Three negotiators to involve in dialogue with the state, scrapping of Operation Green Hunt among top demands Following the abduction of two Italian nationals in Odisha’s Kandhamal district on 14 March, the state leadership of the banned Maoist party has declared ceasefire and issued a set of demands (see box). Late last night, the party

Odisha government on Monday intensified efforts for the release of two Italian nationals from the captivity of Maoists. Maoists set 13 demands for the release of the foreigners. Targeting foreigners for the first time, Maoists abducted the two Italian nationals, Basusco Paolo (55) and Claudio Colangilo (60), from the forested areas of Kandhamal district on Saturday

As a last-ditch effort to stop malpractices during the matriculation examination, the  Board of Secondary Education has, for the first time, decided to initiate disciplinary actions against centre superintendents and invigilators if students of their centres are found cheating. The examination starts on Monday. As many as 5,11,443 students will appear in the matriculation exam

Close on the heels of the abduction of two Italian tourists in Kandhamal, the Maoists shot a contractor to death in Bargarh district on Sunday morning leading to a lot of panic in the region. The  deceased contractor – identified as  Mohd Itar Mahamad – was entrusted with the construction of a check dam at

New passenger train between Sambalpur and Koraput have been flagged off by  Amarnath Pradhan, Hon’ble Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) in presence of Shri Ashok Kumar Gupta, Divisional Railway Manager, Sambalpur at Sambalpur Railway Station today. This train will leave Sambalpur at 10.00 hrs.and will arrive at Koraput at 00.45 hrs.. In the return journey,

Sundergarh district in the state’s western belt posted the highest growth of 17.9 % followed by industrial hub Jharsuguda that enter a average growth of 10.9 %. The same trend is more or less reflected in per capita incomes of districts with Angul wresting the top slot at Rs 20,500 followed by Jharsuguda Rs 19,800

For housewife Rudrarani Pradhan of Budharaja, the Union Budget has failed to bring any cheer. The tax on gold has been hiked making gold even more dearer and out of the reach of common man. Cost Accountant Yangya Narayan Pradhan said exemption limit on income tax should have been raised to at least Rs 2.5

Surveys for three new railway lines have been announced in the 2012-13 railway budget. The lines for which surveys have been announced are, Raipur-Bargarh via Aarang, Tumgaon, Jhalap and Sairapali, Ambikapur-Jharsuguda to connect with Delhi main line and Ambikapur-Jharsuguda via Batuali, Sitapur, Pathalgaon and Kotba.  Proposals for two new lines, Raipur-Jharsuguda and Rayagada-Gopalpur have been

Train journeys between Chennai and Bangalore could become even more comfortable and luxurious soon with the railways proposing to launch an air-conditioned double-decker daily service connecting the two major south Indian cities. Announcing this in the railway budget on Wednesday, Minister for Railways Dinesh Trivedi informed the House that several new trains would be introduced

While there is clearly no bonanza for Tamil Nadu in the Railway Budget for 2012-13 presented by Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi in Parliament on Wednesday, the proposals for 14 trains across categories, including eight express trains, extension of nine trains, 18 additional suburban services for Chennai and four railway electrification projects should provide some cheer

High drama unfolded outside the office of the District Rural Development Agency after the newly-elected ZP president Sobhagini Naik of the BJD was bundled into a vehicle along with other ZP members and driven to an undisclosed destination. It has reportedly been done keeping in mind the upcoming vice-president election. Naik defeated Anita Singh of

Venting his discontent against the Railway Budget for 2012-13 for its failure to address Orissa’s priorities and concerns, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik termed the Centre’s allocation of Rs 714 crore for the state as ‘grossly insufficient’. Patnaik trained his guns on the Centre for raising passenger fares, a move, he said, would adversely affect the