Cong alleges rampant corruption and plunder of BPL rice Bhubaneswar: Alleging rampant corruption and plundering of BPL rice, minerals and from gullibles through chitfund during BJD rule in Odisha, Congress on Sunday claimed it would capture power in the next polls by dumping the Naveen Patnaik government in Bay of Bengal. Addressing a function to accord a reception to the new OPCC President Jayadeb Jenan, senior party leaders including Union Minister Srikant Jena slammed the BJD government of failing on all fronts and vowed to fight it unitedly.



"Congress will make all efforts to return to power in Odisha and throw the BJD government in the Bay of Bengal. The state has been a victim of largescale corruption during the BJD rule," the new PCC President said. Alleging corruption in almost all spheres, Jena said apart from gross irregularities in mining of iron ore and coal, the state witnessed loot of rice supplied by the Centre for people living below the poverty line (BPL). Though the Centre provided 35 kg for each BPL families per month, the state gave them only 25 kg each, thereby diverting 10 kg of rice meant for each of the poor families, the PCC chief and others claimed.

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03:10 AM, May 20, 2013

Lalu holds Parivartan rally in Patna, I-T seeks expense details Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad held a massive 'Parivartan' rally in Patna as the Income Tax department issued a notice to his party seeking details of expenses for the rally. The rally which is being held at Gandhi Maidan in Patna is the first of its kind by RJD after 2005 when it lost power to the NDA. Lalu Prasad reportedly wanted to use the rally as a...  
02:27 PM, May 15, 2013

Bhubaneswar: 3 flights make emergency landings due to rough weather Bhubaneswar: Chaos broke out at Bhubaneswar's Biju Patnaik airport on Sunday night after three flights had to make emergency landings following inclement weather. Heavy showers and rough skies led to the flights landing at Bhubaneswar. The aircraft that made emergency landings due to gutsy winds included two Indigo flights from Raipur to Kolkata and Bangalore to Kolkata, Airport Director Sharad Kumar said said. The Air India flight from Agartala to...  
08:41 AM, May 13, 2013

Lalu's accident: RJD demands probe into security neglect
by IANS
Patna: The RJD on Monday demanded a high level inquiry into the Friday night's accident of party chief Lalu Prasad and accused the Bihar government for neglecting security of the former state chief minister. "Prasad enjoys Z Plus security net. Despite this he was not given any police escort though the DM and SP of Vaishali were given prior intimation of his visit to the district," Leader of Opposition in...  
11:50 PM, May 06, 2013

Metro rail in Patna by 2016, says Bihar Minister
by IANS
Patna: The Bihar capital city's dream of a Metro train may come true by 2016 if the state urban development minister is to be believed. The project is set to cover a distance of 40-km stretch at a cost of Rs 8,000 crore, Urban Development Minister Prem Kumar said. Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) will conduct survey for the construction of the Metro rail in Patna, he said...  
06:08 PM, May 05, 2013

Odisha: Special cell to monitor illegal ore transportation Bhubaneswar: Odisha government on Saturday decided to set up a special cell at the Home Department to keep a tab on illegal transportation of minerals within the state and outside besides intensifying physical verification of different working mines. The decision was taken at a meeting of the State Level Task Force on Mines presided over by Chief Secretary BK Patnaik. "Besides home secretary, secretary of steel and mines and director...  
01:15 AM, May 05, 2013

Lalu Prasad injured in accident, sustains injuries in his head, face New Delhi: RJD chief Lalu Prasad sustained injuries in his head and face when the windshield of his vehicle accidentally broke on Friday. Prasad was immediately rushed to a hospital in Patna, where he was given medical treatment. Prasad was taken to private hospital in city where he was given two stitches on the head and discharged late on Friday night. His PA Bhola Yadav said that the accident occurred...  
09:09 AM, May 04, 2013

Telugu director JD Chakravarthi gears up for his next Though director J D Chakravarthi failed to impress the audience with his earlier films such as 'Homan' and 'Siddham' he hasn't lost hope. The director is now gearing up for a his next untitled film. The latest buzz is that the movie will be produced by Gangapatnam Sreedhar under the banner of Sri Vignesh Karthik Cinema and Chakravarthi productions. The film is going to be a thriller and is said...  
04:18 PM, May 02, 2013

Odisha Congress leaders meet Prime Minister for funds
by IANS
New Delhi: Expressing concern over the misuse of central funds in Odisha, a delegation led by state Congress president Niranjan Patnaik met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek a need-based financial package for the state, party leaders said in Delhi on Saturday. "The prime minister has said that there is no discrimination whatsoever with Odisha as is being claimed by the state government, and under the revised guidelines of backwardness,...  
06:01 AM, Apr 28, 2013

