News Analysis India

Tag: Odisha

  • Congress appoints Sarat Pattanayak as new Odisha unit president

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday appointed Sarat Pattanayak as the new president of its Odisha unit, replacing Niranjan Patnaik with immediate effect.

    Assembly elections in Odisha are due before June 2024 as the term of the current assembly ends on June 24, 2024.

    An official communication from the party said, “Congress president has appointed Sarat Pattanayak as the president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee with immediate effect.”

    “The Congress president has accepted the resignation of Niranjan Patnaik from the post of president, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee with immediate effect. The party appreciates the contributions of the outgoing PCC president Niranjan Patnaik,” it further said.

  • Cyclonic storm Asani likely to weaken as it curves away from the east coast

    By PTI

    BHUBANESWAR/KOLKATA/RANCHI: Severe cyclonic storm Asani which packed gale-force winds up to 120 kmph, is likely to curve away from the coast and run parallel to the east coast in a north-northeast-ward direction and gradually weaken, the Met office said on Monday.

    Coming close to North Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coasts, it is likely to lessen in intensity into a cyclonic storm by Tuesday night.

    The cyclone will not make landfall either in Odisha or Andhra Pradesh but will move parallel to the east coast and cause heavy rain, IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra had said in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.

    At least 11 fishermen from Odisha, who were stranded for around eight hours in the rough sea due to the raging severe cyclone ‘Asani’, were rescued on Monday with help of the Indian Coast Guard, an official said.

    The fishermen had on May 7 gone to Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam to buy a fishing boat, and while returning from there, they were stuck in the sea around 4-5 km off the coast near Sonaput in Ganjam district after their newly-bought vessel developed some technical glitches, he said.

    The cyclonic storm system, which lay about 410 km southeast of Visakhapatnam and 590 km south of Puri at 2.30 pm on Monday, is moving in a north-westward direction with a sustained surface wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph. It caused heavy to moderate rainfall in Odisha and West Bengal during the day.

    Under the influence of the cyclone, coastal Odisha and adjoining areas of north coastal Andhra Pradesh and coastal West Bengal are expected to receive more rainfall from Tuesday evening.

    The weather office said that very high sea conditions were likely to prevail over west-central and adjoining south Bay of Bengal and asked fishermen not to venture out in the region from Tuesday for at least two days. It also advised that tourism activities in coastal areas and sea beaches be suspended till May 13.

    In Odisha, two to three spells of rain occurred in districts such as Khurda, Ganjam, Puri, Cuttack and Bhadrak.

    The Odisha government on Monday planned evacuation of people residing in four coastal districts.

    Distant warning signal 2 (asking ships not to come near the coast) has been hoisted in all ports in Odisha in view of the approaching severe cyclone.

    The cyclone is likely to cause heavy rain in the southern part of West Bengal including Kolkata, Howrah, Purba Medinipur, North and South 24 Parganas and Nadia districts between Monday and Thursday, the weatherman said.

    Kolkata and its adjoining areas received a spell of downpour on Monday morning, leading to waterlogging of thoroughfares and causing traffic snarls in various parts of the city. The Regional Met department at Alipore in Kolkata recorded 58 mm rainfall till 5.30 pm, while Salt Lake received 61 mm rainfall.

    The weather office in Ranchi said that Jharkhand will experience light to moderate rainfall, besides lightning and thunderstorm, in its southern, central and northeast parts from May 11 to 13.

    Gusty winds at speed of 30 to 40 kmph are also expected in some pockets.

    “Since the system is unlikely to make landfall on either Odisha or Andhra Pradesh, it will not make any large impact in Jharkhand. The state will experience a change in weather due to the system’s expanded cloud band and the incursion of moisture from the Bay of Bengal,” Ranchi meteorological centre in charge Abhishek Anand told PTI.

    The system is expected to provide further respite from the hot weather condition.

    Jharkhand’s maximum temperature has already dropped by one to two degrees Celsius from the normal due to intermittent rains in parts of the state for the past few days.

    Capital Ranchi registered 34.6 degrees Celsius at 2.30 pm on Monday, a drop of 1.6 degrees Celsius from Sunday. Daltonganj recorded the state’s highest temperature at 39.8 degrees Celsius, a fall of one degree Celsius from the normal since Sunday, and Jamshedpur at 36.6 degrees Celsius, a drop of 2.4 degrees Celsius from the normal temperature, the Met office said.

