Bhubaneswar, July 10: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday announced a ban on the use of plastic in the state from October 2, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.
In the first phase, plastic will be banned in six places -- the pilgrim city of Puri, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela.
Plastic bags, polyethylenes and single-use plastic material would be completely banned across the state in the next two years, said Patnaik at an environment awareness programme under the "Ama Mukhyamantri Ama Katha" here.
While the Housing and Urban Development Department have been entrusted with the task of enforcing it in urban areas, it will be the responsibility of the Panchayati Raj (PR) Department in rural areas.
Forest and Environment Department will monitor the controlling of plastic pollution in the entire state.
The Chief Minister also said everyone must plant a sapling during the ongoing rainy season and take care of it.
"If we all plant a tree each and take care of it, the environment will be protected and human beings will live in good condition. We must all work for the development of our family and society," he added.
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Ramgarh (Jharkhand) (PTI): Jharkhand police on Thursday said it has unearthed a network of interstate cyber frauds and arrested four miscreants for fraudulent transactions through a bank account in Ramgarh district after complaints of 274 suspected transactions in 24 states.
The states where complaints for fraudulent transactions were registered included Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
The action followed inputs received through 'Samanvaya portal', a centralised, web-based platform launched by the Union Home Ministry to curb cybercrime.
"We arrested four cyber miscreants after a current account with Kuju (Ramgarh) branch of the State Bank of India was found to have registered suspected financial transactions in 24 states with the help of the Pratibimba portal of the Home Ministry through the Samanvaya portal," Ramgarh Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar Lunayat said.
During the probe, police found that the account was opened under the MSME Udyam Registration scheme in the name of Shree Ganesh Enterprises, he said.
The account had been linked to as many as 274 complaints from different states related to cyber fraud and illegal fund transfers.
The registered proprietors of the enterprise were identified as Rahul Gupta (37), Ravi Kumar Verma (34), and Ajay Sharma (33), all residents of Ramgarh district, a statement from the Ramgarh police said.
During interrogation, Rahul Gupta and Ravi Kumar Verma revealed that they had opened multiple current accounts at the behest of Ritesh Agrawal alias Munna (40) and Sonu Kumar Jha (34).
They admitted receiving Rs 1.2 lakh in exchange for facilitating the opening of these accounts.
"The accused further confessed to sharing OTPs, activating mobile banking services, and handing over control of the accounts to the main operators through WhatsApp and Telegram groups. These accounts were then allegedly used to route fraudulent transactions.
Police said mobile data analysis of the accused led to the recovery of crucial digital evidence, including details of SIM cards, bank accounts, passbooks, ATM cards, QR code scanners, Aadhaar cards, and PAN cards shared through messaging platforms.
A total of four accused have been arrested so far and sent to judicial custody.
A case has been registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Further investigation is underway, the police said.
