Gold standardCM Mohan Charan Majhi made one of Odisha’s happiest phone calls after both Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams struck Asian Games gold in Japan. Dialling Amit Rohidas and Shilanand Lakra, the CM praised one for defending like a human fortress and the other for attacking with perfect timing. The CM reminded them that 4.5 crore Odias were cheering them from afar and waiting eagerly for their return. Odisha is gearing up for a welcome party.Ladder pleasePolitical protests usually involve slogans. This one briefly required climbing equipment. During the BJD’s dharna against the amended MMDR Act, spokesperson Lekhasri Samantsinghar climbed atop a police barricade and then declined to come down. When police requested her to come down, she reportedly insisted on a ladder. Suggestions to simply jump were politely rejected. What followed was part protest, part negotiation, part impromptu safety audit. Eventually, women police personnel helped her come down.Passport to BargarhDelhi airport’s immigration desk briefly doubled up as a Bargarh reunion counter. When senior IAS officer Arabinda Kumar Padhee presented his passport, an officer noticed his hometown and asked if he was from Bargarh. The officer replied in the affirmative. Suddenly, immigration felt less international and more like a neighbourhood. No committee, no formal introductions, just two Bargadias unexpectedly finding each other between travel documents and departure gates. As they parted with a cheerful “Jai Jagannath”, home seemed much closer than the boarding pass suggested.Pack your bagsThe state that once quietly sat in the corner now wants the spotlight and maybe a few tourist selfies. Odisha’s message to holidaymakers is clear: stop scrolling, start packing. The secret is out, and it’s trending. At the Odisha Travel Bazaar tourism event, chief secretary Anu Garg unveiled 181 projects worth Rs 11,500 crore, promising around 14,000 jobs across all 30 districts, with none feeling ignored.Collars & tempersA rally of the INDIA bloc in Bhubaneswar got more heated than a post-summer afternoon after Congress MLA Sagar Das and Nayapalli IIC Manas Kumar Sahoo were caught in a verbal face-off. Congress accused police of highhandedness, while senior officers claimed the MLA grabbed the cop’s collar first. The result: two competing versions, countless opinions and enough debate to keep tea stalls busy. The rally ended, but the arguments clearly chose overtime.(Contributed by team TOI)
