Bhubaneswar, May 29 (IANS) Senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra on Friday wrote to the Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Chirag Paswan, urging the establishment of a national mega food park in the undivided Koraput region, comprising Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur and Malkangiri districts of Odisha. In his letter, Patra drew the attention of the Union Minister towards the immense untapped food-processing, tribal livelihood, and agro-industrial potential…
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New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday and submitted a detailed representation urging the initiation of structured national deliberations on the inclusion of petrol and diesel under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) framework. In his representation, Patra emphasised that the constitutional framework under Article 279A(5) already envisages the eventual inclusion of petroleum products within GST through the recommendation of the GST…
New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) Opposition leaders on Tuesday strongly criticised the Centre over the recent increase in petrol and diesel prices, accusing the government of “looting” the public through repeated fuel price revisions amid a global surge in crude oil rates. The reactions came after state-run oil marketing companies revised fuel prices for the second time in less than a week, following a sharp rise in international crude oil prices triggered by escalating tensions in the Gulf region and c…
Bhubaneswar, May 14 (IANS) In the wake of the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) announcement regarding the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Phase-III exercise in 16 states and three Union Territories, including Odisha, senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra on Thursday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, urging the ECI to ensure a transparent and error-free SIR process in Odisha commencing from May 30.In his letter, Patra dre…
Bhubaneswar, May 11 (IANS) A delegation of the main opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Monday met R.S. Gopalan, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Odisha, over the alleged illegal issuance of second ballot papers to BJP legislators and submitted a memorandum demanding the cancellation of two votes cast by the said MLAs during the recently held Rajya Sabha polls. The BJD delegation, led by Deputy Leader of the BJD Legislature Party Prasanna Acharya, claimed in the memorandum that second ballot…
Bhubaneswar, May 6 (IANS) Odisha Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) R.S. Gopalan is scheduled to meet a delegation of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on May 11 over the alleged illegal issuance of a second ballot paper to legislators, Upasana Mohapatra and Purna Chandra Sethy, during the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha held on March 16. As per the instructions of the BJD President Naveen Patnaik, senior party leader Sasmit Patra on April 28 submitted an urgent representation to the Election Commission of…
Bhubaneswar, April 21 (IANS) Senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra on Tuesday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, flagging concerns over the deletion of a large number of voters during the ongoing preparatory exercise for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Odisha. In his letter, Patra said, “It has been widely reported, and administratively acknowledged, that approximately 9.8 lakh electors have been identified for potential…
Bhubaneswar, April 13 (IANS) Naveen Patnaik, President of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), on Monday appointed senior party MP Manas Ranjan Mangaraj as the Leader of the BJD in the Rajya Sabha.According to an official communication issued on Monday, the BJD supremo also appointed senior party leader and MP Sulata Deo as the Deputy Leader & Chief Whip of the BJD Parliamentary Party in the Upper House of the Parliament.The party stated that the reshuffle in its parliamentary leadership in the Rajya …
Bhubaneswar, April 9 (IANS) Senior BJD leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra on Thursday wrote to Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, urging him to revive the Bhubaneswar Metro project through a structured collaboration between the Union and the state government, on the lines of Jaipur Metro Phase-2 in Rajasthan. In a letter to CM on Thursday, Patra mentioned that the Union Cabinet on April 8 approved the Jaipur Metro Phase-2 (41 km; 13,000+ crore) project under the Metro Rail Policy, 201…
Bhubaneswar, April 9 (IANS) Senior Biju Janata Dal leader Dr Sasmit Patra has tendered his resignation from the post of Parliamentary Party leader of the BJD in the Rajya Sabha.The party supremo and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday accepted Patra’s resignation.“President Biju Janata Dal Shri. Naveen Patnaik has accepted the resignation of Dr Sasmit Patra, MP, as leader of the BJD parliamentary party, Rajya Sabha, today,” according to an official party statement.Sources also c…