Page 22 - Disaster Accident
Pak airspace to remain closed for all Indian flights till June 28
Pakistan on Sunday extended the ban on its airspace for all Indian flights till June 28, authorities have said.Towards the end of May, Pakistan had extended for a fortnight the airspace closure for a fortnight which expired on June 14.Pakistan had fully shut its airspace on the eastern border with India after an Indian Air Force carried out aerial airstrikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in Balakot on February 26.The strikes were in response to the terror attack in Pulwama, in which about 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives on February 14.In March, the country partially opened its airspace for all flights but not for Indian flights.In mid-April, Pakistan also opened one of its 11 air routes for west-bound flights from India, and airlines such as Air India and Turkish Airlines have started using it.Since then, foreign carriers using Indian airspace have been forced to take costly detours because they cannot fly over Pakistan. The closure mainly affects flights from Europe to ..
Six dead, two injured in car crash on Yamuna Expressway
Six people died and two were critically injured after a car rammed into a truck on Sunday on the Yamuna Expressway near Agra."The incident took place at around 8:30 am on Sunday. The family was heading towards the Taj Mahal in Agra when their car lost control on the highway and rammed into a truck," Senior Superintendent of Police Shalabh Mathur told ANI."Five people died on the spot and one died in the hospital while undergoing treatment. Two injured family members have been admitted to Krishna Hospital in Agra," he added.Bodies of the deceased have been sent for post-mortem by the highway patrolling police.Concerned authorities will soon inspect the accident-prone zones on the Expressway and install signboards to prevent mishaps and spread road safety awareness among people, the official said.
Contaminated water forces UP family to seek PM's nod to end life
Contaminated water in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras is pushing residents to the wall. Unable to get clean drinking water for themselves, a father and his three daughters have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his permission to end their lives.
Maha: Two brothers killed in motorcycle-truck collision
Two brothers were killed and their cousin was injured when a truck hit their motorcycle in Akola district of Maharashtra on Sunday morning, police said. The mishap took place around 7 am when the three victims were going from Medashi village to a hospital in the nearby Patur town, a police official said. The victims were speeding on a road which was slippery due to an oil spill sometime back. They suddenly saw a truck coming from the opposite direction but the two-wheeler rider apparently failed to apply brakes in time, he said. As a result, the truck collided head-on with the motorcycle, killing two riders on the spot, the official said. The deceased were identified as Sunil Chavan (28) and Manik Chavan (25), he said. Their cousin brother, who was injured in the mishap, was admitted to a government hospital, he added.
India's coal import rises 15% to 24 MT in May
India's coal import increased by 14.5 per cent to 24.01 million tonnes (MT) in May this year. The country's coal import was at 20.96 MT in May 2019, according to a mjunction services report, which is based on monitoring of vessels' positions and data received from shipping companies. The report comes at a time when the government is looking at relaxing the timeline for the one billion tonne coal production target it had set earlier for Coal India (CIL), which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal output. Imports during May this year stood at 24.01 MT (provisional) as compared to 26.3 MT (revised) in April, 2019. The provisional figure for April 2019 stood at 20.72 MT. Of the total import during May, non-coking coal was at 17.74 MT, while coking coal import stood at 3.8 MT. Metallurgical coke import during the month was at 0.31 MT. "Sufficient stock at power plants led to lower non-coking coal imports in May. There may be some restocking of material in June ahead of ...
Tourist drowns in Lake Geneva during storm: police
A woman has drowned in Lake Geneva when her sightseeing boat sank as a violent storm battered parts of Switzerland on Saturday, police said. A man who was in the same boat was able to swim to another vessel from where he fired "two flares", Joanna Matta, police spokeswoman for the canton (region) of Geneva, told AFP. The man told officers that the woman had been "passing through Geneva" and that the storm had taken them "by surprise", Matta said. Three police boats and emergency services rushed to the scene. Police divers later retrieved the woman's body from the lake. The victim, whose nationality remains unknown, was then taken to a hospital in Geneva where she was declared dead. In a separate incident, the storm also damaged some of the 465 boats taking part in the 81st edition of the Bol d'Or, an annual regatta on Lake Geneva, the event's press service said. Heavy rain and strong winds lashed the participants on Saturday afternoon, causing boats to capsize although nobody was ...
New Zealand cancels tsunami alert after powerful quake
A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake stuck near the remote Kermadec Islands northeast of New Zealand Sunday, briefly prompting a tsunami warning. After initially forecasting "a threat to beach, harbour, estuary and small boat activities", New Zealand's Civil Defence organisation gave the all-clear eight minutes later. The earthquake was given a preliminary magnitude of 7.4, but later downgraded to 7.2 by the US Geological Survey. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also lifted its tsunami warning for parts of the South Pacific but said "minor sea level fluctuations may occur in some coastal areas near the earthquake". The earthquake struck at 10:55am (0425 IST) at a depth of 10 kilometres some 928 kilometres north-northeast of the New Zealand city of Tauranga in the North Island. The Kermadecs are uninhabited apart from a few New Zealand conservation workers based on Raoul Island, the largest in the area. The islands are the peaks of volcanoes, some of them active, that rise above sea ..
