Odisha Pro T20 League To Begin On September 17 In Cuttack

President Shri Pankaj Lochan Mohanty: The inaugural edition of the Odisha Pro T20 League (OPTL) will now be held from September 17 to September 26, 2025, at the iconic Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. The announcement of the revised dates was made today by the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA). The league, featuring six franchises, will culminate with the grand finale on September 26. The six franchises competing for the inaugural title are Cuttack Panthers, Sambalpur Warriors, Puri Titans, Bhubaneshwar Tigers, Keonjhar Miners, and Rourkela Steelers. Earlier this week, the captains and coaches of each franchise were announced through a draw system conducted by the OCA. The player draft for the first edition was held today in the presence of top OCA officials, including President Shri Pankaj Lochan Mohanty, Secretary Mr. Sanjay Behera, Joint Secretary Mr. Prabhat Bhol, and Treasurer Mr. Bikash Pradhan. Franchise owners and OCA members were also present. Smt. Subhashree Behera, owner of the Cuttack Panthers, was among those who attended the event. Shri Asirbad Behera, Secretary of the Football Association of Odisha and Chairman of the Odisha Athletic Association, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. During the draft, 16 players were picked by each franchise, with the option of adding two more before the tournament begins. The categories of player fees were also confirmed: Marquee 1,25,000; Category A 1,00,000; Category B 75,000; Category C 50,000; and Category D 40,000. Speaking at the event, OCA Secretary Sanjay Behera said, The Odisha Pro T20 League marks a transformative step in the journey of cricket in our state. With top-tier talent and professional execution, we are confident this league will become a major force in Indian domestic cricket. We wish all the players and the franchises the best of luck and hope that everyone brings their best sportsman spirit, talent, and showcases the depth of cricketing talent in Odisha. To ensure smooth execution, OCA has partnered with Arivaa Sports as the exclusive management partner. Arivaa Sports has experience in successfully running similar franchise leagues in Bengal, Vidarbha, and Saurashtra. Franchise Squads: Cuttack Panthers Head Coach: Pravanjan Mullick | Assistant Coach: Bibhudat Panda | Captain: Swastik Samal Squad: Swastik Samal (Marquee Player), Biplab Samantray, Abhishek Raut, Harshit Rathod, Subham Satrujit, Tapas Kumar Das, Panakala Sasanka, Dinesh Kumar Majhi, Md Sohail Khan, Prashant Rana, Swayam Routray, Raj Yadav, Anurag Mallick, Sibun Nanda, Vagesh Sharma, Abhishek Champati. Sambalpur Warriors Head Coach: RR Das | Assistant Coach: Sushil Kumar Mishra | Captain: Subhranshu Senapati Squad: Subhranshu Senapati (Marquee Player), Prayash Kumar Singh, Shreyansh Bharadwaj, Tarini Sa, Rakesh Pattnaik, Pravin Luha, Ayush K Barik, Vimal Kumar, Sumit Sharma, Swayam Srivastav, Manas Ranjan Patra, Hemant Kumar Rathi, Priyanshu Mohanty, Sarthak S Prakash, Aditya Rout, Rama Chandra Behera. Puri Titans Head Coach: Saurabh Sehgal | Assistant Coach: Deepak Mangaraj | Captain: Sandeep Pattnaik Squad: Sandeep Pattnaik (Marquee Player), Rajesh Mohanty, Kartik Biswal, Ashutosh Chhuria, Anurag Sarangi, Sawan Paharia, Sushil Kumar Barik, Udaya Jata, Surya Mohapatra, Shantanu Mishra, Aditya K Jaysingh, Rudra Prasad Mallick, Piyush Ranjan Mantri, Ayush Sutar, Saransh Kumar, Md Danish. Bhubaneshwar Tigers Head Coach: Preetamjeet Das | Assistant Coach: KV Prasad | Captain: Suryakant Pradhan Squad: Suryakant Pradhan (Marquee Player), Rajesh Dhupar, Gourav Choudhry, Debabrata Pradhan, Badal Biswal, Aryashree D Bhatta, Satyakam Bharadwaj, Bivash Shaw, Sambit Kumar Beja, Subham Priyadarshi, Ansuman Bej, Prayan Prantik Samal, Abhineet K Pattnaik, Swagat S Mishra, Bikram Samal, Md Azharuddin. Keonjhar Miners Head Coach: Sanjay Satapathy | Assistant Coach: Shovan Deb | Captain: Govinda Poddar Squad: Govinda Poddar (Marquee Player), Abhishek Yadav, Om T Munde, Sarbeswar Mohanty, Anil Parida, Sujal Singh, Sayed Tuffel Ahmed, Debabrata Pradhan Jr, Soubhagya Ojha, Abhishek Singh, Panakala Mokshit, Sreeraj Pattnaik, Biswa Baibhab Muduli, Biswa Bhusan Bihari, Soumya Ranjan Lenka, Papu Roy. Rourkela Steelers Squad: Govinda Poddar (Marquee Player), Abhishek Yadav, Om T Munde, Sarbeswar Mohanty, Anil Parida, Sujal Singh, Sayed Tuffel Ahmed, Debabrata Pradhan Jr, Soubhagya Ojha, Abhishek Singh, Panakala Mokshit, Sreeraj Pattnaik, Biswa Baibhab Muduli, Biswa Bhusan Bihari, Soumya Ranjan Lenka, Papu Roy. Also Read: LIVE Cricket Score Squad: Aashirbad Swain (Marquee Player), Sambit S Barala, Saideep Mohapatra, Pradeep Pradhan, Jamela Mohapatra, Ashutosh Marandi, Binayak Sahoo, Shovandeb Behera, Sambit Kumar Sahoo, Milan Samal, Swoop Samit Bhuyan, Biswajit Pradhan, Priya Ranjan Muduli, Akash Mohapatra, Amin Iqbal Khan, Saswat Mohanty. Article Source: IANS

