Sampad Mahapatra

• Wild elephants enter stadium in Rourkela, spread panic

  There is panic in Odisha's steel city Rourkela after a herd of wild elephants found their way into the local Bisra stadium on Friday evening. They are believed to have strayed from the Saranda forests in neighbouring Jharkhand.

• Former Odisha minister Raghunath Mohanty arrested in dowry case

  Raghunath Mohanty, the former law minister of Odisha accused of dowry harassment by his daughter-in-law, was arrested in Kolkata this morning. He had been on the run for the last two weeks. His wife has been arrested as well.

• Probe ordered into violence during Odisha Congress rally

  In a significant and assertive move, Odisha Governor M C Bhandare has ordered a Lokpal probe into the incidents of violence during the September 6 Congress rally in Bhubaneswar in which over 250 people, including 60 police personnel, were injured.

• Odisha bandh: Police on alert after fresh violence

  The 12-hour bandh called by the Congress in Odisha today led to another flare-up in the state with party workers burning a bus in Bhubaneswar. In Cuttack, the Congress workers clashed with the police with the later resorting to a lathi-charge. Last Thursday, several Congress workers and around 60 policemen were injured during a rally outside the Od...

• Mob attacked me after Tytler called for barricades to be broken, alleges Odisha woman cop

  The Congress has apologised for a woman cop being beaten up by a mob on the rampage during a protest by party workers in Bhubaneswar yesterday, but senior Odisha leaders also insist that not all the thousands of people were Congressmen. The police, up in arms over a colleague being brutally assaulted, have arrested 35 people and promised that there...

• Outrage after woman cop beaten up by mob in Odisha; Congress apologises

  The Congress has apologised for a woman cop being beaten up by a mob on the rampage during a protest by party workers in Bhubaneswar yesterday, but senior Odisha leaders also insist that not all the thousands of people were Congressmen. The police, up in arms over a colleague being brutally assaulted, have arrested 35 people and promised that there...

• Expelled Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda warns party leadership through audio message

  Former secretary of the Odisha unit of the outlawed CPI-Maoist - Sabyasachi Panda, who was recently expelled - has come down heavily on the party leadership and warned them of dire consequences.

• Controversy over whether leopard was used for 'entertainment'

  A leopard who entered a shop in the town of Sonepur in Odisha was captured and put in a cage. He hurt his mouth when he tried to bite the cage. He was rescued by forest and wildlife officials, who moved him to a forest department nursery nearby.

• Naveen Patnaik urges Tata group to build hospital and training institutes in Odisha

  Cyrus P. Mistry, the chairman-designate of the Tata Group called on the Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, on Tuesday evening "to pay a courtesy visit" and to discuss several on-going Tata projects in the state. Mr Mistry, however, did not take any questions from waiting mediapersons after his hour-long visit with the chief minister and other se...

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  Laptop for Rs. 5000 thanks to these students

  It's a pretty incredible deal. A laptop that can potentially cost Rs. 5000 to produce.

• Naveen Patnaik punishes rebel leader, two ministers sacked too

  Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today sought to send out a strong message that he will brook no dissent by sacking two ministers and suspending two party MLAs and Rajya Sabha member Pyarimohan Mohapatra.

• Blog: A coup that never happened

  On Tuesday, Bhubaneswar was rife with speculations that the dissident group within the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was all set to topple the 12 year old Naveen Patnaik government while the Chief Minister was away in London on an eight-day official trip. By evening, the speculations appeared real when nearly 25 BJD MLAs including four ministers were found...

• Revolt against Naveen Patnaik flops, but highlights his weaknesses

  Amid reports that a powerful section within Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) had fallen out with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the BJD chief is cutting short his London trip to firefight the dissent in his party. Sources say Mr Patnaik was supposed to reach Bhubaneswar on June 2, but will now reach the state capital tomorrow morning.

• Revolt in BJD ranks against Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik?

  A powerful section within the part has fallen out with Naveen Patnaik and has reportedly garnered the support of about 60 of the 104 BJD MLAs. Sources have told NDTV that dissidents have also mustered the support of 17 Congress legislators and three Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs - enough oust Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, and form a gove...

• Are there divisions in the Maoist ranks in Odisha?

  The infighting within the ranks of the CPI-Maoist party in Odisha is out in the open. A day after Sabysachi Panda, who heads the Odisha State Organising Committee of the party (OSOC), issued a statement denying any involvement in the murder of 40 year old Deb Jagaranga, husband of Lakeri Jagaranga, the lady Sarpanch of Hanumantpur panchayat in Raya...