Latest news with #Odisha
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
India's top gas importer Petronet seeks 120 billion rupee loan
NEW DELHI, July 28 (Reuters) - India's top gas importer, Petronet LNG ( opens new tab, is looking to raise a 120 billion rupee (about $1.4 billion) local currency loan to fund the expansion of a plant, its head of finance, Saurav Mitra, said in an analyst call on Monday. The company is building a petrochemical plant in India's western state of Gujarat at the cost of 206.85 billion rupees. Petronet aims to spend 300 billion rupees in the next few years, and most of that on building a petrochemical project, Mitra said. Its capital expenditure for 2026-27 would be higher than the 50 billion rupees estimated for the current fiscal year to March 2026, he said. Last week, the company's board approved setting up a 5 million tons per year LNG import terminal in the eastern state of Odisha at the cost of 63.5 billion rupees. ($1 = 86.5050 Indian rupees)
New Indian Express
6 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Hindalco to invest Rs 200 crore in apparel units in Keonjhar, Sambalpur; 2,400 jobs to be created
BHUBANESWAR: Hindalco Industries Ltd has committed an investment of Rs 200 crore to set up apparel manufacturing units in Keonjhar and Sambalpur districts, in a significant move to boost employment and industrial development in the state. The Aditya Birla Group company signed two separate MoUs with the state government on Friday in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi during Odisha TEX 2025. The MoUs were exchanged between principal secretary of Skill Development and Technical Education department BS Poonia and president (corporate affairs) of Hindalco Industries Ardhendu Mahapatra. According to the MoUs, Hindalco will establish apparel manufacturing units in the two districts with an investment of Rs 100 crore for each district, creating 2,400 direct employment opportunities. This would be the third and fourth textile unit of Hindalco in the state. While its Mancheswar unit is already operational, the company is setting up an apparel manufacturing unit at Kanshariguda near the Aditya alumina refinery in Rayagada district. It will employ 3,000 local women. 'This investment further strengthens Hindalco's footprint in Odisha. The company is committed to generating additional employment opportunities in the state in the near future through continued collaboration with the government,' the company said in a statement. Minister for Industries and Skill Development Sampad Chandra Swain, Minister for Handlooms and Textiles Pradeep Bal Samant and senior government officials were present.
Daily Mail
23-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Girl, 15, is gang-raped on her way back from birthday party before escaping only to be sexually assaulted by truck driver who offered her a lift in India
A 15-year-old girl was abducted and gang raped on her way back home from a birthday party, only to be sexually assaulted again by a driver who offered her a lift after she escaped. Police say the girl was initially taken by three men on Sunday in south Odisha's Malkangiri, India, and driven 10 to 15 kilometres from the town, where she was allegedly tortured and raped. After fleeing, she attempted to return home and was picked up by a truck driver on the Malkangiri-Jeypore highway at Bijaghati. But her ordeal was far from over when the man reportedly raped her as well. Residents are said to have rescued the girl after spotting her with the driver. She later reported the incident to the police. The teenager's parents had lodged a missing persons report after she failed to return home from the party. Four suspects have been arrested and identified as Manoj Harijan, Rohit Kumar Hial, Bira Bhartia, and the driver, Sobham Singh, who local media reports is 26 years old. Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Vinodh Patil said: 'All four persons involved in the crime have been arrested.' Former chief minister Naveen Patnaik condemned the incident and warned about the uptick in violence against women in the area. The girl was initially taken by three men in south Odisha's Malkangiri, India, and driven 10 to 15 kilometres from the town, where she was allegedly tortured and raped He said: 'A disturbing wave of crimes against women is gripping Odisha… 'This surge in sexual assaults reflects a troubling erosion of law enforcement. When the various ranks of the police face interference and political pressure, accountability weakens - and women and girls pay the price first.' He also spoke about how the area has been added to a list of places where American employees must seek approval before travelling. 'Without urgent and decisive police action and political will backing it, this problem will only grow', he added.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Posts accusing Rahul Gandhi of 'insulting Hindu festival' use misleadingly edited speech
