Page 745 - Disaster Accident
Fire breaks out in commercial building in southeast Delhi
A fire broke out in a commercial building in southeast Delhi's Taimur Nagar today, an officer from the Delhi Fire Service said. No injuries were reported in the incident. A call was received at 2 pm about the blaze and 22 firetenders were rushed to the spot, he said. The fire was doused by 4 pm. Cooling operation was underway.
Railways to spend Rs 350cr, train drivers on simulators
The Railways will spend around Rs 350 crore to train 1.5 lakh drivers and assistant drivers through virtual reality techniques to bridge the gap between theoretical and practical learning, an official said today. The training will be conducted in 47 centres across zones and the national transporter will soon float a global tender to acquire about 40 simulators for the purpose. "We spend almost a month in giving drivers on-road training. They learn all the techniques in theory, but through these virtual reality techniques, they will learn how to navigate routes, signals, curves, bridges and any other situation as if they are actually driving a real train," said the senior official of the ministry. Fitted with computer-generated motion images, the simulator will have a man-machine interface, a host of computers and a video camera to capture the movements of the driver. It would look like a sophisticated electric locomotive and drivers would feel as if they are steering a train on a ...
DR Congo Ebola outbreak on 'epidemiological knife edge': WHO
A deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has a clear "potential to expand", the WHO warned today, as it reported seven more cases of the disease. "We are on the epidemiological knife edge," Peter Salama, in charge of emergency response at the World Health Organization (WHO), told a special meeting. "The next few weeks will really tell if this outbreak is going to expand to urban areas or if we are going to be able to keep it under control," said Salama. The agency issued a new toll, saying there had been 58 cases since the outbreak was declared on May 8, an increase of seven over figures issued yesterday, of which 27 have been deaths. One of the world's most notorious diseases, Ebola is a virus-caused haemorrhagic fever that in extreme cases leads to fatal bleeding from internal organs, the mouth, eyes or ears. The outbreak began in rural northwestern DR Congo in a remote location called Bikoro. Last Thursday, a first case was reported in Mbandaka -- a city of ...
Kolkata building catches fire, fireman injured
A fire broke out in a four-storey building here on Wednesday, officials said.
Cabinet clears India-Denmark MoU on food safety
The Cabinet today gave ex-post facto approval to the MoU between India and Denmark on cooperation in food safety. The Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the agreement that was signed on April 16, 2018. "The MoU will help improve setting up of food safety standards by getting access to best practices and facilitating food trade of important commodities," an official statement said. This will help deepen bilateral ties, mutual understanding and trust, eventually strengthening both sides in their capacity building efforts towards food safety. It will further promote understanding of the best practices in the areas of food safety in both countries and in faster resolution of the related issues.
Contamination levels drop in Indira Gandhi canal, water supply in Raj still affected
Water supply to parts of northern and western Rajasthan continues to remain affected as the water sourced from the Indira Gandhi Canal is still unfit for drinking despite a drop in contamination levels, officials said. The water was contaminated after molasses spillover from a sugar mill into Beas river in Punjab. The drinking water supply has reduced from 50 Mld per day to 15 Mld per day in Sriganganagar city as we are not using the canal water for supply due to contamination, Vinod Jain, the superintendent engineer (additional charge) of Public Health and Engineering Department told PTI. He said the water was being supplied on alternate days. The situation was similar in Hanumangarh. Superintendent Engineer PHED (Hanumangarh) Amar Chand Gehlot said 5 Mld water was being supplied against the regular quota of 13 Mld. We have not started water supply from the canal as the water is not potable. A team of experts has come from Jaipur for the water testing, he said. Though there is an ...
Molasses leak: Notice issued to Chadha Sugar mill
Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) today issued a notice to Chadha sugar mill in molasses leakage incident, seeking its reply on why action should not be initiated against it for the alleged violations detected by the probe committee. A large number of fish were found dead in Beas on May 17 after molasses from the sugar factory leaked into the river in Punjab's Beas town, about 40 km from the Amritsar. "Notice has been issued to the Chadha Sugar mill, Kiri Afghana in Gurdaspur to seek the reply of its representatives on the findings of the probe committee report which found violations," a senior official said here today. The sugar mill representatives have been asked to appear before the PPCB authorities tomorrow for giving their reply, the official further said. A probe committee, which submitted its report to the state government yesterday, found violation in the storage of molasses, a byproduct in sugarcane processing, at the factory. "There was a violation pertaining ..
12 die of cholera in NE Nigeria: official
Twelve people have died of cholera in northeast Nigeria's Adamawa state, the health commissioner said today, in the latest outbreak of the disease in the region. The outbreak has infected 142 people in Mubi district since Sunday, Ahmad Sajo told AFP. "We have recorded 12 deaths from (a) cholera outbreak in Mubi north and Mubi south local government areas in the past four days," he said. "A total of 142 people were infected and medical teams have been dispatched to the affected communities to contain the rapid spread of the disease," Sajo said. He said the medical teams were yet to find out the cause of the outbreak. Cholera is caused by a bacterium transmitted through contaminated food or drinking water. It causes acute diarrhoea, with children particularly at risk. Water-borne diseases are a constant threat because of a lack of adequate sanitation as well as stagnant groundwater during the rainy season in Nigeria. Last month 13 people were killed in a similar outbreak in nearby ...
