Page 361 - Disaster Accident

Provide tarpaulin for houses hit by cyclone: CM to Collectors

: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami Friday directed the Collectors in the districts to provide tarpaulin to the cyclone-affected people. In a statement here, he said he had received requests for the tarpaulins to cover the roofs of houses damaged by the cyclone Gaja and accompanying rains. He said the sheets could be procured with the assistance from the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund and distributed through the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation. Meanwhile, VCK leader Thol Thirumalavan met the Chief Minister and presented a cheque for Rs 10 lakh towards cyclone relief. Film actor Vivek and representatives from Ramco Group and the Velammal Educational Trust too called on Palaniswami and handed over contributions for the relief work, an official press release said. The cyclone had crossed the Tamil Nadu coast between Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam on November 16, claiming 63 lives and leaving behind a trail of destruction that severely hit farming, fishing and .

Dead man booked for rash driving in HP

A man who was killed in an accident has been booked for rash and negligent driving in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district, the police said Friday, maintaining that it was a routine practice. A water tanker driver, Sanjeev Kumar of Chakban village in Nurpur sub-division of Kangra district died on the spot Thursday night when his vehicle fell into a deep gorge at Sunara crossing on its way to Dharwala from Chamba, they said. Subsequently, a First Information Report (FIR) under Indian Penal Code sections 279 (rash driving) and 304 A (causing death by negligence) was registered against Kumar at Bharmour police station, they added. When contacted, Chamba Superintendent of Police Monica Bhutunguru justified the registration of FIR against the dead person. She said the Investigating Officer (IO) might have gathered evidence that the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving by Kumar. So, as per routine practice under law, the FIR was lodged against him despite the fact that he is no

Haasan urges PM to visit cyclone Gaja-ravaged areas

Actor-politician Kamal Haasan Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the cyclone ravaged districts of Tamil Nadu, saying it would make the government machinery work faster to address people's issues. The ongoing relief activities should not be a mere "fire-fighting exercise" but should be a long drawn one, he said and appealed to the people of the state to help those in the affected areas. "The Prime Minister should immediately visit the affected areas. If the PM visits, the government machinery will work faster," Haasan, founder-president of the Makkal Needhi Maiam, told reporters here. Tamil Nadu was an important part of the country and it should not be 'ignored,' he added. Cyclone Gaja had crossed the Tamil Nadu coast between Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam on November 16, claiming 63 lives and leaving behind a trail of destruction, severely affecting the farming, fishing and power sectors. Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Pudukottai districts had ...

Heavy air pollution to hit Beijing for second time in 10 days

Beijing will again be covered in a toxic haze this weekend barely 10 days after heavy smog blanketed the Chinese capital, a reminder that the city is yet to overcome its years-old problem of air pollution despite spending over a billion dollars on a clean-up, local authorities said on Friday. Beijing will see another spell of smog in the next three days and has issued a yellow alert for heavy air pollution for Saturday noon, officials said. The municipal air pollution emergency response office said that Beijing and neighbouring regions will be hit by heavy pollution due to adverse weather conditions. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as well as the neighbouring provinces of Shanxi, Shandong and Henan will be affected by the smog, the ministry of ecology and environment said. Beijing and several cities in northern China were hit by heavy smog for over three days since November 14, the worst so far this winter with levels of PM 2.5 - the fine particulate matter - touching 376 micrograms .

Bihar: 3 devotees run over by tanker

At least three people died and 16 others got injured after being hit by a tanker on Siwan-Mairwa road here late on Thursday.The victims, belonging to the Gopalganj district, were travelling in a pickup van to take a dip in the Saryu river at Darauli Ghat on the occasion of Kartik Purnima.The incident happened after some people got down from the bus at Ziradei Mor for relieving themselves.Among those dead are Kamal Kishore Singh (45), Anarkali Devi (50) and Rinki Devi (50).On receiving the information about the accident, senior officials, including Siwan's Additional Police Superintendent, Kantesh Kumar Mishra and Sub Divisional officer Aman Sameer reached the Sadar Hospital, where the injured are being treated.

