State

Boudh: A Special Task Force (STF) of Boudh forest division has arrested a wildlife smuggler and seized a leopard hide from him. The STF officials, acting on a tip-off, conducted a raid at Kantamal-Manamunda road near Manamunda police station Tuesday. There, they seized the leopard...

Rourkela: Fifteen boys, in the age group of 7-10, who had escaped from their hostel at Sihidia Primary School under Mahulpada police station in Bonai sub-division, were rescued by an alert police team Tuesday night. The students were attempting to reach their village, Balan, when...

Keonjhar: An Additional District Judge-cum-special POCSO court Wednesday sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) after convicting him of raping and assaulting a 17-year-old mentally-challenged girl in 2019. Judge Monalisa Mahanty also slapped a penalty of Rs5,000 on the convict, Basanta Rout,...

Sambalpur: A second elephant death has been reported within two days in the Sambalpur district under the Dhama range of the Sadar forest division. Local villagers Tuesday night discovered the body of a 20-year-old tusker near the Jaduluising jungle area, falling under the Dhama range....

Baripada: A female elephant died at Similipal reserve forest in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district due to old age-related ailments, officials said Wednesday. The 68-year-old female 'kumki' (trained) elephant 'Bhabani' was brought from Karnataka in November 2001 for protection and tourism work in Similipal National Park. Bhabani...

Jajpur: Four armed miscreants looted Rs 5 lakh from a businessman in Odisha's Jajpur district, police said Wednesday. The incident took place Tuesday night near Barabati Chhaka on national highway number 16. According to the FIR lodged by businessman Jitendra Das, four armed miscreants stopped...

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Higher Education Department has withheld the salaries of principals from 63 non-government-aided degree colleges across the state for failing to update their college accounts on the mandatory College Accounts Portal Application (CAPA) module. In a letter issued Tuesday, the department’s Accounts Officer,...

Baripada: Forest Department officials Tuesday arrested two poachers using artificial intelligence (AI) cameras at Similipal Wildlife Sanctuary in Mayurbhanj district. The accused were identified as Rajkishore Naik, 29, of Nachhipur village, and Kalicharan Dehuri, 23, of Pagadadihi village under Kaptipada police station. The department seized...

Rourkela: Divisional forest officer (DFO), Rourkela Jasobant Sethi has been conferred with the Elite 100 Changemakers of Odisha 2024’ award for the innovative use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the protection of wildlife. He received the award from Governor Haribabu Kambhampati at a function held...

Jajpur: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Chief Secretary of Odisha to submit a reply within four weeks over grant of environmental clearance to black stone quarries under Dharmasala tehsil in this district as the lessees have submitted false information while applying for...