Samaya

About Samaya

The Samaya (Odia: ସମୟ) is an Odia-language daily newspaper published from Bhubaneswar, Odisha. First published on 2 October 1996, it was founded by Basanta Kumar Biswal, a prominent Odisha politician, and is published by his son Ranjib Biswal, a former Member of Parliament. Described as the first Odia colour daily newspaper, The Samaya is published from Bhubaneswar with editions covering Sambalpur, Berhampur, Balasore and Angul, and is read across the state. Its official website is samayaepaper.com, which hosts its e-paper and digital news portal.

Founded on 2 October 1996

The Samaya was first published on 2 October 1996 in Bhubaneswar — Gandhi Jayanti, a date heavy with symbolism for a new Indian newspaper. It arrived as a recent addition to what was then Orissa's colour daily newspaper scene, launching into a market led by Sambad, Samaja and Dharitri. The paper's founder was Basanta Kumar Biswal, described as a political heavyweight in the state; its publisher was his son Ranjib Biswal, and its editor was S. Hota. The launch made an immediate impression: a full-colour Odia daily was still a novelty in 1996, and The Samaya's modern production values set it apart from the black-and-white broadsheets that dominated the market.

The Biswal family and the paper's ownership

The Samaya is a family-owned newspaper with deep political roots. Founder Basanta Kumar Biswal was a senior Congress leader and minister in Odisha; his son Ranjib Biswal, the paper's publisher and managing editor, is a former Member of Parliament. The paper is published under Ashirbad Prakashan Pvt. Ltd. (Ashirbad Publications), the Biswal family's publishing company, based at No. 44 and 45, Sector A, Zone D, Mancheswar Industrial Estate, Bhubaneswar 751010. The family's political engagement has been direct: Ranjib Biswal was reported as a Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Jagatsinghpur, with The Samaya's coverage under Ashirbad Prakashan noted as distinctly favourable to the Congress during the senior Biswal's era, when he was a close ally of Chief Minister J. B. Patnaik.

Editorial leadership

The paper's editorial leadership has included editor-in-chief Satakadi Hota, editor Dillip Bisoi and managing editor Ranjib Biswal; at its founding, the editor was S. Hota. The masthead reflects the paper's dual character as both a professional newsroom and a family enterprise: working editors run the daily news operation while the proprietor family sets the institutional direction. The paper's stated political alignment is independent, and its editorial approach has been described as clean, non-controversial and objective — a positioning that helped it build readership beyond the Congress-supporting base one might expect of a politically founded paper.

The first Odia colour daily

The Samaya's signature distinction is technological: it was the first Odia-language colour daily newspaper in the state. In 1996, colour printing was still rare in the Odia press, and a full-colour front page — with colour photographs of news events, cinema and sports — gave the newcomer immediate visual impact on the newsstand. The investment in colour production signalled the Biswal family's ambition to compete with the established leaders on quality rather than merely on price or political loyalty. The paper has maintained that production standard, and its e-paper and website continue to present the day's news in full colour.

Editions across Odisha

The Samaya is published from Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur, with editions covering Angul and Dhenkanal, Balasore and Bhadrak, and Berhampur — a footprint that spans coastal, western and northern Odisha. This multi-edition structure follows the standard Odia newspaper model: a common core of state, national and international pages produced in Bhubaneswar, wrapped around district-focused reporting for each edition centre. The Sambalpur edition serves western Odisha, a distinct news market with its own political and cultural dynamics; the Berhampur edition covers the southern districts; and the Balasore edition serves the north. Together, the editions have made The Samaya, in its own description, a media platform reaching every corner of the state.

Ashirbad Publications: printer to the industry

Beyond publishing The Samaya, Ashirbad Publications operates as a significant commercial printer. The company prints the Orissa editions of two leading English dailies, The New Indian Express and The Times of India, and was for some years the franchisee publisher of The Asian Age's Bhubaneswar edition. This printing business gives the Biswal media operation a scale and revenue base beyond its own newspaper's circulation, and it places Ashirbad at the centre of Odisha's print ecosystem — the presses that produce a Congress-family Odia daily also produce the state's editions of two of India's largest English newspapers. The arrangement is a reminder of how intertwined ownership, politics and printing infrastructure are in the regional press.

Coverage and editorial character

The Samaya covers the full range of a general-interest daily: Odisha politics and administration, national affairs, sports, cinema, literature, culture, health, education and agriculture, with attention to the daily issues of the common reader. Its pages carry district news from across its edition centres, Bhubaneswar city coverage, and the cultural and devotional content — including Jagannath temple affairs — that anchors Odia newspaper readership. The paper's editorial tone has been described as non-controversial and objective, aimed at being actively read rather than skimmed: a paper for the household, with sections for every member of the family, from news and opinion to cinema, women's pages and children's features.

The Samaya in Odisha's press order

Odisha's newspaper market is unusually politicised: alongside The Samaya, whose publisher is a former MP, stand Sambad (whose editor Soumya Ranjan Patnaik was Bhubaneswar MP), Dharitri (edited by Dhenkanal MP Tathagata Satpathy) and Prajatantra (linked to Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahtab) — while Samaja (published since 1919, founded by Utkalmani Pandit Gopabandhu Das) and Pragativadi stand apart from party ownership. The Samaya's place in this order is that of the Congress-family daily that outgrew its partisan origins to become a widely read independent-feeling paper. Its survival and growth since 1996 — supported, as its own accounts note, by readers, well-wishers and advertisers — show how a politically founded newspaper can earn a general readership through production quality and consistent journalism.

Digital presence: samayaepaper.com

The paper's digital home is samayaepaper.com, which hosts The Samaya's e-paper — a free-to-read digital replica of the print edition — alongside its news website. The portal carries current Odia news on the state, nation, world, sports, business and entertainment, positioning itself as an Odisha news destination for readers on the web. The e-paper model, requiring no registration, has made the day's edition accessible to the Odia diaspora and to readers outside the print distribution areas. The site's design and development were handled by Maxim Solution Providers, reflecting the early-2000s wave in which Odia newspapers first built dedicated web editions with minimal in-house staff.

Reading The Samaya today

Readers can buy The Samaya from newsstands across Odisha — in its Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Balasore and Angul editions — or read the e-paper free at samayaepaper.com. Founded on 2 October 1996 by Basanta Kumar Biswal, published by Ranjib Biswal under Ashirbad Prakashan, and edited by a professional newsroom, it remains what it set out to be: Odisha's first colour Odia daily, covering the state's politics, culture, sports and everyday life for readers in every corner of Odisha — a colour pioneer that helped modernise the look of the Odia press.