Blast at K Nagar steel plant: 5 injured
Jajpur: An explosion in the Maithan Steel Plant at Kalinganagar in Jajpur district left five workers injured on Wednesday. The victims had been engaged at the SMS site of the plant by a company, JD Construction. The workers sustained burn injuries during the blast and were rushed to the SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack. The victims whose identities were established are Umanath Yadav (40), Umesh Ray (38), Manas Mallik (21) and Sunil Majhi (24).
Picnic bus, truck collide; 41 hurt in Angul
Angul: As many as 41 persons were injured in a head-on collision between a picnic bus and a truck near Gotamara under the Banrapala police limits in Angul district late on Tuesday night. Around 60 persons of Badahata and Thakurapatana in Kendrapada district were on their way to Rourkela by the bus for picnic when the vehicle and the truck collided. Police and Fire Services personnel rescued the victims, including 17 women and 4 children. The injured were admitted to the Angul District Headquarters Hospital.
K’pada Sarpanch gets Utkal Santan Award
Kendrapada: Kendrapada’s Bhagabatpur Sarpanch Chittaranjan Behera was awarded the Utkal Santan Award for his outstanding work as a PRI member in a State-level function organised by the Odisha Art and Research Centre at Saheed Bhawan in Cuttack recently. Behera has implemented several projects and promoted Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Panchayat Nyayalaya and Aahar Yojana under his Sarapanch Relief Fund. He also plays an instrumental role for sending dropout poor girl students to schools. He was awarded a certificate, a trophy and Rs 1 lakh citizen life insurance.
Christmas celebrated in Gajapati
Paralakhemundi: Christmas was celebrated with religious fervour and joy across Gajapati district on Tuesday. The churches were decorated with lights and hundreds of people thronged the churches. The Peace Life Ministers (PLM) celebrated the day with orphan and poor children and distributed clothes to them and widows. PLM director Santa Murthy Bardhan spoke about the importance of the day. Children of the PLM performed dances and sang songs. Among others, Amodh Kumar Bardhan, Tiffany Wright, Christo Jyothi and Santi Lata were present.
B’ngir bank staffs join nation-wide stir
Balangir: Supporting the call given by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), bank employees of Balangir staged a dharna in front of the State Bank of India main branch here on Wednesday. They raised slogans against the Central Government's move to merge the Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank and demanded stringent action to recover huge bad loans from the corporate defaulters. Among others, SBISA Balangir regional secretary Rohit Kumar Satpathy and zonal secretary Rupesh Kumar Dalai were present.