BHUBANESWAR: Here are Odisha's 2019 newsmakers.
Tarun Kanti Mishra, Central Sahitya Akademi winner
Author and former Chief Secretary of Odisha, Tarun Kanti Mishra was chosen for the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award-2019 for his book of short stories ‘Bhaswati’.
The book has 15 short stories dealing with people of different age groups, situations and events.
Chandrani Murmu, Youngest Parliamentarian
Keonjhar’s 26-year-old Chandrani Murmu became the youngest Parliamentarian in the country. The engineering graduate was elected as BJD candidate from the Keonjhar Lok Sabha seat. Murmu was chosen by BJD supremo to contest from seat.
Dutee Chand, India’s fastest woman sprinter
For Dutee Chand, 2019 was a momentous one. Not only did she announce that she was in a same-sex relationship, earning praise from world over, Chand became the first Indian to win a gold medal in women’s 100-metre sprint at the 30th Summer University Games in Naples, Italy, by clocking 11.32 seconds. She went on to break her own record in the 100 m race by clocking 11.22 seconds in the 59th Senior National Open Athletic Meet at Ranchi.
Pramod Bhagat, Para-shuttler
Odisha’s ace para-shuttler Pramaod Bhagat received the prestigious Arjuna Award from President Ram Nath Kovind.
He also is the only Odia para-athlete to have qualified for the Paralympic Games 2020 to be held at Tokyo. In 2019, Pramod won five international titles in six tournaments he participated.
He won gold medal in the World Games 2019, Turkey 2019, Dubai 2019, Uganda 2019 and Ireland 2019. He was also nominated for the Male Para-Badminton Player of the Year award by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Odisha Rasagola
It was sweet news for the State as Odisha Rasagola received GI tag from GI Registry of India. Odisha furnished all documentary proof related to ‘Odisha Rasagola’ including origin and history along with all details like its unique form, preparation methods, nutrient contents and shelf life etc in March 2018.
D Prakash Rao, Kalama Pujari, Daitari Naik, Padmashri Awardees
Cuttack’s 59-year-old Devarapalli Prakash Rao, Koraput’s 70-year-old tribal agricultural activist Kalama Pujari and Keonjhar’s ‘mountain man’ Daitari Nayak received the country’s fourth-highest civilian award Padmashri.
While Rao sells tea to provide free education and food to slum children studying in his school named ‘Asha O Ashwasana’ in Cuttack, Pujari has preserved hundreds of indigenous varieties of paddy seeds besides, turmeric, sesame and black cumin.
Naik of Baitarani village, also in his 70s, single-handedly carved out a 3-km canal from the Gonasika mountain to facilitate flow of a water stream to the parched land below the mountain.
Girish Chandra Murmu, First Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir
Gujarat-cadre Odia IAS officer Girish Chandra Murmu was appointed the first Lieutenant-Governor of Jammu and Kashmir after Centre abrogated provisions of Article 370 that granted a special status to Jammu and Kashmir and made it a union territory.
A 1985-batch IAS officer, who held the post of Expenditure Secretary in the Finance Ministry, Murmu hails from Mayurbhanj district. He was also the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Anupriya Lakra, First woman pilot
Malkangiri’s Anupriya Lakra became the first female pilot from the Maoist-affected backward district. To fulfill her dreams of becoming a pilot, she quit her engineering education mid-way to join the Pilot Training Institute in Bhubaneswar in 2012. This year, she was selected as a co-pilot in a private airline. Anupriya completed her schooling in Malkangiri.
Saptagiri Ulaka, Congress MP
Congress bit the dust but Saptagiri Ulaka surprised poll pundits with his win from Koraput Lok Sabha seat. Son of former minister Rama Chandra Ulaka, 40-year-old Saptagiri is a BTech in Computer Science and has worked in firms like Infosys and HCL. He got the Congress ticket at the last minute but impressed his electorate with his earnestness and hard work.
Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister
While others fell by the way side, Naveen Patnaik defied a nation-wide Modi wave, yet again, leading BJD to a thumping victory in 2019 assembly elections for the fifth consecutive time. On May 29, after Naveen took oath, he became one of the longest-serving CMs of the country.
Pratap Sarangi, Union Minister of State
As BJP notched up impressive numbers in Lok Sabha from Odisha, Pratap Chandra Sarangi made it to the Modi 2 ministry. He defeated sitting MP Rabindra Kumar Jena and wowed the country with his austerity and mastery over Sanskrit.
Aparajita Sarangi, Bhubaneswar MP
For the first time in history, Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat was won by BJP and candidate was a debutante. Former bureaucrat Aparajita Sarangi not only defeated BJD’s Arup Patnaik but also stood tall in a BJD bastion.