According to the latest assessment, 800 houses were damaged in the violence since December 24 with 580 families, including 336 below the poverty line, affected.
Protesters torched 24 houses in Kandhamal on Saturday as the death toll in the week-long communal violence rose to 14, with the recovery of two more bodies in the Orissa district.Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was headed for the curfew-bound district to review the situation in the affected areas and the Ashram at Jalespeta, where Vishwa Hindu Parishad Laxamanada Saraswati was gunned down along with three others on August 23, leading to the violence.
The chief ministers of five mineral-rich states on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for local value addition in the National Mineral Policy (NMP). They also argued that foreign firms must not be allowed to grab control of prized natural resources. The team consisted of Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Chhatishgarh CM Raman Singh, Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Rajasthan's Vasundhara Raje.
India is not evolving towards a bipolar polity, but towards a complex multipolar system, in which regional and caste-based parties are indispensable to government formation at the Centre. The Left may shrink in size but will have a place of its own, which cannot be ignored.
With Naxalite activities continuing to spread in Orissa, the state has decided to prepare a comprehensive strategy to control violence by Maoist activists and restore law and order in trouble-torn areas.
Janata Dal Secular chief H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday said that Biju Janata Dal chief and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik would definitely join the Third Front, following the split in the BJD- Bharatiya Janata Party alliance.Gowda said that he had spoken to Patnaik, who had assured him that he will join the Third Front unconditionally.When queried about the Third Front rally, which will be held in Bangalore on Thursday, Gowda said Patnaik would not be able to attend.
The Left on Sunday came out in support of the Naveen Patnaik government, which was reduced to a minority following snapping of ties with ally Bharatiya Janata Party, and even hinted at forging an alliance with the Biju Janata Dal for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Orissa.
CM Naveen Patnaik met Home Minister Shivraj Patil and submitted a memorandum for financial help.The state has also urged the Centre to immediately release at least 12,000 kilo litre of kerosene to be distributed among the 40 lakh affected people.
As the Opposition held its first meeting on the Presidential polls and names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi also cropped up, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice with senior party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal).
'Parties which supported me were all threatened. This could hardly have been called a fair election.' 'This is Modi's India.'
"My government is always prepared for dialogue with the Naxals, but first they should give up arms and the path of violence," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters after reviewing the ongoing combing operation against Maoists at a high-level meeting here.
The houses, a church and a prayer hall were either torched or damaged by miscreants at Raikia, G Udaygiri, Daringibadi and some other areas, sources said.
The South Korean steel major Posco, facing stiff opposition from the local people for acquisition of land for its 12-million-tonne steel project in Orissa, may have to directly negotiate with the project affected villagers.
There is no one in Telangana to match KCR's stature and he believes he has outgrown the state, observes Aditi Phadnis.
The tribal leader, India's youngest president at 64 and the first to be born after Independence, took oath of office in the name of god to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law'.
Hinting that it was open to aligning with the Third Front after the Lok Sabha polls, the BJD has said that it will not support either a Congress-led or a Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre.
The CPI-M is upbeat in its quest to form a Third Front and struck a pre-poll alliance with the BJD in Orissa within a day after the ruling state party snapped ties with longtime ally BJP.
After the snapping of ties between the BJD and BJP, the CPI on Monday expressed hope that BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik would play a key role in formation of a third alternative to NDA and UPA.
As the much-awaited hockey men's World Cup is inching closer, music maestro AR Rahman has shared the glimpse of the much-anticipated official theme song and video of the hockey tournament, slated to be held from November 28 to December 16 in Bhubaneswar.
The Congress, which is in the Opposition at the national level, has turned 'feeble and disintegrated', Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana said on Saturday, and suggested that all anti-Bharatiya Janata Party parties, including the Sena, should come together under the UPA banner to provide a formidable alternative.
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik had on Tuesday sent a letter to the Election Commission requesting withdrawal of the MCC from all coastal districts to make it easier for the government to handle the impending cyclonic storm "Fani" in the state.
Arcelor-Mittal added one more site on Monday -- Chiplima in Sambalpur district -- to the four it is currently surveying for its proposed 12 million tonne steel facility in Orissa.
The Orissa government has approved four projects in the steel and power sector involving investment worth Rs 7,225 crore.
IMD Director General Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said that 'Yaas' is likely to intensify into a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm by Tuesday evening and Chandbali is likely to witness the maximum damage caused by it.
Official sources said the probe was ordered by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who visited the riot-torn area on Thursday to take stock of the situation.
South Korean steel major Posco will start construction of its 12 million tonne, Rs 51,000-crore mega steel project near Paradip in Orissa on April 1, 2008.
Twenty steel projects with an estimated investment of Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) have gone into production in Orissa so far creating direct and indirect employment opportunities for about 25,000 people, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said.
Facing an acute shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, the Odisha government on Monday decided to float a global tender for procuring the vaccine to inoculate the states entire population, Chief Secretary S C Mohapatra said.
Arcelor-Mittal proposed two plants in Orissa and Jharkhand of 12-million tonne capacity each. These are the first greenfield projects anywhere by Mittal.
Facing resistance from people who are likely to get displaced by its mega steel project near Paradip, South Korean steel major Posco is looking at "other options".
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Minister of State for Information and Public Relations Debasish Nayak laid wreaths at the coffin of Swain, who hailed from Kendrapara district, at the Biju Patnaik airport.
'The government is doing away with crucial laws such as the Forest Conservation Act and the Environment Protection Act which had helped safeguard our forests.' 'The President has to show that she will stand in favour of tribal rights.'
The minister put in his papers as police began interrogation of the arrested SUM Hospital owner Manoj Ranjan Nayak.
Naveen Patnaik was injured when ruling and opposition members clashed over the government's agreement with a private mining company.
The Airports Authority of India on Saturday announced plans to upgrade the Biju Patnaik airport in Bhubaneswar to international standards by investing Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.5 billion).
Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group on Friday unveiled a grand spending plan of over Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion) in Orissa, which included an investment blueprint for the world's largest pithead thermal power plant.
It is shocking that the rupee has crossed the 65 mark vis-a-vis US dollar, Orissa chief minister said.