Page 360 - Disaster Accident
25 killed as bus plunges into canal in Karnataka
At least 25 people drowned on Saturday when a private bus they were travelling in plunged into a canal in Karnataka's Mandya district, police said.
Modi, Rahul condoles Karnataka bus tragedy victims
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday condoled the death of about 25 people, who drowned after the bus they were travelling in plunged into a canal in Karnataka's Mandya district.
PA to TN Dy CM injured in accident, dies
The Personal Assistant of Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who suffered serious injuries in an accident recently, died at a private hospital here. P C Madhan, who was admitted to Velammalhospital here died without responding to treatment on Friday, family sources said. He was 40 and is survived by wife and two children. The accident occurred last week while he was proceeeding in a car to the district from Madurai, they said.
California wildfire reaches 95% containment
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the raging California wildfire that caused a large-scale destruction has reached 95 percent containment.The five percent fire that remains uncontained is located in steep and rugged terrain. An official report of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection stated that while all containment lines continue to hold around the affected areas, it is still unsafe for the firefighters to access the remaining five percent terrain due to heavy rains."There is indirect control line in that area and firefighters are monitoring the situation. Once safe to do so, crews will assess this area and determine if direct line is necessary. Fire suppression repair personnel continue to assess areas for rehabilitation and conduct repair where possible. Search and Rescue Crews, and engine companies continue working to assist the Butte County Sheriff's Office with search efforts," the report added.The deadly blaze, US's ...
Karnataka: 25 dead after bus falls into canal
At least 25 people were killed after a bus plunged into VC Canal in Mandya district of Karnataka on Saturday.As many as 35 people were travelling in the bus that was going to Shivalli from Mandya.The fire department is carrying out rescue operation and scanning the area for injured people. So far, only three people have been rescued.The bodies of the deceased people are being shifted to VIMS hospital in Mandya.Taking stock of the situation, Karnataka Chief Minister of Karnataka HD Kumaraswamy has canceled all his programmes and rushed to the accident spot."25 people have died. I believe the driver was not driving properly, I will find out," affirmed Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara.
Cyclone Gaja: Central team holds talks with TN CM
A central team deputed to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Gaja in Tamil Nadu Saturday held discussions with Chief Minister K Palaniswami here. The seven-member team is headed by Daniel E Richard, a senior official in the Union Home Ministry in New Delhi. The team members met the Chief Minister at the Secretariat and held discussions with him, an official release said. Tamil Nadu Ministers D Jayakumar, C Ve Shanmugam and RB Udayakumar and senior officials including Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan were present during the meeting. While five members of the team had arrived from Delhi yesterday, two others who are stationed here, have joined them. The offcials belong to various central departments such as Finance, Power and Agriculture. The team is expected to complete its assessment in three days starting with a visit to Tiruchirapalli. During his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi Thursday, Palaniswami sought about Rs 15,000 crore as central ...
Second accident on Signature Bridge: Man killed after bike skids
A 24-year-old was killed and his cousin injured after their motorcycle skidded off the Signature Bridge on Saturday, a day after two medical students were killed in an accident there, police said. The deceased, identified as Shankar, was riding motorcycle and his cousin Deepak (17) was pillion rider, a senior police officer said. They were coming from Nangloi and heading towards Northeast district. Timarpur police station was informed about the accident at 8.20 am, he said. Police said the victims where rushed to a nearby hospital, where Shankar was declared brought dead while his cousin Deepak sustained knee injuries, they said. Shankar, a resident of Gaziabad, worked as a salesman and was unmarried, the officer said. Deepak, a resident of Shalimar Bagh told police they were wearing helmets but Shankar's helmet fell off after skidding and his head hit the divider, he said. With two accidents in two days, the newly-constructed Signature Bridge has become a death trap. Some people have
US court dismisses lawsuit over MH370 flight disappearance
A US court has rejected the lawsuit filed against Malaysia Airlines and the insurer, Allianz SE and Boeing in connection with disappearance of flight MH370.US Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson dismissed the lawsuit saying that the "case is about the unexplained disappearance of a passenger plane operated by Malaysia Airlines as part of its national air carrier fleet following its departure from a Malaysian airport."According to Sputnik that quoted New Zealand's local media, the judge further added that "litigation in the United States related to the Flight MH370 disaster is inconvenient."The 61-page ruling came after a lawsuit was filed against the airline, insurer and manufacturer of MH370 on behalf of more than 100 victims.MH370 disappeared less than an hour after its takeoff on March 8, 2014. The flight, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing had in total 239 people, 227 passengers and 12 crew members, on board.So far, several pieces of debris believed to be a part of the disappeared ...