    In Andaman and Nicobar Islands, however, normal life remained unaffected as no rainfall was experienced on Monday.

    Inter-island ferry services were operational but fishermen were advised not to venture into deep seas, officials said.

  • Asani intensifies into severe cyclonic storm, Odisha, Bengal on alert

    By PTI

    KOLKATA?BHUBANESWAR: Cyclone Asani, formed over the southeast Bay of Bengal, further intensified into a severe cyclonic storm on Sunday evening as it moved northwestwards in the direction of north Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coasts, the Met department said.

    The severe cyclone, on reaching westcentral and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal off north Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coasts on Tuesday, is very likely to recurve north-northeast wards and move towards northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha coast, it said.

    The severe cyclonic storm is very likely to lose some steam thereafter and turn into a cyclonic storm on Wednesday and further into a deep depression on Thursday, the Met department said in its forecast of Asani’s track and intensity.

    Stating that the system will not make landfall either in Odisha or Andhra Pradesh, India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director-General Mrutunjay Mohaptra said the cyclone will move parallel to the east coast and cause rainfall from Tuesday evening.

    Odisha’s Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena said the state government has made adequate arrangement for rescue operations. “We do not see any big danger in the state as the system will pass around 100 kilometer off the coast near Puri,” he said.

    However, rescue teams of NDRF, ODRAF and Fire Services are on standby for any eventuality, he said. A unit of NDRF has been deployed in Balasore and a unit of ODDRAF was sent to Ganjam district.

    ODRAF teams are also on standby in Krushna Prasad, Satpada, Puri and Astarang block in Puri district, and Jagatsinghpur, Mahakalpada and Rajnagar in Kendrapara, and Bhadrak.

    All the districts have been put on alert and collectors have been empowered to undertake evacuation, keeping in view the local situation, Jena said.

    Director-General of Odisha’s Fire Services SK Upadhaya said all the 339 fire stations have been put on alert. “Rainfall activities will commence in the coastal districts from Tuesday evening under the impact of the cyclone,” said Umashankar Das, senior scientist at Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre.

    Heavy rainfall is very likely in some areas of Gajapati, Ganjam and Puri on Tuesday. The next day, heavy rainfall may happen in Ganjam, Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack.

    Heavy rainfall is very likely in Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Kendrapada, Bhadrak and Balasore on Thursday.

    The cyclone is likely to bring in its wake light to moderate rainfall over Gangetic West Bengal from Tuesday to Friday with heavy downpour at one or two places in the coastal districts of the state, the weather office said.

    Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said disaster management teams have been put on alert following the weather forecast.

    Taking lessons from the devastating effects of Amphan super cyclone in May 2020, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation is taking all measures such as keeping cranes, electric saws and earthmovers on standby to clear blockades caused by fallen trees and other debris.

    The administrations of Purba Medinipur, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas are keeping cyclone shelters, schools and other pucca structures ready if evacuation is needed, besides arranging dry food and necessary medicines, a state government official said.

    The weather office advised fishermen not to venture into the sea and along and off West Bengal and Odisha coasts from Tuesday till further notice.

    The system developed from a cyclonic circulation that formed over the South Andaman Sea on May 4 and gradually intensified into a low-pressure area and then into depression and deep depression as it moved northwestwards, leading to the formation of cyclonic storm Asani.

    The system lay 880 km south-southeast of Puri at 5.30 pm, it said.

  • 4 arrested in Odisha for lynching man who mowed down villager

    By PTI

    BARIPADA: Four persons have been arrested in connection with the lynching of a private firm employee after his car mowed down a villager in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district three days ago, police said on Friday.

    The four suspects were arrested on Thursday, an officer said. A villager identified as Harihar Sethi, 55, was killed on the spot on Tuesday after his motorcycle was hit by the car on National Highway 49 at Goshanipala in Bangiriposi block, 36 km northwest of district headquarters Baripada.

    Irate local villagers attacked the two officials of the private firm in the vehicle and the driver, who fled away, Bangiriposi police station inspector Sanjay Parida said.

    Satyanarayan Nanda succumbed to his injuries on the way to a hospital while another employee Phulchand Sharma has been admitted to a hospital in Baripada, police said.

