Page 611 - Disaster Accident
150 passengers stranded at Mumbai Int'l Airport due to flight delay
At least 150 passengers of Mumbai-Dubai bound AI 983 flight of Air India have been stranded at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport after their flight, which was scheduled to depart at 8 pm on Thursday, has still not taken off following a technical problem in the aircraft.After waiting at the airport for several hours, a few passengers later fought with the Air India staff as there was apparently no update given to them regarding departure."We have been waiting at the airport since a long time. There is a three months old baby among other kids, who are travelling. However, there is nobody here to give us an answer as to when the flight will take off. Even they gave us bad food to eat. The airport staff is dealing unprofessionally and even told a few to refund their money from the sites they booked," a lady passenger said.Further details are currently awaited.
150 passengers stranded at Mumbai Int'l Airport due to flight delay
After waiting at the airport for several hours, a few passengers later fought with the Air India staff as there was apparently no update given to them regarding departure
Karnataka: 6 dead after crane collapses at under-construction site
As many as six labours died on Thursday after a crane collapsed at an under-construction cement factory in Kalaburagi, Karnataka.One more person was injured in the accident.Police have reached the spot and rescue operation is underway.More details are currently awaited.This comes after at least 17 people were injured on July 29 when a tin shed collapsed during a tractor race event in Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan.
Chances of Yamuna crossing danger mark 'remote' in Mathura
In spite of heavy discharge of water from the Hathinikund barrage, the chances of Yamuna river crossing the danger level in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district are remote, an officer of the irrigation department said today. The Yamuna was flowing 165.70 metres today, below the danger level of 166 metres, said Mormukut Singh, executive engineer (upper division), Agra canal. Singh, who was monitoring the flood level, said the rise of the Yamuna level had been only 25 cm in last 24 hours. Half-a-dozen colonies of Vrindaban and Jaisinghpura area has been inundate in flood waters, he added. District officials visited the flood-affected areas, flood outposts and interacted with the people who are partially affected by flood waters. According to a member of the Naujhil nagar panchayat, flood water has created havoc for farmers of the area as hundreds of acres of land has been inundated.
No bed bugs in aircraft, Air India claims
Air India sought to reassure its passengers today that there are no bed bugs in its aircraft after carrying out an extensive fumigation exercise following complaint by some passengers last month. The state-run carrier came under fire in mid-July when business class passengers of Newark-Mumbai flights complained of bed bug crawling on the seats. Messages and disturbing pictures of bed bug bites posted in social media had gone viral. "#AirIndia affirms that no bedbugs were found after thorough checking of seats, laundry facilities & fumigation of aircrafts following bugbite complaints in some flts. "These unfortunate reports are the first of its kind in our legacy of flying generations of satisfied pax (sic)," it said in a late evening tweet. The latest tweet followed the airline's statement last week which maintained that the incidents of bed bugs reported by passengers in international flights were "isolated" ones even as it had taken a "serious" view of the complaints and carried
Darjeeling toy train cancelled following landslide
New Jalpaiguri-Darjeeling Passenger train, popularly called the toy train, of the heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was on Thursday cancelled for four days after the track was damaged following landslide triggered by incessant rains.
Uber starts alert service to pre-selected trusted contacts
Taxi hailing app Uber today announced new enhanced safety feature in its app for users in India that can automatically send alerts to selected contacts every time a passenger starts a ride. "Our new feature allows riders to designate up to 5 loved ones with whom they can be regularly prompted to Share Trip. Riders can modify the settings to share all trips, night-time only trips, or none at all," Uber said in a statement. The new safety features include dialing emergency helpline number 100, will be displayed on home screen of Uber app from the time driver accepts the trip till end of the trip, according to the statement. "A key feature that we are introducing today as part of the safety toolkit is 'Trusted Contacts', which offers riders the option to automatically share all or select late night trips with their family and loved ones," Sachin Kansal, Director, Product Management, Uber said. For Uber, India was the first market where we launched the emergency button, which will now be .
