Page 83 - Disaster Accident
Cyclone Fani death toll is 64
The death toll in the cyclone Fani has now been put at 64.
Weather: Kerala CM bats for effective early warning systems
: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Monday stressed the need to ensure that early warning systems work effectively as variations in climatic patterns due to global warming have increased the frequency of natural calamities. Addressing the opening session of a world reconstruction conference in Geneva, Vijayan said Odisha, which recently faced the fury of cyclone 'Fani', succeeded in bringing down loss to human lives due to early warning systems. "I would like to note here that during the first week of May, Fani badly affected Odisha. But damage to human lives could be controlled due to sufficient early warning," he said. "This brings before us the fact that early warning systems should work effectively as the variations in climatic patterns due to global warming have increased the frequency of natural calamities like floods and cyclones,", he said while addressing the conference. Vijayan said Kerala was devastated by the unprecedented floods in August last year ...
Supply drinking water to affected villages in Rewari district: NGT directs CGWA
The NGT Monday directed the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) and the Haryana State Pollution Control Board to make arrangements for supplying drinking water in a village in Rewari district of Haryana after a plea alleged that underground water in the area was contaminated. A bench headed by Justice Raghuvendra S Rathore also directed the CGWA to immediately seal the borewell of an industrial unit adjoining Chirhada village in the district. "We direct CGWA and HSPCB to make complete assessment of the affected areas and immediate arrangement be made for supplying drinking water to the villages at the area in question. "In case industrial units are found to be responsible for contamination of groundwater and air and water pollution in the area, action may be taken against the units in accordance with law," the bench said. The NGT passed the order after taking note of a report filed by the CGWA and Central Pollution Control Board which revealed that underground water is ...
Odisha seeks 5 lakh PMAY houses for cyclone-hit people
The Odisha government Monday urged the Centre to sanction at least five lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) as the 'extremely severe' cyclone 'Fani' which hit the state on May 3 has damaged lakhs of kutcha houses in its coastal region. According to preliminary estimation, five lakh houses have been completely or substantially damaged across 14 districts with the major loss occurring in Puri district. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote, "I would request you to kindly consider sanctioning five lakh PMAY special houses initially for the state of Odisha." Stating that the state government had mentioned about the house damage during the prime minister's visit on May 6, Patnaik wrote, "I reiterate our request for waiver of the permanent wait list (PWL) criteria for this particular allocation and also consider a Centre-State fund sharing pattern of 90:10 as a special case." A copy of the letter was released to the media on ...
Light rains expected in Delhi on Monday evening
Light rains are expected in Delhi and its surrounding regions on Monday evening, which will bring down the mercury levels, providing relief to the people suffering from the scorching heat for the past few days.
Fire in Guj building housing kids' hosp; no casualties
A fire broke out in a four- storey building housing a children's hospital in Ahmedabad on Monday, an official said. No casualty was reported in the mishap, he said. The blaze erupted in a fibre shed on the terrace of the Dev Complex building, that has a children's hospital on the fourth floor, in the Parimal Garden area here, the fire official said. All the patients, mostly newborns admitted in the Apple Children Multi-Speciality Hospital, were evacuated safely, he said. The building also has clinics, hotels and other commercial establishments on other floors, an official said. "A fibre shed in the building caught fire, resulting in a lot of smoke in the premises. Two fire-fighting vehicles and four water tankers were rushed to the spot and the blaze was controlled in 15 minutes," Ahmedabad civic body's chief fire officer M F Dastur said. Additional Chief Fire Officer, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Rajesh Bhatt said the fibre shed built on the terrace of the building .
Forest fires raging in U'khand
Over 60 fresh cases of forest fire were reported from different parts of Uttarakhand as temperature continued to soar in the hilly state. This year, more than 900 hectares of land in Kumaon and Garhwal regions has been gutted in wildfire incidents so far, Chief Conservator of Forest PK Singh said. He said 64 fresh incidents of forest blazes were reported from different parts of the state on Monday. The total affected area so far is 924.335 hectares, out of which 719.535 hectares fall under reserve forest area and 204.8 hectares is Van Panchayat area, Singh said. Six people have also sustained injuries in the wild blazes which have also left as many animals dead, Singh added. Nainital was the worst hit with a total of 183 incidents reported from the district, followed by Almora with 71 incidents, Tehri with 55, Champawat with 46, Pauri with 37 and Dehradun with 31 incidents of forest fires, the official said. He said plantation over 11.5 hectares of land and 284 trees have been ...