    The company has been engaged by the government for a rural drinking water project in Mayurbhanj district.

  • Odisha’s former Chief Minister Hemananda Biswal dies at age 82

    By PTI

    BHUBANESWAR: Former Odisha Chief Minister and prominent tribal Congress leader Hemananda Biswal died while undergoing treatment for pneumonia here at the age of 82 years Friday, family members said.

    Biswal’s daughter Sunita said the former chief minister breathed his last at a private hospital here. He was suffering from pneumonia and is survived by five daughters- Sabita, Sanjukya, Manjiulata, Sunita and Anita.

    Biswal also represented Sundergarh Constituency in the Lok Sabha, and was a six-time MLA from Jharsuguda district, besides being the state’s chief minister twice. He was elected chief minister for the first time for the period December 7,1989 to March 5, 1990 and again from December 6,1999 to March 5, 2000.

    He was the first tribal chief minister of Odisha. He was elected to the Assembly for the first time in 1974 and continued till 1977. Later he become an MLA in 1980 and held the post till 2004 from Laikera Assembly segment.

    Biswal started his career from panchayat politics after a brief stint as a school teacher in Jharsugudda district. Condolence poured in after the news broke.

    OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik said Congress has lost a strong fighter and a protector of tribal interest.

    Union Minister and senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan said: “Saddened to know about Biswal’s demise. Odisha lost an efficient and experienced politician.”

    BJP MP Suresh Pujari said, Biswal’s demise was a major loss for the state and western Odisha in particular.

  • Bulli Bai app case: Mumbai cops arrest MBA graduate in Odisha 

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The cyber police of the Mumbai crime branch on Thursday arrested a 28-year-old man from Odisha in connection with the case of Bulli Bai app, which targeted Muslim women by putting up their images online for “auction”, an official said.

    The accused, identified as Neeraj Singh, is an MBA degree holder.

    He was involved in the planning of the app with the main accused, he said.

    “His role came to light during the interrogation of the accused who were arrested earlier, following which a team of the cyber police station was sent to Odisha and he was placed under arrest,” the official said.

    Singh is being brought to Mumbai and will be produced in a court here, he said.

    With his arrest, the Mumbai police have so far arrested four persons in the case.

    Earlier, Shweta Singh (18) and Mayank Rawal (21) were arrested from Uttarakhand, while engineering student Vishal Kumar Jha (21) was held from Bengaluru.

    Neeraj Bishnoi, one of the alleged main conspirators in the Bulli Bai app case, had been arrested by Delhi police from Assam.

    The Mumbai police had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against unidentified persons following complaints that doctored photographs of hundreds of Muslim women were uploaded for ‘auction’ on the app called `Bulli Bai’, hosted on the open-source software platform GitHub.

    While there was no actual `auction’ or `sale’, the purpose of the app seemed to be to humiliate and intimidate the targeted women, many of whom are active social media users.

  • Cyclone Jawad: Rain lashes Odisha, West Bengal; more in store for next two days

    By PTI

    BHUBANESWAR/KOLKATA: Heavy rain pounded the southern part of West Bengal and coastal region of Odisha on Sunday affecting normal life, as cyclone Jawad weakened into a depression, the Met department said.

    The cyclonic storm is likely to further weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area during next 12 hours, as a result of which several districts of south Bengal may receive heavy rain till Tuesday morning.

    Heavy rain affected functioning of Paradip port in Odisha while reports of crop loss is received from different parts of the state, an official said.

    The West Bengal government has stopped ferry services on the Hooghly river, evacuated people from coastal areas and urged tourists not to visit seaside resorts.

    A trawler sank during anchoring in coastal South 24 Parganas but no casualty was reported, an official said.

    Fishermen have been asked not to venture into the westcentral and northwest Bay of Bengal, and along and off Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal coasts during the next 24 hours.

    “The Depression (remnant of cyclonic storm Jawad) over northwest Bay of Bengal near Odisha coast moved northeastwards with a speed of 25 kmph during past 6 hours, and lay centred at 5.30 pm over northwest Bay of Bengal close to Odisha coast about 30 km southeast of Paradip (Odisha), 120 km east-northeast of Puri (Odisha) and 210 south-southwest of Sagar Island (West Bengal),” the IMD said in its bulletin at 8 pm.

