best state in the country by 2036.

Describing Pandian as a true disciple of the Chief Minister, BJD’s organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das said the devotion and dedication of Pandian for Naveen and the state is absolute.

Describing Pandian as very efficient, former Minister Sanjay Das Burma said the former bureaucrat’s vast experience and efficiency will go a long way in fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the people of the state.

Former Minister Samir Ranjan Dash said the induction of Pandian into BJD will benefit both the party as well as the state.

Hailing Pandian as an ‘asset’ for the party and the state, former MLA Priyadarshi Mishra said the ex-bureaucrat’s administrative experience will benefit all.

Welcoming Pandian’s induction into the party, senior BJD leader and former Minister Arun Saoo said the former IAS officer possesses exception qualities and rare talents which will play a significant role in giving further pace to the state’s development.

However, leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were critical of Pandian’s entry into BJD terming the move as a setback for Odia pride. BJP’s national vice-president Baijayant Panda said the soul of late Biju Patnaik, who was a proud Odia, must be in terrible agony seeing that not a single person from 4.5 crore Odia people could be found to run the party which was formed after his name.

BJP’s Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal said Pandian’s induction into BJD will have no impact on state politics as he was secretly working for the BJD earlier also. Now he will work openly for BJD, he said.

With dengue spreading in several places of the city, the BMC finally implemented its decision of releasing the Gambusia fish in water bodies. Initially, the fish was released in a drain of Ward 55 located behind the old BMC office.

Recently, the municipal officials released the fish in Drain 10 behind Maharshi College in Sahid Nagar, a drain in front of Mancheswar police station and the one at Nandan Vihar of Patia in the city.d of malaria and dengue, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has released Western Gambusia fish in four major drains in the capital city.

The 67-years-old leader has represented the Puri assembly seat five times consecutively from 1995. He was the speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from 21 MAY 2004 to 31 March 2008.

He also served as a Minister in Naveen Patnaik’s cabinet and served several portfolio like Panchayatraj, Tourism, Planning and Coordination.He was a laywer by profession.

Organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, this prestigious award recognises CRUT’s remarkable efforts in advancing the quality of urban transportation and promoting sustainable mobility. The award has been presented in the “Running Trophy for the State/UT” category, which acknowledges the State or Union Territory that has executed the Best Urban Transport Project during the previous year.

The citation accompanying the award emphasised it’s significant role in transforming the urban transport landscape in India. By adopting a comprehensive approach to revenue assurance, the CRUT has substantially reduced its reliance on government subsidies, resulting in more efficient operations and the seamless daily transportation of over 2.5 lakh commuters. Through meticulous operational planning and scientific revenue assurance techniques, CRUT successfully decreased per ridership subsidies from Rs.11.65 in FY 2019-20 to Rs.5.57 in FY 2022-23.

This remarkable recognition marks the 5th consecutive year that CRUT has received the honour at the prestigious Urban Mobility India Awards. With the support of the State Government and adhering to the principles of 5T initiatives, CRUT is committed to continually enhancing the urban commuting experience and prioritizing sustainable mobility solutions and this latest honour reaffirms its dedication to these goals.
The CRUT, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), formed under Housing and Urban Development Department of the Government of Odisha operates a fleet of buses to and from the Capital.

This followed the superannuation of Chief Justice Subhasis Talapatra, who retired on Tuesday, after a very brief tenure of less than two months. He was  sworn in as the 33rd Cheief Justice on August 8.

As per the norm, CJ Talapatra shared a bench with Justice Sarangi, whose appointment as the Acting CJ by notified by the Law Ministry on September 29, on Tuesday.

Justice Sarangi was born on July 20, 1962, at Pantikharisasan village, Odagaon, in Nayagarh district. He passed HSC examination and graduated in commerce from BJB College, Bhubaneswar. He studied law from MS Law College, Cuttack, under Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, and was awarded PhD in Law from Sambalpur University.

He joined the Bar and started practice in Orissa High Court in December 1985. He was elevated to the bench and sworn in as a permanent judge of the Orissa High Court on June 20, 2013.

These 429 projects would ensure improvement in road connectivity in the upcoming colonies that have come into existence amid rapid expansion of the city and benefit more than 3 lakh people. Of these projects, 140 are in Bhubaneswar block, 246 in Jatni block, and 43 in Balianta block. The CM has directed the officials to complete these in 3 month, an official release said.

It further stated that a technical team had identified 429 roads in these areas, covering more than 82 km, and submitted a report for improvement and electrification after the residents drew the attention of 5T Secretary VK Pandian to these issues during his visit to Khurda district on August 23.

He later held discussions with residents of the respective residential colonies on September 27 for the improvement of the areas, following which the CM approved the projects, the release added.

The ministers then proceeded to the state headquarters of the saffron party in the city. They are slated to address a press conference at the party office. Thereafter, they will attend ‘Meri Maati Mera Desh’ programme being organised by the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) at Utkal University around 11 am.

The Union Ministers would then grace an event to be held at 3 pm on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Odia daily newspaper ‘Sambad’ in the city. Later in the evening at 5.15 pm, they will attend the centenary celebration of the first publication of Odia daily newspaper ‘Prajatantra’.