Russian Embassy unveils special plaque honouring Biju Patnaik
The event was part of celebrations marking the 80th Anniversary of the Great Victory in World War II.
Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik, the younger son of Biju Patnaik, attended the ceremony at the Russian Embassy in the national capital.
"Honoured to attend the memorial plaque inauguration ceremony at Russian Embassy in New Delhi to commemorate the contribution of legendary #BijuPatnaik in Stalingrad Operation during WWII. The Battle of Stalingrad led to success for Russia in the war against Nazi Germany which saved the world from untold horror. People of #Odisha will be immensely pleased with this award for #BijuPatnaik whom they treat with huge respect. Thank @RusEmbIndia for the honour. #RussiaHonoursBijuPatnaik," Patnaik said in a post on X
Russian Ambassador Danis Alipov had specially invited Patnaik, Leader of the Opposition of Odisha Assembly, to attend the programme.
The main function will be held on May 9.
Alipov, in a letter to Patnaik, had said, "Among the heroes who we pay tribute to is your late father, Honourable Shri Biju Patnaik ji, a towering personality and a valiant pilot of the Indian National Airways, who had participated in the Stalingrad Operation, supplying weapons to the besieged Red Army."
The Battle of Stalingrad, which took place from July 1942 to February 1943, marked the successful Soviet defence of the city during World War II.
Russia has plans to honour those "who stood together against Nazism in anti-Hitler coalition, and commemorate the heroic deeds of the people of the former Soviet Union and its allies, who bore the brunt of the most brutal conflict in human history."
Biju Patnaik was the chief minister of Odisha for two terms — from 1961 to 1963 and again from 1990 to 1995. He died on April 17, 1997.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
12 minutes ago
- First Post
'Quoting fired losers': Trump slams media for 'very unfair' coverage ahead of Putin meeting
Trump accused the media of relying on commentary from what he described as 'fired losers' and 'really dumb people,' singling out former National Security Advisor John Bolton US President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit on July 7, 2017, in Hamburg, Germany. File image/ AP Ahead of the meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, US President Donald on Wednesday slammed the media for 'unfair' coverage of his upcoming meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin. Trump accused the media of relying on commentary from what he described as 'fired losers' and 'really dumb people,' singling out former National Security Advisor John Bolton. 'Taking to Truth Social, Trump wrote, 'Very unfair media is at work on my meeting with Putin. Constantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton, who just said that, even though the meeting is on American soil, 'Putin has already won.' What's that all about? We are winning on EVERYTHING. The Fake News is working overtime (No tax on overtime!).' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The president also suggested that even if he secured a favourable deal with Russia, such as acquiring territory like Moscow and Leningrad, the media would still frame it negatively. 'If I got Moscow and Leningrad free, as part of the deal with Russia, the Fake News would say that I made a bad deal! But now they've been caught. Look at all of the real news that's coming out about their CORRUPTION. They are sick and dishonest people, who probably hate our Country. But it doesn't matter because we are winning on everything!!! MAGA' he added. Trump had previously threatened to impose sanctions and secondary tariffs if Moscow did not take steps toward a ceasefire by Friday, August 8. However, no punitive measures were enacted, despite the lack of progress from the Kremlin. Instead, following a visit to Moscow by Trump's envoy, a direct meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was scheduled for August 15. Notably, Zelenskyy — who has repeatedly requested a face-to-face meeting with Putin to help bring an end to the war — was not invited to the talks, which are set to take place in Alaska. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Trump previously floated the idea of 'swapping' Ukrainian territories during the upcoming talks, an idea firmly rejected by Kyiv and Europe as they are all Ukrainian territories. Some, including Zelenskyy, have also likened the meeting, which provided an audience with Putin on US soil, as a political victory for the Russian leader. While Trump has publicly raised the idea of a possible land swap as part of a broader resolution, both the White House and the State Department downplayed expectations on Tuesday, describing the Alaska summit as a 'listening exercise' rather than a formal negotiation. With inputs from agencies
Hindustan Times
12 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Ahead of Trump-Putin Meeting, Zelensky Says He Won't Exchange Land for Peace
KYIV, Ukraine—President Trump's face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday will heap pressure on one person not at the table: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky has tried to position himself as the party who was eager for a peace deal—something Trump has sought to broker since he returned to office this year. Concerns run high in Kyiv that Trump will seek to strike a deal with Putin that will be disadvantageous to Ukraine, or at least be persuaded by Putin that Zelensky is the one in the way of an end to the bloodshed. Zelensky told reporters Tuesday that he was ready to meet directly with Putin—a step the Russian leader has refused to take—and offered subtle indications that he could be willing to discuss delicate domestic issues such as territorial concessions. But he also shrugged off the suggestion that a land swap could be part of a cease-fire agreement in the near term, an idea that has recently been floated in calls between various world leaders. He said he didn't believe that Moscow was prepared to give up territory it currently controls in southern Ukraine in exchange for more territory in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Instead, Zelensky said, he believed Russia was asking Ukraine to withdraw from territory it currently holds in exchange for Russia agreeing to a cease-fire. Zelensky has said for months that he would accept an unconditional interim cease-fire. 