TN CM urges Rly Ministry to waive freight charges for cyclone

The Tamil Nadu government Friday urged the Railway Ministry to waive freight charges for relief material meant for cyclone Gaja affected districts in the state. Chief Minister K Palaniswami wrote to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, saying this "has been done in the case of recent Kerala floods." "I request the Railways to waive the freight charges collected from donors for the relief materials sent to the stations in disaster affected areas addressed to the District Collectors, as has been done in the case of recent Kerala floods," Palaniswami said in his letter to Goyal. He told the Union Minister that seeing the plight of the 'hapless victims,' relief material were being mobilised from all over the country. He said the cyclone, which crossed the Tamil Nadu coast on November 16, has 'devastated' the affected districts, with people having lost their homes, livestock, plantation and livelihood. Cyclone 'Gaja' had crossed the Tamil Nadu coast early on November 16 between ...

Bihar: 3 killed as truck collides with passenger bus

At least three people were killed and 12 others were left injured after a passenger bus collided with a truck in Bihar's Bagaha city on Friday.The incident occurred while the bus was on its way to Bettiah from Bagaha. The injured were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital.The cause behind the accident is not yet known.Further details are awaited.

NASA and SpaceX prep historic test flight to space

NASA is all geared up to send humans for the first time in eight years through SpaceX Crew Dragon. As part of the preparation, the space agency will first shoot out a test flight on January 7.The SpaceX Crew Dragon can seat three astronauts, but will be unpiloted for its first test flight which will be launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida. It will undergo an in-flight abort test sometime before its first crewed flight in June, Cnet reported.NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be the first two astronauts to test the commercial spaceflight.The flight aims to provide NASA with performance data from the SpaceX spacecraft and also help the agency certify if transportation system is ready for taking astronauts between Earth and the International Space Station.

California fire mostly contained, death toll rises to 84

The fire that has ravaged northern California is now almost completely contained, authorities said Thursday as the death toll rose to 84. Rain fell in the first measurable amounts in months in the drought-stricken area and this helped put out hot spots and smouldering fires, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. It said the so-called Camp Fire is now 95 per cent contained. The number of people listed as unaccounted for in the deadliest and most destructive fire in state history stands at 563. Previously the death toll had been put at 83. Another three people died in a second major blaze that struck Malibu in southern California. In the north, the Camp Fire has scorched 153,000 acres of land and destroyed more than 13,600 homes since it broke out on November 8.

Relief work in cyclone-hit areas "not satisfactory": Stalin

DMK President MK Stalin Friday alleged the relief activity was "not satisfactory" in the Cauvery delta areas that were ravaged by Cyclone Gaja last week. The Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly demanded that Chief Minister K Palaniswami convene a meeting of stakeholders from the region to take forward the relief activities in an effective manner. He also said Palaniswami should stay put in the delta region to oversee the relief work. "The people in the delta region have lost their livelihood. The relief work is not satisfactory for them. Palaniswami should actually stay there and expedite and regulate the relief activities," he told reporters here. Further, Palaniswami should convene a meeting of stakeholders in the delta region--farmers' and political parties' representatives and welfare organisations, and discuss further streamlining and expediting the relief and rehabilitation efforts, he added. Cyclone Gaja had crossed the Tamil Nadu coast between ...

Indonesia wraps up Lion Air crash victim identification

Indonesia on Friday wrapped up the grim task of identifying Lion Air jet crash victims from recovered body parts, with a preliminary report on the cause of the accident that killed 189 people due next week. The Boeing 737 Max jet -- one of the world's newest and most advanced commercial planes -- plunged into the Java Sea on October 29 shortly after taking off from capital Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang city, killing all on board. Since then, investigators have been doing DNA testing on recovered body parts. As of Friday, 125 people have been identified after testing on human remains that filled some 200 body bags, said Arthur Tampi, head of the national police medical centre. "We have identified 89 men and 36 women, including two foreigners, namely an Italian and an Indian national" who was the flight's captain, Tampi told reporters in Jakarta. The identification was being called off because all the recovered remains have been tested, he added. Budget carrier Lion Air has said it is ...

