Tag: Bhubaneswar

CM promotes Odisha tourism and sports in Japan’s Kyoto

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mr Naveen Patnaik, on April 8, 2023, hosted a roundtable discussion in Kyoto with a focus on opportunities for collaboration between Japan and Odisha in Tourism and Sports.

The discussion was attended by major tour operators and representatives of the hospitality sector from Japan as well as participation from various Japanese sports associations and representatives from the sports sector.

During the discussion, the Chief Minister highlighted the immense potential of Odisha as a tourist destination, with a particular emphasis on leveraging Odisha’s rich Buddhist tradition, especially the heritage sites in Dhauli, Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri. He spoke about the various initiatives undertaken by the Government of Odisha to promote tourism and improve tourism infrastructure in the state.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik meets the tourism and sports sector delegates in Kyoto
Emphasises on the Buddhist cultural ties between Japan and Kalinga; Invites them to visit Odisha and explore tourism opportunities
Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel sign MoU for establishing Gymnastics High Performance center and Training centers in Odisha
The Chief Minister also highlighted the significant strides made by Odisha in the sports sector and expressed his hope for collaboration with Japanese sports associations and universities.

Chief Minister Sri Patnaik highlighted the Government of Odisha’s focus on the field of hockey. He informed the audience about the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, the world’s largest hockey stadium in terms of seating capacity and how it was built in a record 15 months’ time. He also spoke about the focus of the Government of Odisha on improving sports at the grassroots level.

Recently, the Student Delegates and Professors of Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan had been to KIIT University, Bhubaneswar on an academic exposure trip. The Chief Minister cited this example and urged everyone present to explore such collaborative opportunities. He urged stakeholders in the sports and tourism sector to explore opportunities for collaboration between Japan and Odisha.

During the event, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Government of Odisha and Arcelor-Mittal Nippon Steel for the development of a state-of-the-art Gymnastics Centre in Odisha and for collaboration between AM/NS and the Government of Odisha, to further promote sports in the state.

The delegation also provided an overview of the investment opportunities available in Odisha for Japanese investors in the tourism and sports sectors. The representatives from the tourism and hospitality sector expressed their interest in exploring the possibilities of collaboration with Odisha, given the state’s unique cultural heritage and natural beauty.

The roundtable discussion provided an excellent opportunity for both the Japanese and Odisha delegations to explore avenues of collaboration in tourism and sports. The meeting concluded with the participants expressing their commitment to working towards strengthening ties between Japan and Odisha in these critical sectors.

The Chief Minister expressed his appreciation for the warm hospitality extended by the people of Kyoto and conveyed his hope that the visit would contribute to further strengthening the relationship between Japan and Odisha.

Principal Secretary, Industries Hemant Sharma made a detailed presentation on the Tourism sector in Odisha and the opportunities with State policy. Secretary Sports Vineel Krishna made a presentation on the sports sector-related activities and the unique partnership model promoted by the state.

The delegates actively participated in the deliberations and showed active interest in partnering with Odisha.

April 8, 2023
Laxmisagar Police arrest Govt officer for duping of Rs 5 crore from job aspirants

Bhubaneswar: Another job fraud racket has been busted in Odisha. This time the accused is a government official. Laxmisagar Police in Bhubaneswar arrested the Junior Assistant of the Rural Development Department. He had duped more than Rs 5 crores from job aspirants by issuing fake Appointment letters and Service Books.

The accused has been identified as Bibhuti Bhusan Mishra, the Junior Assistant of the Rural Development Department in Ranapur.

As per reports, the accused duped about 300 job aspirants and illegally earned money to the tune of more than Rs 5 crores. In lieu of his government service he was gaining trust of the boys and girls. And letter he was issuing fake Appointment letters and Service Books by putting fake stamps on it.

Reportedly, he had also opened a regional recruitment centre in Cuttack to provide consultancy and was targeting unemployed youngsters. He has allegedly taken money with the false promise of providing the job of JE, SDO and Assistant Engineer in the Rural Development Department. He was reportedly taking money from job aspirants through a number of agents. He was operating the racket from Puri.

