The external findings are utmost important in the opinion formation during autopsy of hanging deaths. Thus the current study was done with the aim of studying the significance of external findings in hanging cases during post-mortem examination in the Department of FMT, RIMS, Ranchi prospectively from 1 st March, 2013 to 30 th May, 2014. Majority of cases of hanging had not received any treatment. In maximum cases the nature of suspension was complete type. Atypical hangings were seen in most cases. Most commonly used ligature materials were Jute Rope and Dupatta. In majority cases the ligature mark was above the thyroid cartilage followed by at and above the thyroid cartilage. In maximum cases the position of knot was present at occipital region of the neck, followed by at over left mastoid region of the neck. In majority of case the ligature mark was prominent and discontinuous. The colour of ligature mark was dark brown in more than half of the cases followed by yellowish brown. In majority of cases the post-mortem staining was present. Only about 39% of cases the dried salivary stain was found. Involuntary discharge was seen only in 17% of cases. Tongue protrusion was found in 29.87 % of cases.

Odisha is among handful of states that is at the forefront of India's fight against a rapidly growing COVID-19 pandemic. Even before the national lockdown was imposed by the Union government on March 24, Odisha was only state to have imposed partial lockdown in select districts. It was also first state that took proactive steps to ramp up its health care system particularly having a COVID-19 hospital with intensive care units (ICUs) on public-private partnership mode. Importantly, Odisha was among few states to have created a COVID-19 hospital at each district in record time. In addition, the state took many proactive measures including setting up a taskforce to oversee the COVID-19 response, put up a critical information and communication system with daily press briefings among others to stay on the top of pandemic management. But come May when the migrants rush unfolded, the state experienced steady surge in infections as the pandemic started spreading to relatively dense rural hinterlands. The migrant endowed districts like Ganjam became the epicentres of new spread and the state is struggling to rein on the growing pandemic. What led to the state losing its initial gains? How did the state manage it so ably in the initial period and what led to the surge? What are the unique features of Odisha's pandemic response? Is there an Odisha Model as claimed by several observers? (Patnaik et al. in The Wire, 2020) This paper endeavours to chronicle Odisha's response to COVID-19 in relations to policies and programmes initiatives and actors and dynamics shaping these responses? Key aim is to identify strengths and experience of the eastern state which has a long and credible record of fighting natural disasters.

During the years 2010–2018, avipoxvirus (APV) outbreaks were observed in the domestic chickens and pigeons present in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. Based on typical pox lesions, followed by molecular techniques, the overall morbidity was found to be 18%–19.23% and 16.92%–23% in chickens and pigeons, respectively. The cutaneous forms of the disease were observed with varied rates of mortality, being 47.36%–52.77% in chickens and 39.13%–92% in pigeons. PCR amplification targeting the viral P4b core protein‐coding gene and the DNA polymerase gene confirmed the presence of APV strains in 10 birds. Subsequent phylogenetic analysis of these two genes confirmed that the circulating strains were members of APV clade A. The subclade analysis revealed the introduction of A1 and A3 subclades in Indian chickens and pigeons, respectively. This study is the first molecular record of APVs circulating in eastern Indian birds (Odisha) and involves the first use of the polymerase gene to reveal the circulating clades of Indian APVs.

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