Odia language mandatory on signboards of shops, commercial establishments
Bhubaneswar, May 1: The Odisha Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill making Odia language mandatory on signboards of all shops and commercial establishments.
The Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and its rule provides for all shops and establishments to comply within a month or pay fines ranging between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000 for a first violation and rising to between Rs 2,000 and Rs 25,000 for the second violation.
The Assembly also passed Odisha Official Language (Amendment) Bill, 2018, which makes penal provisions for the government officials for not using Odia language in official work.
In order to encourage maximum use of Odia language, it has also the provision to provide rewards to the officials, according to the bill.
In August 2016, the state government enacted the rules of the Odisha Official Language Act, 1954, formally bringing it into force for official work in Odia language.
A total of eight Bills were passed in the budget session of the Assembly, which culminated on Tuesday, four days ahead of schedule.
The budget session was held in two phases beginning on March 20.
On Monday, the house passed the Odisha Appropriation Bill, 2018, allowing the state government to utilise the annual Budget of Rs 1.22 lakh crore for the current fiscal.
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Protest held outside Karachi Bakery in Hyderabad demanding name change
Hyderabad, May 11 (PTI): A group of people held a protest in front of a Karachi Bakery outlet here, demanding that the name be changed, police said on Sunday.
Around 10-15 members, holding the tricolour and wearing saffron scarves, gathered in front of the Karachi Bakery store at Shamshabad on Saturday afternoon and raised "anti-Pakistan slogans".
The protesters then allegedly tried to damage the outlet's nameboard by hitting it with sticks. They were subsequently dispersed by the police.
In a video circulated on social media on Sunday, the nameboard was seen partially covered with a cloth.
"The protest was held by 10-15 people on Saturday afternoon, demanding that Karachi Bakery change its name," a police official at the RGI Airport police station said.
A complaint was lodged against the protesters, accusing them of obstructing customers by staging the protest in front of the outlet, he added.
The promoters of the city-based bakery chain had earlier clarified that they are a "100 per cent Indian brand", after certain groups demanded a name change, citing its association with a city in Pakistan.
A protest was also held last week in Visakhapatnam, with similar demands to change Karachi Bakery’s name amid conflicts between India and the neighbouring country.
Police personnel were deployed near one of the bakery’s branches in Hyderabad on May 7 as a preventive measure, after a leader of a right-wing organisation posted a video on social media demanding the name be changed, or else they would do it themselves.
Karachi Bakery promoters Rajesh Ramnani and Harish Ramnani said the brand was established in Hyderabad in 1953 by their grandfather Khanchand Ramnani, who migrated to India from Pakistan during partition.
They also appealed to Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, the DGP, and the police to help them retain Karachi Bakery’s brand identity and prevent any forced name change.
Earlier, the tricolour was also displayed above the nameboards of their outlets in the city.
Men calling themselves nationalists vandalising an Indian owned Karachi bakery in Hyderabad.
— Anusha Ravi Sood (@anusharavi10) May 11, 2025
It's a 6-decade old Indian brand founded by founded by Khanchand Ramnani.
Poor Karachi bakery that has nothing to do with Pakistan becomes the victim of idiocy every single time. pic.twitter.com/XDkmtMnkgp
