Page 30 - Odisha

21% students dropped out in Class X in 2021-22, highest in Odisha: Pradhan

The drop out rate in Class 10 stands at 20.6 per cent as of 2021-22 with Odisha being the worst performing state in this regard followed by Bihar, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Lok Sabha on Monday. The drop out rate in Class 10 was 49.9 per cent in Odisha and 42.1 per cent in Bihar, said Pradhan in his written response. The minister was responding to a question by DMK MP Kalanidhi Veeraswamy on whether the government is cognizant of the analysis based on the recent exercise carried out by the Ministry of Education that about 3.5 million students stop their education in Class 10. Pradhan informed that 1,89,90,809 students appeared for Class 10 examination in 2022, of which 29,56,138 students failed to progress to the next class. "The reasons for failure of students in examination depends on various factors viz, not attending the schools, difficulty in following the instruction in schools, lack of interest in the studies, level of difficulty of question pap

Tata Steel aims to complete Kalinganagar project expansion by Dec 2024

Tata Steel aims to complete expansion of its Kalinganagar project by December next year, a company official said. The company had commenced the second phase of expansion of its Kalinganagar project in Odisha in November 2018 to reach the production capacity of 8 million tonnes per annum, from 3 MTPA, with an investment of Rs 23,500 crore. "We are aiming to complete the project and make it operational by December end next year," Rajiv Kumar, vice-president, Operation, Tata Steel Kalinganagar (TSK), told PTI in an interaction. The project includes raw material capacity expansion, upstream and mid-stream facilities, infrastructure and downstream facilities including a cold rolling mill complex, he said, adding that the new blast furnace being installed is India's largest with 5,870 cubic metres (cum) of inner volume. The phase 2 expansion will increase the production of flat steel at the plant to meet the growing requirements of automotive, general engineering, oil & gas, lifting ...

Pandian reviews crowd management system at the Puri Jagannath temple

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's close aide and 5T (transformational initiative) and Nabin Odisha scheme chairman V K Pandian on Saturday reviewed the crowd management system of the Shree Jagannath Temple here in view of the New Year rush. He issued directions to officials for hassle-free movement of devotees in the 12th-century shrine. The Puri district administration is expecting a congregation of around 5 lakh devotees in holy seaside town on the occasion of the New Year. Puri town usually witnesses a huge rush of tourists and devotees from December 20 till January 15 every year, an official said. Pandian, who visited Puri early in the morning, also reviewed the ongoing Heritage Corridor (Parikrama) project between 5 am to 7 am, an official release issued by the CMO said. "He took stock of facilities being created for a comfortable visit of pilgrims during the New Year rush," an official said, adding that Pandian also directed to augment the place with appropriate holding

Balasore tragedy: Rs 51.37 cr disbursed as ex-gratia payment to next of kin

The Railway Ministry has made a payment of Rs 51.37 crore as ex-gratia and compensation amount to the next of kin and victims of the Balasore train tragedy, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday. The Balasore train accident caused the deaths of 296 passengers and over 1,200 were injured. Vaishnaw's response came after two BJD MPs, Sulata Deo and Niranjan Bishi, asked if the ex-gratia compensation announced by the Railways for the victims has been paid. Payment of ex-gratia has been made to the victims of the Balasore train tragedy. An amount of Rs. 51.37 crores has been paid as ex-gratia and compensation to the next of kin/victims of Balasore tragedy, Vaishnaw said in a written reply. The accident took place on June 2 when the Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary freight train at Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore and some of its derailed coaches fell onto the adjacent tracks and collided with the oncoming Yeshwantpur-Howrah Express. The ...