Delhi: Accident on Signature Bridge kills 1, second in 24 hrs
One person died and another sustained injuries after their two-wheeler skidded at the newly-inaugurated Signature Bridge on Saturday morning.The passengers fell off the vehicle after it slipped.This is the second accident on the recently inaugurate bridge in the last 24 hours.On Friday, two people died after falling off the bridge when their two-wheeler rammed into a divider.The 575-metre-bridge was opened for public on November 4. The project is aimed at reducing travel time and traffic between the northern-eastern and northern part of the national capital.The bridge is the first asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge in India.
Huge quake edges New Zealand islands closer together
A destructive earthquake that struck New Zealand two years ago has left its two main islands edging towards each other, and one city sinking, according to scientists. But the margins are minimal with the gap between the North and South islands narrowing a mere 35 centimetres (13 and a half inches), while Nelson at the top of the South Island has sunk by up to 20 millimetres. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake on November 14 initially pushed the two islands several metres closer and the unsettled fault lines have since nudged the southern landmass further north. However, the gap from Cape Campbell, where the main rupture ended in the South Island, and the New Zealand capital Wellington at the bottom of the North Island is still more than 50 kilometres. At least 25 fault lines ruptured in the 2016 quake, which earthquake geologist Rob Langridge from the government's geoscience research organisation GNS Science said made it one of the most complex earthquakes observed anywhere in the ...
MACT awards over Rs 3 crore to families of three road accident victims
A Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) has awarded Rs 3.07 crore as compensation to families of three men who died in a road accident while travelling from Noida to Kotdwar in Uttarakhand. MACT Presiding Officer M K Nagpal awarded Rs 3,07,27,000 crore in total to the next kin of the three victims who were killed when their car collided with a tractor near Bijnaur in Uttar Pradesh nearly six years ago. The tribunal held that the accident was a result of the "rash and negligent driving of the tractor" and directed the driver, owner and insurer -- the Oriental Insurance Company Limited -- of the offending vehicle to "jointly and severally" pay the compensation. It clubbed together the pleas moved by the kin of the three victims and awarded varying compensation amounts to the families based on the income of the deceased. On December 29, 2012, Sandeep Balodi, Satish Kumar and Deepak Kainthola were travelling along with two others in a Maruti Swift from Noida to Kotdwar when their car ...
2 killed, 24 injured in explosion in China
At least two persons have been killed and 24 others injured in an explosion at a factory in China's Northeast Jilin province, the local government said Saturday. The explosion occured at Jiangcheng Machinery Company based in a village in Dongfeng county on Friday, state-run China Daily reported. About 41 buildings were also damaged in the explosion. According to a statement by the local government, two persons were killed, including one who succumbed to injures in hospital, and 24 others were injured. The explosion also caused a large fire, another daily Global Times said. The explosion triggered an emergency response from the government. Rescue and investigation efforts are underway. The early investigation has determined that the incident was not related to terrorism, the Daily report said.
Four Finns, pilot killed in Zimbabwe plane crash
Four Finns on a hunting expedition died in a plane crash Friday that also killed their pilot near Zimbabwe's southern city of Masvingo, the Finnish consul's wife said. "There were four Finnish citizens and their pilot in the plane, they all died," Sally Ward told AFP. "It was cloudy and they were trying to get above the clouds." Police spokesman Paul Nyathi said the accident occurred near Renco, a gold mine on the outskirts of Masvingo and that investigators had found a Finnish identity card and a passport at the scene.
RSS-BJP combine is out to 'devastate' Kerala's social, spiritual landscape: Swami Agnivesh
The Sangh Parivar is taking advantage of the Sabarimala issue and has posed a frontal challenge to the rule of law and the Constitution, social activist Swami Agnivesh said Friday. In a release, Agnivesh said the RSS-BJP combine is out to "devastate" Kerala's social and spiritual landscape. "This is far more sinister. The natural disaster (flood) united and energised Keralites. The present unnatural disaster improvised to boost BJP's electoral fortunes is threatening to pollute the soul and tear apart the social fabric of Kerala," he said. He urged the Keralites to think "clearly" and refuse to be misled by "deceptive propaganda". "The BJP and the RSS were clearly in favour of women's entry into the Sabarimala temple. They have taken an opportunistic U-turn, because they have their eyes only on making electoral gains by communally polarising the people. They know no other way to power and profit," Agnivesh said. The activist, who plans to visit Kerala in the first week of December, ...