Earthquake of magnitude 7.2 hits New Zealand's Kermadec, tsunami warning issued
A massive earthquake of magnitude 7.4 on Richter scale struck near Kermadec islands northeast of New Zealand on Sunday, the authorities have issued a tsunami warning.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami threat exists in areas within 300 kilometres of the epicentre, reported NHK"Hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible within 300 km of the epicentre along the coasts of the Kermadec islands," said PTWC.The huge tremor struck near New Zealand's Kermadec Islands at about 11.55pm on Saturday (GMT).It struck at a depth of six miles and an alert was issued for the island region shortly afterwards.No casualty has been reported yet.Further details are awaited.
Powerful 7.4 quake north of New Zealand
A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake stuck near the uninhabited Kermadec islands northeast of New Zealand Sunday, the US Geological Survey said as authorities monitored for signs of a tsunami. New Zealand's civil defence organisation said it was monitoring the situation and if a tsunami was generated it would take at least two hours to reach the country. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said "hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible within 300 km of the epicentre along the coasts of the Kermadec islands." The earthquake struck at 10:55am (0425 IST) some 928 kilometres north-northeast of the New Zealand city of Tauranga in North Island at a depth of 34 km.
Strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake strikes NE of Tonga: US quake monitor
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Sunday centred 97 kilometres north-east of Ohonua, on the Pacific island of Tonga, the US Geological Survey reported. The quake hit at 0226 IST with an epicentre depth of 10 kilometres, the US global quake monitor said. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued no alerts, and there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The reported epicentre lies within the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of regular seismic activity. In February 2018, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Papua New Guinea killed 150 people and destroyed hundreds of buildings.
New York-area airport briefly closed after plane lands on flat tires
The busy Newark airport serving the New York area was briefly closed Saturday after a United Airlines flight experienced multiple flat tires upon landing and skidded partly off the runway, the airline and Federal Aviation Administration said. No major injuries were reported in the incident at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from New York. The FAA said United Airlines flight 627, arriving from Denver, landed at 1 pm (2230 IST) before skidding off the left side of a runway, with its main landing gear getting stuck in a grassy area. The plane with 166 passengers aboard had multiple flat tires upon landing and "became disabled," United spokesman Robert Einhorn said in a statement. Flights in and out of Newark were delayed for about an hour while passengers deplaned and the aircraft was moved, the FAA said, adding that its investigators were en route to the airport. Passengers with minor injuries refused medical attention, Einhorn said, ...
Utah-Detroit Delta flight makes emergency Wyoming landing
A Delta flight has made an emergency landing in Wyoming after instruments detected a possible fire in the plane's cargo area. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports that there were no injuries among the more than 200 passengers and crew Friday afternoon when a Delta Airbus A321 headed from Salt Lake City to Detroit landed at Cheyenne Regional Airport. Cheyenne Regional Airport director Tim Barth says the plane was cruising at about 35,000 feet (10,668 meters) around 3 p.m. Friday when pilots noticed rising temperatures in the cargo area. After the plane landed and passengers were evacuated, firefighters checked out the plane and found no fire. Passengers were allowed to re-board and retrieve belongings. Barth says Delta was to bring in a replacement plane Friday night to resume the trip.
Patnaik seeks Rs 5,228 cr to deal with cyclone Fani damage
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday proposed that natural calamities should be a criteria for according Special Category Status to states, while asking for Rs 5,228 crore aid in wake of the huge devastation caused by cyclone Fani to public infrastructure, property and livelihoods of the people in the state.
Reduce crop damage limit for compensation in draught-hit areas: Adityanath to Niti Aayog
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday urged the Niti Aayog to rework the eligibility criteria for draught compensation in affected areas and reduce the crop damage limit from 33 to 20 per cent. At the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting here, the chief minister also urged that the CRPF companies deployed in Naxal-hit Chandauli and Sonbhadra districts of the state should not be withdrawn and the Union Home Ministry should take back its order. He said, the central forces were required to keep a check on Naxal activities. He also suggested that the loan facility under the Kisan Credit Card Scheme should be based on the crop, instead of the land area. According to a statement issued by the state government, Adityanath also proposed that relief extended by the State Disaster Relief Fund under various categories should be increased. Adityanath was of the opinion that the Centre should increase its support on the expenditure incurred for public distribution system, ...
