Bhubaneswar, May 20 (IANS) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Monday sought an early presidential nod to a bill which the state passed about a year and a half ago to protect the interest of small depositors. Patnaik wrote to Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde seeking his intervention for expediting the presidential assent to the Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Bill, 2011, an official of the Chief Minister's Office here told IANS. "In view of the urgency, I am drawing your personal attention for expediting the presidential assent to the bill so that we can firmly and effectively deal with frauds being perpetrated by unscrupulous financial establishments," Patnaik stated in the letter.
Bhubaneswar, May 19 (IANS) Accusing Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of systematically covering up the mining scam in Odisha, the Congress party here Sunday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into it. Former state congress president Niranjan Patnaik said the scam in Odisha was on the lines of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh but no arrests have been made so far. The investigation launched by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government focused on political propaganda by targeting a few known mine-owners rather than looking at the larger issues, including money laundering and large-scale involvement of politicians and bureaucrats, the Congress leader alleged
Puri (Odisha), May 19 (IANS) An Odisha policeman was suspended for his nexus with a murder suspect who was trying to evade arrest, police said Sunday. Assistant sub-inspector Prakash Mohanty, posted in the Kumbharpada police station in Puri district headquarters town of Puri, 56 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, was allegedly helping the murder suspect in evading arrest, a district police official said. Mohanty was placed under suspension after a special police team recently tracked his mobile phone and found prima facie evidence of his having helped the accused in the case, the official told
Bhubaneswar, May 18 (IANS) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has summoned the Odisha chief secretary for failing to submit a report on the problems faced by patients and Ayush doctors in the state, a petitioner said Saturday. "Such doctors are being forced to prescribe allopathic medicines although they are not trained for that," India Media Centre managing trustee and human rights activist Akhanda, who filed the complaint, told IANS. Ayurvedic and Unani medical practitioners are called Ayush doctors
Bhubaneswar, May 18 (IANS) A man has been arrested for raping a nine-year-old girl in an Odisha village, police said Saturday. Santosh Rout, 45, was arrested after the girl's father lodged a complaint Friday.
Bhubaneswar, May 17 (IANS) At least 177 people were arrested in different parts of Odisha during the past week for their involvement in illegal money circulation and chit fund activities, a police official said Friday. The crackdown on the firms began May 10 and about 200 offices of 84 companies were raided, Rajesh Kumar, deputy inspector general (economic offence wing) of the crime branch police, told IANS.
Bhubaneswar, May 17 (IANS) Nearly 14 years after Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were burnt to death by a mob in Odisha, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday arrested two absconding accused in the case.
Bhubaneswar, May 16 (IANS) Odisha's only white tiger safari will remain shut for visitors for more time as authorities are yet to decide the fate of a Royal Bengal tiger which walked into it from the wild last month. The safari at Nandankanan Zoological Park on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar was closed after the seven-year-old tiger walked into it April
Bhubaneswar, May 16 (IANS) Members of a commission of inquiry led by retired Supreme Court Justice M.B. Shah will visit Odisha again May 24 to further investigate alleged mining illegalities in the state, an official said Thursday. The state government has been informed about the visit of senior forest officer Biswajeet Mishra and geologist
Bhubaneswar, May 15 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Wednesday that it would not ally with Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the 2014 general elections. "We have already made it clear, neither a pre-poll nor a post-poll alliance with the BJD is on our agenda," BJP spokesperson Chandan Mitra said here. "The BJP will fight the elections on its own strength," he said