Cyclone Fani: CM Naveen Patnaik writes to PM, seeks centre's help
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought help from the centre for Odisha in view of the large-scale destruction by Cyclone Fani in the coastal areas of the state.The letter mainly sought relief for construction of houses given the widespread destruction caused by the severe cyclonic storm earlier this month."I would request you to kindly consider sanctioning 5 lakh (houses) under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Special houses initially for the state of Odisha. As was mentioned during the presentation made on May 6, I reiterate our request for waiver of the Permanent Wait List (PWL) criterion for this particular allocation and also consider a Centre-State fund sharing pattern of 90:10 as a special case," the letter read.The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief also said that his government is currently working on a detailed house damage assessment and would soon come out with a report."According to preliminary estimation, about 5 lakh houses have been .
Maharashtra leaders embark on drought tourism
Weeks after voting for the Lok Sabha elections and with months to go for the Assembly elections, Maharashtra's ruling and opposition politicians have started taking stock of the drought stituation, billed as the worst in 47 years.
Britain warns of conflict 'by accident' in Gulf
British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt on Monday issued a stark warning of the dangers of conflict erupting "by accident" in the Gulf, as tensions between the United States and Iran soar. Saudi Arabia said Monday that two of its oil tankers were damaged in "sabotage attacks" in the Gulf, with its arch-rival Iran calling for an investigation and warning of "adventurism" by foreign players to disrupt maritime security. The region is already on edge because of the standoff between Washington and Tehran over the Iran nuclear deal, and Hunt said he would share Britain's concerns with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels on Monday. "We are very worried about the risk of a conflict happening by accident with an escalation that is unintended on either side but ends with some kind of conflict," Hunt said as he arrived for a meeting of EU foreign ministers. "I think what we need is a period of calm, to make sure everyone understands what the other side is thinking and most of all we must
Will raise drought issue with Maha CM, says NCP chief Pawar
The NCP will raise the issue of drought in several parts of Maharashtra with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis within a few days, its president Sharad Pawar said Monday. Pawar, who visited parts of Beed Monday to assess the ground situation in the Marathwada district, said the NCP will try to give relief to the drought-affected people, keeping aside political differences. "We will take review along with the chief minister after touring parched regions of the state. Efforts will be made by the Nationalist Congress Party to give relief to the drought-affected people by keeping aside political differences," Pawar said in a series of tweets. Pawar observed that there is shortage of food and drinking water. The former Union Agriculture minister also interacted with people from Khadkat village in Ashti taluka of the district.
Odisha seeks 5 lakh pucca houses for cyclone-hit people
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sanction 5 lakh pucca houses for the cyclone-affected people in the state.
Fire in building housing kids' hospital in Guj; none hurt
A fire broke out in a four- storey building housing a children's hospital in Ahmedabad city of Gujarat on Monday, an official said. No casualty was reported in the mishap, he said. The blaze erupted in a fibre shed on the terrace of the Dev Complex building, that has a children's hospital on the fourth floor, in the Parimal Garden area here, the fire official said. All the patients, mostly newborns admitted in the Apple Children Multi-Speciality Hospital, were evacuated safely, he said. "A fibre shed in the building caught fire, resulting in a lot of smoke in the premises. Two fire-fighting vehicles and four water tankers were rushed to the spot and the blaze was controlled in 15 minutes," Ahmedabad civic body's chief fire officer M F Dastur said.
Google tests car crash detection in Android Q
Google is testing automatic car crash detection for Pixel phones on Android Q operating system (OS), the XDA Developers has reported.