Rains continue to wreak havoc in UP; 17 killed since yesterday: officials
Seventeen people were killed and 11 injured in rain-related incidents in Uttar Pradesh since yesterday, raising the death toll in such cases since July 1 to 165, officials said today. Three people died in Kanpur , two were killed in Unnao, Gonda and Banda each while one person died in Kanpur Dehat, Barabanki, Firozabad, Ambedkarnagar, Shahjahanpur, Ballia and Kannauj and Pilibhit districts, they said. The toll has reached 165 since July 1, they said, adding that 134 people were injured in rain-related incidents. Most of the deaths occurred due to wall or house collapses, uprooting of trees, electrocution and caving in of land, officials said. According to the Met office, the south-west monsoon was active over east Uttar Pradesh leading to light to moderate rain or thundershowers at many places. There were showers at a few places in west Uttar Pradesh also. Bareilly recorded 14 cms, Ramnagar - 13, Pratapgarh, Barabanki -9 each, Ayodhya, Fatehpur - 8, Jaunpur and Kanpur -7 cm rainfall ..
'Tailpipe flare' in Jazeera Airways flight at Hyderabad airport
A Kuwait-Hyderabad Jazeera Airways flight reported a brief 'tailpipe flare' in the right engine after landing at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here in the early hours on Thursday, the airline said.
Flood situation in NE deteriorating, Nagaland CM seeks immediate central assistance
The flood situation in northeastern India today deteriorated sharply as the deluge spread to eight districts of Assam affecting more than one lakh people, while Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio sought immediate central assistance to tide over the crisis in his state. Three more people were reported dead in Assam, taking the death toll in the state to 41, officials said in Guwahati. The flood situation remained grim as the mighty Brahmaputra and its tributaries were flowing above the danger mark, Assam Disaster Management Authority said. More than 5,000 hectares of agricultural land have been inundated. There were reports of embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure being damaged in Lakhimpur, Kamrup Metropolitan, Sivasagar and Sonitpur districts, it said. Nagaland Chief Minister Rio urged the prime minister to grant immediate assistance to his state to battle the problems generated by the incessant rainfall hammering the past for a few weeks. In a letter to Prime ...
Two students die in school roof collapse
Two girl students died and five others were injured when a shed of a school here collapsed during a karate class on Thursday, police said.
Toll reaches 41 as Assam floods engulf 8 districts
The flood situation deteriorated sharply in Assam today, with the death toll reaching 41 and over one lakh people affected, authorities said. According to the Assam Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), three persons died in Dhemaji, Udalguri and Golaghat districts of the state today. Till yesterday, 58,600 people were affected in five districts of Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Sivasagar and Charaideo, with the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries flowing above the danger level, it said. The deluge has spread to eight districts -- Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath (flash floods), Udalguri, Barpeta Golaghat, Sivasagar and Charaideo. Over 5,000 hectares of agricultural land have also been affected, the ASDMA said. It said the district authorities were running 99 relief camps and distribution centres for over 21,000 people who have taken shelter there. The Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger mark in Jorhat, Sivasagar, town, Golaghat, Sonitpur and Barpeta, the agency said. There are ...
FSSAI gives food delivery cos 2 weeks to delist unlicensed restaurants
Regulator FSSAI today said it has given a two-week deadline to online food delivery companies to delist unlicensed restaurants. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has also decided to conduct audit of online platforms of food aggregators to check if they are complying with food safety and hygiene norms, it said in a statement. In a review meeting held yesterday, the regulator found that more than 30-40 per cent of food businesses listed on the online platforms do not possess a valid licence despite the companies being told to comply with the norms by July-end, it said. In many cases, listed food businesses have recently applied for the FSSAI license/registration but still do not possess them. To ensure compliance of the food safety norms, the regulator has given "two-weeks time to these food aggregators" to delist unlicensed/unregistered food businesses and submit a detailed report, FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal told PTI. "This is part of a special drive by the ...
CIL identifies 7 coking coal mines in Australia for acquisition: Par Panel
State-owned CIL has identified seven coking coal assets in Australia for acquisition and is also in discussions with a few mine owners in Canada, a parliamentary panel said today. In its report the Standing Committee on coal and steel said: "The met coke production has increased during the period 2014 - 2017 and for acquiring of coking coal blocks/ mines abroad, Coal India Ltd (CIL) has identified several coking coal assets in Bowen basin of 16 Queensland Province, Australia and is also pursuing discussions with few mine owners of coking coal assets in Canada." The Committee had also recommended earlier that all out efforts may continuously be made to reverse the trend of importing coking coal by steel plants by augmenting the production of coking coal in the country or acquiring of coking coal blocks/mines by CIL abroad, the report said. The panel appreciated the work of the government in bringing down the import of non-coking coal. However, the panel was of a view that the use of ...
