In a special bulletin at 8.30 pm on Monday, the regional centre of India Meteorological Department in Bhubaneswar said squally wind speed reaching 35-45 kmph gusting to 55 kmph is likely from Monday evening along and off Odisha coast of Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri and Jagatsinghpurdistricts.

The cyclonic wind is likely to gradually increase to 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph from Tuesday evening for subsequent 12 hours. It would gradually decrease thereafter, the IMD forecast.

The weather office advised the fishermen not to venture into sea along Odisha coast adjoining northwest Bay
of Bengal till Wednesday.

It said the cyclonic storm over Westcentral & adjoining Southwest Bay of Bengal off south Andhra Pradesh and adjoining north Tamilnadu coasts moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 10 kmph during past 6 hours and lay centered over Westcentral Bay of Bengal off south Andhra Pradesh and adjoining north Tamil Nadu coasts near latitude 14.0°N and longitude 80.6°E, about 80 km southeast of Nellore, 120 km north-northeast of Chennai, 210 km south of Bapatla and 250 km south-southwest of Machilipatnam.

According to sources, the short-range ballistic missile was test fired at 9.50 am from Abdul Kalam Island in Bhadark district.

The missile was successfully tested twice on consecutive days last year on December 21 and December 22.

With a strike range of 500 km, the canisterised missile powered by a solid propellant rocket motor and equipped with a manoeuvrable re-entry vehicle (MARV) is in the process of induction. It will be India’s first tactical quasi-ballistic missile, featuring advanced capabilities designed to thwart interceptor missiles, and will give the armed forces the capability to hit enemy positions and key installations in actual battlefield areas, according to reports.

It has a range of 150-500 km, a payload of 500 kg to 1,000 kg and is capable of being launched from a mobile launcher. It can also carry a high explosive preformed fragmentation warhead, penetration-cum-blast (PCB) and runaway denial penetration submunition (RDPS).

Pralay missile can be compared to China’s Dong Feng 12 and the Russian Iskander missile that has been used in the ongoing war with Ukraine. Incidentally, Pakistan also has tactical ballistic missiles.

In September, India’s Defence Ministry approved the acquisition of a regiment of ‘Pralay’ ballistic missiles to be deployed along the Line of Actual Control and the Line of Control. It followed a similar approval granted to the Indian Air Force for the acquisition of these missiles. Pralay, along with the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, will form the crux of India’s planned Rocket Force, the reports added.

While the DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat in Hyderabad is the lead integrator of the Pralay project, the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) has developed the composite propellant for the missile.