Bhubaneswar: Home is where the heart is. Odias settled in Oman have time and again stood true to this proverb by celebrating special days of Odisha in the Middle East country.
The Odia Community in Oman celebrated 85th Utkal Divas online in a big way.
Hosted by Odia wing of Muscat-based Indian Social Club (ISC), representatives of Odia Samaj from different countries, prominent Non-Resident Odias and many distinguished personalities of Odisha joined in the celebration.
Addressing the festival, chief guest Dr Chandrabhanu Satpathy gave a clarion call to global community to collectively face the challenge posed by corona pandemic.
Chairman of Oman’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry Eng. Redha Bin Jumma Al Saleh proposed bilateral ties between Odisha and Oman in agricultural, manufacturing, mining and services sectors.
Indian Ambassador to Oman Munu Mahawar appealed the members of Odia wing of Indian Social Club to remain together and optimistic in the times of negativity created by corona.
The celebration was also joined by Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Welfare Ranendra Pratap Swain. He informed that Odisha has been setting higher standards in agriculture production and has received excellence awards for five years. Odisha’s humanitarian service in supplying oxygen to other states has also been widely appreciated, Swain said.
Among others, former Special Secretary in Ministry of Finance Prasanna Kumar Dash, Chairman of Indian Social Club Dr Satish Nambiar and convenor of Odia wing Manoj Mohapatra also participated.
Utkal Divas celebration is solely meant to enhance bilateral ties between Oman and Odisha in the fields of business, trade and job, Manoj said.
Co-convener of Odia Wing Gupta Prasad Dash informed that the Odia wing is running two orphanages in Odisha and arranging repatriation of 1200 stranded Odias in Oman. The wing is also supplying oxygen concentrators and relief material to Odisha, Dash said.
Dipti Mishra Pujari and Girija Shankar Mohanty were the ancors for the event which was also attended by Karanjeet Singh, Dr. Hara Prasanna Das, Kuku Das, Kishore Dwibedi, Amiya Mishra, Arun Kumar Praharaj and Pritish Dash.
Renowned artists from Oman and Odisha presented colourful cultural programmes. Odissi dance was staged by disciples of Krupanjali Das Patnaik, play on lockdown by Odias in Oman(OIO), short family plays, dance and music by artists from Sohar, children dance choreographed by Monalisa Das, Bargarh’s Dhensa tribal dance, kids dance by Kalinga Rising Stars, comedy by Rahul Ingle and musical numbers by Santosh Rout, Kritika Gambhir and Neeraj Bakshi.
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