Bhubaneswar: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday asked district collectors to complete the rural electrification works by 2012. Naveen issued the direction while taking a review on the progress of rural electrification works with collectors. The villages which have been left out under the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Programme have been covered under the state’s Biju Gram Jyoti Yojana. In urban areas, the state government has introduced its own scheme Biju Saharanchal Electrification Programme to provide power to people living below poverty line. Bhubaneswar: Vigilance sleuths on Thursday registered a case against the clerk of the chief engineer of the Orissa Power Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL), Debendranath Swain, for demanding illegal gratification Rs 25,000 from one Kuldeep Kumar Dhiman for processing the file for awarding contract to the complainant. In course of investigation, a trap was laid and Swain was caught red handed while accepting the bribe. Bhubaneswar: The 17th edition of the annual Guru Pankaj Utsav, a solo Odissi dancers’ festival kicked off in the capital on Thursday. The festival is organised to celebrate the birth anniversary of the late guru Pankaj Charan Das by the Guru Pankaj Charan Odissi Research Foundation. The Mahari award for this year, instituted by the foundation, will be received by Mumbai-based Odissi danseuse Shubhada. The award carries a citation, a memento and a cash of Rs 25,000. Bhubaneswar: The National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco), the nava ratna public sector, under the ministry of mines, has paid Rs 476 crore as advance income tax for the financial year 2010-11, as against Rs 295 crore paid for the last fiscal. The increased tax payment is primarily because of improved market conditions and better performance on funds management, an official release said. Bhubaneswar: Two girl students of a government school in Balasore on Thursday consumed poison for unknown reasons. While one succumbed, the other is undergoing treatment at the government hospital. Sandhyarani Majhi and Aparajita Panigrahi of Abhana were students of Class IX. Both of them complained of giddiness and uneasiness to the school headmaster who immediately rushed the duo to hospital. Sandhyarani’s life, however, could not be saved. The reason for their consuming poison is not. The deceased’s body has been sent for post-mortem. Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Mobile Health Unit Doctors’ Association have threatened to launch a pen down strike if the services of doctors posted in the mobile health units are not regularised by the government.
Tuesday, 10 February 2026
