BJP Membership Drive: CM Majhi Receives Membership Along With Ministers, Leaders

With these two new trains (Tatanagar-Brahampur and Rourkela-Howrah), the number of Vande Bharat trains to run in Odisha rose to six. 

PM Modi flagged off six Vande Bharat Trains from Tatanagar Junction Railway Station in Jharkhand today. The six new trains will run between Tatanagar-Patna, Brahmapur-Tatanagar, Rourkela-Howrah, Deoghar-Varanasi, Bhagalpur-Howrah and Gaya-Howrah.

The Raipur-Vishakhapatnam Vande Bharat train which is scheduled to be flagged off on September 16 runs through Odisha as well.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi who was present at Brahmapur for a special programme held on this occasion stated in his speech that the connection between Brahmapur, popularly known as Silk City, and the industrial town Tatanagar through semi-high-speed train express train will ensure rapid development of tourism and trade sectors in Berhampur.

He further added that currently three Vande Bharat trains, Puri-Howrah, Puri-Rourkela and Bhubaneswar-Vishakhapatnam, are running in Odisha while three new Vande Bharat trains-Brahmapur-Tatanagar, Rourkela-Hawara and Raipur-Vishakhapatnam- will now run in the state.

“These three Vande Bharat Express trains will be the lifeline of Southern and Western Odisha. Communication in our tribal-dominated areas will be developed and they can also be a part of our economic growth. These six Vande Bharat trains will connect various cities of our state with neighbouring states. This will help in the rapid development and progress of Odisha,” said Chief Minister Mohan Majhi.

Majhi expressed happiness over the fact that the Indian Railways has taken several important steps for infrastructure development to boost rail connectivity in Odisha.  

He highlighted that the Union government approved the construction of eight new rail lines in Odisha in the current financial year with a projected cost of Rs 20,000 crore.

The Union government has earmarked Rs 10,586 crore for the development of railways in Odisha in the 2024-25 financial year. Besides, as many as 52 stations including the railway stations of Puri and Bhubaneswar will be expanded and modernised under the Amrit Bharat Station scheme, the Chief Minister said. 

He also said that the Union government has planned to spend Rs 1 lakh crore on various projects for the development of rail infrastructure in Odisha while so far projects worth Rs 70,000 crore have already been approved.

The Chief Minister travelled from Brahmapur to the state capital Bhubaneswar on the Vande Bharat train after the special programme on Sunday. 

Governor Raghubar Das also participated in a special programme at Rourkela on the occasion of the flagging-off ceremony of the Rourkela-Howrah Vande Bharat Express train. 

(With IANS Inputs)

The court accepted the CBI counsel's submission that even as Mondal did not have a "direct role" in the rape and murder case, he had been accused of tampering with evidence and delaying the initial investigation process while Kolkata Police were handling the rape-murder case.

The case was later handed over to the central probe agency on the orders of the Calcutta High Court.

On Sunday, the CBI counsel said that the investigating officers got definite clues about the telephonic conversation between Ghosh and Mondal on the morning of August 9 when the body of the junior doctor was recovered from the seminar hall located on the premises of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital.

The counsel argued that the matter of conversation between Ghosh and Mondal on that morning needs an in-depth investigation and hence there is a need to take them in custody for further questioning in the matter.

The CBI counsel also highlighted certain examples of lackadaisical investigation by the Kolkata Police while they were handling the initial phase of the probe.

According to him, the death was initially described as a suicide to the victim's parents. Besides, the process of the seizure of items as exhibits in the case started late.

Eventually, the special court judge accepted the arguments of the CBI counsel and remanded Ghosh and Mondal to CBI custody for three days.

On Saturday night, the CBI arrested Mondal after seven hours of questioning.

Ghosh, who was earlier arrested by the CBI in the case of financial irregularities at the institution. He is currently serving judicial custody.

Ghosh was also shown as "arrested" in the rape and murder case on Saturday night.

--IANS

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By winning their matches on Sunday, Hockey Jharkhand and Hockey Association of Odisha have reserved their berth in the quarterfinals and will face Hockey Haryana and Punjab Hockey respectively on Monday.

In the first match of the day, Hockey Jammu & Kashmir defeated Hockey Rajasthan 6-2. For Hockey Jammu & Kashmir, captain Arun Preet Singh (6’, 27’) and Zahid Shabir (24’, 48’) scored a couple of goals each whereas Jatveer Singh (35’) and Jagmeet Singh (54’) also scored one goal each. In response, Anurag Suthar (32’) and Kunal Koundal (43’) scored for Hockey Rajasthan.

In the following match, Assam Hockey and Hockey Arunachal played a 2-2 draw against each other. Parkil Alam (17’) and Hemant Borthakur (47’) scored for Assam Hockey. In response, Abhishek Yadav (39’) and Piyush Singh (56’) scored for Hockey Arunachal.

In the other match on Sunday, the Hockey Association of Odisha defeated Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey 5-2. Karan Lakra (30’, 50’) scored a couple of goals for the Hockey Association of Odisha.

Captain Jasman Munda (15’), Abhishek Topno (27’) and Deepak Pradhan (60’) also scored one goal each to take the game further away from their opponents. In reply, Pradip Mandal (16’) and Wilson Xaxa (46’) managed to score for Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey.

In another encounter on Sunday, Hockey Jharkhand outclassed their opponent Hockey Gujarat with a massive 27-0 win. Adisan Minj (12’, 16’, 35’, 56’, 58’, 59’) stood out to be the top goal scorer for Hockey Jharkhand as he charged in for six goals throughout the game on regular intervals.

Ghuran Lohra (2’, 6’, 19’, 24’, 53’) also scored five goals in the game along with Roshan Ekka (5’, 30’, 31’, 39’) and Deepak Soreng (18’, 26’, 43’, 47’) who scored four goals each to put their team in a strong position. Baraik Kamal Chik (16’, 25’, 40’) also joined his teammates to take the game away from their opponent and scored a hattrick. Sukhnath Guria (32’, 33’) scored a brave as well whereas Abhishek Tigga (5’), Sumit Barwa (15+’) and Mangra Dohdray (30’) scored one goal each.

In the last match of the day, the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu defeated Hockey Bengal 6-0. Bijay Kujur (7’, 8’, 41’) scored a hattrick for his side whereas captain Rohit Kujur (9’), Vivek Kumar Singh (37’) and Md Sakib Ali (37’) also scored one goal each to end the match on the winning side.

--IANS