AN-32 crash: Bad weather hampers operations to retrieve bodies of air-warriors
Bad weather severely hampered the rescue operation to retrieve the mortal remains of the Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel onboard the ill-fated AN-32 in Arunachal Pradesh."The rescue team of 17 IAF, Army Special Forces and civilian members is present at the crash site. The rescue operations are being curtailed due to incessant rains and heavy clouding. No helicopter could fly today due to bad weather," an IAF spokesperson said on Saturday.Helicopter operations require great skill and caution, under such conditions, especially hovering at high altitudes and very close to the steep mountain slopes.Bad weather is hampering hovering by helicopters to do winching operations which are mandatory for all the rescue operations and recovery of mortal remains."All efforts are being made to heli-lift the mortal remains of the IAF personnel at the earliest to their parent base Jorhat. Rescue teams are standing by and operations will resume as soon as the weather improves," IAF said in its ...
Gujarat CM proposes changes in SDRF norms to deal with drought
In order to effectively deal with drought, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Saturday proposed that the norms regarding the use of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) should be revised. "The recent years for Gujarat have been rainfall deficient and therefore, we have taken stringent measures to mitigate the effects of scanty rainfall," he said in his speech at the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting here Gujarat had received just 73.87 per cent of the average rainfall during the monsoon season in 2018. Rupani said the state would like to propose certain "revisions" in the SDRF norms. "As per Supreme court orders, the mid-day meal centres have to be kept open during vacations also after drought notification. The same applies to anganwadi centres," he said. "As the mid-day meal and anganwadi centres have to be kept open, it is proposed that the expenditure incurred thereon should be incorporated in SDRF guidelines," he added. The SDRF is the primary fund available with the state ..
Bus, truck collide, catch fire; over 25 injured
: Over 25 people sustained injuries after a state-run KSRTCbus collided with a concrete-mixer truck and caught fire on the national highway near Kottarakkara in the district on Saturday, police said. All the passengers of the bus and the occupants of the truck managed to come out of the vehicles before the fire got spread. They were admitted to four government and private hospitals nearby, police said. Both the vehicles were completely burnt, disrupting movement of traffic in the area for some hours, they said. The timely intervention of the local people and Fire and Rescue Service personnel, who rushed to the spot, helped contained the blaze. The negligence of the truck driver was suspected to be cause for the mishap, police added.
Passengers subdue chaotic man on board Turkish Airlines jet
Passengers on a Turkish Airlines jetliner flying to Sudan had to subdue a man who started screaming a few minutes after takeoff and began smashing at an oxygen mask box and then a cabin window, before pushing flight attendants aside and rushing toward the cockpit. Associated Press photographer Hussein Malla was on the flight Friday and says several passengers stopped the man in the Boeing 737-900's business class section. Flight attendants calmed the man down after about 15 minutes and he was taken back to a seat as the plane continued toward Khartoum. Flight attendants said the man was complaining about not being able to breathe. After about 2 hours, the pilots announced the plane was returning to Istanbul. A few minutes later, the man suddenly stood up and headed toward the front of the plane, where others grabbed him and tried to shackle him with plastic restraints provided by flight attendants but he resisted. Passengers were yelling in fear and children were crying. The plane ...
Meet with hotel owners in Chennai to discuss water shortage:
Tamil Nadu Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani Saturday said a meeting had been convened tomorrow with hotel owners in Chennai in the wake of the acute water scarcity. Accusing opposition parties of politicising the water issue, the Minister told reporters here that teams had been formed to tackle the situation across the state. He further said the meeting with hotel owners to be presided over by the Chief Secretary would discuss the water issue threadbare. Replying to questions on the issue of water scarcity in the state, the minister said the government was supplying an additional 2,400 Million Litres Daily (MLD) drinking water, which was more than the amount supplied in previous years. Velumani said Chennai was facing a serious drought condition due to 62 per cent lesser rains compared to 2017 and added as against 450 MLD of water supplied during that period, the government was now supplying 520 MLD. Besides, as against that 13 TMC water from Andhra ...
Bodies of mountaineers sink deeper in snow with fresh avalanches
Bodies of mountaineers, who went missing on way to the Nanda Devi East peak in Uttarakhand, will have to be dug out as they have sunk deeper under snow with fresh avalanches witnessed in the area. IAF helicopters had sighted five bodies lying near an unscaled peak near the western ridge of the Nanda Devi peak on June 3. The ITBP team which has gone to retrieve the bodies will have to dig them out as they have gone down further under snow following fresh avalanches in high altitudes, Pithoragarh District Magistrate V K Jogdande said, quoting ITBP sources. "The ITBP has called its high altitude porters from Uttarkashi to dig out and take the bodies from the spot located at a height of 17800 feet to the base camp 2 at 13000feet," DIG ITBP APS Nimbaria said. Indian Air force helicopters will take the bodies from the camp to the district headquarters at Pithoragarh, he said. On preparations by the search and rescue expedition to trace the foreign mountaineers lying at the ridge since June .