Bhubaneswar, July 13 (IANS) A saloon owner allegedly stabbed himself in abdomen with a scissor at Nayapalli area in Bhubaneswar.

The injured person has been identified as Dandadhar Barik, an inhabitant of Dhenkanal, who owns a salon in IRC Village.

According to police, Dandadhar stabbed himself in abdomen with a scissor after attending to a customer on Wednesday morning.

Another customer found him lying with a pool of blood inside his shop.

After the eyewitness customer informed the nearby shopkeepers, they reached the salon and rushed Barik to a private hospital where he underwent a surgery, the police said.

A police official said that Barik is suffering from mental ailments that may be due to family dispute or any other reason.

Though the police examined Barik's mobile phone, they could not find anything related to blackmail or any cyber fraud, the cop said.

Barik's health condition is still critical.

Bhubaneswar, July 12 (IANS) Four college students drowned while taking a bath in the Kuakhai River near Dhabalahara under Balianta Police station on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, police said on Wednesday.

According to the police, nine friends from Astha School of Management had gone to Dhabalahara to have a feast on Tuesday. After the feast, four of them returned to their college while five others went to Kuakhai to take a bath.

While bathing all five youths were swept away by the strong current of the river. However, one of them was rescued alive by locals.

On getting information fire service and Balianta police station personnel conducted a rescue operation and fished out the bodies of two youths on Tuesday evening while other two bodies were recovered on Wednesday, said Dillip Jena, scuba diver of Odisha fire service.  

Due to strong current in the river water, the students went about 100 meters away from their bathing site. About 25 to 30 feet depth was there in the river from where the two bodies fished out today, he said.

The deceased are identified as Ariyan Mishra from Jharkhand, Kumar Abinash & Prateek Dhalasamant from Cuttack and Rohit Parida from Balasore district, sources said.

Sharmila Subramanian, principal of Astha School of Management, said, “At present internship of the students is going on and every student is going to a company for the internship. They have been permitted to visit their company till 7 to 7.30 p.m.”

A committee has been constituted to conduct an investigation and submit its report. The concerned companies have been asked to know whether any leave was granted to the students or not, she said.  

Bhubaneswar, June 19 (IANS) The Odisha government has made elaborate arrangements for smooth and timely conduct of the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath and his siblings on Tuesday.

All roads lead to the pilgrim town. Thousands of devotees have started thronging pilgrim town Puri to witness the nine-day long Rath Yatra beginning on Tuesday.

Lord Jagannath and his two siblings - elder brother Balabhadra and younger sister Subhadra - are ready to give darshan to the public in Raths and visit Gundicha Temple.

The three majestic chariots are almost ready and will be brought to the Singha Dwar and parked facing East towards Gundicha temple. The chariots will be pulled by lakhs of devotees on Tuesday.

A large number of devotees visited the temple on Monday on the occasion of Nabajouban darshan after the deities recovered from 14-day long illness.

The Parimanika darshan of the Lords was started early at 7:20 a.m. due to early completion of rituals and this was followed by the Sahana Mela darshan from 8:05 a.m. in which the devotees witnessed the Nabajoubana Besha (attire) of the Lords from the Bhitara Katha inside the Jagmohan, said Odisha Chief Secretary P.K. Jena, who was in Puri on Monday.

Praying for a chill weather tomorrow, Jena said all arrangements have been made keeping heatwave condition in view. Sufficient drinking water facilities including distribution of water bottles have been made for the devotees, he said.

Water sprinkling will be done by the fire service personnel and ORS will also be given to the devotees, Jena stated.

"Till now, all the rituals are being conducted smoothly and little ahead. We will have another round of discussion with the senior servitors this evening for timely completion of the rituals during Ghosa Yatra," he added.

Tight security arrangements have been made in and around Puri town for the festival. The pilgrim town has been divided into 14 zones and 29 sectors.

About 170 platoons of police personnel will be deployed for the conduct of the yatra. For Monday, Nabajouban darshan, 70 platoons of police deployed in the town.

For the first time, a Coast Guard helicopter will patrol the beach and fast patrol vehicles deployed close by. Interceptor boats will be stationed at Paradip, ready for any contingency, till July 2, said additional DGP, Law and Order, Sanjay Kumar.

The Railways will install face recognising cameras on the railway platforms to screen the crowd of suspicious people. A total of 125 special trains will ply to Puri during the festival, he said.

