Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Wednesday announced that his government would return the money to the people who lost their savings after the Urban Cooperative Bank, Bhubaneswar shut operations in 2015. Addressing a function from where he launched 1,542 Multipurpose Primary Agriculture Cooperatives (MPACs), Majhi said his government took the decision to return []

Cuttack: A man allegedly stabbed his wife to death in Odishas Cuttack Wednesday, and then when he was trying to slit his own throat, he was overpowered by his neighbours, police said. The incident happened at Siddheswar Sahi in Lalbag police station area in the afternoon, they said. Biswajit Mallick and Bishnupriya Mallick, both in []

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Wednesday announced that the second instalment of the Subhadra Yojana will be credited to the accounts of beneficiary women in March 2025 on the occasion of International Womens Day. The CM confirmed that under the scheme, a flagship initiative of the BJP government in state, one crore women will []

New Delhi: A man in his early 30s tried to immolate himself near the new Parliament building Wednesday afternoon, an official of the Delhi Fire Service said. A call regarding the incident near the Railway Bhawan opposite the Parliament building was received at around 3.35pm and a fire tender was pressed into service, the official []

Patna: Union Minister Giriraj Singh has demanded the Bharat Ratna, Indias highest civilian award, for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik. Speaking to the media in Begusarai, Singh highlighted the transformative contributions of both leaders to their respective states. He lauded Naveen Patnaiks enduring tenure in Odisha, commending his dedication []

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Wednesday said former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee through his work and decisive actions had shown the country the path of rapid development. On the occasion of Good Governance Day, observed to mark the birth anniversary of Vajpayee, Majhi said the former prime minister has played an important []

Bhubaneswar: The family members of a government official, who was allegedly assaulted by outgoing Odisha Governor Raghubar Das son six months ago, Wednesday expressed hope that the culprit will be taken to task in accordance with the law. Assistant section officer Baikuntha Pradhans wife Sayoji said, We hope that the government will now take action []

Kendrapara: Odisha Police Wednesday seized nine illegal wireless sets from the homes of seven persons spread across four villages in Kendrapara district, officials said. Acting on a tip-off, police conducted raids and seized the sets from Talachua, Amarabati, Bhanjaprasad, and Sailendranagar villages, police added. The villagers did not have licenses to use Very High Frequency []

Bhubaneswar/Phulbani: Incessant rains dampened the Christmas celebrations in most parts of Odisha Wednesday. Prayer services, candle processions and community feasts were held as usual in churches of various denominations across the state. Streets were decked up with decorative lights in various parts of Kandhamal, Gajapati, Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts, which have large Christian populations. []

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has asked all civic bodies across the state to initiate a process to receive applications under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) 2.0, an official statement said Wednesday. Odisha Urban Housing Mission (OUHM) under the Housing & Urban Development Department has issued an instruction to the civic bodies to this effect. []

Joda: A man was arrested for killing his close friend in Joda area of Odishas Keonjhar district, a source said Wednesday. The accused, identified as Durga Naik allegedly killed Bhagabat Besra (40) by attacking the latter with a heavy object, while another man, Dashrath Karua, suffered severe head injuries, including a fractured skull in the []

Nainital: In a tragic accident, three people were killed and several others injured as a bus carrying 27 people plunged into a 1,500-feet-deep gorge on the Bhimtal-Ranibagh road in Uttarakhands Nainital district Wednesday. The bus was en route from Almora to Haldwani when the incident occurred on the Ranibagh road. Rescue operations were initiated immediately []

Balasore: The police superintendent of Balasore district suspended Sartha police outpost in-charge Chandra Sekhar Mohanty on charges of dereliction of duty, a source said Wednesday. According to the source, Ajay Das the owner of a cloth store in Sartha village had filed an FIR with the local police after his store was burgled []

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and his predecessor and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik Wednesday paid tributes to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his birth anniversary. The Odisha governments Information and Public Relations (I&PR) Department, in a message, termed Vajpayee as Vikas Purush and said the state scaled new heights under his []

Hyderabad: Actor Allu Arjun, producers and director of Pushpa 2: The Rule have announced Rs 2 crore for the family of the woman who was killed and her son who was critically injured during the premiere show of the movie at Sandhya Theatre December 4. Allu Arjuns father and well-known producer Allu Arvind made the []

In 2024, people voted in countries that were home to almost half the worlds population. The votes took place at a time of global unrest, with conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East, and cost-of-living crises in many countries after the COVID-19 pandemic rippled out into supply chain shortages and high inflation. From India to []

Mumbai: Filmmaker Karthik Subbarajs upcoming film starring Suriya and Pooja Hegde has been christened Retro. It was on Christmas Wednesday when the actors took to their respective social media accounts to announce the title of the gangster drama. Suriya took to X, formerly called Twitter, where he shared the title teaser and wrote: Merry Christmas []

