Hemant Sharma replaces Suresh Mohapatra as energy secretary

BHUBANESWAR: After appointing senior IPS officer Soumendra Kumar Priyadarshi as new Officer on Special Duty (OSD) for Nabakalebar festival, the State Government on Monday assigned Hemant Sharma as new Special Secretary Energy replacing Suresh Mohapatra. 
 

Mohapatra, a 1985 batch IAS officer and was the OSD for Nabakelebara, would remain in Puri as Chief Administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) till end of the Rath Yatra.  

Priyadarshi, a 1995 batch IPS officer, would have overall supervision during the Rath Yatra.

Notably, Sharma (1995 batch IAS officer) is also CMD of the Gridco and the OPTCL.

The State Government also appointed 2002 batch IAS officer William Bilung as Registrar of the OUAT. He was Additional Secretary of the Science and Technology Department.

Humara Bachpan child clubs present ‘Dream Map’ to Bhubaneswar Mayor

BHUBANESWAR: In an inspiring move, children from the OUAT Farmgatebasti here made an attempt to exemplify the ‘social maps’ of their slum highlighting various requirements of their locality.

Facilitated by the Humara Bachpan Child Clubs, around 45 children from the slum made a series of maps to demonstrate the needs and demands of their locality. After a week of enervating collection of data and careful analysis of issues in their basti, the child leaders were successful to create a roadmap in the form of a ‘Dream Map’ of the slum.

On Sunday, the child leaders of the club conducted an event at their Basti inviting Government representatives and presented their maps to BMC Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena and Deputy Mayor K Shanti along with their respective demands.

Mayor Jena said “I will make sure that the children’s matter is taken into cognizance and will support the Humara Bachpan and the child leaders to give them all the necessities they seek”.

“We want individual toilets in our houses as children are defecating in open due to lack of toilet facilities. And, we can’t use the community toilet as it is locked,” said 13-year-old Narayan.

Humara Bachpan Campaign national head Preetiprada said that it is a remarkable change to see children planning their own neighbourhood and attempt to bring about policy level changes. Smart cities should not only be technologically advanced but must imbibe the aspirations of children to ensure more child-friendly cities, she added.

Mother tongue provides basis for learning another language

BHUBANESWAR: “Mother tongue is the foundation of all languages and it provides basis for learning another language,” said experts at a meeting organised here by the Campaign on Mother Tongue based Early Childhood Education on the occasion of the International Mother Language Day on February 21. 

Attending the meeting community facilitator and activist Jayanti Munda said pre-school education in mother tongue is necessary for a child for his mental and emotional growth. 

Another activist and PREM program manager Sudhir Digal discussed about the need of mother tongue based multi lingual early childhood education in the tribal area of the State and the need of preservation of a mother tongue for the future generation. 

Digal said Odisha is the first State for introducing mother tongue based education in pre-schools and primary schools. Last year, the State Government had launched Anganwadi teachers’ guide book ‘New Arunima’ in 10 tribal languages to teach the tribal kids. “The State Government should implement it in a proper manner so that tribal children can get benefit,” he added. 

The meeting was organised to highlight the need of mother tongue based pre-school education for 1.4 million tribal children of the State. A documentary film titled ‘Step by Step’ was screened in the meeting.

Among others, linguist and teacher Budhia Singh and communication officer of the campaign Nandini Mundary were present.

Key accused of Bharatpur triple murder case held

--property dispute led to murder: CP

BHUBANESWAR: After two days of search operation, the Commissionerate Police on Thursday arrested main accused of the triple murder which occurred in Bharatpur area on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday.

The police team led by DCP Bhubaneswar Satyabrata Bhoi nabbed accused Shiva Prasad Panda alias Bhabani (28) from a jungle in Kantia gram panchayat of Jatni area in Khordha district. Bhabani has confessed before the police that he had killed a couple Chakradhar Sahoo alias Kalia (65) and Sukanti Sahoo (48) of Lane 4 in Bharatpur and Shantilata Pati (70) of the same slum on Tuesday afternoon. 

Briefing reporters here Twin City Commissioner of Police Dr RP Sharma said the accused had eloped with deceased Kalia’s granddaughter Sumi in 2009 and subsequently married to her. After the marriage they were staying in Retanga under the Tamando police limits on the outskirts of the city, he added. 

During this period, Dr Sharma said, Bhabani had demanded to transfer the leased land (600 sq ft) owned by Sumi’s grandfather to his name. But Sukanti, Kalia’s second wife (from 2011), strongly protested the accused’s proposal. On this issue Bhabani and Kalia’s family had been indulged in quarreling with each other for several times. In the year 2013, Sumi had committed suicide. In this connection and UD case had been registered in Mangalabag police station, he added. 

The Commissioner of Police (CP) said Bhabani had gone to his granny Shantilata’s house on Monday afternoon, a day before the gruesome murder. He along with his granny had done marketing in the evening and then stayed with her in the house that night. On the very next day, Bhabani had altercation with Sukanti, an immediate neighbour of Shantilata. After few minutes of argument, irate Bhabani attacked Sukanti with the backside of a tangia (axe) on her head. When she fell down on the floor, he closed the door and returned to his granny’s house, he added.

Narrating the incident, the CP said Bhabani had also attacked his granny when she supported Sukanti. Similarly, he had closed the door of his granny’s house and waited for the arrival of Kalia. After an hour, Kalia had returned to his house after marketing his vegetables in the nearby market. According to his plan, Bhabani had attacked Kalia with the same axe and fled from the spot with the axe. 

On the way to Kantia, Dr Sharma said, the accused had thrown away his axe at the roadside and hid somewhere in the jungle of Jatni area. 

After an hour of the incident, one Harekrushna Nayak had reported to the police about the murder incident. The Khandagiri police led by IIC Aseem Panda and ACP PK Swain reached the spot and had started investigating into the matter. Following some vital leads, three teams of the police started a manhunt to nab the culprit and finally arrested the accused with the help of the Jatni police, said the CP. 

Dr Sharma said that property dispute between Bhabani and the deceased couple led to the murder. They haven’t received any evidence of involvement of more people in the murder, he added. 

On accused’s criminal antecedents the CP said the police are verifying it. “The accused was a habitual drunkard and a drug addict,” he added.                      

     

Wild jumbo again enters Nandankanan Zoo

--staff trying to disperse it anyway

BARANGA: A wild jumbo, which had entered the Nandankanan Zoological Park’s elephant safari by breaking its boundary wall on the wee hours of Wednesday, entered the zoo again on Friday early morning.

The wild pachyderm belongs to the Chandaka Elephant Sanctuary, said zoo official sources. 

After entering into the safari which housed three elephants, Prema, Basanti and Hira, the jumbo had created disturbances by attacking its inmates. It attacked female elephant Basanti repeatedly in the safari, said a staff of the zoo. 

The zoo authorities have started an operation to disperse the wild animal. To keep eye on the elephant, zoo employees were deployed at the safari. 

The zoo official sources said the jumbo would be dispersed by evening to ensure the visitors’ safety in the zoo area. In worst case, the animal would be tranquilized by the zoo staff to shift it from the zoo, sources said.  

Notably, a wild elephant had trampled a woman to death at Chunakoli Basti under the Chandrasekharpur police station in the city recently. The wild elephants from Chandaka forest used to enter the city due to damage of trenches around the sanctuary area.