Farmers bury themselves neckdeep for enhanced cyclone relief
: A group of farmers buried themselves neckdeep in the Cauvery riverbed here Friday in protest against 'inadequate relief' in the wake of the damage caused by the cyclone. The farmers, all members of the South Indian River-linkingFarmers Association, told reporters that the compensation given by the Tamil Nadu government was lower than that given for the farmland acquired for the Chennai-Salem eight-lane project. The association state president Ayyakkanu said most of the ryots have lost their livelihood as the cyclone had wrought havoc on their crop and plantations. Hence, the demand for enhanced compensation, he said.
Flash floods kill 4, displace thousands in Iraqi village
An Iraqi military officer says at least two children and two elderly people have been killed in a village in northern Iraq hit by flash floods unleashed by heavy rains. Lt. General Jumaa Anad, head of the emergency operations room, said five people are still missing following the flash floods Friday in Houreya village, outside of Shirqat town in the northern Salahuddin province. Anad said the village's 4,000 residents have been evacuated after water levels rose to 2 metres (6.5 feet). The flash floods hit Salahuddin and Nineveh provinces, also causing bridges to collapse. Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi ordered a crisis management team to oversee rescue operations and review preventive measures as the rains continued.
Central team in TN to assess damage caused by cyclone 'Gaja'
A five-member central team arrived here Friday for an on-the-spot assessment of the damage caused by cyclone Gaja that lashed the Tamil Nadu coast on November 16. The team is led by a senior official in the Union Home Ministry Daniel E Richard. The team would meet Chief Minister K Palaniswami Saturday, an official said. It is expected to complete its assessment in three days starting with a visit to Tiruchirapalli tomorrow, the official added. During his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi Thursday, Palaniswami sought about Rs 15,000 crore as central assistance towards relief and rehabilitation activities in cyclone-hit districts of the state. He also asked Modi to depute a central team to assess the damage. The Tamil Nadu government has put the toll due to the cyclone at 63.
Vijayan lashes out at Centre for 'denying' funds to flood-hit
: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Friday Friday lashed out at the Centre for allegedly showing indifference in granting aid for the rebuilding initiatives of the state, which had suffered the deadliest flood of the century. Addressing a press conference here, he said the state had only received Rs 600 crore as central assistance so far from the BJP-led NDA government. "However, we might have to give back Rs 265.75 crore from the Rs 600 crore to the centre if it seeks the Minimum Support Price for the rice and kerosene ration given to us during the floods," the chief minister said. "The whole world has been compassionate towards us, but the Centre is showing gross indifference in providing assistance to the flood-hit state," Vijayan added. The studies conducted by the World Bank and the United Nation (UN) agencies had estimated the total loss incurred by the flood-hit Kerala to the tune of Rs 31,000 crores. But the real loss would be much more, he said. "The Central
Kejriwal hands over Rs 1 cr cheque to kin of Army major killed in avalanche last yr
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Friday paid tributes to Major Amit Sagar, killed in an avalanche in Jammu and Kashmir's Sonamarg last year, and handed over a cheque of Rs 1 crore to his family in west Delhi here, the city government said in a statement. "Country is indebted to the supreme sacrifice made by officers like Major Amit Sagar. Rs 1 cr to his family by Del govt is a small way to express our indebtedness (sic)," Kejriwal tweeted. In January 2017, an avalanche hit an Army camp at Sonamarg in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district, resulting in the death of major Amit Sagar. "The Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi Government pays Rs 1 crore to the family of martyr as a mark of respect," the Delhi government statement read. It also stated that the event was also attended by Delhi Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot and local MLA Jagdeep Singh.
Karna govt forms four cabinet sub-committees on drought
: The Karnataka government Friday said it has decided to constitute four cabinet sub-committees of senior ministers for each revenue division to ensure effective implementation of drought mitigation measures. The state government has notified 100 taluks of 24 districts as drought affected. "To ensure effective implementation of drought mitigation measures and to review drought mitigation works taken up by Deputy Commissioners, the government will constitute four cabinet sub-committees, comprising senior ministers, for each revenue division," Revenue Minister R V Deshpande said. Speaking to reporters here, he said a senior officerof the rank of secretary or principal secretary would work as the coordinating officer in the cabinet sub-committees. The committees would tour drought affected districtsand hold meetings with all concerned and guide the Deputy Commissioners in drought relief and mitigation measures, the minister added. Noting that the dry spell was continuing in .