'In my view, essentially, they are offering simply not to advance any further,' Zelensky said of Russia. 'This is a very conditional exchange.' Ukrainian soldiers and army engineers inspect new fortifications in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. A Ukrainian soldier in a bunker which forms part of the new defensive fortifications built in eastern Ukraine. Zelensky's comments underscore the difficult position that the coming Trump-Putin meeting has put him in. He is wary of any cease-fire proposal that Putin might offer without Ukraine at the table. At the same time, he must be careful not to provoke Trump's anger—as he did during his disastrous trip to Washington in February—by appearing not to take peace talks seriously. On Wednesday, Zelensky arrived in Germany, where he will join German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for a video call with Trump and other European leaders. Volodymyr Fesenko, a Kyiv-based political analyst at the independent think tank Penta Center for Political Studies, said the meeting posed several potential risks for Zelensky. Putin will aim to negotiate a cease-fire with Trump with conditions that are favorable to Russia, which Trump could then pressure Ukraine to accept. But just as great a risk, he said, was that Putin would try to turn Trump—who has shown more sympathy toward his Russian counterpart than other recent presidents—against Ukraine and toward Moscow. The U.S. leader might then cut off military or economic support for Kyiv, or lift sanctions on Russia. Already, in the lead-up to the meeting, Trump halted plans to hit Russia with additional sanctions. In addition, Trump criticized Zelensky earlier this week after the Ukrainian leader initially dismissed the idea of a land swap. 'I get along with Zelensky, but I disagree with what he's done,' Trump said. 'Very, very severely disagree.' 'Putin's goal in this case is not to end the war, but to form a negative attitude toward Ukraine and Zelensky, to cause a quarrel between Trump and Zelensky,' Fesenko said. 'A real problem has already emerged—Trump's irritation with Zelensky's position.' Some Western officials see signals that Putin could be more prepared for serious peace talks than he has been in the past. In a recent discussion with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Putin didn't mention some of his previous demands, such as the demilitarization of Ukraine or Ukrainian withdrawal from four regions that Russia partly controls and now claims as its own, The Wall Street Journal reported. Instead, according to officials briefed on the discussion, Putin had said that he would be open to a cease-fire if Ukraine withdrew from only its two easternmost regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. Russia already controls all but a small sliver of the Luhansk region, and some Western officials hope that Russian-held territory in southern Ukraine could be handed back if Kyiv withdraws from the parts of the Donetsk region it still controls. Though Ukrainians have grown more willing to make concessions to end the war since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, public opinion polls show they remain opposed to giving up territory. A June survey from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found 52% of Ukrainians opposed to territorial concessions, with 38% willing to accept territorial losses as part of a peace deal. Though Zelensky has repeatedly dismissed the idea of territorial concessions, his comments on Tuesday indicated, at the very least, a willingness to discuss it. 'I am not ready to discuss it over the phone,' he said of 'the territorial question.' 'These are serious matters to be decided at the leaders' level.' So far, Putin has declined to meet directly with Zelensky, who he has tried to paint as an illegitimate leader who shouldn't be recognized. Zelensky has also, since early in the war, insisted that security guarantees—provided by the West—must be part of any peace agreement, since Russia has repeatedly violated earlier cease-fire pacts. Residents of Dnipro, Ukraine, fled their homes after Russian rockets hit a nearby building in June. In his comments on Tuesday, he didn't mention membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—long his priority, but one which most analysts say isn't realistic in the short term. Instead, he insisted that Europe would have to play an important role in any peace negotiations. European leaders have been frozen out of the Trump-Putin meeting on Friday, and Zelensky noted that in recent months it is Europe—not the U.S.—that has taken on most of the cost of helping fund and arm Ukraine. 'The presence of Europe in one form or another is very important,' Zelensky said. 'Ultimately no one except Europe is currently providing us with security guarantees. Even financially—funding the needs of our army, which is a security guarantee.' Write to Ian Lovett at Ahead of Trump-Putin Meeting, Zelensky Says He Won't Exchange Land for Peace
Time of India
12 minutes ago
- Time of India
Russia is taking measures to partially restrict calls on Telegram and WhatsApp, Interfax says
Russian authorities are taking measures to partially restrict calls on Telegram and WhatsApp, the messaging app owned by Meta Platforms, Interfax news agency said, citing Russia's telecoms Vladimir Putin last month signed a law authorising the development of a state-backed messaging app integrated with government services, as Russia strives to reduce its dependence on platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
