BJP’s All Pre-Poll Promises Accommodated In Mohan Majhi’s Maiden Budget

by Pabitra Mohan Senapaty

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Odisha government on Thursday presented Rs.2.65 lakh crore budget for the financial year 2024-25 with more special focus on agriculture, infrastructure, welfare and Odia Asmita (pride).

Bhubaneswar, July 25: The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Odisha government on Thursday presented Rs.2.65 lakh crore budget for the financial year 2024-25 with more special focus on agriculture, infrastructure, welfare and Odia Asmita (pride).

Presenting the budget, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who also holds the finance portfolio, proposed the administrative expenditure at Rs 97, 725 crore and the programme expenditure of Rs 1,55,000 crore.

The budget, which saw a 15 per cent increase in total outlay, marked the government accommodating the major pre-poll promises of the BJP. The CM allocated funds for the much talked about Subhadra Yojana, paying Rs 800 extra per quintal of paddy on and above the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,300 and hiking in the social security pensions for old age people, widows and differently-abled persons.

There has been an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore for Subhadra Yojana under which a woman of a family will be given a cash voucher of Rs 50,000 to be spent in two year’s time. This scheme had proved to be a game-changer for the BJP in the last elections as smashed the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government’s women vote bank. During election campaigns in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the BJP will roll out Subhadra Yojana if it came to power in the state.

The budget also saw the government allocating Rs 1,166 crore for Lakhpati Yojana, a scheme that proposed by the BJP in its election manifesto.

The budget proposed Rs 3,056 crore outlay for Gopabandhu Jana Arogya Yojana, a scheme which is seen as a replacement of the previous BJD government’s Biju Swasthya Kalayan Yojana. Similarly, 1935 crore has been given for CM Kisan Nidhi Yojana, a scheme that is seen as replacement of Biju Swasthya Kalya Yojana.

The CM announced that the state government will introduce Odia Bhasha Bruti, a scholarship for promotion of Odia language.

An outlay of Rs 6,665 crore has been made for the metro railway project connecting Trisulia in Cuttack to Bhubaneswar airport. For Mukhya Mantri Sadak Yojana, an outlay of Rs 3190 crore has been made.

The budget saw a whopping allocation of Rs 4,487 crore for Madhubabu Pension Yojana.

The CM announced to launch Utkarsh Utkal by initiative to woo domestic and foreign direct investments (FDIs). While the government targets to mop up 2.50 lakh crore investment proposals from the domestic players, it aims $ 2 billion FDIs.

The CM took more than three hours to read out the 45-page budget speech.

After Putin, Italian PM Meloni Says That India Can Resolve Russia-Ukraine Conflict

by Hemanta Pande

Rome, Sep 7: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday said that countries like India and China can play a role in resolving the conflict in Ukraine.

Meloni's remarks, made at the Ambrosetti Forum in northern Italy's Cernobbio city on Saturday - where she also held a meeting with the visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - came less than 48 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin also highlighted India's efforts in solving the ongoing crisis in the region.

"It is obvious that if the rules of international law are broken we will get a multiplication of chaos and crisis, but it is also obvious that with the multiplication of crisis, we will have a natural fragmentation of the geo-economic space, that is, in the long run, economic globalization and questioning of the rules of international law will not walk together. This is what I also said to my Chinese counterparts, we must choose, because the two things do not go together, it is also the reason why I think that in the end nations, like China and India, can play a role and must play a role in resolving the conflict in Ukraine," said Meloni.

On Thursday, while addressing the 9th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russian President Vladimir Putin had also mentioned India's role in providing a "helping hand" in resolving the issue.

"We respect our friends and partners who I think are sincerely interested in addressing and resolving all the issues associated with the conflict (with Ukraine). China, Brazil, India... I am in contact with my partners and I have no doubt that the leaders of these countries, and we have the relations of trust and confidence with one another, will be really interested in providing a helping hand," said Putin.

Meloni's comments came after her meeting with Zelensky met on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti Forum on Saturday where the two leaders discussed the latest developments on the ground and Ukraine's "most urgent needs" ahead of winter.

