Page 61 - Odisha

Tata Power assures quality power to industries, to invest Rs 5k cr in capex

A day after Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik appealed to investors from across the country to take advantage of the state's business ecosystem, Tata Power Discoms on Thursday announced to invest Rs 5,000 crore to ensure reliable and quality electricity supply to industries. This was stated by Tata Power's T&D, President, Sanjay Banga during an interaction with PTI here. "We are fully committed to realise the Odisha government's vision of Make in Odisha through reliable and quality power supply to industries," he said, adding that Tata Power Discoms serve 9 million customers across the state. Banga said that Tata Power Odisha Discoms will soon be in a position to provide new industrial connections in a week to 10 days' time based on availability of network . "Thus, we will be supporting the ease of doing business in the state. The company has already extended the facility of availing new service connection through WhatsApp and missed call services to its customers," he ...

Kolkata port looking to increase business with Odisha seafood exporters

The Kolkata port is looking to tap into seafood export opportunities from Odisha in a bid to increase the business volume from the region. The port, formally known as the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, held a meeting with the stakeholders of the seafood export sector in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday regarding business prospects and issues faced by them. The officials wanted to get feedback regarding how the port could provide more facilities and improve the services to meet their needs and do better business. "We want to listen to your problems so that we can improve on them," Kolkata port chairperson Vinit Kumar told the exporters at the meet. The port is focusing on how to increase the partnership and develop a very good relationship with the seafood exporters of the region. "We'll try to fulfill your expectations so that both of us can benefit through the valuable partnership, good service and lowering cost," Kumar said. He pointed out that a lot of modernisation and investment in ..

Vedanta Ltd bags two coal commercial mines in e-auction in Odisha

Vedanta Ltd has emerged as the highest bidder for two coal mines in Odisha on the second day of commercial coal mines auction. The government put on sale 10 coal mines under the commercial coal mine auction on Tuesday and Wednesday. "On the 2nd day of the e-auction today , two coal mines were put up for auction of which both coal mines were MMDR coal mines," the coal ministry said in a statement. The blocks were auctioned under the second attempt of the fourth round of commercial coal mine auction. Both the coal mines are fully explored and have Peak Rate Capacity (PRC) of 20 million tonnes per annum. Jaiprakash Power Ventures had emerged as the highest bidder for a coal block in Madhya Pradesh on the first day of the auction of blocks on Tuesday. While Madhya Bharat Minerals had emerged as the highest bidder for a coal mine in Chhattisgarh, Avassa Ferro Alloys bid the highest for a mine in Maharashtra. Gangaramchak Mining was the highest bidder for a mine in Jharkhand whi

Odisha reports 260 new Covid-19 cases; active tally stands at 1,674

Odisha's COVID-19 tally rose to 13,30,853 on Wednesday as 260 more people, including 29 children, tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said. The toll remained at 9,185 as there were no new deaths. Fifty-three other patients have died due to comorbidities so far, it said. Odisha had recorded 159 infections on Tuesday. The state now has 1,674 active COVID-19 cases, while 353 more people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total recoveries to 13,19,941. The positivity rate was at 1.9 per cent as the new cases were detected after testing 13,826 samples.

Naveen Patnaik to woo investors in Mumbai ahead of Make-in-Odisha Conclave

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has embarked on a three-day tour of Mumbai to attend an investors' meet, as the eastern state gears up for its marquee business conclave after a hiatus of four years. Patnaik is scheduled to hold discussions with major industrialists from different sectors, including Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, Vedanta's Anil Agarwal and Mahindra Group's Anand Mahindra, officials said. The chief minister, who left for India's financial capital on Tuesday, is also slated to visit the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and attend the ceremony to ring the opening bell, they said. Odisha has already organised road shows in Mumbai, inviting investments in IT, metal downstream, renewable energy, chemicals, plastics and advanced electronic manufacturing sectors. The third edition of the Make-in-Odisha Conclave, scheduled to be held here from November 30 to December 4, aims to showcase the manufacturing prowess of the state and investment opportunities ..

Mob attacks police station in Odisha's Gajapati, several cops injured

A mob of around 200 people on Tuesday stormed into a police station in Odisha's Gajapati district and assaulted officers there, hours after a local youth was arrested on charges of ganja smuggling. As many as eight police personnel suffered injuries in the incident, of which two had to be taken to a government hospital nearby, one of the officers stated. "Protesters broke open the gate of the police station, thrashed personnel and ransacked properties. All of them were armed. At least seven to eight personnel were injured in the melee," the officer, who was at the scene, said. Senior police officers are currently trying to pacify the protesters, he added. Agitators, including women, alleged that the police picked up a youth of Jharanapur village on Monday night on false charges, and demanded that he be released immediately.

