What’s in a surnameIn an OBC-heavy Odisha, politics now comes with a surname switch. As Sujata makes her entry, the BJD is firmly pressing reset — out goes ‘Karthikeyan’, in comes ‘Rout’. Naveen Patnaik himself rolled out the full ‘Srimati Sujata Rout’ version, instead of Sujata R Karthikeyan which she used during her two-decades-long IAS career. The message is layered — local roots, OBC credentials, and a subtle counter to BJP’s backward push.Publicity crazeManaging the annual Rath Yatra in Puri, which draws lakhs of devotees, is a formidable challenge. To ensure the smooth conduct of the festival — especially in light of last year’s stampede — a team of senior IPS and OAS officers has been entrusted with critical responsibilities. However, the tendency of a few officers to indulge in self-promotion on social media, highlighting their role in the arrangements, has not gone down well with the top brass. The state police headquarters is understood to have issued a stern warning, reminding officers to focus on the task at hand, rather than seeking publicity online.Parking chaosBhubaneswar Municipal Corporation recently found itself right in the middle of public backlash over its allegedly random parking rules. The commissionerate police had already declared around 25 city stretches as no-parking zones, but BMC apparently missed that memo. The real comedy began when the two authorities seemed to be running parallel parking enforcements. Citizens of the smart city, being smart enough, quickly slammed the civic body for its chaotic enforcement, saying the parking rules looked just as haphazard as the parking they were supposed to fix.Healthy practiceHealth minister Mukesh Mahaling posted a video demonstrating Jal Neti Kriya — passing lukewarm saline water through the nostrils to clear sinuses, remove mucus and dust, and improve breathing. He advised those who suffer from lingering cold to try it. One user said, “His expertise proves he practises this often; as health minister he’s inspiring people to do it.”Words worthOdisha govt has, in recent months, made an emphatic push for the use of Odia in official communication. Departments have been repeatedly urged to prioritise the state’s official language, reinforcing the message that governance should speak to people in the language they understand. Ironically, when the culture and Odia language department announced the Odisha State Film Awards for two separate years this week, it managed to prove that using Odia and making it readable are two entirely different things. The awards, honouring the finest contributions to Odia cinema, were accompanied by two handwritten press releases in Odia. What should have been a straightforward announcement soon turned into an exercise in deciphering the script. Journalists squinted at scanned copies, public relations officials fielded frantic phone calls seeking clarification, and even some govt officers struggled to read the names and citations.(Contributed by Team TOI)