China to build its first undersea tunnel for high-speed trains

China will build its first undersea tunnel for high-speed trains, connecting two cities in eastern province of Zhejiang which will substantially cut the travel time from 90 to 30 minutes, according to a media report. The project with 70.92 km in total length, with an undersea tunnel section of 16.2 km, will connect the city of Ningbo with the island city of Zhoushan in east Zhejiang, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The trains are designed to run at 250 km per hour, cutting the trip between the two cities from 1.5 hours to less than 30 minutes. China's high-speed rail has reached 25,000 kms in length, accounting for more than 60 per cent of the world's total. Zhejiang was among the earliest provinces in the country to build high-speed rail.

Four women staying in cyclone relief camp killed in accident

Four women, who were staying in a cyclone relief camp near Thalainayar in this district, were killed after being hit by a speeding van at Neermulai village on Friday, police said. The women along with a man were trying to cross the road when the incident took place. The man was injured and has been admitted to a hospital. The victims were from Thalainayar. Cyclone 'Gaja' had crossed the Tamil Nadu coast early on November 16 between Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam, about 300 km from Chennai. It left behind a trail of destruction in Nagapattinam district and also in several other districts. Several thousand people have been lodged in relief camps in Nagapattinam, one of the worst affected districts.

Shots fired near Chinese consulate in Karachi, 2 killed: reports

Some unidentified gunmen in Pakistan opened fire near the Chinese consulate in Karachi, killing two policemen, media reports said. An explosion, the nature of which was not immediately known, was also heard in Clifton area, Dawn news reported. Two policemen have been killed in an exchange of fire, a senior police officer said. The operation was still underway, the report said. Heavy contingents of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in the area after the exchange of fire. The area, considered a red zone, is heavily guarded.

2 dead after bike rams into divider on Delhi's Signature Bridge

Two people died on Friday morning after their motorcycle rammed into a divider at the newly-inaugurated Signature Bridge here.The passengers fell off the bride after their two-wheeler hit the divider and died on the spot.The Delhi Police received a PCR call at 8:50 am regarding the incident. Further details pertaining to the cuase of the accident and identities of the deceased are currently awaited.The Signature Bridge was opened for public on November 4. The project aims to reduce travel time and traffic congestion between the north-eastern and northern parts of the national capital.The bridge, built over the Yamuna River, is the first asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge in India.

2 killed in accident on Delhi's newly-inaugurated Signature Bridge

The passengers fell off the bridge after their two-wheeler hit the divider and died on the spot

Shots fired near Chinese consulate in Karachi: reports

Some unidentified gunmen in Pakistan opened fire near the Chinese consulate in Karachi, media reports said. An explosion, the nature of which was not immediately known, was also heard in Clifton area, Dawn news reported. Heavy contingents of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in the area after an exchange of fire between a security guard and unknown assailants, it said. The area, considered a red zone, is heavily guarded.

Shots fired near Chinese Consulate in Karachi

Firing and small explosions were heard near the Chinese Consulate here on Friday.

Landing gear collapse as plane lands in Bolivia; none hurt

A Peruvian Airlines Boeing 737 suffered a collapsed landing gear when it arrived at an airport in Bolivia, forcing closure of the runway for 10 several hours. Officials say none of the 122 passengers or five crew members was hurt. Officials say that they were unable to move the plane, prompting a 10-hour closure that delayed several other flights into and out of the El Alto airport near the Bolivian capital on Thursday The plane was arriving on a flight from Cuzco, Peru. The airline said in a statement that the cause of the incident is under investigation.

Odisha CM felicitates Titli 'heroes'

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday felicitated 25 people from Cyclone affected districts for their outstanding contribution in relief, rescue and rehabilitation operations.Recognising them as "Heroes of Titli", Chief Minister Patnaik felicitated them at the state secretariat here.Among those honoured were, social activists, health workers, young change makers and some of government employees.The Odisha Government-led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has decided to provide houses to all the 13,000 families, whose homes were damaged by cyclone Titli and subsequent floods.The decision was taken at a high-level review meeting chaired by the Chief Minister on Monday.