A victim of this job fraud, Pitabasa Sahu lodged a complaint against the accused at Laxmisagar Police Station in Bhubaneswar whom the fraudster had issued a fake Service Book and duped him of Rs 15 lakh as per the complainant.

The accused was allegedly operating this job fraud racket since 2014. On the basis of the complaint lodged Laxmisagar Police swung into action and arrested Bibhuti.

It is to be noted that in the last few days, another few cases of job fraud had also been reported in Odisha.

April 8, 2023
Odisha CM Naveen in Japan: Juggernaut running for third day in Tokyo

Bhubaneswar: In a continuing effort to be the country’s leading investment destination, a high-level delegation led by Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik continued its deep foray into hard selling Odisha to a plethora of Business Delegations in Tokyo – Japan for the third day.

Taking the momentum forward on the early gains made on the last few days in Tokyo, the delegation continued with its series of one – on – one meeting.

The delegation which includes the Minister of Industries, MSME, and Energy, the Chief Secretary to the Government of Odisha, Principal Secretary, Industries Department, Principal Secretary, E&IT Department, Secretary to CM, Secretary, Sports and Youth Services, and Managing Director, IPICO, met today stalwarts from the field of IT & ITES, Skilling and logistics and shipping lines. The marquee names included Fuji Soft, NYK Lines, NITKAL and Sumitomo Group.

In line with the huge potential that the state offers in the field of IT and ITeS, the Fuji Soft Group has proposed to open a “Centre of Excellence” in the state capital of Bhubaneswar. Buoyed by the steady supply of software engineers and skilled workforce in the above sector, Bhubaneswar has been a happy hunting ground for all the marquee labels who are already present in the state. With Fuji Soft proposing to open the proposed CoE, it will add the required fillip to the already burgeoning field.

Keeping in focus the skill development initiatives of the state, NITKAL (Nihon-UTKAL) has tied up with OUTR (Odisha University of Technology & Research) to set up a dedicated skill development centre in the state to cater to the huge demand for trained work force in Japan. NITKAL (Nihon-UTKAL) is also continuing its dialogue with IIIT for establishing a dedicated Japan centric centre for skill development in the relevant field.

Logistics and storage for the new sunrise sector of Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia continues to attract a large amount of traction. Keeping in lines with these modern initiatives, 2 of the stalwarts in its field, met the high-level delegation led by the Chief Minister.

First off, the block NYK Lines (Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha) evinced keen interest in setting up dedicated shipping lines, starting from the port-of-call Paradeep/Gopalpur/Dhamra to transport out the Green Ammonia to the countries which are committed to the greening of the said sector, especially the south east Asia right up to Japan. They were briefed by the high-level delegation about our existing port infrastructure and the future development prospects.

Sumitomo Corporation a global fortune 500 company met the delegation and evinced interest for creating tankage and storage facilities for the green hydrogen and green ammonia sector. They are zeroing in at Gopalpur, which, with its, SEZ located just next door, happens to be an ideal location for the same.

The Chief Minister instructed all the officials to create a roadmap for all these investments in the sunrise sector and create time lines to achieve a quick turnaround for all the proposals received.

The visit of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to Japan continues to buttress the commitment of the state government to promote Odisha as a favourable investment destination and strengthen the emerging economic and cultural ties with Japan. The group would proceed to Kyoto today, to continue with the initiatives and initiate further bulwark in the field of sports and tourism.

April 7, 2023
Odisha Govt Replaces Jharsuguda Collector Ahead Of Byelection To Assembly Seat

Bhubaneswar: One month ahead of the byelection to Jharsuguda Assembly constituency in Odisha, the state government has effected a change in the district collector.

A notification, issued by the General Administration and Public Grievances department on Thursday, stated that Subarnapur district collector Aboli Sunil Naravane has been appointed as Jharsuguda collector.

“In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 20 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 (Act II of 1974), the state government hereby appoints Aboli Sunil Naravane as the District Magistrate of Jharsuguda,” the notification stated.

Naravane, a 2015 batch IAS officer, will replace present Jharsuguda collector Saroj Samal.

It may be noted that the byelection to Jharsuguda Assembly seat will be held on May 10. The bypoll was necessitated following the murder of its BJD MLA and Health minister Naba Kishore Das on January 29.

