Bhubaneswar, July 9 -- Bhubaneswar: Amid spike in coronavirus cases, the Odisha government on Thursday appointed a bureaucrat the officer on special duty (OSD) to the Chief Minister's Office for effective management of the COVID-19 situation in the state.

Vineel Krishna, a 2005-batch IAS officer and managing director of the Odisha Mining Corporation, will monitor the COVID-19 situation from the CMO, in addition to his other responsibilities, an official order issued here said.

Senior Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer Lala Manoj Kumar Ray has also been appointed the joint secretary in the office of the chief minister, the order said.

Earlier, he was posted as the joint secretary in the department of water resources.

Among oth...