Page 706 - Disaster Accident
'Coast Guard zindabad', say rescued crew members of merchant ship
It was an excruciating 24 hours for the 22 young crew members of container ship MV SSL Kolkata, which caught fire in the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday night, and they all saw it happen, inches from death, before being rescued by Coast Guard personnel. A fire was reported by the captain of the container vessel at 11 pm on Wednesday and after fighting the blaze through the night that engulfed 70 per cent of the ship, the crew members were picked up by 'RCGS Rajkiran' and were back an hour before midnight on Thursday at the Coast Guard's Haldia port base. A Coast Guard official today said SSL Kolkata is still burning and its ships are monitoring the container vessel which is adrift near the Sagar Islands. The Coast Guard rescued the crew of SSL Kolkata after they abandoned their ship amid very rough seas of the monsoon-charged Bay of Bengal in a courageous operation yesterday. "We were fighting the fire the full night and came back after travelling the whole day," a visibly exhausted ..
Over 1,380 people rescued by army in flood-hit Manipur, Tripura
A total of 430 persons have so far been evacuated from flood-affected areas of Manipur and more than 950 rescued in Tripura by Assam Rifles and Army personnel, a defence statement said here on.
MeT dept warns another round of storm in UP
Thunderstorm and dust storm accompanied with gusty winds are "very likely" in various parts of Uttar Pradesh over the next two days, the MeT department warned today. Rains and thunder showers are also "very likely" at isolated places in the state, it said. Fatehgarh recorded the highest temperature of 43.7 degrees Celsius. At least 15 people were killed and 28 others injured in the latest bout of storm that hit various parts of the state on Wednesday. Another deadly dust storm hit the state in the first week of June, leaving 17 dead and 11 others injured. Most of the deaths were caused due to falling of trees and house collapse The state was swept by three major dust storms last month that left over 130 people dead.
Consul Neowatt deploys UPS at city airport to back-up ground
: Consul Neowatt Power Solutions, engaged in manufacture and supply of power electronics products, has deployed two units of 2x200 kVA Falcon UPS systems at the airport here "to provide power back-up to the ground lighting system." Consul Neowatt officials worked closely with the airport engineers to deliver a 'dependable' power back-up solution, a company statement said. The airport runway lighting system is associated with safety and lighting of flight operations and assisting in safe landing and take off of the flights. "Having a highly reliable continuous power system in place is key to being among the best airports in the country and we are happy to work with AAI at Chennai Airport to help them enhance their operational efficiency," Consul Neowatt Power Solutions, MD and CEO, Sriram Ramakrishnan said. "Our Falcon UPS systems are robust, energy-efficient and inherently reliable," he claimed in a company statement. Chennai Airport is the fourth busiest airport in the .
Singapore-based Scoot airline refuses to fly Indian-origin couple with special needs child
A Singapore-based airline has refused to fly an Indian-origin couple travelling with their special needs child citing safety reasons, sparking an uproar online. Divya George, the mother of the five-year-old girl, posted online that the captain of budget-airline Scoot caused the commotion after he refused to allow the child to fly with an infant seat belt on a flight to Phuket from Singapore. Divya's daughter only weighs 8.5 kilograms and is the size of a 1-year-old child. George claimed that their request for a belt was rejected citing safety reasons. The captain refused to speak to the couple for an hour and told them they could either deboard or leave their daughter in her own seat. Divya garnered immense support online when she shared about her situation on social media earlier today. "Our flight that was to take off at 7:35am has been delayed by an hour so far because they refuse to fly with my special needs child. They want to deplane us because they refuse to take her," she ...
Death toll in Nilgiris bus mishap rises to nine
The death toll in the bus mishap in the hilly Nilgiris district went up to nine today with two more people succumbing to injuries. Seven passengers were killed and 27 others injured, some of them seriously, when the bus fell into the 500-feet gorge near Manthada in Nilgiris district yesterday, police said. The driver of the state-run transport corporation bus was trying to avoid a pit on the ghat road when the mishap occurred killing six people on the spot while another died in hospital later. Among the injured admitted to the government hospital here, a male passenger succumbed to injuries around midnight, police said. The bus conductor, who was admitted in a critical condition, died this morning, taking the number of deaths to nine, they said. The bus was proceeding from Udhagamandalam to Coonoor. Several parts of Nilgiris district have been receiving heavy rains for the past few days.