Bhubaneswar: Outgoing Odisha Governor Raghubar Das Wednesday said the BJP would decide about his future role. Das visited Jagannath temple in Puri this morning to offer prayers before the deities. Speaking to media persons in Puri, Das said, I come from a labour family and took membership of the BJP in 1980. I have served []

Mumbai: Actress Triptii Dimri, who is currently holidaying in the UK, gorged on some delicious Indian food as she says it hits different abroad. Triptii took to her Instagram stories, where she shared a string of pictures from her English holiday. In her stories section, she shared moments from the well-lit street, having ice-cream, glimpses []

Mumbai: Actress and former beauty queen Sushmita Sen is set to bring in the new magical year with a new look. Sushmita took to Instagram, where she shared a video of herself getting a haircut at the salon. The actress cut her hair short and could be seen sporting fringes. New yearNew look!!! 2025 ready []

Mumbai: Actress Sharvari shared glimpses of her Christmas celebrations at the Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. Sharvari took to Instagram, where she dropped a gamut of pictures, which included her posing with her sister, photographs of tigers, a childhood photo of her dressed as a tiger, a sky full of stars, driving a jeep []

New Delhi: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes Australia having a brittle batting line-up means India have its nose ahead in the run-up to the Boxing Day Test, starting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Thursday. The five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series is currently tied at 1-1. I think its been pretty brittle. When you []

Palghar: A court in Maharashtras Palghar district has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for raping a 40-year-old mentally challenged woman in 2021. Additional Sessions Judge AV Choudhari-Inamdar, in her order Tuesday, held that the prosecution has successfully proved all the charges against the 45-year-old accused, Dashrath Maruti Sutar, a resident of Kev in Vikramgad []

Peshawar: Pakistan, in rare airstrikes, targeted multiple suspected hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban inside neighbouring Afghanistan Tuesday, dismantling a training facility and killing some insurgents, four security officials said. The strikes were carried out in a mountainous area in Paktika province bordering Pakistan, said the officials. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they []

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Tuesday congratulated Hari Babu Kambhampati on his appointment as the new governor of Odisha. President Droupadi Murmu earlier in the evening accepted the resignation of Raghubar Das as the governor of Odisha and appointed Mizoram governor Kambhampati in his place. Deputy CM KV Singh Deo also congratulated the new []

Bhubaneswar: The opposition BJD Tuesday said it lodged the complaint with the Election Commission claiming unusual variances in the votes cast in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Odisha after six months as it took time to gather the data. Addressing a press conference, BJD MLA Arun Kumar Sahoo alleged that district election officers []

Bhadrak: The main accused in the incident of attack on police and a magistrate during an unauthorised rally in Odishas Bhadrak town September 27, has been arrested, an officer said Tuesday. A team led by Additional Superintendent of Police of Bhadrak district Anshuman Dwibedi arrested the prime accused from Bhadrak town almost three months after []

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government Tuesday appointed IAS officer R Santhanagopalan as the Secretary, Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Department. Santhanagopalan, a 2001-batch officer, is presently working as the Chief Electoral Officer, Odisha and Ex-officio Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Home (Elections) Department. He will remain in additional charge of Secretary, SSEPD Department, an official []

Bhadrak: A human skull and pieces of bones were found near a culvert in Bhadrak district Tuesday, police said. A fisherman discovered the skull entangled in his net at Betada village in Basudevpur area, they said. A local fire service team later reached the spot and conducted further examination in presence of police personnel, an []

Mendhar/Jammu: Five soldiers were killed and five others were injured when a vehicle carrying them skidded off the road and rolled down into a gorge in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district Tuesday evening, Army officials said. The accident occurred in the Gharoa area when an Army vehicle was on its way to Banoi in the []

Bhubaneswar: State-owned Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) will invest Rs 61,000 crore to set up a naphtha cracker project at Paradip in Odisha, a statement said Tuesday. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for this will be signed between the Odisha government and the IOCL in January during the Utkarsh Odisha Make in Odisha 2025 []

Rourkela: A three-year-old boy was killed after being hit by a speeding truck in Odishas Sundargarh district Tuesday, police said. The accident took place on NH-143, which runs through Biramitrapur town in the district. Police said the kid and his family were riding a scooter when a speeding bike coming from the opposite direction collided []

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Tuesday accused former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of insulting BR Ambedkar and asked the Congress to tender an unconditional apology to the people of India. In a hastily convened press briefing in Bhubaneswar, Majhi said, The Congress and its leaders have insulted Ambedkar and even campaigned against him []

Washington: The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered all American Airlines flights grounded in the US after the carrier reported a technical issue affecting its entire system with millions travelling for the holiday. In social media replies to frustrated travellers, the airline said: Our team is currently working to rectify this. Your continued patience is appreciated. []

