Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday laid the foundation stone for three major projects worth `87,500 crore, including a mega integrated steel facility by JSW Utkal Steel Limited.

About 70 lakh self-help group (SHG) members in Odisha will get assistance of `1000 each for uniforms while 1.5 lakh Executive Committee (EC) members and Management Committee (MC) members will get assistance of `2000 each for blazers.

 Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most famous opposition leader, died Friday after collapsing and losing consciousness at the penal colony north of the Arctic Circle where he was serving a long jail term, the Russian prison service said.

The Congress’ main bank accounts were frozen Friday over an income tax demand of `210 crore but an I-T appellate tribunal later allowed it to operate them pending a further hearing next week, a huge relief for the party which said the move had impacted all political activity.

State government’s historic rural-tourban connectivity scheme, Location Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI), now covers 20 districts with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launching the affordable bus service in six more districts – Khurda, Puri, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Nayagarh, Thursday.

The state Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, approved an outlay of `1412.79 crore under ‘Integrated Development of Heritage Monuments and Tourist Destination (IDHMTD)’ in a bid to preserve and revitalise heritage monuments and temples.

The annual Plus-II examinations, conducted by Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE), Odisha commenced across the state Friday, an official said.

 An Election Commission of India (ECI) delegation led by its chief Rajiv Kumar Friday held meetings with representatives of various political parties, district Collectors and officials here to discuss poll preparedness in Odisha, an official said.

Vigilance sleuths Friday arrested regional transport officer (RTO) of Boudh Basanta Kumar Mohapatra on charges of possessing disproportionate assets (DA), stated to be 445 per cent of his known sources of income. Mohapatra was sent to jail by a Special Vigilance court here later in the day.

Groundwater samples collected from 58 tubewells in Delhi exceed permissible fluoride limits, according to a report submitted by the Delhi government to the National Green Tribunal (NGT)

Ayodhya’s Ram temple will remain closed for an hour in the afternoon every day from Friday onwards, the chief priest of the Ram temple said

The Defence Ministry Friday cleared procurement of military hardware worth Rs 84,560 crore including multi-mission maritime aircraft to boost overall combat capabilities of the armed forces.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal moved a motion of confidence in the Assembly Friday, a day ahead of his appearance before a city court following an Enforcement Directorate complaint against him for skipping summonses in the excise policy case.

Five patients in intensive care died after their oxygen cut off in southern Gaza’s main hospital that was stormed by Israeli troops, causing chaos for hundreds of staff and wounded inside, health officials said Friday

Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin Friday withdrew from the ongoing third Test between India and England owing to a family medical emergency, hours after touching the coveted milestone of 500 Test wickets. BCCI provided an update on the development.