BANDANA SETHI, OP Bhubaneswar: Elaborate preparations are underway at the Damana Gopinathjiu Durga Puja Committee to welcome Goddess Durga this year. The committee has estimated a budget of Rs 65 lakh for the celebrations. A 150-foot-wide and 80-foot-high entrance gate resembling the famous Char Dham temples of Uttarakhand — Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri — will be...

RABINARAYAN JENA, OP Bhubaneswar: At a time when the School and Mass Education (S&ME) department is yet to shake off criticism over errors in textbooks, allegations of irregularities in the appointment of employees at Textbook Production and Marketing (TBPM) have come to light. According to the allegations, some employees appointed at TBPM subsequently altered details they had...

BANDANA SETHI, OP Bhubaneswar: With temperatures continuing to rise across Odisha, there is unlikely to be any significant change in the weather over the next week, the Regional Meteorological Centre said. According to data, eight cities recorded temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius Friday. Puri recorded the highest temperature at 36.2 degrees Celsius, followed by Nayagada at 36...

SUCHISMITA SAHU, OP Bhubaneswar: Speculation over the conduct of student union elections in Odisha, which have been suspended since 2017, has intensified. Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj has said the appropriate time for holding the elections has not yet arrived. However, the Higher Education department has stepped up preparations for the polls. According to a senior department...

RABINARAYAN JENA, OP Bhubaneswar: The Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA), which is responsible for universalising primary education and steering school education at the grassroots level in the state, has allegedly wasted public money. At times, it has purchased computer equipment, software and hardware in violation of government norms, while on other occasions it has purchased desks...

Bhubaneswar: The importance of protecting and restoring wildlife corridors to ensure the safe movement and long-term survival of animals was highlighted at a Wildlife Week programme organised by the Orissa Environmental Society (OES) in collaboration with the Foresters’ Training School, Ghatikia, Government of Odisha. Held at the conference hall of the Foresters’ Training School, the programme focused...

By Santosh Kumar Mohapatra Prime Minister Narendra Modi has revived his familiar “glass half full and half empty” analogy to criticise critics questioning India’s recent economic performance. Defending the latest GDP growth figure, he suggested that for such “naysayers”, the glass will remain half empty and that those responsible for pushing the country into the “Fragile Five”...

Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has expanded its waste management and urban cleanliness initiatives by taking responsibility for transporting dry waste from 31 Gram Panchayats in four blocks to its designated Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs). The civic body has also awarded a three-year contract for mechanised sweeping and allied cleaning of major roads under Package-III at...

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha State Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation (OMFED) has revised the prices of its milk variants, with the new rates set to come into effect from October 4. According to an office order issued October 1, the maximum retail price (MRP) of toned milk has been fixed at Rs 29 for a 500-ml pouch, while premium...

By Dilip Cherian A 10-officer reshuffle at the Additional Secretary level may look like routine housekeeping, but if you look closer, it says more about where the Centre believes administrative muscle is needed. The striking feature is the movement across sectors. Vipin Kumar moves from the Airports Authority of India to Rural Development, while Srikant Nagulapalli moves...