I-T raid on Dhiraj Sahu: Take a look at India's biggest raids in history

The Income Tax Department recently made headlines with a record-breaking seizure of Rs 353 crore in cash following a raid on Odisha-based Boudh Distillery Private Limited, owned Dhiraj Sahu

Odisha cash haul: I-T raids wind up after 10 days; sends report to CBDT

The Income-tax department raids being carried out against an Odisha-based distillery firm owned by a Congress MP's family, and some linked entities, ended early Friday, capping ten days of searches and recording the country's "highest-ever" cash haul at Rs 351 crore, official sources said. The last two I-T teams left the premises, one each in Odisha and Jharkhand, carrying with them a number of seized "incriminating documents" and data cloned from electronic gadgets in the early morning hours. The searches against the firm--Boudh Distillery Pvt. Ltd. (BDPL)-- and its linked entities were launched last week on December 6. The taxman also covered the family house of Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Prasad Sahu in Ranchi apart from a number of entities including distributors and some hawala operators during these 10-day-long searches, they said. The searches came to a close in the early hours of December 15, the sources told PTI. A final appraisal report of the entire operation has bee

Odisha CM Patnaik chairs state executive meeting ahead of Lok Sabha polls

The meeting was attended by MPs, MLAs, heads of different wings of the party, district presidents and office-bearers

Hindalco Industries plans Rs 800 crore unit in Odisha to tap EV ecosystem

25,000-tonne plant in Odisha's Sambalpur will be commissioned by July 2025

Odisha CM Patnaik inaugurates India's largest Sports Science Centre

Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik inaugurated India's largest state-of-the-art Sports Science Centre at the Kalinga Stadium. This centre has been established in partnership with Abhinav Bindra

Hindalco plans Rs 800 cr investment to set up battery foil mfg unit

Aluminium producer Hindalco Industries on Tuesday announced its plan to set up a battery foil manufacturing facility at Sambalpur in Odisha with an investment of Rs 800 crore to tap the fast-expanding electric vehicle market. The facility, to be commissioned by July 2025, will initially produce 25,000 tonnes of the aluminium foil which forms the backbone of lithium-ion and sodium-ion cells, Hindalco Industries said. The company also plans to significantly expand its capacity of making fine-quality aluminium foil which is used in rechargeable batteries, Hindalco said in a statement. "Hindalco Industries is investing Rs 800 crore to build a new plant near Sambalpur in Odisha that will initially produce 25,000 tonnes of the resilient product which forms the backbone of Lithium-ion and Sodium-ion cells," the statement said. By 2030, demand for battery grade aluminium foil in India is expected to grow manifold to 40,000 tonnes, primarily driven by mushrooming growth in gigafactories for

Odisha I-T raid: Officials to deposit all cash at Balangir SBI branch

Income Tax officials however continue to conduct the survey at properties linked to Dheeraj Sahu with documentation process still on

Rs 351 crore cash haul in I-T raids against biz group linked to Cong MP

The cash seizure in the income-tax department's searches against an Odisha-based distillery company, owned by a Congress MP's family, has been calculated at Rs 351 crore after five days of counting and is the "highest-ever" haul in a single action by any probe agency in the country, official sources said on Sunday. The premises of the Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, Dhiraj Prasad Sahu, in Ranchi and other places, were also covered during the searches by the department. The company and the member of Parliament did not respond to PTI's queries regarding the action being carried out against them. 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 ...

Cash seizure in Odisha I-T raids goes past Rs 300 crore, counting still on

The cash seizure in the income-tax department's searches against an Odisha-based distillery company has become the "highest-ever" such haul in a single action conducted by any probe agency in the country and gone past Rs 300 crore, official sources said on Sunday. 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 cash to the tune of more than Rs 300 crore has been counted till now and the counting is still on. 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. This 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 pa

Clarification sought from Dheeraj Sahu: Jharkhand Congress in-charge

Jharkhand Congress in-charge Avinash Pandey on Sunday said that a clarification has been sought from party MP Dheeraj Sahu in connection with the recovery of huge cash from premises linked to him. Pandey, however, clarified that is it a private matter of Dheeraj Sahu and the party has nothing to do with it. "Since he is Congress MP, he should make an official statement about how such a big amount of money came to him," Pandey said while speaking to media persons at Ranchi's Birsa Munda airport. He also said, "The party has a clear-cut stand that it is a private matter of Dheeraj Sahu, which has nothing to do with the Congress party. A huge pile of cash has been recovered so far in the searches conducted by the Income Tax department against Odisha-based Boudh Distillery Private Limited and entities linked to it. Premises linked to Sahu were also covered as part of the searches, according to officials. The seizure amount is expected to reach Rs 290 crore, making it the "highest-ever