Parliament passes Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, replacing 100-year-old Act

NEW DELHI: Parliament on Wednesday passed The Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill 2025, amid Opposition protests and sloganeering over the Special Intensive Revision issue. A brief debate was held on the Bill amid protests. Several Opposition MPs who stood up to participate in the debate on the Bill, demanded a discussion on SIR. Chair Bhubaneshwar Kalita, however, said anything unrelated to the Bill will not go on record. Moving the Bill, Shantanu Thakur, Minister of State for Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said the Bill intends to replace 100 years old, pre-independence Indian Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1925. The Act establishes the responsibilities, liabilities, rights, and immunities in case of goods carried from a port in India to another port in the country or any other in the world, and is in conformance with the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Bills of Lading of August 1924 (Hague Rules) and subsequent amendments to it. The Bill retains all provisions of the Act. According to a government statement, the bill simplifies the language and structure, making the law more accessible to stakeholders, particularly Indian exporters, importers, and shipping professionals. While retaining the substantive legal framework, the bill aligns it with contemporary drafting practices, reducing ambiguities and minimising the risk of potential litigation. The bill empowers the government allowing India to swiftly adapt to evolving international maritime conventions. It also ensures transparency and accountability by providing for parliamentary oversight of executive notifications.

Air passenger traffic across India soars by 6.6% in opening months of fiscal 2025-26

NEW DELHI: The total passenger traffic across airports in India has grown by 6.6% in the first two months of this financial year, compared to the corresponding period last year, reveals the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Srinagar and Amritsar airports, which were closed for some weeks due to the India-Pakistan conflict following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 this year, have reported a steep decline on the patronage front. AAI data reveals that 71.14 million passengers travelled during April-May of 2025 as compared to 66.73 million in the period in 2024. International traffic soared by 8.8% in the period compared with 13.4 million travellers compared to 12.31 million earlier. Domestic traffic has recorded a 6.1% growth with 57.74 million against the previous 66.73 million. A total of 5.54 crore Air Traffic Movement Movements (Arrivals and Departures) have been recorded in April-May 2025, up by 6.5% over the same period last year, the data shows. The freight traffic too has boomed with an 8.1% increase in April and May of 2025 over the previous year by transporting 643.47 metric tonnes. Airports which have been severely impacted due to Indo-Pak tensions were on expected lines - Srinagar and Amritsar. Passenger traffic in Srinagar dipped by a whopping 67.1% in the two months. Srinagar International Airport had a patronage of just 1,61,214 flyers as compared to 4,89,561 earlier. The Sri Guru Ramdas Ji airport in Amritsar too followed suit with 1,56,288 passengers in the first two months of this fiscal as compared to 2,75,837 last year. The top three airports in passenger traffic in the country continue to be Delhi (93,89,191 flyers), Mumbai (65,68,271) and Bengaluru (64,43,050). The KIA airport in Bengaluru continues its non-stop growth trajectory by recording a 6.7% growth over its performance in April-May 2024. However, Delhi has dipped by 1.2% and Mumbai by 0.5% during the compared period. Airports which have done significantly well over their past performance in the two-month period compared in succeeding years are Bhubaneshwar (25.5% over previous period), Tirupati (49.2%), Varanasi (25.8%) Kannur (33.2%), Patna (32.1%), Agra (77.8) and Agati (42.5%), Durgapur (37%), Bhuj (48.6), Cudappah (58.8%), Dharbanga (52.2%), Dehradun (29.1%), Cooch Behar (38.4%), Dimapur (27.4%), Gorakhpur (995) and Hubballi (37.1%), Jabalpur (92.2%), Jaisalmer (86.4%), Kanpur (57%) and Kishangarh (38.9%), Rajahmundry (46.3%) Nanded (28.3%) Kurnool (34.3%) and Shivamogga (85.5%)

Declined Trumps invite to US for coming to land of Lord Jagannath: PM Modi in Odisha

BHUBANESHWAR, Jun 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he declined an invitation from US President Donald Trump to visit Washington, and instead chose to come to Odisha, the sacred land of Lord Jagannath. The Prime Minister was addressing a rally marking the first anniversary of Odishas maiden BJP government. He also launched a scathing attack on the Congress and accused the opposition party of using tribals for political gains, keeping them backward by branding their habitation as red [] The post Declined Trumps invite to US for coming to land of Lord Jagannath: PM Modi in Odisha appeared first on Daily Excelsior .

Odisha govt to ban non-veg food, liquor near Jagannath temple in Puri: Minister

BHUBANESHWAR, Jun 8 : The Odisha government will ban the sale of non-vegetarian food and liquor within a 2-km radius of the Jagannath temple in Puri, Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan said on Sunday. Speaking to reporters, he said the decision is part of the state governments broader initiative to preserve the sanctity of the holy town. A complete ban on the sale of meat and liquor, including in bars, within a 2-km radius of the Jagannath temple will be enforced, [] The post Odisha govt to ban non-veg food, liquor near Jagannath temple in Puri: Minister appeared first on Daily Excelsior .