Taste international food during Hockey World Cup
Bhubaneswar, Nov 24 : Sports lovers seeking to enjoy the upcoming Men's Hockey World Cup here would have one more reason to celebrate the event - a food festival is being organised to serve them gastronomic delights from across the globe.
The International Food Festival will be a part of the Bhubaneswar City Festival, to be organised during the 3-week long mega sporting event from November 28 to December 16.
Leading hotels, restaurants and hotel and catering institutes have become partners of the event who will set up kiosks where their culinary ideas will satiate the food connoisseurs of the city, organisers said.
Altogether 16 nations from five continents are taking part in the World Cup and each partner will prepare four food items from one of these countries, four from Indian states and two street foods of Odisha.
"So, under one roof, visitors can taste the world cuisine, Indian delicacies and lip smacking street food of Odisha. They will really need a large platter," said a source in the Bhubaneswar Development Authority which is organising the event in association with the state tourism department.
The food festival will be held at the IDCO Exhibition Ground at Unit III here from December 1 to December 16.
To give a unique character to the offerings at the food festival, each stall would have a state theme, a country theme and an Odia theme, the source said.
The venue will also have several selfie-points with major international monuments such as the Eiffel Tower of Paris, the Taj Mahal of Agra and the beautiful arch of 10th Century Mukteswar temple of Bhubaneswar.
Besides food, visitors at the Bhubaneswar City Festival can also enjoy songs, music and dance of reputed artistes from across the country.
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Charred body of teen found after fire destroys over 100 shanties in Delhi's Rithala
New Delhi (PTI): A massive fire swept through a cluster of shanties in Delhi's Rithala area early on Thursday, killing a 17-year-old girl and destroying more than 100 huts that left dozens of migrant families homeless.
Firefighters pulled out the charred body of the girl who was initially reported missing after the fire.
The blaze that was reported to authorities at 4.15 am spread rapidly through the densely packed shanties, triggering panic among residents who rushed out of their huts to escape the flames.
Residents said the shanty cluster was home to migrant labourers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and other states who worked as daily wage workers in nearby factories, construction sites and small establishments.
The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) launched a large-scale firefighting operation and deployed more than 18 fire tenders to control the blaze.
After the fire was brought under control, firefighters recovered the charred body of a teenage girl from the debris.
"Teams reached the location soon after the call was received and began firefighting operations. The fire had already engulfed several shanties in the cluster," a fire official said.
Officials said the blaze spread quickly because the huts were built very close to each other and many contained highly inflammable materials such as plastic sheets, wooden planks and cloth.
Firefighters and local police personnel carried out rescue and cooling operations and managed to bring the fire under control by around 6.30 am.
"The fire had spread to more than 100 huts and a adjacent godown of paper rolls and cardboard and the doors and windows of some residential flats also caught fire. A 17-year-old girl charred body was also recovered. Her body was sent to BSA Hospital by PCR," the officer said.
Police said the girl has been identified and further legal procedures are underway.
Many families said they lost everything in the fire as they had to flee with no belongings during the fire.
"We ran out to save our lives when the fire started. Within minutes everything was burning. Our hut, clothes, money and documents -- everything has turned to ashes," said Ramesh Kumar, a labourer from Bihar who has been living in the area.
Another person from West Bengal, said the flames spread so quickly that people barely had time to wake their children and escape.
"We woke up to screams and saw fire everywhere. We somehow managed to take the children outside. We could not save anything from the hut. All our belongings are gone," she said.
Some residents were seen searching through the burnt remains of their huts in the hope of finding salvageable items. "We worked for years to build this small hut and collect household items. In just a few minutes, everything we had earned was destroyed," said a migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh.
Police said the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained and an investigation is underway.