A large number of CCTV cameras assisted by drones' cameras connected to a number of control stations will function during the Rath Yatra.

Under a special mobility plan, an advisory on vehicular movement to Puri has been issued.

Transport Commissioner Amitabh Thakur said all inter-state tourist buses and local tourist buses will stop and park at Malatipatpur bus stand.

Other daily passenger-carrying buses will be allowed up to Talabania temporary bus stand via Malatipatapur railway over bridge, Toshali Sands, Grid Station Chhak and Bhudan Chhaka.

Vehicles on the Bhubaneswar-Puri route and Konark will be allowed to park near grid substation and Talabania area while vehicles coming from Brahmagiri will be parked in Florence India Garden parking space.

Puri town shuttle buses/auto rickshaw will be allowed from Talabania to Zilla School Chhaka.

Two-wheelers will avail parking at Jagannath Ballav, Masanichandi, Matitota parking, Nilachala Ashok and Blue Flag beach.

All Light Motor Vehicles (LMV) like cars and SUVs will avail parking facilities at the parking places at indoor stadium, helipad, Sanskrit University parking, ID College Parking, Nalifield and Yatrika. They will be diverted as per availability of space in parking places accordingly.

For smooth darshan of the Lords by devotees, some shuttle services have been implemented from Talabania to Zilla School Chhaka and from Malatipatapur to Atharanala.

Besides, the areas from Atharanala Chhaka to Hospital Chhaka and from Hospital Chhaka to Subash Bose Crossing, have been announced as no vehicle zones.

The regulation of vehicular traffic will be imposed from June 19 to June 21, 2023. The same traffic regulation will be again applied from June 28 to June 29.

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], June 9: The horrifying triple train collision accident at Bahanaga Bazar in Balasore district of Odisha had taken 288 valuable lives and critically injured more than 1200 people, considered as the largest train accident in last three decades. Government agencies immediately swung into rescue operation and 108 Ambulance has played crucial role in this extensive initiative.

Within some minutes, 229 numbers of 108 Ambulances had mobilised from 11 districts of the state like Cuttack, Khurda, Dhenkanal, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Angul, Keonjhar, Balasore, Jagatsinghpur, and Mayurbhanj and deployed for the rescue, transportation, referral transport, and deceased body transport operation. Over 1000 drivers, helpers, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and officials swiftly acted, dedicating them to the rescue work that continued for more than 48 hours.

Many crew members have shown unwavering dedication to rescue operation and have worked round the clock to support the rescue effort. Many of them selflessly joined the effort even they were in leave or had completed their duties of the day, which shown their commitment and dedication to serve for humanity, what 108 Ambulance stands for. Furthermore, more than 20 crew members donated blood at different hospitals, offered assistance to the patients and their relatives during this challenging time.

While the accident occurred at 6:55 PM, and the 108 central call centres received their first call at 6:58 PM. Based on the initial ambulance reports, additional ambulances were dispatched to the accident site. The first ten ambulances reached the site even before the ODRAF, NDRF, and Fire Services reached at the spot.

Within hours, over 200 ambulances were deployed in the massive operation. The injured, including critical cases, were transported to six healthcare centres, mainly Soro Community Health Centre, Balasore District Headquarters Hospital (DHH), Gopalpur Primary Health Center, Iswarpur Primary Health Center, Khantapada Community Health Center, and Nilgiri SDH. Few injured persons were also transferred to Bhadrak DHH.

Subsequently, the deceased bodies were shifted from various locations to the morgues of AIIMS Bhubaneswar, SCB Hospital Cuttack, Capital Hospital, and four private hospitals in Bhubaneswar.

Talking about the operation, Sri Sabyasachi Biswal, State Head, Ziqitza Healthcare Ltd said that, “It was the most challenging and difficult operation we have ever undertaken. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our crew and support staff for their unwavering dedication to helping people during such a trying time. Every individual involved in the process, especially the ground ambulance crew, has displayed the highest level of devotion to their duty, tirelessly serving every injured person without rest. To ensure efficiency and coordination, a team of high-ranking officials has been deployed to the site to monitor and streamline the process. My sincerely thank the State Government, National Health Mission, Stathe Health Ministry and thousands of district hospital teams support, without them this mass rescue operation would have not been possible without.”