India proposes higher compensation for flight delays in efficiency push
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Airlines in India may need to pay passengers higher compensation when flights are delayed or cancelled, according to rule changes proposed by the Civil Aviation Ministry aimed at raising efficiency in the world's fastest-growing aviation market.
Adverse weather kills 9 in Sri Lanka
According to the National Disaster Management Center (DMC), nine people have been killed and, 23 are missing due to floods and landslides caused due to heavy rains in Sri Lanka.The DMC report claims that 23,741 people have been displaced and sheltered in 163 safe places. In totality, 66,340 have been affected by the adverse weather conditions, as per Colombo Page.Low lying areas like Ranbima, Welihinda, and Yakadagalla were submerged.According to the Colombo Page, the railway service from in between Chilaw and Thummodera has been curtailed.The government also deployed Army and Navy to rescue the ones stranded in floods.Relief measures have also been implemented in the affected island.
Minibus driver used Facebook before deadly crash: reports
The driver of a minibus involved in a collision in Hungary that claimed the lives of nine Romanians may have been using Facebook moments before the crash, Romanian media said today. Seven men and two women were killed in the head-on collision between the minibus and a truck carrying sand on a national road 59 km east of Budapest yesterday, said a statement on the Hungarian police website. A Facebook Live video published in several Romanian media outlets appeared to show the male driver filming himself and reading comments from the social media website moments before the crash. After the camera was turned towards the road, the minibus can be seen overtaking as the truck approaches, before the footage ends suddenly. Romania's foreign ministry said today that all the victims have been identified as Romanian citizens. The driver of the truck escaped with minor injuries, Hungarian police said.
IAF chopper crash-lands in JK, all 4 onboard safe
An Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter with four people onboard, including two crew members, today crash-landed at a helipad in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesman said. Two passengers and as many crew members onboard the helicopter are safe, the spokesperson added. The 'Cheetah' helicopter was on a routine sortie from Jammu to Natha top this morning when it crash-landed at the Natha top helipad at 09:50 hours, adjacent to Patnitop hill resort, the spokesman said. A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident, the spokesman said.
IAF chopper crash-lands in J-K, passengers and crew safe
A Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Air Force crash-landed in Natha Top in Jammu and Kashmir soon after it took off on a routine sortie today morning, official sources said here. The two passengers and two crew members on board the military chopper were safe, they said. The helicopter was on a routine sortie from Jammu when it crash-landed at the Natha Top helipad around 9.50 am, the sources said. A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.
Powerful cyclone churns in Arabian Sea toward Oman, Yemen
A powerful cyclone in the Arabian Sea is churning toward the coasts of Oman and Yemen, where forecasters anticipate it will make landfall on Saturday. Forecasters at India's Meteorological Department said today that Cyclone Mekunu will intensify into what they described as a "very severe cyclonic storm." They say the cyclone is now some 670 km off the coast of Salalah, a southern Omani port city near the sultanate's border with Yemen. Forecasters expect the storm will reach the coast on Saturday morning, with winds gusting as high as 180 kmph. Authorities in Oman say they are prepared for the storm to make landfall, warning it could cause flooding and damage to homes. Neighbouring Yemen remains locked in a yearslong war.
L&T Construction bags order worth Rs 1425 crore
Under Transportation Infrastructure business
Six Americans injured in Honduras plane crash
At least six Americans were injured when a plane crashed while landing at the Honduran capital's international airport and split in two. The commercial jet from Austin, Texas left the runway and veered into a ditch, Carlos Cordero, deputy head of Honduras's disaster relief agency Copeco told local media. Firefighters arrived at Toncontin airport in Tegucigalpa and used foam to extinguish flames coming from the wreckage. Local businessman Pedro Atala said he and his employees had helped put out the flames with fire extinguishers, and that he had helped five men and a woman, all of whom were "practically unharmed." "Miraculously" the accident hadn't been worse, he added. President Juan Orlando Hernandez said on Twitter that all of the wounded were in a stable condition. Surrounded by mountains and with a very short runway, the Toncontin airport is considered one of the world's most treacherous. In May 2008 a Taca Airlines plane skidded off the runway and crashed into a building, leaving
Kin get Rs 30.79 lakh compensation for cop's death in accident
The Thane Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) has awarded a compensation of Rs 30.79 lakh to the family of a police constable who died in a road accident. MACT member and district judge K D Vadane held that the offending tempo's owner was liable to make the payment along with an eight per cent interest from the date of filing the claim in February 2016. The judge absolved the insurance company of any liability. The claimants told the tribunal that Naresh Pawar (then aged 23), a resident of Poshere village in Mokhada taluka, served as a constable in the Thane rural police force and earned a salary of Rs 19,000 per month. On June 14, 2015 while he was on duty, he arrested a tempo driver and was proceeding in that vehicle towards the police station. The driver drove the tempo at a high speed and in a rash and negligent manner. When the three-wheeler reached Manor-Vikramgadh road, it collided with a bus, they said. The constable suffered severe injuries in the accident and died on the ..
Hawaii volcano lava reaches geothermal plant area
Relentless lava flow from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano which had erupted 19 days ago, has now reached the Puna Geothermal Venture property, Hawaii County's civil defence agency said.
MH370 not deliberately crashed by pilot: Investigators
Australian investigators have rejected claims that the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was deliberately brought down by the pilot.