Bhubaneswar: The Energy Department of Odisha signed four MoUs at the Asia Clean Energy Summit in Singapore to strengthen international research collaboration in renewable energy and emerging clean energy technologies, officials said Thursday. The agreements, with leading global technology and energy companies and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, as the knowledge partner, will advance research in digitalisation,...

Bhubaneswar: Rail services on the Howrah-Chennai route were disrupted Thursday after the swollen Bahuda river crossed the danger mark at two railway bridges in Odisha's Ganjam district following heavy rainfall triggered by Cyclone Arnab, officials said. As many as 36 trains were cancelled, 30 diverted and eight regulated or rescheduled as a precautionary measure to ensure passenger...

Kataka: The Orissa High Court has declared invalid the no-confidence motion initiated against Chameli Ojha, sarpanch of Tikhiri panchayat in Mahakalapada block of Kendrapara district, providing her major relief. A single-judge bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra delivered the verdict Wednesday, quashing the notice issued for the no-confidence motion. The court found that the notice and the...

New Delhi: Former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar will chair the INDIA bloc's "public impeachment" of the CEC October 30, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge initiating the proceedings and former party chief Rahul Gandhi making the concluding remarks before the 'motion' is adopted, sources said Thursday. INDIA bloc leaders met at Kharge's residence here to give the...

Thiruvananthapuram: Keralam Public Works Department (PWD) Minister PK Basheer Thursday said a preliminary inquiry by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) ordered in connection with allegations of corruption in a road project undertaken two decades ago when Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar was the PWD secretary was ongoing and its report is not yet available. Basheer...

By RABINARAYAN JENA, OP Bhubaneswar: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has flagged large-scale irregularities in the selection of aircraft services for official use by the Odisha government, citing non-transparent procedures, violations of prescribed norms and financial losses to the state exchequer. In a recent report submitted to the government, the CAG pointed out instances...

Bhubaneswar: Flash floods triggered by heavy rain fall due to Cyclone Arnab have affected as many as 62,500 people in Ganjam and Gajapati, the worst-hit districts in South Odisha, Chief Secretary Anu Garg said Thursday. Garg reviewed the situation at the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) and directed officials to intensify rescue and relief operations....

Lucknow: The BJP won six of the 11 seats in the Uttar Pradesh legislative council elections while the Samajwadi Party emerged victorious in five, including two seats in Varanasi, as results of two pending seats were declared officially Thursday afternoon. Both the seats went to the SP. "Ashutosh Sinha of the Samajwadi Party has been declared elected...

Amaravati: Cyclone Arnab claimed seven lives in Andhra Pradesh and caused losses of ₹4,600 crore as per preliminary estimates, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said Thursday. After an aerial survey of cyclone-hit areas, he said the losses caused by the cyclone are estimated at ₹4,600 crore, but this figure could increase after a detailed assessment. The Chief...

New Delhi: Having undergone a complete overhaul as far as the coaching staff is concerned, a bigger and trickier call for the Mumbai Indians' decision-making group will be deciding on a possible captain, with the two likely options being the tried and tested Rohit Sharma or a relatively inexperienced Tilak Varma. There are two more super seniors:...