    The coastal districts of Odisha were soaked as the remnants of cyclone Jawad reached Puri coast in the afternoon before taking a re-curve in north-northeast direction and reaching Paradip.

    Later the system further progressed towards West Bengal coast.

    As the system reached near Puri, devotees and several organisations in the town started prayer seeking blessings of Lord Jagannath to save the state.

    South Bengal districts such as North and South 24 Parganas, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Kolkata, Hooghly, Birbhum, Bankura and Nadia received heavy rain of varied intensity on Sunday.

    The weatherman said the districts of North 24 Parganas, Nadia and Murshidabad are likely to witness heavy rain till Tuesday morning.

    Squally wind with speed reaching 40 to 50 kilometres per hour gusting to 60 kmph is also likely along and off the West Bengal coast till Monday afternoon.

    During its northward journey, the depression caused heavy rainfall across Odisha while the districts of Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara suffered the burnt of the rain fury, affecting normal life.

    The highest rainfall of 201 mm was recorded in Paradip between 2.30 pm to 3.30 pm, disrupting loading and unloading of goods at the port.

    Jagatsinghpur received an average of 100 mm rainfall.

    While Paradip got 201 mm of rain, it was followed by Erasama (where the 1999 super cyclone made landfall) with 188 mm, Balikuda (130 mm), Nuagaon (123 mm), Kujang (114 mm) and Jagatsinghpur (66 mm).

    The Regional Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar issued a heavy rainfall alert for 14 districts in the state in the next 12 hours.

    The Met office said Kolkata, where the sky has been overcast since Saturday with intermittent rainfall, received 5.5 mm rain in 24 hours till 8.30 am on Sunday.

    Digha recorded 19.7 mm rain, while Midnapore got 16 mm and Kalaikunda 15 mm rain during the same period, it said.

    A rise in water level was witnessed at various embankments, ponds and water bodies in southern Bengal.

    The state administration had asked tourists not to visit seaside resorts such as Digha, Mandarmani, Bakkhali, Frazerganj and other coastal areas on the weekend.

    However, with the MeT department forecasting that there will not be a cyclonic storm in West Bengal, tourists were seen wading into waters and taking photographs of the choppy sea in Digha in Purba Medinipur district and Bakkhali in South 24 Parganas, ignoring the warnings of disaster management personnel camping there.

    An official said regular ferry services on Hooghly connecting North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts had been suspended.

    The West Bengal government has evacuated 24,375 people from coastal areas of South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur and opened 82 relief centres in the two districts.

    The administration has also opened 115 multipurpose cyclone shelters and 135 additional temporary relief shelters to deal with any “emergency-like situation”, an official said.

    “We have kept everything ready to face any problem due to heavy rain in the next couple of days. Weekly offs and other holidays of all staffers have been cancelled,” he said.

    Nineteen National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been deployed in West Bengal and quick response teams of the state power and public works departments and West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company (WBSEDCL) have been posted at crucial points, the official said.

    While almost all fishermen have returned to Kakdwip, Digha and other coastal areas, the authorities are coordinating with fishermen associations to find out if anyone is still in the deep sea.

    One trawler sank during anchoring at Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district.

    However, no casualty was reported.

    Damage to crop, animal and fisheries following the incident is being assessed, an official said.

    Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is constantly monitoring the situation and officials of the municipal bodies are on guard, state minister Firhad Hakim said.

    In the last two years, West Bengal has witnessed three devastating cyclones — Bulbul in November 2019, Amphan in May 2020 and Yaas in May 2021 – that left behind a trail of death and destruction.

  • ‘Big’ anti-Naxal operation on the cards, forces to resume two-pronged offensive against Naxal: Home Ministry

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: With the rains coming to an end, and the visibility in the densely forested jungles increasing, the forces are ready to resume their two-pronged strategy against Naxals – penetrating deeper into Naxal strongholds and setting up security camps.

    Sources in the Home Ministry also told The New Indian Express that “big” anti-Naxal operations could be on the cards in states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha, where the red extremists are still present in substantial numbers.

    Forces are eyeing a target of setting up as many as 24 Forward Operating Bases (FOBs), including ten in Chhattisgarh, seven in Maharashtra, six in Jharkhand and one in Odisha, before the year-end.

