The incident happened on Sunday night when the woman, an undergraduate student at a private college, went to the beach along with her boyfriend, who is a classmate, on the occasion of the Raja festival, they said.
A theatre actor in Odisha was arrested for killing a pig on stage during a Ramayana play. The incident sparked outrage and was condemned in the state assembly. The actor was arrested for cruelty to animals and violation of the Wildlife Protection Act. The incident also highlighted the issue of animal welfare and the display of snakes in theatrical performances, which is banned in Odisha.
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.
Five Maoists were killed in a fierce encounter with security forces in a forest on the border of Odisha's Ganjam and Gajapati districts on Wednesday.At least two security personnel were also injured in the exchange of fire in Bhaliagada jungle under Mohana police station area, said the police.
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.
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.
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.
Despite declining by three percentage points in 2022-23 (FY23) compared to FY19, Odisha's unemployment rate remains higher than the average in India.
Pandian joined the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) in 2011, and since then, he has been Patnaik's private secretary.
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.
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 sea conditions near the Odisha coast will become rough on May 9 and rougher on May 10.
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.
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.
The cyclonic storm is likely to move nearly westwards and cross north Andhra Pradesh-south Odisha coasts between Kalingapatnam and Gopalpur around Sunday evening, the Cyclone Warning Division of the IMD said.
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).
Loss of Odisha Sands Complex is estimated at about Rs 100-crore.
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.
'It is very likely to move nearly northwards for next few hour and recurve slowly north-northeastwards along Narsapur, Yanam, Kakinada, Tuni and Visakhapatnam coasts during noon to evening on Wednesday and emerge into west central Bay of Bengal off North Andhra Pradesh coasts by night,' the India Meteorological Department said in its national bulletin.
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.
The weather system remained practically stationary during the last six hours and weakened to a depression, and is likely to turn into a well-marked low pressure area during the next 12 hours, it said in a bulletin.
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.
Exigencies of electoral politics and individual ambitions often stoke family feuds and sibling rivalries.
The Odisha government told the assembly over 40,000 workers migrated from the state last year, with the highest number -- 26,151 -- from Balangir.
Odisha's Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das died of bullet injuries on Sunday, Apollo Hospital officials said.
The depression, which was initially over west-central Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas, moved westward and intensified into a deep depression.
The orange alert has been issued for moderate or heavy thunderstorms and wind speed with 30-40 km per hour to reach some districts of Odisha within the next three hours.
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.
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 intensity of Cyclone Phailin on Sunday reduced significantly to 90-100 kilometres per hour at Odisha's Gopalpur where the cyclone hit at a speed of over 200 kmph on Saturday night.
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.
Phailin, a very severe cyclonic storm, on Saturday struck the Odisha coast, bringing in its wake torrential rains and wind speeds of over 200 kmph in the state and in neighbouring north coastal Andhra Pradesh.
The state government has instructed officials in coastal districts and various departments to be alert to tackle any emergency situation
Rain and thundershower lashed many places in Ganjam, Khurda, Puri, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, and Balasore in Odisha, disrupting normal life, the weatherman said.
Exactly a year after the very severe cyclonic storm Phailin struck the state, another storm is heading towards the Odisha coast.
The India Meteorological Department said rainfall would be accompanied by gale wind speed reaching 140 to 150 kmph and gusting to 165 kmph along and off Odisha and north Andhra Pradesh coasts.
Several families in Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur and Nayagarh have named their newborn daughters as Titli because they were born either before the very severe cyclone's arrival in the coast or after it made landfall.
The system moved north-northeastwards at 20 kmph in the last six hours and is over west-central Bay of Bengal, 90 km from Gopalpur, 120 km from Puri and 210 km from Paradip, the weather office said in its 11.30 am bulletin.
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.
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.