New Delhi: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar Tuesday said one should not use a vegetable-cutting knife for bypass surgery and asserted that the notice for his removal from the post was actually a rusted tool. In his first reaction on the notice submitted by the opposition INDIA bloc, Dhankhar said, Just look at the notice against []

Dubai: India will play all their matches of the Champions Trophy in Dubai with the marquee clash against arch-rivals Pakistan scheduled February 23, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Tuesday. PTI had reported last week that India will play all their matches in Dubai including the semifinal and final if they qualify. As has been []

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Congress Tuesday organised Ambedkar Samman March across the state in protest against Union Home Minister Amit Shahs alleged remarks against BR Ambedkar. Carrying posters and pictures of Ambedkar, Congress leaders and supporters held demonstrations in Bhubaneswar, Koraput, Dhenkanal and Malkangiri. They raised slogans against BJPs Shah for allegedly insulting Ambedkar during the []

Mumbai: Actors Sidharth Malhotra, Janhvi Kapoors cross-cultural romance film Param Sundari has been locked for theatrical release July 25, 2025. The film is by production house Maddock Films, directed by Tushar Jalota of Dasvi fame. It centers on a love story between a North Indian played by Sidharth and a South Indian girl, filmed in []

New Delhi: Double Olympic medallist shooter Manu Bhakers coach Jaspal Rana Tuesday castigated the Sports Ministry, Sports Authority of India and the National Rifle Association of India, holding them responsible for ignoring his wards credentials for the Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award. The champion shooters omission has sparked a controversy even though ministry sources have []

New Delhi: With the arrest of 11 people, Delhi Police Tuesday claimed to have unearthed a gang involved in the illegal immigration of Bangladeshi nationals. Among those arrested, four are Bangladeshi citizens and the rest were allegedly involved in making forged documents, an official said. The gang was busted when our team tracked down four []

Mumbai: Actor Karan Singh Grover turned Santa Claus to bring joy to his daughter Devi and wife Bipasha Basu. Bipasha took to Instagram, where she shared a string of pictures from the Christmas celebrations at home. She even shared a video of Karan rapping as Santa. An image had Devi adorably pouting for a picture []

Karachi: Pakistans premier fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi had requested the team management and national selectors to not consider him for the Test matches in South Africa because of workload management since he wants to be 100 percent fit for the ICC Champions Trophy in February-March. After the Pakistan squad was announced for the two []

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Tuesday claimed that he was also a victim of chit fund scams and urged people to be aware of the activities of ponzi firms to save their hard-earned money. Majhi said this while addressing a function to celebrate the State-Level National Consumers Day in Bhubaneswar. I was also []

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Tuesday unveiled statues of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Cuttack and eminent scholar Bagmi Biswanath Kar in Bhubaneswar as part of the states initiative to honour 21 renowned personalities in 2024. Vajpayees 10-foot bronze statue was placed at Belview Chhak in Cuttack, while Kars statue was []

Jaipur: Efforts were on to take out three-year-old Chetna, who fell into a 700-ft deep borewell in Kiratpura in Rajasthans Kotputli with the rescue team now using the hook technique, said officials Tuesday. Locally termed Jugaad, the rescue teams will try to pull out the girl with the help of a hook attached to a []

Melbourne: Ahead of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, India captain Rohit Sharma has backed star batter Virat Kohli to come back strong in the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia. Kohli, who scored a hundred in the second innings in Perth, has endured a series of low scores of 7, 11, and []

Balasore: A Royal Bengal Tiger skin was seized and four people were arrested in this connection, a forest officer said Tuesday. Acting on a tip-off, a team comprising forest personnel from Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts conducted a raid in Soro Barajadeuli beat under Talapada wildlife section and seized a Royal Bengal Tiger skin and arrested []

Bhubaneswar: In a move towards launching green hydrogen mobility project in Odisha, a tripartite agreement was signed between three state-owned agencies, an official said Tuesday. The agreement was signed Monday by Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) managing director Tirumala Nayak, Grid Corporation of Odisha Limited (GRIDCO) managing director Trilochan Panda and NTPC CGM M R []

Mumbai: The filming for Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Ahan Shetty-starrer Border 2 has commenced. A tweet from the label T-Series on X, previously called as Twitter, read: The cameras are rolling for Border 2! With Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Ahan Shetty leading the charge, this Anurag Singh directorial, []

Keonjhar/Barbil: Tension ran high after miscreants desecrated a temple of Lord Hanuman and dumped the deitys idol outside after removing it from the shrine at Akhadashal in New Market area under Ward No-9 of Barbil in Keonjhar district, late Sunday night. The untoward incident sparked widespread unrest in the locality. The idol was allegedly removed []