Page 106 - Disaster Accident
'Fani': Assam arranges trains for pilgrims in Odisha
The Assam government has made special train arrangements to bring back pilgrims from the state who got stranded in Puri in Odisha due to cyclonic storm 'Fani'.
Five killed as Jeep rolls down gorge in Himachal
Five people were killed and an equal number injured as a Mahindra Jeep in which they were travelling skidded off the road and fell into a 250-metre deep gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district on Thursday, police said.
Iran oil tanker breaks down in Red Sea off Saudi coast
An Iranian oil tanker carrying over 1 million barrels of fuel oil suffered a malfunction in the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia, authorities said Thursday, raising concerns that the vessel could be leaking. The incident involving the Happiness I came as US oil exemptions for Iranian crude oil purchases expired, part of President Donald Trump's maximalist approach against Tehran. Saudi Arabia's state-run television channels and news agency said authorities received a distress call from the Happiness I over an "engine failure and the loss of control." The vessel had a crew of 26, including 24 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, Saudi state media said. They described the ship's position as some 70 kilometers (44 miles) south of Jiddah in the Red Sea. Saudi authorities said various government agencies were involved in the operation, including those who handle environmental protection. It did not elaborate on whether oil had spilled from the tanker. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency ...
Cyclone Fani: Evacuation process underway in Odisha
A massive evacuation process was underway ahead of the landfall of cyclonic storm 'Fani' in Odisha coast, even as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday appealed people not to panic over the cyclone.
Mandi: 5 killed, 5 injured after jeep rolls down cliff
Five people were killed while five sustained injuries on Thursday after the jeep they were travelling in rolled down a cliff into a deep gorge at Padhar area of Mandi district.In a similar accident on April 28, at least two people were killed and 14 others were injured after a jeep rolled down a cliff in Kupvi area of Chopal Sub-Division in Shimla.More details are awaited.
Cyclone Fani likely to cross Odisha coast tomorrow: IMD
The "extremely severe" cyclone Fani is about 450 km from Puri and likely to cross the Odisha coast tomorrow afternoon, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday."The extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani over west central Bay of Bengal moved north-northeastwards with a speed of about 15 kmph and lay centred at 0530 hrs IST of May 2 over west central Bay of Bengal about 450 km south-southwest of Puri (Odisha), 230 km south-southeast of Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and 650 km south-southwest of Digha (West Bengal)," the IMD said in its bulletin.According to the weather office, the storm is very likely to move north-northeastwards and cross the Odisha Coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali, around Puri, during May 3 afternoon with a maximum wind speed of 170-180 kmph.The IMD has advised fishermen not to venture into sea along and off the Odisha coast till May 4.The sea condition will remain "phenomenal" in west central Bay of Bengal and off the north Andhra Pradesh coast
Cyclone Fani: Massive evacuation operation underway in Odisha
A massive operation was launched in Odisha Thursday to evacuate over eight lakh people from low-lying coastal areas as the extremely severe cyclonic storm 'Fani' moved closer to the eastern coast, officials said. As per the latest bulletin of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Fani lay centred over West Central Bay of Bengal about 430 km south-southwest of Puri in Odisha, 225 km south-southeast of Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and 650 km south-southwest of Digha in West Bengal. It is likely to move north-northeastwards and cross the Odisha coast near Puri on May 3 evening with maximum sustained wind speed of 170-180 kmph and gusting up to 200 kmph, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) B P Sethi said. The cyclone is being tracked by Doppler Weather Radars at Chennai, Vishakhapatnam and Machilipatnam, the SRC said. People from low-lying and vulnerable areas of coastal districts are being shifted to safe places such as 880 cyclone centres, school and college buildings and other .
Unseasonal rains damage iconic Charminar
Charminar, the symbol of Hyderabad, has suffered damage as a piece of lime stucco work on one of its minarets fell down following unseasonal rains, officials said on Thursday.