Odisha exchequer facing losses due to BJD govt, mine owners nexus: BJP MP

Odisha BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi has claimed that the state's exchequer was suffering losses to the tune of crores of rupees due to the BJD government's "unholy nexus with mine owners". Sarangi, a bureaucrat-turned-BJP politician, claimed that the state government "downgraded" the quality of iron ore being produced in some mines auctioned recently. Insisting that a big scam has been pulled off, the Bhubaneswar MP, during a press meet on Monday, said the ratio of low-grade iron ore in 2019-2020 was valued at 23 per cent; it increased to 95 per cent in 2021-2022. "This would not have been possible without connivance between the government and the mine owners," she said. Earlier, Justice MB Shah Commission, during its probe into illegal mining, had detected losses of Rs 59,000 crore, causing a flutter in the state, she said. It was expected that the situation would change for better after that. The scale of irregularities, however, have only increased with time," the MP said. Rejecti

Normal life thrown out of gear as rain lashes parts of south Bengal, Odisha

Normal life was thrown out of gear in south Bengal districts and parts of Odisha on Monday as rain triggered by a depression caused hardships to commuters on the first working day of the week. The meteorological department said the depression lay over south Chhattisgarh and adjoining southeast Madhya Pradesh and will continue to bring in its wake gusty wind with a speed of 35 to 45 kmph in the coastal areas of West Bengal and Odisha till Tuesday. A rainy and overcast morning greeted denizens of Kolkata, south Bengal districts and parts of Odisha. Light to moderate rain with spells of showers affected normal life in Kolkata and other places in south Bengal. Children travelling to schools and people to their workplaces faced a tough time reaching their destinations as public transport was scarce. Digha received the highest rainfall at 114 mm in West Bengal in 24 hours till 8.30 am, followed by Kanthi at 110 mm, the Met office said. Kolkata witnessed 60 mm of precipitation, while ot

Odisha receives downpour as depression forms over Bay of Bengal

With a well-marked low-pressure area over west-central and adjoining north-west Bay of Bengal intensifying into a depression, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday forecast heavy rainfall across Odisha. The system is about 20km northwest of Gopalpur and is likely to move west-northwestwards across south Odisha and Chhattisgarh during the next 24 hours before it weakens, the IMD said. Several parts of Odisha had already been witnessing rainfall activities since Saturday. Senior weather scientist US Dash said Odisha has received widespread showers due to the low pressure, with Dhenkanal recording 114 mm rainfall till 5.30 am of Sunday, followed by 106 mm in Koraput. The Regional Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, has issued advisories for the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, asking the administration to make arrangements to drain out excess water. It also urged people to check for road conditions and traffic congestion before leaving homes. Both the cities are

Odisha, West Bengal, Telangana likely to get heavy rain today: IMD

Indian Meteorological Department issued a warning for heavy rainfall in Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal and Telangana today

Union mins review schemes, BJD says people won't accept Centre's attitude

With seven union ministers visiting different districts of Odisha and undertaking review of various central schemes being implemented in the state, the ruling BJD Saturday said the people will not accept the inspector raj manner" of the central government. While five central ministers reached Odisha on Friday, two others did so on Saturday. The cudgels for BJD was taken up by party MLA Sashibhusan Behera, who hit back at the comment made by Union Minister of State for Home Nityananda Rai during his visit to Cuttack on Saturday. Speaking at a press conference in Cuttack, Rai said It appears that the benefits of different central schemes are not reaching the beneficiaries as desired. The state government's inept handlings of central schemes are indicated". Countering the comment, Behera said It is not proper on the part of union ministers to behave in an inspector raj manner. The people of Odisha will not accept it as they know how the state government has been implementing the ...

Odisha CM launches host city logo for FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launched the official host city logo of the state for the upcoming FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2022

Odisha likely to receive heavy rain till Sep 13, says weather department

Odisha is likely to receive heavy rain till September 13 with the intensification of a low pressure area formed over the Bay of Bengal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The system, active over the northwestern Bay of Bengal off north Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha coasts, is expected to trigger intense spells of rain in Odisha. The IMD forecast heavy rainfall in several districts till September 13, and issued an orange warning for some places in the southern parts on September 10 and 11. Very heavy rainfall is likely in some places in Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Gajapati, Ganjam, Khurda, Nayagarh and Cuttack districts between 8.30 AM on September 10 and 8.30 AM on September 11, the Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar said. It forecast similar weather conditions in Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Nuapada, Bolangir, Sonepur, Boudh, Nayagarh, Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts for 24 hours from 8.30 AM on September 11. The spec

Odisha to complete preparations for FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup by Sept-end