April 6, 2023
Stray dogs killed in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar, FIR lodged!

Bhubaneswar: In a shocking incident as many as six street dogs have been killed in Bhubaneswar, said reliable reports on Monday.

According to reliable reports, as many as six street dogs have been poisoned to death in Chandrashekharpur area of Bhubaneswar.

This incident has drawn heavy criticism from animal lovers across the state and the state capital of Bhubaneswar. Many of the locals of the area were of the opinion that this act should draw immediate police action.

It is however worth mentioning that a police complaint has been lodged in this matter with the Chandrashekharpur police station. The case has been filed under appropriate sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960.

April 3, 2023
Forgery in the name of job, EOW arrested 2 people

Bhubaneswar: Economic Offences Wing cracked a huge job fraud racket in which at least 200 job seekers of Odisha have been duped by scammers.

EOW has arrested two main accused namely Rajkishore Pattnaik of Biraja Complex, Bomikhal, Bhubaneswar and Arun Mohanty of Rental Colony, Nayapalli, Bhubaneswar today.

The arrested persons will be produced before the Court of SDJM, Bhubaneswar. The instant case was registered on the allegation of one of the victims Kumudini Sahoo of Bhubaneswar that the accused Rajkishore Pattnaik, Arun Mohanty and Bhawani Shankar Das duped her of an amount of Rs. 8.15 lakhs for arranging Govt. job by exhibiting the forged documents like appointment letters, logo and seals of Govt. of Odisha.

Accused Rajkishore Pattnaik assured her of a Govt. job i.e. Clerk at Raj Bhawan for a monthly salary of Rs. 34,000/- and demanded Rs.6 lakhs for the purpose. She paid around Rs.2 lakh as advance but after getting money Rajkishore Pattnaik started avoiding her.

Then she came in contact with accused Arun Mohanty and Bhawani Shankar Das. Arun Mohanty assured her to arrange a job for her within a week and demanded Rs.7 lakhs for that. She paid the amount but could not get any job.

The scammers have also cheated Rs.1.05 lakh from one Sushant Kumar Muduli for the post of school peon, Rs.4.50 lakhs from one Deepak Kumar Nayak for the post of Peon in the Khordha
Collectorate, Rs.2 lakhs from one Dipu Biswal for the job of Peon in Raj Bhawan, Bhubaneswar etc.

During investigation so far, it was revealed that these Thugs have duped hundreds of job aspirants of Odisha showing them forged/fabricated Government letters/ Logo/ Seal/ selection list etc.

During search of houses of both the Scammers, hundreds of incriminating forged documents like Govt. appointment letters, joining letters and seals of Lok Seva Bhawan and Secretariat have been seized along with hundreds of resumes, bio-data, mark sheets, application forms and fake appointment letters of candidates for different posts like peon, clerk, fire man, security etc. in different departments of Govt. of Odisha like Raj Bhawan, Education Department, Energy Department, Secretariat, Traffic Police, Excise Department, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Income Tax Department etc.

The investigation in the case is underway.

April 3, 2023
Odisha Govt announces Odia film ‘Delivery Boy’ tax-free

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Government on Monday announced the Odia film ‘Deliver Boy’ Tax-free. CM Naveen Patnaik approved the said proposal today and the film was announced tax-free.

Directed by Aswini Tripathy and produced by Jyotiranjan Mohanty, ‘Delivery Boy’ dwells upon the struggle of a delivery boy, who use to deliver parcels at the door step.

When it comes to the plot of the film a delivery boy gets killed in a road accident. Later, his collegues fought for justice for the deceased boy to finally get justice. The film has also tried to educate people on road safety.

Buddhaditya Mohanty, Shailendra Samantray, Sushanta Dasmohapatra, Priyambada and Suryamayee have acted in the major roles of the film.

It is to be noted that recently Odisha government had also made Hindi film ‘Zwigato’ tax free.

April 3, 2023
Odisha CM Naveen arrives at Singapore airport to attend Odisha Business Meet Tokyo

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has reached Singapore Airport. He will attend the Odisha Business Meet Tokay 2023 tomorrow.

