Odisha

Bhubaneswar, Dec 11 (PTI) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik accused Tuesday the BJP-led central government of "ignoring" interests of farmers and said the assembly elections in five states show mood of the nation.

He congratulated the Congress, the TRS and MNF for their performance in the polls.

"This (election results) shows the mood of the nation," Patnaik told reporters here.

Bhubaneswar, Dec 6 (PTI) Delhi-based journalist Abhijit Iyer Mitra was Thursday released from the Odisha jail after he was granted bail by two courts in Konark and Bhubaneswar.

The freedom for Abhijit came a day after the Orissa High Court granted him bail yesterday. He was released from judicial custody after 44 days.

Abhijit was granted conditional bail by the Court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) at Konark in Puri district and the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM), Bhubaneswar, in Khurda district earlier in the day.

Dhenkanal/Bhubaneswar, Dec 2 (PTI) An NGO-run shelter home was Sunday sealed in Odisha's Dhenkanal district in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse by its minor inmates, an official said.

The action came two days after District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) Anuradha Goswami and members of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) raided the shelter home, acting on media reports which stated that girls were being abused at the facility.

Bhubaneswar, Nov 23 (PTI) Indian hockey team geared up for the men's World Cup with a 5-0 thrashing of reigning Olympic champions Argentina in its first warm-up match here on Friday.

Harmanpreet Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Dilpreet, Nilakanta Sharma and Hardik Singh were the scorers for the Indian team, while Argentina drew a blank.

The first and third goals were penalty corner conversions, while the rest were field goals.

Bhubaneswar/Guwahati, Nov 8 (PTI) The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apologise to people as the demonetisation move, undertaken "hurriedly and arbitrarily", failed to eliminate black money.

OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik said the announcement to ban high-value currency notes was followed by prolonged cash shortage for weeks, which created significant disruption throughout the economy.

Bhubaneswar, Nov 6 (PTI) Congress MLA Krishna Chandra Sagaria on Tuesday resigned as member of the Odisha Assembly, protesting "injustice" meted out to an alleged gangrape victim of Koraput district, who committed suicide earlier this year.

A 14-year-old girl in Kunduli area of Koraput district had alleged that she was gangraped by four men in uniform in October, last year. The police, however, ruled out rape, citing her medical reports.

The girl subsequently committed suicide by hanging on January 22, triggering sharp reactions from many quarters.

Malkangiri (Odisha), Nov 5 (PTI) At least five Maoists, including two women, were killed in an exchange of fire with security personnel in a forest in Odisha's Malkangiri district Monday, a senior police official said.

Though five ultras were eliminated, their leader 'Randev', managed to escape from the area which is considered to be a naxal hotbed, police said.

Bhubaneswar, Nov 2 (PTI) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday accused the BJP of not keeping its promises made to the people in Odisha on according special category status to the state.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in response said such provision no more existed after 14th Finance Commission.

"According special category status for Odisha was the first agenda in BJP's 2014 poll manifesto. However, the party simply forgot it after assuming power," Patnaik said while addressing a function here on the occasion of ruling BJD's 'Jan Sampark Padayatra'.

Berhampur (Odisha), Nov 3 (PTI) Odisha Police on Saturday recovered a banner allegedly written by Maoists, threatening to kill two MLAs and several police informers in two districts of the state.

The handwritten banner did not mention names of the two MLAs but said they are from Ganjam and Kandhamal districts, police said.

The unnamed police informers on the hit list also belong to these two districts.

Bhubaneswar, Oct 30 (PTI) Congress MLA Krishna Chandra Sagaria on Tuesday said he will resign as member of Odisha Assembly, protesting alleged injustice meted out to a gangrape and suicide victim of Kunduli in Koraput district.

A 14-year-old girl had alleged she was gangraped by four persons in uniform on October 10, 2017. However, the police had ruled out rape, citing medical reports. The girl subsequently committed suicide by hanging herself on January 22.