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In order to battle the possible second wave of coronavirus in the state, Odisha government has deployed 36 doctors for effective management and functioning of COVID-related works in four districts. As per a notification issued by the Health department on Monday (April 5), 36 post PG doctors have been appointed for places that have recently witnessed a rise in the Covid infections. The districts include Kalahandi, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Nuapada. 10 doctors each have been posted in Kalahandi and Nuapada districts and eight doctors each have been assigned responsibility of Malkangiri and Nabarangpur. All the doctors from SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack and MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur will work under the Chief District Medical and Public Health Officers in the four districts. The state health department has also deployed 25 AYUSH doctors to work under the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to ensure smooth operations of Covid-19 related works. The move has been taken due to a surge in the number of Covid positive cases in the BMC jurisdiction in the last few days. The doctors have been asked to report in person to the BMC Commissioner by April 6. On Monday, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) of Odisha Health department, Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, wrote to the Secretary of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, seeking adequate supply of Covishield vaccine doses to Odisha. The official said that Odisha has been assured only 3.5 lakh doses of Covisheild by 6th April (2 PM), which will not be sufficient for even two days. Citing that Odisha is vaccinating over 2 lakh people every day, the state government has requested Union Health Ministry for supply of at least 15 lakh doses of Covishield to Odisha immediately.

A major fire broke out near the iconic Ram Mandir in Bhubaneswar on Monday evening. A flower shop on the premises of temple has been completely gutted in the fire. As per reports, the fire broke out at around 4 pm, and two fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames. According to an eyewitness, the fire services personnel reached one and half hour late to the spot where the mishap occurred. It was further alleged that one of the fire tenders ran out of water during the crucial fire fighting operations and the reinforcement reached the spot very late. The exact reason of the blaze is yet to be ascertained.    

In view of the rising mercury levels in Odisha, the state government has revised the timings of the ongoing Covid vaccination sessions. On Monday (April 5), a notification issued by the state health department stated that the Covid-19 vaccination sessions will be conducted at all session sites from 8 AM to 12 PM and then from 3 PM to 6 PM. In the letter to the Collectors and Municipal Corporation Commissioners, Additional Chief Secretary of Health Department PK Mohapatra advised that all arrangements like waiting space, observation room, vaccination room and drinking water facility should be made available at these timings at all the centres. Additionally, the authorities were asked to ensure Covid appropriate behaviour like use of mask, hand washing and social distancing at all the session sites. Through the letter, the health department official emphasised on awareness generation among the people to achieve the daily vaccination target of 2 lakh set by the government in addition to mandatorily submitting the district daily report to the state by 6.30 PM.

As many as 20 persons sustained injuries after a pickup van in which they were travelling overturned near Bankeswari ghati in Ganjam district on Tuesday (April 6). Sources said that a family was travelling in the van to the famous Maa NijaBankeswari temple to conduct certain rituals. On the way, the vehicle suddenly overturned and 20 people were injured. As per reports, two persons have suffered critical injuries. Soon after the incident, the injured persons were rushed for treatment to the hospital in 108 ambulance.

A giant King Cobra was rescued from Malkangiri district in Odisha. The snake was rescued from MV-78 village under Kalimela block of the district. The King Cobra is said to be around 12 feet long. The Forest department officials rescued the snake and it has reportedly been released into the forest. The snake somehow entered a canal on the roadside in MV-78 village. With temperature in Malkangiri crossing 40 degrees Celsius, it is expected that the snake entered the canal in a bid to find relief from the heat.

The Opposition BJP on Monday slammed the Odisha government over the irregularities which have been exposed in the recent audit findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on Revenue and Economic sectors in the State. The BJP accused the ruling party of indulging in corruption and said that the BJD is directly responsible for the alleged losses in the power sector. According to the CAG report, the accumulated losses suffered by the nine power sector PSUs stood at Rs 4,443.12 crore as against the capital investment of Rs 4,048.67 crore as on March 31, 2019.

These pictures of police personnel dancing to the beats of songs are going viral on various social media platforms. The police officials can be seen dancing inside a police station covered with Holi colors, in what seems like a celebration. In the video, police personnel including officers, constable and a lady home guard can be seen dancing. The video is purportedly from Panikoili Police Station, which is located close to the office of the Jajpur Superintendent of Police (SP). As per reports, the police personnel were on duty during the Holi and Dola festival. They were present during the Dola celebrations in the locality. This video was reportedly shot after the cops returned to the station from duty and started dancing to the tunes of a popular dance number ‘Nagin.’ The Inspector-In-Charge was also a part of the dancing group and he has also reportedly accepted the video to be from his Police Station.

With COVID-19 cases rising sharply, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) sealed an engineering college in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday for violating the guidelines. BMC sealed Silicon Institute of Technology on the charges of violation of the Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) issued to check Covid-19 spread on Tuesday. According to the BMC officials, the college was served a show-cause notice on Monday for violating the protocols. The college was subsequently sealed after the authorities could not provide any satisfactory reply to the show-cause notice. Earlier on Monday, a private coaching centre at Jaydev Vihar in Bhubaneswar was sealed on for allegedly violating Covid-19 guidelines.  The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) sealed the private coaching institute on charges of violating the COVID19 protocols laid down to check the spread of the virus.