U'khand: 4 districts to witness heavy rainfall
Parts of Uttarakhand to witness heavy rainfall between June 15 to June 17.The India Meteorological Department informed that heavy rainfall may lash Uttarakhand's Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri and Nainital districts.The Meteorological Centre of Dehradun earlier on June 13 had issued similar warnings of thunderstorm and rain in the state from June 13-17.On the same day, heavy rains lashed in Ghansali, near New Tehri, Uttarakhand.The rains also blocked the motorway and caused severe water logging in several parts of the state.Earlier this month, the Badrinath National Highway was closed at two places due to minor landslides, followed by heavy rains in parts of Uttarakhand.
TN CM requests PM to Dam Safety Bill in abeyance
The Tamil Nadu government today urged the Centre to keep in abeyance its decision to enact a Dam Safety Bill, recalling it had earlier raised some objections and that it had not received any revised draft on the matter thereafter. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister K Palaniswami requested that the decision arrived at by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday to legislate the Act on the Dam Safety Bill, 2018, be kept in abeyance till all states were consulted and a consensus was evolved. He said late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had earlier raised objections to "certain clauses" of the draft Bill, 2016 "since they encroach upon powers of state governments and also rights conferred on the state by virtue of Inter-State Agreements on dams owned, operated and maintained by the Government of Tamil Nadu but located in other state." The state had earlier urged the Centre that the legislation should be re-examined and should not be "proceeded with in haste, ...
Chandigarh airport remains shut owing to dust
All national and international flights from the Chandigarh International Airport remained suspended on Friday, the second day, owing to low visibility due to dust, officials said.
Gen. N C Vij takes over reins of disaster risk reduction activities in FICCI
General Nirmal Chander Vij, former founder Vice Chairman, National Disaster Management Authority and Former Chief of the Army Staff, who took over as Chairperson of UNISDR ARISE FICCI Board, an all encompassing body on disaster risk management in FICCI, desired that ARISE FICCI approach to disaster risk reduction should be holistic with special emphasis on giving impetus to innovations, technology and new ideas in finding solutions to disaster risk management. He also stressed on taking up urban risk management and community based disaster management in addition to developing the capacity of the industries in managing perceived disasters.He further said that Sendai Framework for DRR as well as outcome of Global Platform 2017, held in Mexico recognized that the disaster risk reduction has to become an inherent part of sustainable development, a set of practices and approaches embedded in its DNA. Without effective and inclusive disaster and climate risk management and risk-sensitive ...
Delhi air quality to improve soon: Harsh Vardhan
Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said the air quality levels in Delhi and other parts of northern India will improve soon.Harsh Vardhan blamed dust storms as the main reason behind the deteriorating air quality in the national capital and elsewhere.He told ANI, "The dust storm also led to high levels of Particulate Matter (PM) 10. We have issued an alert for the same and the environment ministry convened a meeting of a task force. We also gave an advisory to the state governments affected by the crisis. By the weekend, the situation should be normal in the next 1-2 days."The union minister also urged the public to limit their period outdoors and stay inside their homes.Air quality in the national capital remained "hazardous" in many areas on Friday.Strong-anti cyclonic winds, blowing from Rajasthan, are the reason behind the worsening air quality.According to AQICN, on Friday morning, PM10 (particles with the diameter less than 10mm) level was over 700 in most of the
Dust haze hangs over Punjab, Haryana; flight operations again hit
A blanket of dust haze covered Punjab and Haryana for the third day today, disrupting flight operations at the airport here. In view of the prevailing weather condition, some flight operators had yesterday itself announced cancellation of flights scheduled for the day, airport officials said. Yesterday, over 30 flights were cancelled here as visibility levels dropped considerably due to the dust haze. Air quality and visibility levels have been hit by the dust haze. The meteorological department has said that the situation was likely to improve by this evening. The weather department here said that a ground-level dust storm in Rajasthan, with wind speeds up to 40 kmph, had led to a spike in the levels of coarse particles in the air in most parts of Haryana and Punjab including Chandigarh. Thunderstorm with squall is likely at isolated places in Haryana and Punjab today and tomorrow, according to the MeT Department forecast. In view of severe dust pollution, the Haryana State ...