A misleadingly clipped video of Rahul Gandhi purportedly showing him calling a major religious festival a "drama" has circulated in posts accusing the opposition leader of insulting Hindus. Gandhi was in fact criticising a local Indian state government, saying it was serving the interests of billionaires over its own people. "Rahul Gandhi, standing on the soil of Odisha, called the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath a 'drama'!" reads part of the Hindi-language caption of a Facebook video shared on July 11, 2025. The video shows Gandhi standing at a podium and saying: "When the Jagannath Yatra takes place in Odisha, the chariot of the Jagannath Yatra comes out, hundreds of thousands of people watch it and follow it and then a drama takes place." It was shared after a deadly stampede marred the annual Rath Yatra festival honouring the Hindu deity Lord Jagannath, which was held in eastern Odisha state (archived link). At least three people were killed and around 50 others injured in the early hours of June 29, with the Times of India reporting that eyewitnesses blamed the chaos on poor planning and arrangements for VIPs (archived link). The clip was also shared in similar Facebook, Threads and X posts targeting the opposition Congress party's leader. "The Supreme Court should take cognisance of the insult of the Hindu faith and Lord Jagannath by this heretic and strict action should be taken against this heretic," read a comment on one of the posts. Another said: "When will action be taken against this corrupt stupid man? How long will he keep roaming around the country and keep talking nonsense, keep playing with the sentiments of Hindu believers?" The video, however, has been misleadingly edited. Clipped video A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the misleadingly edited video led to a longer version published on the verified YouTube channel of News 18 Odia on July 11 (archived link). Its description states that Gandhi was speaking at Congress' "Save the Constitution" rally in Odisha's Bhubaneswar city, part of a national campaign to bolster support for the opposition party. The segment used in the false posts can be seen at the video's 32-second mark. The falsely shared clip omits Gandhi explaining what he meant by "drama". "When the Jagannath Yatra takes place in Odisha, the chariot of the Jagannath Yatra comes out, hundreds of thousands of people watch it and follow it and then a drama takes place -- the chariots are stopped specifically for Adani and his family," he says, referring to Indian billionaire Gautam Adani. The Adani Group chairman took part in the Rath Yatra with his family on June 28 (archived link). The pulling of giant chariots of Lord Jagannath and his siblings from the Lion's Gate of the Shree Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple 2.5 km (1.5 miles) away -- a key ritual in the Rath Yatra -- had been delayed by a day, according to India's The Telegraph newspaper (archived link). The newspaper said the opposition Congress party accused the Odisha state government, run by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of deliberately delaying the ritual so the Adani family could take part. In response, Odisha law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan accused the opposition of trying to "politicise the issue". Gandhi goes on to say in his speech: "This alone reveals the true nature of the Odisha government. This is not the Odisha government and it is also not the government of poor people. "It doesn't serve the people of Odisha, but rather a handful of billionaires like Adani. Their aim is to seize your land, your forests, and your future." His remarks were also reported by The Indian Express, The Print, PTI and Times of India (archived here, here, here and here). AFP has debunked other false posts targeting the opposition leader here.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Old photo of plane wreck falsely linked to Indian Air Force crash in July
A decade-old photo of a jet wreckage has resurfaced in posts falsely claiming it depicts an Indian Air Force Jaguar training aircraft that crashed during a routine operation in the northwestern Rajasthan state on July 9. The June 3, 2015 AFP photo of the old disaster was taken in the eastern Odisha state. "Air Force's Jaguar fighter jet crashes in Churu, two pilots martyred," reads a Hindi-language Facebook post shared on July 9, 2025. The Indian Air Force (IAF) confirmed a jet crashed in the Churu district of western India's Rajasthan state during a routine training mission on July 9, killing two pilots onboard (archived link). The post shares a breaking news graphic with a photo of a plane wreck in a field surrounded by people. Hindi-language text repeats the claim. The same image circulated across Facebook, Threads and X on the day of the crash. However, reverse image searches found the photo is of a different crash in 2015. The photo was published by BBC in a February 27, 2019 report about misinformation circulating during rising tensions between India and Pakistan (archived link). It is credited to AFP and captioned, "Wreckage of an Indian Air Force jet. Photo: June 2015." Keyword searches found the same photo in AFP's archives, published on June 3, 2015 (archived link). The caption reads, in part, "Onlookers look at an Indian Air Force advanced jet trainer aircraft (A 3492) which crashed in a paddy field at Kudurasahi in Mayurbhanj district, some 365 kms north of Bhubaneswar on June 3, 2015". Mayurbhanj disrict in the eastern Odisha state is more than 1,340 kilometres (835 miles) from Churu (archived link). The same photo was used in reports by local outlets The Hindu and The Telegraph about the 2015 crash, which said the accident occurred due to a technical glitch and both pilots were able to eject in time (archived links here and here).
