A tailor's tag on a blood-stained shirt found near the crime scene helped the Odisha Police to crack a mysterious murder case and arrest three people, an officer said.
The administration sent another vessel which rescued the Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying and took him to his destination. He was accompanied by BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra and a few other local party leaders while being stranded on the boat.
At least 10 persons, including four cops, were injured when police resorted to lathicharge on Tuesday to chase away a mob protesting alleged diversion of kerosene meant for relief at Chikiti in Odisha's cyclone-hit Ganjam district.
Severe cyclonic storm Phailin, which forced the evacuation of over 8 lakh people, left a trail of destruction in coastal areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh and disrupted communication lines before weakening considerably on Sunday.
Floods triggered by low pressure induced rains wreaked havoc in cyclone-hit Ganjam and other coastal districts of Odisha, leaving 10 persons dead and lakhs marooned as helicopters launched rescue operations on Friday.
The Odisha government told the assembly over 40,000 workers migrated from the state last year, with the highest number -- 26,151 -- from Balangir.
Hit hardest by Cyclone Phailin, the coastal district of Ganjam is estimated to have suffered a loss of at least Rs 3,000 crore in the nature's fury which has deprived lakhs of people of their livelihood and damaged 2.4 lakh houses.
The South Central Railway as well as the East Coast Railway cancelled several trains while some were terminated midway, officials said, adding a few express trains were also diverted.
A widow was allegedly gangraped near a temple by four people, who also recorded the incident in a mobile phone and circulated the video clip, in Odisha's Ganjam district, police said on Wednesday. The woman was allegedly gangraped by Santosh Biswal, an autorickshaw driver, and three of his friends -- Manoj Kumar Sahu, 28, Surendra Das, 25, and Krushna Behera, 20, near Tara Tarini temple at Purushottampur area on April 27, Ganjam DSP Damodara Lenka said.
As many as 12 teams were deployed and five teams were on standby in West Bengal while additional teams are also in readiness if required.
Pandian joined the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) in 2011, and since then, he has been Patnaik's private secretary.
IMD director general Mrutunjay Mohapatra said that cyclone Asani has already achieved maximum stage of intensification and is gradually getting weakened.
People of Berhampur in south Odisha are crossing over to Andhra Pradesh in search of ATMs to withdraw money as almost all such facilities in this silk city are lying defunct since Cyclone Phailin hit the state.
With the southern districts of Ganjam, Gajapati and Kandhamal receiving heavy rainfall due to cyclone Hudhud, the local administration has started preparations for floods if such a situation arises.
According to weather officials, wind speeds along and off the Odisha-West Bengal coasts are anticipated to reach 60 km/h from October 23, increasing to 120 km/h from October 24 night to October 25 morning.
The MeT department warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall in Gangetic West Bengal till Saturday, ahead of Durga Puja festivities.
Hours after being released by Maoists, Italian tourist Claudio Colangelo arrived in Bhubaneswar on Sunday and met his country's Consul General Joel Melchiori. Accompanied by security personnel, 61-year-old Colangelo was brought to the state capital by road from Sorada in Ganjam district, after being released at a place near Daringbadi in Kandhamal district.Colangelo met Italian media personnel at the hotel while Indian journalists were not allowed inside.
Maoists disrupted several communication links in Orissa on Monday by torching government buses and triggering landmine blasts to destroy mobile towers, besides damaging a forest beat house, prior to their 12-hour shutdown in the state's southern districts.As a result of their disruptive activities, the movement of buses and telephone communication were affected in Gajapati, Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada and Ganjam districts.
As Odisha and West Bengal are bracing for a severe cyclonic storm, governments of both states started evacuating people and while deciding to close educational institutions in vulnerable areas.
Berhampur, the biggest city in southern Odisha, on Monday looked like a war zone as Cyclone Phailin left behind a trail of destruction. The cyclone accompanied by heavy rain hit Gopalpur, about 15 km from Behrampur, and battered the city and its nearby areas.
The system lay centered at 5.30 am over Southeast Bay of Bengal, about 450 km west-northwest of Car Nicobar (Nicobar Islands), 380 km west of Port Blair (Andaman Islands), 970 km southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and 1030 km south-southeast of Puri (Odisha).
So how are tropical cyclones formed? How destructive can they be? How are their names chosen? Find out the answers to these and other questions in our cyclone FAQ.
Odisha's Health Minister Naba Kishore Das, a confidant of the chief minister, was shot and grievously injured when he got out of his car on Sunday, allegedly by a police officer who was captured, officials said.
An alleged member of the banned People's Liberation Army of Manipur was arrested from Odisha by the National Investigation Agency, which is probing the nexus between Maoists and terror groups of the northeast.
At least 14 minor girls from Odisha's Ganjam district were rescued by the police with the help of child rights activists when they were allegedly being trafficked to Chennai, the police said on Wednesday.
'I am not doing what I am to make a name for myself.''I am doing what every Indian should be doing right now.'
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) on Tuesday announced the acquisition of a 95 per cent stake in Gopalpur Ports in Odisha from Shapoorji Pallonji Group and Orissa Stevedores Ltd at an equity value of Rs 1,349 crore. In Gopalpur Ports, Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SP Group) firm SP Port Maintenance Pvt Ltd has a 56 per cent stake and Orissa Stevedores Ltd (OSL) has a 44 per cent stake. Gopalpur Port is an all-weather deep-water berthing port with a capacity of 20 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) situated in Ganjam district of Odisha.
As Cyclone Dana barrels toward the coasts of Odisha, threatening to impact nearly half of the state's population, the government is racing against time to execute a massive evacuation plan aimed at relocating about 10 lakh people in several coastal districts to safety. In West Bengal, the cyclone is set to bring heavy rainfall in several southern West Bengal districts, including Kolkata, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.
Several major cyclones have hit various parts of India over the last 10 years. Here is a look at the notable among them.
Tata Steel on Wednesday said it has initiated the construction of a technical training institute near Gopalpur in Ganjam district of Orissa.
Exigencies of electoral politics and individual ambitions often stoke family feuds and sibling rivalries.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
The BCCI has cancelled the third ODI between India and the West Indies in Visakhapatnam after cyclone 'Hudhud' left the ACA-VDCA cricket stadium in unplayable condition.
According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, there would be heavy rain for the next 24 hours in coastal areas, in the northern and in the interior parts of the south.
Over 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Monday in 49 constituencies in six states and two Union territories in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, with Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir recording its highest-ever voting percentage.
A 28-year-old trainee nun was allegedly gang-raped by three youths, including two cousins, after holding her forcibly for about a week in Odisha's Ganjam and Gajapati districts, police sources said on Monday.
The 2000-batch IAS officer, who sparked several controversies and was accused of violating the service rule, had taken voluntary retirement from government service on October 23 this year.
The annual car festival in a village in Odisha's Ganjam district turned tragic when an elderly woman and her five-year-old grand daughter died after coming under the rolling wheels of the chariot of Lord Jagannath, the police said on Monday.
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik had on Tuesday sent a letter to the Election Commission requesting withdrawal of the MCC from all coastal districts to make it easier for the government to handle the impending cyclonic storm "Fani" in the state.
Odisha's Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das died of bullet injuries on Sunday, Apollo Hospital officials said.
