Odisha

Puri, Feb 17 (PTI) A group of men attacked and injured three Congress workers in front of a party office in Puri on Monday, in which senior leaders including AICC general secretary and Odisha in-charge Jitendra Singh were present.

One person was detained in connection with the attack and the injured were taken to hospital, police said.

Cuttack, Feb 12 (PTI) The Cuttack district administration on Wednesday pulled down at least nine temples and six club buildings built illegally on government land for renovation and expansion of the SCB Medical College and Hospital here, officials said.

The authorities have also identified another temple and a club building located on roads leading from Ranihat bridge to the hospital for demolition as part of the eviction drive for the medical college expansion, said Deputy Commissioner of Cuttack Municipal Commissioner (CMC), AC Rout.

Bhubaneswar, Feb 9 (PTI) Littering railway properties will attract hefty fines from Monday as the East Coast Railway (ECoR) has revised penalties, as part of its measures to maintain cleanliness and hygiene.

According to an ECoR oficial, commuters will have to cough up more for strewing trash on railway station premises, defacing property, spitting, sticking unauthorized bills and open defecation.

Kendrapara (Odisha), Feb 7 (PTI) A 21-year-old woman, who was battling for life for nearly a week after being set ablaze by her in-laws in Odisha's Kendrapara district over dowry, succumbed to the burn injuries, police said on Friday.

Rashmita Sahu, who sustained more than 60 per cent burns, died on Thursday night at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, they said.

Jajpur (Odisha), Feb 7 (PTI) A 40-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping his 7-year-old stepdaughter in Odisha's Jajpur district, police said on Friday.

The incident happened at Dharmasala area of the district, the police said.

Balasore, Jan 4 (PTI) A man has been sentenced to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment by a special POCSO court for raping a 12-year-old girl in Odisha's Balasore district around three years ago.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADJ) Girija Mohapatra, while pronouncing the jail term for Radhamohan Singh (20) on Monday, also slapped a fine of Rs 28,000 on him for the April 2017 incident at Balidhar village here.

Malkangiri (Odisha), Feb 1 (PTI) The Odisha government has decided to make Malkangiri Maoist-free, police said on Saturday, urging left-wing extremists (LWE) to join the mainstream.

The appeal by the state police comes a week after villagers killed a Maoist member and injured another.

Berhampur (Odisha), Jan 19 (PTI) A total of five child marriages have been foiled across Odisha's Ganjam district following swift action by the administration, officials said on Sunday.

While three attempts to marry off three minor girls were thwarted in Hinjili block, two such attempts were foiled in Sanakhemundi and Bhanjanagara blocks on Saturday, they said.

All the girls were aged between 15 and 17 years, they said.

Berhampur (Odisha), Jan 14 (PTI) A 41-year-old man from Uttarakhand is on a countrywide 'padayatra' to seek a ban on Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and bring back ballot papers in elections.

Onkar Singh Dhillon, a real-estate businessman of Rudrapur in Uttarakhand was in Berhampur on Sunday evening as part of his 'padayatra' to create awareness against EVMs after travelling around 4,500-km on foot. He left this south Odisha city on Monday as he resumed his onward journey.

Bhubaneswar, Jan 11 (PTI) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has said that one of the basic objectives of the 'Mo Sarkar' (my government) initiative is -- every public servant must understand that the citizen is the master.

The public servant is here to serve the citizens and there should be a conviction on this vision, Patnaik said on Friday while announcing that the Housing and Urban Development Department has joined the 'Mo Sarkar' initiative.