Taiwan indicts three over deadly quake building collapse
A Taiwanese developer was indicted today over the partial collapse of a building that killed 14 people during an earthquake in February, prosecutors said. The building's architect and a civil engineer were also charged with causing death and injury by professional negligence, punishable by a maximum five-year jail term. The lower floors of the 12-storey Yun Tsui residential building -- which also housed a restaurant and hotel -- pancaked when a 6.4-magnitude quake struck the tourist hotspot of Hualien on February 6. A total of 17 people died across the eastern coastal town, 14 of them in the Yun Tsui building. Developer Liu Ying-lin was unlicensed and did not have the necessary engineering qualifications but oversaw the building's construction instead of contracting a professional firm, said Hualien District Prosecutors Office. "Yun Tsui building collapsed within eight seconds of the earthquake... due to serious flaws in design, supervision and construction," said Wang Yi-jen, a ...
Hyderabad airport sets up cardiac emergency resuscitation
GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL), which operates Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here, announced it has set up seven Cardiac Emergency Resuscitation Stations (ERS), under its signature programme - #PassengerIsPrime. This arrangement has been made in a bid to provide immediate assistance to any passenger or visitor hit by sudden cardiac arrest, it said. These stations have been set up at strategic locations across the Passenger Terminal Building (PTB) - two at the domestic Security Hold Area (SHA), one each at international SHA, check-in area, domestic arrivals, international arrivals and the airport village, GHIAL said. Each Cardiac ERS at the airport has an automated external defibrillator, an emergency bag with intubation; suction & other essential equipment, an oxygen cylinder, well-equipped first aid kit and a stretcher all packed inside the compact cabinet. During cardiac emergency, a trained staff can access the ERS box and provide ...
'Severe' to 'Hazardous': Delhi chokes as dusty haze persists
Air quality in the national capital remained "hazardous" in many areas on Friday prompting authorities to alert people to avoid stepping outdoors.Strong-anti cyclonic winds, blowing from Rajasthan, are the reason behind the worsening air quality.According to AQICN, on Friday morning, PM10 (particles with the diameter less than 10mm) level was over 700 in most of the areas in Delhi-NCR areas, leading to hazy conditions and limiting visibility.The AQI of R.K. Puram and Anand Vihar were recorded 948 and 999 respectively.Other places like Mandir Marg (687), Dwarka (331), DITE Okhla (686), Punjabi Bagh (842) and ITO (457) also remained in the 'hazardous' level.Looking at the weather situation on Delhi in the past few days, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Thursday ordered to stop all civil construction activities across the national capital from June 15 to 17 to bring down the severe dust pollution.Lt. Governor took to Twitter and said "Held emergency meeting in view of severe dust ...
Major projects to protect Majuli from flood: B'putra Board
The Brahmaputra Board has taken up major projects in the world's largest river island Majuli to protect it from flood and erosion, a top official has said. "We are taking up major projects in Majuli. Huge flood protection and erosion protection work," Brahmaputra Board chairman Sanjay Kundu said yesterday at the 60th standing committee meeting of the board here. According to an official release, Kundu said that there are drainage development schemes that are nearly complete and a plan for raised platforms as Northeast is flood-prone and will be very effective. "Major initiatives are being taken up by the Ministry of the Water Resources and Central Water Commission in the form of flood forecasting. The flood forecasting mechanisms are very robust," he said. The authorities are able to give 72 hours pre-warning at present and there is a huge network of flood forecasting sites in the North East, the chairman added. "The National Disaster Management Authority is also able to
Fires break out in towers in Britain on Grenfell anniversary
Two separate fires broke out in high-rise residential blocks in London and Glasgow, on the first anniversary of the deadly Grenfell Tower fire.
Turkish PM says state of emergency may not be extended
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Thursday that the state of emergency may end on July 17 or 18.Anadolu Agency quoted Yildirim saying in a live interview for TRT Haber, "(The state of emergency] may be over on July 17 or 18. I think it will not be extended for another time."Turkey declared a state of emergency in 2016 following a deadly coup attempt by Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FTO).The FTO launched several attacks which left 250 people dead and nearly 2, 200 injured.In April, the government had extended the ongoing emergency for three months until June, which is now nearing its end.Further, the parliament passed a bill for early elections on June 24 which was touted to be a move for strengthening the democratic presidential system.
Container ship on fire in Bay of Bengal, 22 crew members rescued
The Indian Coast Guard on Thursday rescued all 22 crew members of a merchant container vessel after a devastating fire broke out in the ship in the Bay of Bengal, a senior coast guard official said here.
Hurricanes cost Caribbean $1 billion in tourism: industry group
NASSAU (Reuters) - The Caribbean lost more than $1 billion in tourism revenue after hurricanes deterred visitors during the costliest storm season on record, and recovery efforts could cost close to $6 billion, the Caribbean Tourism Organization said on Wednesday.