As per latest reports, it has been learnt that soon direct flight services from Bhubaneswar to Singapore likely to commence, said the CM. He has hoped that by May end the said direct flight service will commence. This will open new opportunities for commercial investment.

Odisha State Government and ITES Singapore have existing agreement on skill development. Students from Odisha are getting trained here.

After 7 hours of fight journey the CM along with the delegation will reach Tokyo.

It is to be noted that a high level delegation led by the CM will visit Japan on April 4 to promote investment opportunities in Odisha.

April 3, 2023
Naveen Patnaik meets OFCH delegation, invites IOC President to visit Odisha

Bhubaneswar: A team of delegates led by Director Olympic Foundation for culture and Heritage (OFCH) today met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and discussed the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) being implemented in the state.

The OFCH delegation included Angelita Teo, Director of Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage- International Olympic Committee, Frederique Jamolli, Head International Cultural Affairs, IOC, and Xenia Kourgouzova, Senior Manager Education, IOC and Olympian Abhinav Bindra, Founder, Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust.

Welcoming the members, Chief Minister Patnaik applauded the effort of the IOC to promote the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) amongst the school students in Odisha, with focus on the values of Friendship, Excellence and Respect.

The members appreciated the support extended by the Chief Minister and the Odisha Government in making this unique programme a success.

Noteworthy, Odisha was the first state to implement OVEP in India and Chief Minister Patnaik had launched the initiative in May 2022. Since then 32000 young children have been impacted by this programme which was introduced in 90 schools across Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. The program is all set to scale up and impact more than 1.5 lakh school children in 250 schools in Odisha.

The Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage will be visiting the OVEP intervened school in Bhubaneswar on 3rd and 4th April, 2023.

The initiative is being implemented in collaboration with the Odisha Department of School and Mass Education (SME) and the Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust.

The delegates were delighted by the decision of Chief Minister to support the Olympic Forest Network program of the IOC through more than 1 million trees plantation this year. The IOC had earlier announced its commitment to be climate positive in 2024 in alignment with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in April 2021.

Chief Minister handed over the delegation a letter invitating the IOC President Thomas Bach to Odisha when he comes to India for the IOC session in Mumbai later this year in October.

The delegation expressed its pleasure to see the support of the state government towards sports and promoting Olympic values. Chief Minister thanked them for their visit and committed on support for more such projects in Odisha.

April 2, 2023
Chief Minister Naveen said- Table Tennis Academy will be established in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack

Bhubaneswar: Delegates from International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and International Table Tennis Federation foundation met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today

The delegation included Petra Sorling, President, ITTF and ITTF foundation, Leandro Olvech, Director, ITTF Foundation, Saurabh Mishra, Programme Manager, ITTF Foundation, Julia Tappendorf, Program Coordinator, ITTF Foundation.

President, ITTF, Petra Sörling presented Chief Minister Patnaik the Table Tennis for Development handbook on using table tennis for social change, developed in partnership with GIZ, and Pro Sport Development India, who are running the Community Table Tennis project in Bhubaneswar, supported by the ITTF Foundation’s Dream Building Fund.

Welcoming the delegation, Chief Minister Patnaik praised the effort of the ITTF to promote Table Tennis in the state and country and assured them of all support.

The delegation expressed their delight and keenness to be in Odisha and work closely with the Government and support the state’s endeavour to grow the sport of Table Tennis. They shared that they will organise competitive events, plan social legacy of table tennis events, and provide coach education in Table Tennis.

ITTF Foundation strongly supports the Chief Minister’s vision of using sport to empower and develop the youth of Odisha, and to use sport as a tool to leave behind a stronger, sustainable future. The ITTF Foundation is the ITTF Group’s sport for development body and is supporting a project in Bhubaneswar to use table tennis for gender empowerment and equality.

Chief Minister informed the delegation on the state government’s decision to set up Table Tennis academies in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Also Table Tennis training centres will be set up across all the indoor halls in the state. He sought their help in coaches training programs and hosting international TT events in Odisha.

The delegation expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister for his focus on sports and for his plan towards TT development. They appreciated the Commonwealth TT championship organised in 2019 in Cuttack and assured support to bring more such events to Odisha.

April 2, 2023