Bhubaneswar: Pledging to step up financial support for Odisha's sustainable development, World Bank on Wednesday hailed the state for achieving fiscal stability and poverty reduction. In view of the needs to pursue sustainable and inclusive development, knowledge and financial support for Odisha would be stepped up, World Bank President Robert B Zoellick said in Bhubaneswar. Zoellick, who met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, with his discussions focused on how the World...
01:43 AM, Mar 29, 2012
Bhubaneswar: The Andhra Pradesh-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee has claimed responsibility of the abduction of BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka. The Maoist group has sent another letter believed to be written by the MLA to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. In the letter, the MLA said he was okay and that the government must fulfill the demands of Maoists so that he can return safely. The Maoists have made three demands...
08:34 AM, Mar 27, 2012
Bhubaneshwar:After almost 12 days of captivity, Maoists finally released Claudio Colangelo, one of the two Italian hostages abducted by the Maoists led by Sabyasachi Panda on March 14. The Maoist leader has made two demands including the release of his wife from jail before the Odisha government to set the second Italian hostage free. According to Claudio they were both treated well and were made to sleep in tents while...
09:26 PM, Mar 25, 2012
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday said his government would like to resume negotiation with the Maoist-nominated mediators to secure release of the other Italian still held captive by the ultras. Patnaik expressed happiness at the release of one of the two Italians, 61-year-old Claudio Colangelo. "I am glad to know that they have released one of the two Italian nationals," he told reporters. He hoped that 54-year-old...
08:21 PM, Mar 25, 2012
New Delhi: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday held an emergency meeting at 11.30 am on the ongoing hostage crises in the state. "There is no response from the abductors of the MLA and I hope they will respond immediately. We also do not have any information about the release of the two Italians," the Chief Minister said. The government has not received any demand from the Maoists for...
11:51 AM, Mar 25, 2012
Bhubaneswar: In the wake of abduction of an MLA and the ten-day-old Italian hostage crisis, Opposition Congress on Saturday said it is contemplating to bring a no-confidence motion against the Odisha government for its "failure" in tackling the Maoist menace. The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) has also demanded Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's resignation, Congress chief whip Prasad Harichandan said. "We are contemplating to bring a no-confidence motion against the state...
10:56 PM, Mar 24, 2012
Bhubaneswar: The Maoist crisis in Odisha has taken a turn for the worse, after the two Italians, now a MLA Jhina Hikaka from Naveen Patnaik's party, the BJD, has been abducted. However, top police sources have conformed to CNN-IBN that the Maoists faction responsible for the abducted is different from the one which took the Italians hostage. Hikaka has been kidnapped by Maoists, even as negotiations were on to secure...
09:04 PM, Mar 24, 2012
Bhubaneswar: The two negotiators for the Maoists, B D Sharma and Dandapani Mohanty, on Saturday suspended all talks between the Odisha government and the Naxals citing "atrocities by both parties". Addressing a press conference, the negotiators appealed to the Maoists to free all the three hostages, two Italian nationals and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Jhina Hikaka, on humanitarian grounds. It must be noted that the third round of talks...
04:09 PM, Mar 24, 2012
New Delhi: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday called up Home Minister P Chidambaram and briefed him about the situation arising out of the kidnapping of an MLA and two Italians by Naxals. During their telephonic talk, the Home Minister asked the Chief Minister whether he needed any assistance from the Centre to deal with the situation. However, sources said, Patnaik did not seek any help. Odisha Chief Secretary...
03:09 PM, Mar 24, 2012
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday spoke to the wife of abducted Laxmipur MLA Jhina Hikaka and assured her of all possible steps by the government for securing the release of her husband. "I spoke to Kaushalya, wife of the abducted MLA, and assured her that we will do everything possible for the release of her young husband," Patnaik told reporters. She was also told that two ministers...
02:44 PM, Mar 24, 2012
Bhubaneswar: Hitting out at the BJD government over the abduction of a tribal MLA, the opposition Congress and BJP in Odisha on Saturday accused it of being hand in glove with Maoists and pushing the state into anarchy by ignoring Centre's advisories. "The BJD government is hand in glove with Maoists. It was clear when Maoist-backed panchayat representatives supported BJD candidates in recent zilla parishad elections in Koraput," Leader of...
01:27 PM, Mar 24, 2012
Bhubaneswar: Acting swiftly after the abduction of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Jhina Hikaka by the Maoists, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has decided to send two ministers for negotiating and securing his release. The chief minister has also said that the negotiations with regard to two Italian hostages, who were abducted by the Maoists 11 days ago, will continue with Naxal interlocutors for their release. The statement from Patnaik...
11:14 AM, Mar 24, 2012
Bhubaneshwar: The Maoists on Wednesday offered to release one of the two Italians in their custody. In return they want the Odisha government to meet some of their 13 demands. Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda said, "The government is taking the position as we hear from the media that the demands made by us are not within the ambit of the law and are difficult to fulfill. What we're demanding is...
07:01 PM, Mar 21, 2012
New Delhi: Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday rejected Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik claims that the Centre had not offered any help to the state in dealing with the abduction of two Italians by Maoists. "I don't think the Chief Minister should be making these statements without any basis," Chidambaram told reporters when asked to comment on Patnaik's reported comments. The Home Minister said that the Odisha Chief Minister...
06:10 PM, Mar 21, 2012
New Delhi: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has hit out at the Centre for not helping the state in the Italian abduction issue. He said that the central government did not do anything to end the hostage crisis. "Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Union Home Department are not displaying urgency in the hostage crisis issue. SM Krishna did not even attend to my call initially when the Italian tourist...
07:44 AM, Mar 21, 2012
Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday appointed three negotiators to hold talks with the Maoists over the hostage crisis. ...
11:19 PM, Mar 20, 2012
New Delhi: The Maoist abductors of two Italian nationals on Tuesday forwarded the names of two new mediators after the state government rejected one and another of the three named earlier refused to participate in talks with the state. Meanwhile, the Naveen Patnaik government named three negotiators to hold discussions with the Maoists. Speaking to reporters, Patnaik said, "One of the negotiators, Narayan Sanyal, is not acceptable to us as...
09:09 PM, Mar 20, 2012
Bhubaneswar: The Italian hostage crisis issue figured in Odisha Assembly for the second day on Tuesday with Opposition Congress alleging failure of intelligence system as the incident came to light through media four days after the foreigners were abducted by Maoists. Though the two Italians were abducted by Maoists on March 14, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told the Assembly on Monday that the government came to know about the incident...
05:37 PM, Mar 20, 2012
New Delhi: Naxal leader Sabyasachi Panda has reportedly issued a fresh audio tape regarding the abducted Italian nationals and set Tuesday evening as the new deadline for the state government to respond. The message in the tape says that the two Italian tourists are safe and are being fed well. The Naxals have also announced a unilateral ceasefire and urged the odisha government to declare the halt of all operations...
07:17 AM, Mar 20, 2012
New Delhi: The Maoists responsible for the abduction of two Italian nationals in Odisha on Monday named three mediators for holding talks with the government. Some sections of the local media said that the three interlocuters were Narayan Sanyal, who is in jail in Jharkhand; Dandapani Mohanti, who helped negotiate between the state government and Maoists to facilitate release of former Malkangiri collector; And Biswapriya Kanunga who is an Odisha...
11:14 PM, Mar 19, 2012
