Cuttack: Property worth lakhs was gutted at the godown-cum factory of Ruchi Spices at Khapuria on Sunday. Though the cause of fire is yet to be ascertained, it is suspected that a short circuit led to the mishap. he fire, which apparently broke at the broiler unit of the company on the ground floor around 5am, soon spread to the manufacturing units of the factory. Employees said the fire first caught the unit manufacturing vermicelli and later spread to the two other units manufacturing spices and pasta. Besides finished product, a lot of equipment was also destroyed. hough the employees tried in vain to extinguish the fire with fire-fighting equipment. Later, fire personnel were called to control the situation. Bhubaneswar: A 14-year-old school boy, Papu Nayak, drowned in Kuakhai river near Bankuala on the outskirts of the city on Sunday morning. The victim and his three friends were bathing, when two of them noticed that the deceased and another Keshab Majhi were drowning. Though the two others raised an alarm and local villagers came to their rescue, but they could not save Papu. Later, fire service personnel were called and they retrieved the body of Papu after a two-hour-long search. Papu studied at a high school near Sishupalgarh, his native village. Balasore: Forty people of Remuna block were taken ill after reportedly consuming “prasad” of Goddess Laxmi. While most of them were admitted to the local community health centre, 18 were shifted to the district headquarters hospital here. The affected persons developed nausea, giddiness, vomiting and loose motion after consuming the offerings on Friday afternoon. The affected persons belonged to Bhuinchhada village. Cuttack: Local police on Sunday seized a mauser and five live cartridges from the shop of Kartik Behera, prime accused in the Sikharpur blast case. Earlier, Behera was taken on remand after he surrendered before the court on Saturday. Five persons were injured in a crude bomb explosion at Behera’s shop at Nadikula Sahi on October 8. Cuttack: The second season of Orissa Premier League (OPL) will begin on April 1 while the inaugural match would be played on April 2. The final match would be played on April 22. This was decided at the OPL governing body held on Sunday. This time two new teams would feature taking the total team member to 12.The base price for each franchise to select player has been increased to Rs 10 lakh from Rs 8 lakh. “All the matches would be played at six different venues instead of four,” said Ashirbad Behera, secretary Orissa Cricket association. Similarly, the prize money has also been increased for the second edition. The winning team will get Rs 5 lakh while the runners-up would get Rs 3 lakh.
Tuesday, 10 February 2026