The Odisha government directed officials on Friday to complete all preparations by this month for Fifa U-17 Women's World Cup at Kalinga Stadium. The prestigious tournament will be held in Bhubaneswar, Margao in Goa and Navi Mumbai from October 11-30. The Kalinga Stadium will host three pool matches of India on October 11, 14 and 17. Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra held a high-level meeting at the Loka Seba Bhavan during the day and reviewed the progress of preparatory work at the stadium, which has been equipped with adequate training and parking facilities. Promotional activities and hospitality were among the other things discussed in the meeting, according to an official release. Mohapatra directed the departments to complete assigned work by the end of September, calling for more focus on sectors such as sanitation, security and fire services. Development Commissioner Pradeep Jena advised deployment of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and fire services teams in adv

Bhumi Pujan performed at Konark Sun Temple to clear sand from 'garbhagriha'

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) performed Bhumi Pujan (ground breaking ceremony) rituals to remove sand from the 'garbhagriha' (sanctum sanatorium) of the Sun temple in Odisha's Konark

India carries out 6 flight tests of Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile

India has successfully completed six flight-tests of the Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) system from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur off the Odisha coast, as part of evaluation trials by the Army, the DRDO said on Thursday. The flight-tests were carried out against high-speed aerial targets mimicking various types of threats to evaluate the capability of the weapon systems under different scenarios, it said. During these tests, all the mission objectives were met establishing pin-point accuracy of the weapon system with state-of-the-art guidance and control algorithms, including warhead chain, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said in a statement. The performance of the system has been confirmed from the data captured by a number of range instruments like telemetry and Radar and Electro Optical Tracking Systems (EOTS) deployed by ITR, it said. The tests were conducted in the final deployment configuration consisting of all ...

16 states onboard single-window system for ease of doing business

As many as 16 states, including Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Bihar have integrated with National Single Window System (NSWS) so far with an aim to promote ease of doing business, a senior official said on Tuesday. The government in September last year soft-launched NSWS for businesses. It was aimed at providing support to investors, including pre-investment advisory, information related to land banks, and facilitation of clearances at the Centre and state levels. The NSWS portal is envisioned as a one-stop shop for investors for taking all the regulatory approvals and services related to investments. It allows online filing and tracking of all applications and clearances, thereby helping investors to obtain clearances from different stakeholders without visiting different government offices. "Currently, 24 of the 32 ministries and departments have onboarded the system and others are in the process. 181 out of total 368 services identified as relevant, have been onboarded. At the same tim

Only 25 % people in Odisha took Covid-19 precaution dose, says official

The Odisha government appealed to the people on Saturday to take the precaution dose against coronavirus as soon as possible as few weeks are left for the period of free jabs and only a quarter of the targeted population got vaccinated with the third shot. A total of 80.90 lakh people, including frontline workers and those in the 18-60 age group and above 60 years, have taken the precaution dose, Health Director Bijay Panigrahi said at a press briefing in Bhubaneswar. "Around 25 per cent of the targeted population have taken the precaution dose while many are yet to take the jab," he said, adding that 23 lakh beneficiaries of the first shot had the second one due even now. Panigrahi appealed to people to take the precaution dose by September 30, the deadline set by the Union government for giving free jabs at public healthcare institutions. The COVID-19 tally rose to 13,28,244 on Saturday as 174 more people, including 13 children, tested positive for the infection, a health bulleti

Odisha reports 174 new Covid-19 cases, 1 death in the last 24 hours

Odisha's COVID-19 tally rose to 13,28,244 on Saturday as 174 more people, including 13 children, tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said. The toll rose to 9,179 as a 74-year-old man succumbed to the disease in Bhubaneswar. Fifty-three other patients have died due to comorbidities so far, it said. Odisha had recorded 226 infections and a fatality on Friday. The state now has 1,734 active COVID-19 cases, while 236 more people recuperated from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total recoveries to 13,17,278. The daily positivity rate was at 1.32 per cent as 13,217 samples were tested for the infection in the last 24 hours.

12,500 licences suspended in special drive against helmetless riding

The Odisha State Transport Authority (STA) has suspended more than 12,000 driving licences and collected over Rs 60 lakh as fine during a two-week special drive against helmetless riders on the highways of the state, STA official said on Friday. A total of 888 vehicles have been seized for driving without licence and 24,474 e-challans were issued in the drive against riding two-wheelers without wearing helmets on national and state highways from August 16-30, the STA said on Friday. Helmetless driving is a major cause of road accidents and grievous injury across Odisha, the official said. Last year 1,308 riders and pillion riders were killed in road accidents and most of them were not wearing helmets. A total of 1,280 people were seriously injured and 747 had minor injuries in accidents involving two-wheelers during the period, according to a STA release. "The enforcement team of the STA collected Rs 63.98 lac as fine and 12,545 licences have been suspended for riding the ...