    Besides these 24 camps, the government is also mulling a few more camps in Jharkhand and Odisha, a senior government functionary said, adding that the idea is to corner Maoists by opening up new police and paramilitary camps to cut down the area of Maoist influence to a minimum and then go out after big Maoist leaders.

    “CoBRA, CRPF’s anti-Naxal specialized wing, in coordination with various state police forces is closely monitoring the movement of Maoists especially the senior rank holders. The strategy is to tighten the noose around Maoists by expanding the network of security camps, especially in core Naxal areas. With the rains now over, the work on security camps has already been expedited. Big anti-Naxal operations would follow thereafter,” said a senior CRPF official who is deployed in Chhattisgarh.

    A senior intelligence official in New Delhi said that wanted Maoist leader Madvi Hidma, along with about dozen armed Maoists was seen near Sulenga and Grda villages in Dantewada district around two weeks ago.

    After the 2017 Burkapal encounter, security forces are employing various strategies to counter the influence and movement of Maoists. There has been a steep decline in violence levels as well as the geographical spread of Left-wing extremism in the country over the past decade.

    The number of affected districts identified under the security-related expenditure (SRE) scheme came down to 70 in July 2021 from 126 in April 2018. Even the most-affected districts declined to 25 in July 2021 from 35 prior to April 2018 with these districts accounting for 85% of the Naxal violence in the country. 

  • Representation of women in democratic set up focus area of BJD govt: Patnaik

    Odisha has reserved 50 per cent seats for women in panchayats, and the state government wholeheartedly supports reservation of women in policy-making bodies, he said.

  • Man held for impersonating ITDC contractor to sell Hotel Nilachal Ashok in Puri

    By Express News Service

    BHUBANESWAR: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch arrested a person, Anikesh Sahu, for allegedly impersonating as a contractor involved in various projects of India Tourism Development Corporation Limited (ITDC) and cheating a businessman to the tune of Rs 50 lakh on the pretext of selling Hotel Nilachal Ashok in Puri.

    Bijayini Mohanty, the wife of Tapan Kumar Mohanty, lodged a complaint with the agency alleging Anikesh, former contractual assistant engineer of Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC), Chandan Akash Mohanty, and another accused met her husband in January last year and insisted him to purchase ITDC’s Nilachal Ashok for Rs 15 crore.

    The EOW registered a case in this connection on Thursday, apprehended Anikesh a day later, and produced him in a court on Saturday.

    Chandan impersonated a senior official of ITDC and the third accused claimed he was working as a clerk in the corporation.

    Anikesh, Chandan and their associate approached Tapan, proprietor of TK Egg and Chicken Centre in Puri, through one of his friends and executed an agreement in February 2020 to sell the hotel. Chandan executed the fake agreement in the capacity of authorised signatory for ITDC, and Anikesh and another accused signed as witnesses.

    In order to gain the trust of the complainant, the accused asked him to deposit Rs 20 lakh in ITDC’s official account in Delhi and took Rs 30 lakh cash from him. 

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    However, Tapan later realized that the accused had cheated him and he requested them to return his money but to no avail. Tapan’s health deteriorated due to the fraud and he suffered a brain stroke. He is now bedridden and paralyzed, said the EOW.

    “The agency had earlier this year registered a separate case against Chandan for impersonating as an OTDC official and cheating a special class contractor to the tune of Rs 3 crore by issuing fake work orders in his favour. He is still in judicial custody in connection with the previous case,” EOW DIG Jai Narayan Pankaj told The New Indian Express.

    The probe is continuing and efforts are on to nab the other culprits, he added. EOW had earlier seized various incriminating documents/articles including fake seals of Chandan certifying him as a senior official of ITDC.

    A self-styled godman, Chandan had impersonated as OTDC’s Chairman and as ITDC’s secretary to con the businessmen.

    EOW has contacted ITDC and its officials will verify the money transferred by the accused to the Corporation’s account.

    Hotel Nilachal Ashok located close to the Raj Bhawan in Puri is lying defunct for several years and the ITDC has an 89 per cent stake in the hotel while the remaining 11 per cent is with OTDC. The ITDC has planned the divestment of Nilachal Ashok.