'Why is Rahul Gandhi silent on Dheeraj Sahu's matter?': G Kishan Reddy

Income Tax sleuths have, so far, recovered more than Rs 200 crore cash from several locations in Odisha and Jharkhand during their raids against companies allegedly linked to Sahu

Vision is to make country developed by 2040: Pradhan in Viksit Bharat Yatra

He further said that the welfare of the poor is the priority of the government

Restrict missile testing during turtles' nesting season, Odisha urges DRDO

The state government urged the DRDO to restrict missile testing off the Odisha coast in February and March -- the mass nesting season of the endangered olive ridley sea turtles, an official said on Saturday. The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) has two major missile testing ranges in the state -- Chandipur in Balasore district and the APJ Abdul Kalam Island, formerly Wheeler Island, in Bhadrak district, he said. "It is an annual practice to request the DRDO to restrict testings during this time as these locations are close to the famed Gahirmath sanctuary, which is considered the cradle of olive ridley turtles," the senior official of the state Forest Department said. The DRDO adheres to the state's request every year, he said. At a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary PK Jena on Dember 7, it was also decided to request the DRDO to appoint a nodal officer who will coordinate with the Fisheries Department for protecting the turtles. Lakhs of olive ridley turtles visit

Odisha cash haul: BJP stages protest in J-K, demands action against Cong MP

The BJP's Jammu and Kashmir unit on Saturday held a protest over the recovery of a huge amount of "unaccounted for" cash in Odisha and demanded stern action against Congress MP Dhiraj Prasad Sahu. The protesters also burnt an effigy of Sahu. The seizure of "unaccounted for" cash after Income Tax department raids against an Odisha-based distillery group and its linked entities is expected to reach Rs 290 crore, making it the "highest-ever" black money haul by any agency in a single operation, official sources said Saturday. Premises linked to Sahu were also covered as part of the searches, the sources said. Shouting anti-Congress slogans, the BJP activists assembled outside the Press Club in the heart of Jammu and held a peaceful demonstration. Setting ablaze an effigy of the Congress' Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, they also demanded that Sahu be arrested immediately. The protesters were led by Yudhvir Sethi -- the BJP's Jammu and Kashmir unit vice-president -- and the Bharatiya

Odisha cash haul set to be 'highest-ever' with Rs 290 crore seizure

The seizure of "unaccounted" cash after Income Tax department raids against an Odisha-based distillery group and its linked entities is expected to reach Rs 290 crore, making it the "highest-ever" black money haul by any agency in a single operation, official sources said Saturday. The tax department has deployed about 40 large and small machines to count currency notes and brought in more department and bank staffers to finish the counting process, which began on December 6 following raids against Boudh Distillery Pvt Ltd and others, they said. Besides these, more vehicles have also been requisitioned by the department to transport the seized cash to government banks in the state. A premises linked to Congress' Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, Dhiraj Prasad Sahu, were also covered as part of the searches, the sources said. Efforts to seek a response from the MP and an e-mail sent by PTI to the distillery group did not fructify. Tax sleuths are now recording the statements of variou

I-T dept intensifies crackdown on a liquor distillery group in Odisha

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured people that "money looted from the public will be returned", the Income Tax (I-T) Department on Saturday intensified its crackdown on a liquor distillery group in Odisha. After recovering around Rs 225 crore till Friday, the I-T sleuths seized another 20 bagloads of cash from the house of a countrymade liquor manufacturer in Sudapara area of Bolangir district on Saturday. The amount of money recovered from Sudapara is being counted, an official said, adding it is expected to be over Rs 50 crore. I-T sleuths had on Friday taken 156 cash-loaded bags to the SBI main branch at Bolangir for counting. I-T DG Sanjay Bahadur, who has been camping in Bhubaneswar for the last three days, however, refused to divulge details on the ongoing raids. "Our people are working on it," he told reporters on Saturday. Sources said that while 150 officials were taking part in raids on the liquor distillery group, the I-T department has also engaged anoth