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Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], May 11: Adding yet another feather to its cap of pride and performance, Orissa Stevedores Limited (OSL) has recently been adorned with the prestigious “Best Stevedores for the Year 2022-23” award by the Paradip Port Authority (PPA) for handling the highest cargo.

The coveted award and certificate were received by Mr. Harihar Dash, G.M. (Comml) and Mr. Subash Acharya, G.M. (O) from Mr. P.L. Haranadh, Chairman, PPA, in a grand ceremony.

Elated at such a glorious development, Odisha’s ace OSL Group in its reactions, said, “We congratulate Team Paradip for the spectacular achievement and exemplary teamwork. We wish our team will achieve further heights through their hard work and commitment.”

Need to be mentioned here that OSL Group has already bagged the “Best Logistic Company of the Year” for successful diversification in multiple logistics in the 7th Edition of ‘East Coast Maritime Forum 2022’ held in Kolkata on 24th February 2022, as well as organized by the EXIM India Shipping Times.

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Bhubaneswar, May 5 (IANS) Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud visited Jagannath temple in Odisha's Puri on Friday.

The CJI, who arrived here on a two-day visit to Odisha, directly went to Puri from the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) to have darshan of Lord Jagannath.

Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena, Chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Ranjan Kumar Das and puri district administration have given him a rousing welcome at the pilgrim town.

"Chief Justice Chandrachud had visited the temple earlier when he was a judge. This is his first visit after assuming charge as Chief Justice of India. He became emotional while paying obeisance at Lord Jagannath," said Madhusudan Singhari, a senior servitor of the temple.

The Chief Justice had darshan of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra at the main temple. He also went to the temples of Devi Bimala and Laxmi besides other deities on the premises, said Singhari.

Chief Justice Chandrachud is scheduled to attend a national conference on 'Digitisation, Paperless Courts and e-initiatives' at Odisha Judicial Academy in Cuttack on Saturday.

Bhubaneswar, April 29 (IANS) Renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has created a sand sculpture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with 100 radios to celebrate 100 episodes of "Mann ki Baat", at Odisha's Puri beach.

Pattnaik has created the 8-ft high sand art to mark the feat by using about seven tonnes of sand.

He also created a sand sculpture of the Prime Minister with 100 sand radios. Students from his sand art school joined him to complete the sculpture.

"Earlier, I created a few sand sculptures on 'Mann ki Baat' on different occasions. Besides, sand sculpture on radio was also created on occasions like World Radio Day," Pattnaik said.

Modi's flagship radio address, which aired for the first time on October 3, 2014, will complete 100 episodes on April 30.

So far, the Padma-winning artist has participated in more than 60 international sand art competitions and festivals around the world and won many prizes for our country.

He always tries to create awareness on different social issues through his sand art. His sand arts are appreciated by the UN, WHO and UN Environment.

The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu graced and addressed the 2nd Convocation of Rama Devi Women’s University at Bhubaneswar today (February 10, 2023).

Speaking on the occasion, the President recalled her days – she spent in this University (then college) as a student. She said that she had studied in this institution for four years after completing her schooling at Unit-2 Girls School in Bhubaneswar. The love and affection of the teachers of that time is unforgettable. She said that she is still in touch with many of classmates from that time. This great educational institution has always been a source of inspiration in her life.

Addressing the students of the University, the President said that they should feel proud as girl students, that is, as representatives of women. Women in India have played an important role since ages. From management of family to governance of the country, from literature, music and dance to leadership, women have proved their mettle in every field. Women empowerment is no longer a slogan, it has become a reality to a large extent. Girls are not only at par with our boys, but in some fields they are even ahead of the boys.

The President said that India is the largest democracy in the world. It is heartening that the representation of women is increasing in all democratic institutions from Panchayats to Parliament. It is a great achievement of our democracy that for the first time the number of women parliamentarians has crossed 100. This is a good sign for the future of our democracy.

The President advised students to keep faith in their abilities. She said that after leaving the university campus, they would enter another university - the University of Life. To be successful in the University of Life, they must be aware of their strengths and abilities.

The President said that India aims to become a developed nation in the next 25 years. We all believe that in the year 2047, when India will celebrate the centenary of its independence, it will be one of the most prosperous nations in the world. It is the responsibility of the young generation to take India to the pinnacle of development during these 25 years.