1.Former BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar joined the BJP in the presence of senior party leaders here Friday. The move came after the BJD expelled Kumar for anti-party activities earlier in the day. He subsequently resigned from his Rajya Sabha membership.

2.As many as 572 students and women belonging to tribal community have become victims of rape during the last five years in the state while trials have been completed in only 32 cases, Minister Nityananda Gond told the Assembly.

3.Even as the government mulls demolition of 191 illegal apartments in the City, a private person and his aides bulldozed portions of a residential building in Patia, under Infocity police limits, here in a bid to take forceful possession of the property by evicting the occupants.

4.Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Friday laid the foundation stone for India’s ‘first’ silicon carbide manufacturing facility, at Infovalley, on the outskirts of the City, a statement said.

5.Union Minister Anupriya Patel Friday said Odisha is ready to become a leader in the petrochemical sector which is projected to be a USD 1 trillion industry by 2047.

6.More than 60 per cent of the districts in 10 states including Odisha are experiencing more than one extreme climate events such as floods, droughts and cyclones, according to a study conducted by IPE Global and Esri India.

7.A seven-member team from the Vigilance department raided the office and government quarters of Keonjhar Jail Superintendent Satya Prakash Swain, Friday morning. It is reported that the raid was conducted on the allegation of possession of disproportionate assets (DA).

8.West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose Friday referred the anti-rape Bill passed by the Assembly to President Droupadi Murmu for her consideration, a Raj Bhavan official said.

9.Applications of over 2,000 women have been rejected for a pension of Rs1,500 per month under the “Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Rashi” scheme as these applicants were found ineligible during verification, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dr Dhani Ram Shandil said Friday.

10. Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman KC Venugopal said Friday it is for the panel to take a call on whether to ask SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch, who is facing allegations of conflict of interest, to appear before it or not.

11. Union Home Minister Amit Shah unequivocally said Friday that India is not in favour of talks with Pakistan until terrorism ceases, emphasising that “talks and bombs cannot go together”.

12.Two-time Olympic medal-winning javelin throw star Neeraj Chopra qualifies for the Diamond League final later this month.

13.Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia joined the Congress Friday ahead of the Haryana Assembly polls. Late in the evening, the Congress nominated Vinesh as its candidate from the Julana Assembly constituency.

14.Telugu Desam Party state president P Srinivas Rao has suspended party MLA, K Adimulam, over allegations of sexually harassing a woman. Adimulam represents the SC-reserved Satyavedu Assembly constituency.

15.Israeli forces appeared to have withdrawn from three refugee camps in the occupied West Bank by Friday morning, after a more than weeklong military operation that left dozens dead and a trail of destruction.

16.Asia’s strongest storm this year, Super Typhoon Yagi, landed in China's Hainan Friday, bringing violent gales and heavy rain that triggered widespread power outages, paralysing the tourist island province known as “China’s Hawaii”.

17.Effective Friday, Nepal has lifted the ban on popular social media App TikTok with some preconditions. Nepal had banned TikTok on November 12 last year, arguing that the social networking site was responsible for disturbing social harmony in the country, which invited widespread criticism from the general public.

18.Pakistan’s Supreme Court Friday reinstated the changes in the country’s anti-corruption laws that had benefited several leading politicians, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his elder brother Nawaz Sharif, with jailed former premier Imran Khan also emerging as an unlikely beneficiary.

19.India’s Reliance Infrastructure is considering plans to manufacture electric cars and batteries, and has hired a former India executive at China’s BYD Co to advise on its plans, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.

20.London Games bronze medallist shooter and India’s Chef de Mission at the Paris Olympics, Gagan Narang Friday heaped praise on the country’s para athletes for their performance in the ongoing Paralympics.