Boeing names legal adviser to handle 737 MAX lawsuits
Boeing has named J. Michael Luttig as the newly-created position of counselor and senior adviser to deal with legal issues related to the two recent 737 MAX crashes.
Defence Ministry on toes to face repercussions of Cyclone Fani
With severe cyclonic storm Fani set to make landfall in Odisha and parts of West Bengal on May 3, the Ministry of Defence has authorised proactive deployment of resources from Indian Navy and Coast Guard for succour at the time of need."It is monitoring the developing situation in East Coast of India for Cyclone Fani and authorises the proactive deployment of resources from Indian Navy and Coast Guard for succour and assistance to those in need with minimum reaction time. Coast Guard has deployed 20 teams," the Ministry said in a statement.In Bhubaneswar, preparations are underway by Odisha Fire Services in view of the "extremely severe" cyclonic storm. Around 50 teams of six members each have been kept on alert in the city.Due to Cyclone Fani, 22 more trains were cancelled by East Coast Railway on Wednesday, taking the total to 103 trains.India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a "Yellow Alert" warning for Odisha, West Bengal and three districts of Andhra Pradesh.In a ...
SpaceX capsule was destroyed in 'anomaly': lawmaker
A space capsule suspected to have exploded last month in an incident characterized by manufacturer SpaceX as an "anomaly" was in fact completely destroyed, a US Senator confirmed Wednesday. "The most recent SpaceX anomaly caused the complete loss of the (crew) capsule," Senator Richard Shelby, chairman of a Senate committee that manages NASA's budget, said during a hearing. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine told Shelby the agency, which has contracted its mission to resume carrying US astronauts to the International Space Station to Elon Musk's SpaceX and Boeing, would be carrying out a joint investigation with SpaceX. NASA and SpaceX have remained tight-lipped about what caused the serious incident during engine tests on April 25. A leaked video posted on Twitter, later indirectly authenticated by NASA, showed an explosion. NASA is counting on SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS, a task handled since 2011 by Russia, with first manned flight planned ..
Cyclone Fani: Railways take measures to keep passengers safe
With extremely severe cyclonic storm 'Fani' likely to cross the coastal areas of Odisha on Friday, the South Eastern Railway has cancelled 43 trains scheduled to run between Howrah and Puri, and other destinations in south India over the next two days. According to a forecast by the MeT office, heavy-to-very heavy rainfall may occur in the coastal districts of Odisha and West Bengal on Friday. The SER has cancelled 17 trains bound for south India and Puri. It has also decided to cancel 26 trains originating from south India, an SER official said. It has also taken precautionary measures to keep their passengers safe by carrying out special patrolling. In addition, breakdown vans and relief trains have been kept ready to cater to areas likely to be affected by the cyclone in the two states, the official said. SER is also in touch with the local authorities and disaster management teams. Separately, the East Coast Railway has issued an advisory for cancellation or regulating trains in ..
NCMC reviews preparedness in view of 'Fani' cyclone
The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) under chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha met here on Wednesday for the second time to review the preparedness with the States and concerned Departments of Government of India to deal with the situation arising out of the cyclonic storm 'Fani.'The extremely severe cyclonic storm with over about 430 km South-Southeast of Vishakhapatnam and about 680 km South-Southwest of Puri will continue to move northwest till May 1, said the Central government in a statement."It is likely to move Northwest wards during next 12 hours and thereafter recurve North-Northeast direction and is expected to cross Odisha coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali, South of Puri around May 3 with maximum sustained wind speeds of 175-185 kmph gusting to 205 kmph."Ganjam, Gajapati, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts of Odisha, East and West Medinipur, South and North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Kolkata districts of West Bengal and Srikakulam and ...
Cyclon Fani to make landfall in Odisha on May 3
Cyclonic storm 'Fani' is expected to make landfall in Odisha on May 3 afternoon with wind speeds ranging up to 180 km per hour causing heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of the state, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday.