Bihar: Train makes unscheduled stop for pregnant passenger Kanpur: A Patna-bound Express train made an unscheduled stop at Fafoond railway station in Auraiya district after a pregnant passenger complained of labour pain. In the process, a coach of the Sampoorna Kranti Express, which was coming from Delhi, derailed. However, no injuries to any passenger was reported. Amit Malviya, PRO, Northern Central Railways said that the pregnant woman, sitting in S-10 coach of the train, had complained of labour...  
06:41 PM, Apr 27, 2013

Odisha PCC meets Chidambaram, demands special state status New Delhi: A delegation of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee on Friday met Finance Minister P Chidambaram and demanded a financial package for the state on the lines of special allocation for Bihar and conferment of special category status. It also demanded setting up of a high-level fast track inquiry against the BJD government in the state to "expose massive mis-utilisation of public funds". The delegation led by PCC President Niranjan...  
12:45 AM, Apr 27, 2013

BJD trying to exploit people's sentiments: Congress Bhubaneswar: With the BJD intensifying its anti-Centre tirade accusing it of neglecting Odisha, opposition Congress on Monday said the ruling party was trying to "exploit" the sentiments of the people by making such allegations. "BJD is simply exploiting the sentiment of people by taking name of special category state status for Odisha and alleging Central negligence," Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik told reporters. Claiming that the BJD's...  
03:00 AM, Apr 23, 2013

Odisha Cong leaders to meet Prez, PM for special status Bhubaneswar: Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) on Saturday said its leaders would meet President, Prime Minister, Finance Minister and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to press for special category status for the state. "We will meet Prime Minister, Congress resident and others to press Odisha's demand of a special category state status," OPCC President Niranjan Patnaik told reporters after the ruling BJD called for a 12-hour bandh demanding special category status...  
10:58 PM, Apr 20, 2013

Odisha: Girl admitted to hospital only after dharna outside CM's home Cuttack: After running from one hospital to another, parents of an 11-year-old girl with burn injuries staged a dharna in front of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's residence in Cuttack. The incident took place on Friday when the parents of the child were unable to admit their daughter to a hospital. The child was later admitted to the SCB Medical College and Hospital here with over 50 per cent burn injuries...  
10:50 PM, Apr 20, 2013

SC stays own order on the working of information panels
by IANS
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed a part of its judgment which had said that the information commissions would comprise benches of two members with one of the two being a judicial member and the other being an expert member. The court also permitted the filling up the vacant position of the information commissioners. A bench of Justice AK Patnaik and Justice AK Sikri partly stayed the operation...  
04:22 AM, Apr 17, 2013

Most CMs give a miss to Centre's conference on policing New Delhi: Most Chief Ministers on Monday chose to miss a high-level conference, convened to thrash out challenging issues on public order and policing, with only seven state leaders attending it. The conference of Chief Ministers, convened by the Home Ministry, saw attendance of only Chief Ministers of Odisha (Naveen Patnaik), Assam (Tarun Gogoi), Uttarakhand (Vijay Bahuguna), Tripura (Manik Sarkar), Arunachal Pradesh (Nabam Tuki), Meghalaya (Mukul Sangma) and Nagaland (Neiphiu...  
03:00 PM, Apr 15, 2013

Patnaik rules out tie-up with BJP, says Third Front an option

Leaving no scope for the BJP to duck the issue, the Janata Dal (United), one of its key allies, demanded that the party announce its prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general election by year-end. It also added that the candidate should have 'secular credentials'. But former ally, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD Leader Naveen Patnaik, ruled out giving any help to the BJP in its hour of crisis. Reflecting ...
02:13 PM, Apr 15, 2013

Bihar official arrested for raping 14-year-old daughter
by IANS
Patna: A Bihar government official was arrested on Saturday for repeatedly raping his 14-year-old daughter, police said. Akhilesh Kumar, a senior deputy collector, was arrested in Patna following a complaint lodged by his wife that he repeatedly raped his daughter. More details are awaited. ...  
06:07 PM, Apr 13, 2013

Bihar literacy growth rate much ahead of national average: Sushil Kumar Modi Patna: Educational programmes in Bihar have resulted in pushing literacy growth rate in the state to 16.82 per cent, much ahead of national average of 9.28 per cent, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said on Saturday. Social indices like decline in death rate, universalisation of immunisation scheme and rise in per capita income in Bihar reflects that the state was achieving inclusive growth, he said addressing a function here....  
11:19 AM, Apr 13, 2013

Patna court rejects Hasan Ali Khan's bail plea Patna: A local court in the district rejected the bail application of Pune-based businessman Hasan Ali Khan in a fake passport case. Judicial Magistrate Sunil Kumar passed the order summarily rejecting Khan's bail plea on Friday. The police had last week submitted a chargesheet in the court hearing the fake passport case against the businessman, who is presently lodged in a Mumbai jail. A case was lodged against Khan under...  
03:46 PM, Apr 12, 2013