Superstar Vijay cycled to the polling booth to cast his vote in Chennai creating quite a flutter among his fans. Thalapathy Vijay was seen cycling to his polling booth followed by a huge crowd.

  In a bizarre incident, rituals were carried out near the corpse of a man in an attempt to resurrect him from the dead. The incident was reported from Singarpur village under Sarankul Police limits of Nayagarh district. Villagers of Singarpur resorted to regressive superstitious practices to revive a dead man even after his post-mortem had been conducted. As per reports, the village is just around 95 kilometres away from Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha. The deceased identified as Rabi Nahak of Singarpur village had reportedly taken part in traditional Danda Nacha (also known as dance of penance) rituals. Rabi was fasting for two days as per rituals. On Sunday, Rabi fell ill while performing the penance ritual following which he was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH). However, the doctors declared him brought dead. Rabi’s body was later handed over to his family members following an autopsy on the same day. The doctors said that Rabi had died due to dehydration and sun stroke. Just when the family members of Rabi were preparing for his cremation, the villagers convinced them to conduct a puja to resurrect the deceased. The villagers then allegedly took the body and performed rituals for several hours on Sunday, but in vain. The Sarankul Police later intervened following which the mortal remains of Rabi were consigned to flames.

Tension prevailed at Sambalpur University on Tuesday when students ransacked property inside the campus while protesting offline exams. Students of the varsity and affiliated-colleges had launched the protest opposing the decision to conduct offline examinations amid worsening COVID-19 situation. The students have been demanding that the +3 examinations should be held online for their safety. The protest turned ugly when the students tried to barge into the Vice-Chancellor’s office. In a bid to bring the situation under control, police resorted to mild lathi charge to disperse them. As many as two platoons of police force were deployed on the campus to avoid any untoward incident.

Amid the resurgence of #Covid-19 cases in the state, the Puri district administration on Tuesday (April 6) clamped strict restrictions on tourists coming from other States. These restrictions are for tourists from states witnessing a surge in Covid-19 infections. Puri district Collector, Samarth Verma said that strict surveillance is now in place at the railway station and Covid negative report has been made mandatory for those people coming from 5 specific states.

West Bengal loves sweets! And it is difficult to keep this obsession away from politics while the state is in the middle of a fierce battle for ballots. Be it Rasogolla, Kalakand or Sandesh - there is a sweet for every occasion. This time, it’s the election and the sweet shops know that well. With high-voltage political tussle underway in West Bengal, this sweet shop in Howrah captures the mood in bite-size delicacies. The edible miniatures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Congress leader Adhir Choudhury, CPI(M) leader Biman Bose and ISF chief Abbas Siddiqi are on display at the sweet shop. Here is a miniature of PM Modi in his signature kurta. And how could anyone have missed Mamata Banerjee’s wheelchair campaigning. Not only leaders, even party symbols are on the menu. And then the most vocal slogan of the election season - ‘Khela Hobe’ And the most interesting part, these sweets are made from milk solids that can last for at least six months.

A mob went on a rampage inside a Police Station in Remuna area under Balasore district on Tuesday night (April 6) critically injuring two persons at the station. The injured persons - Raghunath Sahu and Pramita Das of Madhipur village - had come to the police station along with their son, to file a complaint with regard to ransacking of their home by some miscreants. At around 11 PM, around 150 people gathered in Remuna Police Station, barged into the station and attacked the duo. In the heat of the moment, the mob went rogue within the police station premises and resorted to vandalism. Later, some people attacked the duo with a dagger injuring them grievously. It was later found that the attack had taken place due to a past rivalry between two groups from Mandarpur and Nianbag villages under the Remuna police jurisdiction. According to sources, the injured persons were admitted to Remuna Health Centre and then shifted to Balasore Medical College and Hospital, after their condition deteriorated.

With 791 fresh cases of the novel-coronavirus disease in last 24 hours, Odisha registered its biggest single-day Covid figure this year. The total number of positive cases detected so far in the state has climbed up to 3,44,647. Of the new positive cases, 459 persons were in quarantine and a whopping 332 positives are local transmission cases. State Health And Family Welfare Department informed that one person from Puri district has succumbed to the virus on Tuesday. Sundargarh was the biggest contributor to Odisha's fresh tally as the district recorded massive 147 cases in the last 24 hours. Sundargarh was followed by Khordha district with 118 cases in a day, Bargarh is next with 48 cases, Cuttack recorded 46 cases, Sambalpur recorded 45 cases and pilgrim town Puri saw 43 new Covid positive cases during the period. Kalahandi, Jharsuguda, Nuapada have recorded more than 30 positive cases in the day. After today's Covid surge, the active cases in the state breached the 4000-mark and currently stand at 4255. In view of the resurgence of the virus in Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday reviewed the COVID-19 situation and directed all to reactivate the Covid protocols. The Chief Minister asked all districts collectors to strictly enforce the safety guidelines and also directed Odisha DGP to deploy police personnel in large numbers for a 10-day state-wide drive to enforce all the safety protocols.