Siddhanta Das

One day my four-year-old daughter Ankita (Nikki) asked, “Papa, what is Nobel Prize?” While I was explaining to her in detail, she lost her patience and asked, “Just tell me has Cadbury got…

Ashish Mohapatra, an IFS officer of the 1988-batch of my cadre, was like a younger brother. He passed away on July 28, 2005, from cerebral malaria while he was Divisional Forest Officer…

When I was posted as Member Secretary of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), Odisha, in April 2009, a colleague of my father wondered, “Why are you joining an organization where the…

In 1987, Anup Kumar Patnaik, an IPS officer (now retired), recounted an anecdote about his brother, who as a child was bright but very sensitive. In school he was once awarded corporal…

I got married a few months prior to joining as Divisional Forest Officer, Dhenkanal, in 1986. Sandeep Tripathi, an IFS officer of 1984 batch, was posted as a probationer there. Sandeep was a…

Once in a while officers and staff of Odisha State Pollution Control Board played cricket on holidays. Although not a great player, I chanced my arms on a few occasions for fun, which was…

A dynamic Superintendent of Police (SP) of a district came up with a novel idea to curb eve-teasing. He let loose a few police constables disguised in burqas in the busy market area that was…

I joined as Executive Director of Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA), which was set up after the supercyclone, worst-ever in Odisha's history, devastated the coastal…

Wikipedia describes Artificial intelligence (AI) as intelligence demonstrated by machines, as opposed to natural intelligence displayed by animals including humans. Although the term AI in…

In the 1980s it had become evident that bona fide requirements of communities in rural areas cannot be entirely met from natural forests and Social Forestry Projects were started in most…