"The Head of State thanked for all the allocated military and technical assistance packages and emphasised the importance of transferring the relevant weapons to Ukraine as soon as possible," said Zelensky's office after the meeting.

It mentioned further that the Ukrainian President informed Meloni about the situation on the battlefield, the recent shelling of the country's civilian and critical infrastructure and spoke about current defence needs.

"The leaders discussed steps to implement the decision of the G7 to provide Ukraine with nearly USD 50 billion from frozen Russian assets," Kyiv asserted.

It added that the restoration and reconstruction of Ukraine, in particular of its energy system, was one of the issues discussed during the meeting.

The Italian PM's office stated that Meloni reiterated that support for Ukraine is a top priority on the Italian G7 Presidency's agenda and reaffirmed the ongoing commitment to Ukraine's legitimate defence and to a just and lasting peace.

The two leaders, it said, paid particular attention to the issue of reconstruction, also ahead of the next Ukraine Recovery Conference which will be held in Italy in 2025.

Later, in her address at the 50th edition of The European House – Ambrosetti Forum at Villa d'Este in Cernobbio, Meloni also highlighted the risks of destabilization for the geo-political and economic global space, and said she believed global actors such as China and India "will be able to play a role in resolving the conflict." (IANS)

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Odisha: 95 Teams Participate In Hackerwar 5.0 At ITER

by Hemanta Pande

Bhubaneswar, Sept 7: As many as 95 teams comprising 580 students from various engineering streams virtually participated in the two-day HackerWar 5.0, the fifth edition of the event, held recently at the Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), Bhubaneswar, faculty of engineering and technology of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA), officials said on Saturday.

The competition aimed at fostering innovation and problem-solving abilities among the future technologists. The intense 24-hour virtual competition, spread across August 31 and September 1, was organised by the institute’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) in collaboration with ITER’s Codex Club, Centre for Innovation and Incubation (SOA CII) and the Atal Innovation Centre-SOA Foundation (AIC SOA).

“The primary objective of HackerWar 5.0 was to encourage innovative thinking, inspire creative solutions and improve problem solving skills among students, specifically within the realm of computer science and engineering,” Prof. Debahuti Mishra, Head of the Department of CSE, said.

Additionally, the event served as a platform for students to hone their skills ahead of the prestigious Smart India Hackathon-2024 (SIH- 2024) organised by the Ministry of Education and showcase their talent at the national level, she said.

The participants were invited to work on projects aligned with SIH-2024 themes covering a diverse range of real world areas including Smart Automation, Fitness and Sports, Heritage and Culture, Medtech/Biotech/Healthtech, Agriculture, Smart Vehicles, Clean and Green Technology, Blockchain and Cybersecurity.

A team of 65 faculty members led by Dr. Dibya Sundar Das, Assistant Professor in the Department of CSE, evaluated the projects and the top ten teams were recognized for their outstanding work and innovation, Prof. Mishra said.

The final evaluation was conducted by a jury comprising Amrita Priyadarsini, Senior Manager, Accenture Technology, Madhu Jyotshna Shome, Technical Lead, Wipro Technology Limited and Ramakrishan Sahoo, Group Project Manager, Infosys on Friday.

The top three winners along with seven additional teams, were presented jury prizes for their exceptional contributions. The top 30 teams from the event will be nominated by the institute to participate in the final SIH-2024 competition, she said.

Prof. Mishra thanked SOA Founder President Prof. (Dr.) Manojranjan Nayak, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda and Director, ITER Prof. Manas Kumar Mallick for their continued guidance and support for such endeavours.

The closing ceremony of the event was attended by Prof. Mishra, Prof. Sarada Prasanna Pati, Dr. Bharat Jyoti Ranjan Sahu, Dr. Dibya Sundar Das, Dr. Aditi Panda, Dr. Anukampa Behera and Dr. Satarupa Dash. Faculty members from various departments including CSE, Computer Science and Information Technology, Computer Application as well as Centers for Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning and Internet of Things were also present on the occasion.

BJP’s All Pre-Poll Promises Accommodated In Mohan Majhi’s Maiden Budget

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