3 mountaineers killed in French Alps
Three climbers were reported dead on Thursday in the Mont Blanc massif mountain range in the Alps, the media reported.
DR Congo rushes team to Ebola zone
DR Congo today flew a team led by Health Minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga to an eastern region hit by Ebola, the country's second outbreak in less than three months, a local official said. The delegation from Kinshasa "arrived in Beni today," the city's deputy mayor, Modeste Bakwanamaha, told AFP. Yesterday, Ilunga said the eastern province of North Kivu had notified the ministry of 26 suspected cases of Ebola, 20 of them fatal, in the region of Beni. Four of six samples later tested positive for the haemorrhagic virus. Twelve health ministry experts would be sent to Beni on Thursday to help oversee the response to the outbreak, Ilunga added. The Beni region lies in the heart of a conflict zone gripped by a notorious Ugandan-linked Islamist militia called the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). On July 24, the government declared the end to a 10-week outbreak of Ebola that struck northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, claiming 33 lives. The latest outbreak is the 10th in the DRC since ...
Jazeera Airways flight catches fire after landing, passengers
One of the engines of a Jazeera Airways aircraft, carrying 145 passengers, caught fire after the plane landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here in the early hours today. Describing it as "a brief tailpipe flare," the airlines said it was quickly extinguished and the passengers were unharmed. "What took place was what the airline industry commonly refers to as a tailpipe flare. Our pilot immediately followed standard operating procedure by switchingoff fuel and ignition. All safety procedures were followed, and all passengers disembarked normally," Jazeera Airways India spokesperson said in an e-mail reply. Airport sources said the Air Traffic Control and also some members of the ground staff noticed a "minor fire" soon after the plane landed and informed the pilot of J9-608 Kuwait-Hyderabad flight, who shut down both the engines immediately. "The incident occurred at 1.30 am. There was a minor fire in the right engine and it died out after some time. ...
As downpour damages path, HP village to get ration supply via chopper
Ration and other essential commodities will be supplied through government helicopter to Bara Bhangal village in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district after heavy rains damaged the pedestrian path linking the village to Bara Gaon. The village in Baijnath tehsil has apparently got cut off due to the damaged path. Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said today that the helicopter would make three to four sorties in a day to ensure adequate supply of essential commodities to Bara Bhangal, around 136 km away from the state capital Shimla. In case the helicopter is unable to fly due to bad weather, the supply of essential items will be ensured through mule route from Patlikuhal, the chief minister said, presiding over a meeting. Thakur said that Baijnath MLA Mulkh Raj would personally monitor the entire process and also asked Kangra Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kumar to ensure that the damaged path be restored. Food and Civil Supplies Minister Kishan Kapoor, Chief Secretary Vineet ...
Display PMAY(U) logo on houses built under scheme: Centre to states, UTs
The Centre has advised states and Union territories to display the "standard logo" of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) in all houses constructed under PMAY (U), Rajya Sabha was told today. In a written reply to a question, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the move is intended to spread awareness among people about PMAY (U), a flagship scheme of the central government. According to the ministry, 53.79 lakh houses have been sanctioned against the estimated one crore housing units to be constructed till 2022 under the government's vision of "Housing for All by 2022" in the country. The ministry of housing and urban affairs is implementing Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) and providing assistance to states and UTs in addressing the housing requirements in urban areas. "To spread awareness among people about the scheme, this ministry has advised all states/Union territory governments to display the standard logo of PMAY (U) in all houses constructed under the .
26 cases of mid-air miss reported over Indian airspace till June this year
Twenty six cases of mid-air miss or when aircraft come on collision course were reported over the Indian air space this year till June, Parliament was informed today. The number of such incidents was 28 last year and 32 in 2016, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha. To prevent and minimise such incidents, a system ensuring a flexible use of airspace and safety management was implemented at the airports, along with coordination procedures laid down to hand over operation from one unit to another, he added. The airlines were also directed to avoid similar or confusing call signs, the minister said. He added that the Airport Authority of India (AAI) had started implementing a project for harmonising the upper airspace of the four "flight information" regions in the country. Under the project, the airspace above 25,000 feet will be controlled from the air traffic control centres in the four metros. While the harmonisation