Have taken pre-emptive measures to deal with cyclone Fani: Coast Guard
As the "extremely severe" cyclonic storm 'Fani' is likely to hit Odisha's shores on Friday, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has taken a series of pre-emptive measures such as deployment of ships with disaster relief material, use of Dornier aircraft to warn fishing boats and special community interaction programmes in coastal areas, according to an official statement Wednesday. The ICG said it has implemented the lessons learnt from Cyclone Ockhi, which hit Tamil Nadu and Kerala coasts in 2017, to ensure safety of lives at sea. "Fisheries authorities, state authorities and local administration were warned April 23, 2019, onwards for precautionary measures," the ICG said in its statement. To ensure that widespread precautionary measures are in place in areas likely to be affected by the cyclonic storm, the ICG is in closely liasioning with state administration as well as the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The storm over the Bay of Bengal that lay centred about 660 km ...
Cyclone Fani: 8 lakh to be evacuated in Odisha (2nd Lead)
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said that about eight lakh people would be evacuated in view of "extremely severe" cyclonic storm Fani, which is likely to hit the coast in Puri on May 3 afternoon.
Eight BSF troopers injured in J&K road accident
Eight Border Security Force (BSF) troopers were injured in a road accident on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on Wednesday, police said.
ONGC evacuates nearly 500 employees before cyclone Fani makes landfall
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has evacuated 480 of its employees from rigs operating in the Bay of Bengal ahead of an impending cyclone that is expected to make landfall on Friday. Sources said ONGC has also moved at least four rigs to safer waters away from the path of severe cyclonic storm Fani. The company had as many as six rigs exploring and drilling for oil and gas off the Andhra coast. Personnel on five of them have been completely evacuated to safer zones, they said. The evacuated rigs include Aban-II (85 personnel), DD-8 (103), Louisiana (83) and Essar Wildcat (87 personnel). A control room has been set up to monitor the situation developing on the eastern coast. Operations at Paradip port in Odisha and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh have been shut and ships ordered to move out of sea to avoid damage. The east coast has a flurry of oil and gas installations, including refineries at Paradip, Visakhapatnam, and Chennai. Two refineries in Odisha and Andhra ...
8 BSF personnel injured in highway accident in JK
Eight Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were injured Wednesday evening when their vehicle turned upside down after colliding with a parked dumper on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Ramban district, police said. The accident took place at Gangroo-Ramsoo in Ramban when the jawans were on their way to Jammu from the Kashmir valley, they said. The BSF personnel were on board a private bus, which hit a standing dumper on the highway, an official said. A rescue operation was launched immediately and the injured were shifted to the Ramsoo hospital, where their condition was stated to be "stable", he said. There was no civilian traffic on the highway at the time of the accident because of restrictions imposed twice a week -- Wednesday and Sunday -- from 4 am to 5 pm to facilitate smooth movement of security convoys. The restriction was clamped on April 7, in view of the deadly terror attack in Pulwama on February 14 that left 40 CRPF personnel dead. The Jammu and Kashmir ...
Cyclone Fani: 81 trains cancelled, 2 diverted
Railways has cancelled 81 trains and diverted two more in view of cyclone "Fani", which is likely to affect 19 districts of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, besides Kolkata. The railways said that it will grant full refund to passengers for the cancelled or diverted trains if the tickets are produced for cancellation within three days from scheduled date of journey. Some of the trains which have been cancelled include Howrah-Chennai Central Coromandal Express, Patna-Eranakulam Express, New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express, Howrah-Hyderabad East Coast Express, Bhubaneswar-Rameswaram Express. The national transporter has also issued directions to the Divisional Railway Managers of all zones that frequent announcements are to be made at important stations for sensitising passengers about the cancellations, short termination and diversion of coaching trains in both directions of the Bhadrak (Odisha)-Visakhapatnam section. "The full refund shall be granted to the passengers for ...