Odisha

Kendrapara, Aug 24 (PTI) Angry over lack of steps to protect their crops from damage by herds of stray cattle, farmers on Tuesday let loose livestock in Rajnagar block and subdivision offices in Odisha's Kendrapara district.

Work in both the offices came to a standstill for about three hours as stray cattle invaded office rooms, officials said.

New Delhi, Jul 21 (PTI) The DRDO successfully flight-tested the new-generation Akash surface-to-air missile system from an integrated test range off the Odisha coast on Wednesday.

The defence ministry said the missile was test-fired at around 12:45 pm from a land-based platform and that the "flawless performance" of its weapons system was confirmed by the complete flight data.

The new variant of the Akash missile (Akash-NG) can strike targets at a distance of around 60 km and fly at a speed of up to Mach 2.5.

Kendrapara, Jul 3 (PTI) An ASHA worker, who had received both the doses of COVID-19 vaccine, succumbed to the infection in Odisha's Kendrapara district, an official said on Saturday.

Saraswati Mallick, 35, an accredited social health activists (ASHA) worker of the Derabish community health centre, was admitted to a Covid hospital in Chhata last week.

She was put on a ventilator after her oxygen level started dipping and she died on Friday night, said Yashaswini Sahani, the assistant manager of ASHA in the Kendrapara district headquarter hospital.

Kendrapara, Jul 3 (PTI) A woman employee of a child care centre in Odisha's Kendrapara district was arrested on Saturday in an alleged sexual exploitation case, police said.

The caretaker of the centre, Renubala Panda was arrested after prima facie it was found that she abetted the sexual exploitation of the inmates of the short stay home at Patalipanka village in Marsaghai police station, an officer said.

The centre is run by an NGO named Lutheran Mahila Samiti.

Balasore (Odisha) June 28 (PTI) India on Monday successfully test-fired its new generation nuclear-capable Agni Prime missile from a defence base off Odisha coast, DRDO sources said.

The surface-to-surface ballistic missile has a range of 1000 to 2000 km, it said.

The sleek missile of the Agni series was test-fired from a mobile launcher off the Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha at 10.55 am, said a DRDO source.

Its trajectory was monitored by sophisticated tracking radars along the coast line.

Bargarh (Odisha), Jun 11 (PTI) A member of the proscribed CPI (Maoist), who was carrying a reward on his head, was killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in Odisha's Bargarh district on Friday, the police said.

Kendrapara (Odisha), May 31 (PTI) A 35-year-old man, posing as a doctor allegedly molested a woman patient at the government-run Community Health Center (CHC) in Aul in Kendrapara district, police said on Monday.

The accused identified as Deepak Mohanty (35) of Badaambila village allegedly perpetrated the crime at the diarrhoea ward of the hospital. Posing as a doctor, he had allegedly outraged the modesty of the woman on Sunday late night. As the victim raised the alarm, the accused managed to escape, police said.

Bhubaneswar, May 2 (PTI) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday declared working journalists of the state as frontline Covid warriors.

While approving a proposal to this effect, the chief minister said, journalists are doing a great service to the state by providing seamless news feed and making people aware of coronavirus-related issues.

"They are a great support for our war against COVID- 19," a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office said.

The decision would benefit over 6,500 journalists.

Bhubaneswar, May 2 (PTI) The Odisha government on Sunday declared a 14-day lockdown in the state from May 5 to contain the spread of COVID-19, an official order said.

Barring weekends, essential commodities would be available on all other days during the two-week-long lockdown, the order issued by Chief Secretary S C Mohapatra said.

"There shall be lockdown throughout the state with effect from May 5, 2021 (Wednesday) till 5 am of May 19, 2021 (Wednesday)," the order stated.

Bhubaneswar, Apr 24 (PTI) The Odisha government sealed its border with West Bengal where a triple mutant variant of COVID-19 has reportedly surfaced, and intensified vigil along the inter-state boundary, officials said.

The state government on Friday sealed the routes to the neighbouring state which pass through Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts, a senior official said.