Ananya Mishra

Odisha CM Says ABVP Assured Victory Before Campus Polls

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the 24th PM-KISAN instalment, transferring over Rs 18,690 crore to 9.34 crore farmers nationwide. In Odisha, 35.38 lakh farmers received Rs 3,000 crore.

The Indian Coast Guard began airlifting stranded people from flood- and landslide-hit Ganjam district on Thursday as Odisha stepped up rescue operations following Cyclone Arnab. The state government deployed 79 teams from various disaster response agencies across two districts. Chief Secretary Anu Garg said around 300 villages in Ganjam were affected by floods, with 70 cut off by floodwaters. Special Relief Commissioner Rajesh P Patil said a Coast Guard helicopter completed its first sortie on Thursday afternoon, with further rescue operations planned. The rescue effort comes amid major transport disruptions, including a washed-away national highway and suspended train services.

The Odisha Congress on Thursday demanded a dedicated council and a special financial package for the comprehensive development of the Kotia cluster of villages in Koraput district. The villages are also claimed by neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, with the territorial dispute dating back to the British era. Kotia has remained part of Odisha since the state became a separate province in 1936. The dispute reached the Supreme Court in 1968, when the then Odisha government filed a petition against Andhra Pradesh.

Odisha will introduce ‘AI for All’ as a value-added course for students enrolled in the Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programme (AEDP) from the second semester of the 2026-27 academic session. The course will replace Good Citizenship and aims to provide students with basic artificial intelligence knowledge and practical skills to enhance employability and prepare them for industry apprenticeships. Director of Higher Education Kali Prasanna Mahapatra has directed concerned institutions to make the necessary arrangements for implementation.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah spoke with the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Odisha and Chhattisgarh in the wake of Cyclone Arnab, assuring them of the Centre’s full support to mitigate people’s hardships. NDRF and SDRF teams are carrying out rescue and relief operations on a war footing, while Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) will soon be deployed to assess the cyclone’s impact and determine further assistance requirements.

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to field first against seven-time champions India in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup semifinal in Dubai. Both teams retained their unchanged playing XIs, with the winner set to face Sri Lanka or Pakistan in the final.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has called for greater investment in clinical trials and research and development in India’s pharmaceutical sector. He urged regulators to adopt global best practices and advised the industry to diversify its supply chains to reduce dependence on limited countries or companies for critical imports.

Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi has directed that ST and SC students will not have to pay admission fees in government medical and engineering colleges, with the fee waiver extending for six months after admission.

Odisha Government will implement the Adaptive Resilience Investment in Coastal Systems on Economics (ARISE) Project to address coastal erosion, climate change impacts and sustainable development challenges along the state's 573-km coastline. The project, being developed with support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and OSDMA, will focus on scientific coastal protection, climate-resilient tourism, blue economy opportunities, sediment management and advanced monitoring systems.