Sunny Deol escapes unhurt in Gurdaspur mishap
Actor-turned politician Sunny Deol escaped unhurt after his vehicle was involved in a collision with three cars here on Monday, police said. The mishap occurred after one of the tyres in Deol's sports utility vehicle burst near a 'Gurdwara' in Sohal village here, Gurdaspur Deputy Superintendent of Police (rural) Manjit Singh told PTI. A total of four vehicles collided with each other in the accident. Deol's cavalcade was going towards Fatehgarh Churian where the BJP candidate had to campaign, the DSP said. "Out of four, one vehicle belonged to a villager, rest other vehicles were part of Deol's cavalcade," he said. Nobody was hurt in the accident, he said. After the accident, Deol resumed his journey to Fatehgarh Churian for poll campaigning, the DSP said. Deol is pitted against Congress candidate and sitting MP Sunil Jakhar from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat.
New govt likely to decide drought package to Ktaka
Karnataka, which is reeling under severe drought, may have to wait till a new government comes to power at the Centre in order to get approval for relief package, according to sources. Already, a central team has assessed the extent of damage caused to the 2019 rabi crops due to drought in the state and submitted a detailed report to the Union Agriculture Ministry. The state government in its memorandum to the Centre has sought a financial assistance of Rs 2,064 crore to provide relief to farmers hit by drought during the rabi season. "A central team has submitted a report. The High Level Committee (HLC) under the Home Ministry has to take a decision on it," according to sources. While the model code of conduct does not bar the central government from holding a HLC meet, but it looks the meeting will be held when a new government is in place, the sources added. Karnataka has declared drought in 156 taluks in 30 districts. Of which, 107 taluks are facing severe drought, while 49 taluks
Saudi Arabia says its 2 oil tankers damaged in sabotage attacks
Saudi Arabia on Monday said that its two oil tankers have been damaged in sabotaged attacks off the coast of the UAE. However, it yet to ascertain who the perpetrators of the strikes are."Two Saudi oil tankers were sabotaged off the coast of the UAE in attacks that caused 'significant damage' to the vessels, while on their way to cross into the Arabian Gulf," Khaleej Times quoted energy minister Khalid Al Falih, as saying.Al Falih has confirmed that the incident didn't cause any casualties or oil spill."Fortunately, the attack did not lead to any casualties or oil spill; however, it caused significant damage to the structures of the two vessels", the oil-rich kingdom's energy minister added.Condemning the attack, the minister said that it "aims to undermine the freedom of maritime navigation, and the security of oil supplies to consumers all over the world.
Fire breaks out in Shimla's British-era Grand Hotel
A massive fire broke out on Monday at the British-era Grand Hotel here, reducing a portion to ashes. However, no casualties were reported, police said.
Saudi Arabia says 2 oil tankers damaged by sabotage attacks
Saudi Arabia said Monday two of its oil tankers were sabotaged off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in attacks that caused "significant damage" to the vessels, one of them as it was en route to pick up Saudi oil to take to the US. Khalid al-Falih's comments came as the US issued a new warning to sailors and the UAE's regional allies condemned the reported sabotage Sunday of four ships off the coast of the port city of Fujairah. The announcement came just hours after Iranian and Lebanese media outlets aired false reports of explosions at the city's port. Emirati officials have declined to elaborate on the nature of the sabotage or say who might have been responsible. However, the reports come as the US has warned ships that "Iran or its proxies" could be targeting maritime traffic in the region, and as America is deploying an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf to counter alleged threats from Tehran. Tensions have risen in the year since President Donald Trump ...
Three from Delhi killed, 14 injured in road accident in UP
Three people were killed and 14 injured in a collision between a car and a state-run bus on Delhi-Dehradun national highway in Muzaffarnagar district, a police official said Monday. The accident happened near Tigai village last evening when the occupants of the car were returning to Delhi from a wedding in the district, Khatoli police station SHO Harsharan Sharma said. He identified those dead in the accident as Harpal Singh (30), Surjit (23) and Rakesh (28). The injured have been admitted to an area hospital. Villagers angry over the accident blocked the highway and damaged the roadways bus, following which police rushed to the spot and pacified them. The driver of the bus, which was on its way to Rishikesh, escaped. A case has been registered.