-The Indian Express A forest fire which started in Simlipal in February and has been raging for nearly a week now, was finally brought under control. How fire prone is the forest? What caused the fire, and how intense was it? Bhubaneswar: The Simlipal forest reserve area frequently witnesses forest fires during dry weather conditions. A fire which started in the biosphere reserve area in February and has been raging for nearly...

-Hindustan Times The pilot project would integrate fish-based products into the diets of pregnant and lactating women, adolescent girls and children of tribal villages and determine the nutritional potential of adding fish to meals. Bhuaneswar: The Odisha government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with international non-profit organisation World Fish on Tuesday for a pilot programme to include fish and fish-based products in the supplementary nutrition programme for children, pregnant and nursing...

-Mongabay.com * The nationwide lockdown has affected the economy of India’s tribal population, which depends highly on the sale of minor forest products. * However, state governments are hoping things will become normal soon as the lockdown norms get relaxed in the coming days. Chhattisgarh’s Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel even praised the tribal population in his state for maintaining social distancing properly. * Experts and organisations working with tribal communities demand removal or...

-The Hindu Cyclone-hit State presents preliminary report to the visiting Central team BHUBANESWAR: Even as normal life is limping back to normality in the districts ravaged by cyclone Fani on May 3, the Odisha government on Wednesday presented a preliminary report putting the losses at Rs. 11,942 crore. The report was presented to the visiting inter-ministerial Central team assessing the cyclone damages. The cyclone affected 1.6 crore people in 18,388 villages and 51...

  Initial media reports suggest how timely interventions by various official agencies in Odisha prevented loss of human lives when Cyclone Fani hit that state on 3rd May. However, it is essential to also take into account recent official reports by different agencies, which indicate that the impact of the cyclone has been quite severe. A situation assessment report on the impact of Fani cyclone dated 15th May, 2019, which was released...