Page 854 - Disaster Accident
Micro-tunneling adopted by Railways to tackle water logging
The Railways is installing the Micro Tunneling System to clear logged water from the Bhubaneswar railway station yard which has been affecting the signaling system and train services in Howrah-Chennai main line. The drainage system and clearance of logged water from the railway station yard and surrounding areas during heavy rains is a major problem, a senior railway official said. The municipal drain connecting to station areas is inadequate to discharge heavy flooded rain of the area. The huge volume of rain water from Ashok Nagar locality and station area overflows and comes to south end and also north end of Bhubaneswar railway station yard. The flooding of yard by heavy rains was making the points non-functional and leading to signal failure and ultimately causing disruption of train traffic, he said. To resolve this problem, the rebuilding of bridge was planned but it could not be executed due to difficulties in execution and also for huge demand of traffic block ..
Container ship fire: 3 charred bodies found on board
Three unidentified charred bodies were found on board the container ship Maersk Honam which had caught fire on March 6 in the Arabian Sea near the Agatti Isles, an official said here on Wednesday.
2 charred to death in fire at paper box manufacturing unit
Two labourers were charred to death when a fire broke out at a printing press-cum-paper box manufacturing unit here today, officials said. Fire brigade officials received a call about the blaze at Himalaya Estate Building in the city's Shivajinagar area around 3 am today. "Upon reaching the spot, it was found that the fire had broken out inside a printing press-cum-paper box manufacturing unit in building," a fire brigade official said. "Since the unit was closed, we broke open its shutters," he said. The bodies of two labourers, who were sleeping inside the unit, were later recovered from the site, the police said. A lot of paper materials were lying in the premises because of which the blaze spread rapidly, the fire brigade official said. Seven fire tenders were pressed into action to douse the flames, he said, adding that the cooling work was still on. A short-circuit possibly led to the blaze, but the exact cause was yet to be ascertained, he said. An investigation was on into the
2 killed in Pune factory blaze
Two persons were killed in a massive fire that broke out in a factory in Maharashtra's Pune in the wee hours of Wednesday.The fire broke out around 3am.The factory situated in Shivajinagar area of Pune, printed boxes for sweets.The persons who lost their lives were employed as carpenters in the factory.The cause of deaths and the fire is yet to be ascertained.As of now, the fire has been doused off and cooling process is underway.
IndiGo cancels 42 flights for today
Domestic carrier IndiGo continued to operate with a curtailed schedule for the third day today with the airline cancelling 42 flights following the grounding of eight of its A320neo planes along with three of GoAir due to Pratt & Whitney engine issues. IndiGo has cancelled 42 flights for March 14. This includes flights to Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Jaipur, Srinagar, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Delhi, Dehradun, Amritsar, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, among others, the airline announced on its website. Number of flights cancelled by the other carrier GoAir for today was not immediately available. Yesterday, IndiGo and GoAir had together cancelled over 65 flights due to the grounding of their 11 aircraft by the country's aviation watchdog DGCA on Monday, citing passengers safety concerns arising out of the mid-air shut down of the Pratt& Whitney- manufactured Neo engines of these airplanes. The cancellation of services in a large number has put thousands of passengers at inconvenience as they ..
WWII bomb prompts evacuation of 23,000 in Italian town
At least 23,000 people were evacuated from a town in Italy after a World War II bomb was spotted at a construction site, the media reported.
IAF C-17 Globemaster carries out historic landing in Arunachal Pradesh
C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a historic landing at Tuting Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) near the China border in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday.The flight crew included Group Captain K Rama Rao, Wing Commander Amiya Kant Patnaik, Wing Commander K Trivedi and Squadron Leader L Nayak.The landing ground is located only 30 km from China.The landing ground is challenging as it is located in the midst of high hills in a narrow valley. The mammoth C17 Globemaster could execute this mission flawlessly owing to its agile maneuverability.After completion of the trial landing the C17 carried out an operational mission airlifting operation load into the challenging airfield.The mission carried out today demonstrated C 17 aircraft's operational performance and capability of tactical air mobility of IAF.The landing comes at a time when Indian and Chinese military forces faced off each other for 72 days at Doklam in Bhutan last year.The landing comes ...
No flight to operate from Chandigarh airport from May 12-31
No flight will operate from the Chandigarh International Airport here between May 12 and 31 as second phase of the runway repairs will be undertaken then, officials said today. The first phase of of the runway repair was carried out from February 12 to 26 during which the airport had remained shut for all flights. "The second phase of runway closure will be from May 12 to May 31," a spokesman of the Chandigarh International Airport Limited (CHIAL) said. "During this period, no flight will operate from Chandigarh. There will not be any further closure after May 31, 2018," he said. The spokesman said after completion of the second phase of runway re-carpeting/repair work in May, the runway length will increase to 10,400 feet from earlier 7,200 feet. "This upgradation of runway would facilitate long haul flights from Chandigarh to destinations like USA, Canada, Europe, UK and other places," CHIAL CEO Suneel Dutt said.
Guj got no central funds for flood relief as demanded in 2015, '17
The Gujarat government today admitted in the Legislative Assembly that while the state demanded a Rs 2,094.92 crore flood relief package from the BJP-led central government last year, no funds had been received as of December. The BJP government in the state also said that it had demanded Rs 4,473.47 crore as a relief package after the 2015 floods, but no funds were given. Congress MLA Chandanji Thakor had sought to know whether the Centre alloted any funds for flood-relief as demanded by the state. Thakor, who represents Siddhpur seat of Patan district, also asked whether these funds, if received, were alloted to Banaskantha and Patan districts which were affected the most during last year's floods. In his written reply, Revenue Minister Kaushik Patel said no funds were alloted to the two districts, as the state government's demand for Rs 2,094.92 crore is "still under the consideration of the central government" as of December 2017. To a similar question, Patel said though the state
Feel sorry for what happened: Aditya Narayan on accident
Bollywood singer Udit Narayan's son Aditya, whowas arrested after he allegedly rammed his car into an autorickshaw, today said it was an "unfortunate" accident and he was sorry about it. Aditya (30), who was behind the wheel of a Mercedes, allegedly hit an autorickshaw on the Lokhandwala Back Road in suburban Andheri yesterday, leaving two persons injured. He is now out on bail. "It was an unfortunate accident and I feel sorry for what had happened... Soon after the accident, I took the driver and a woman passenger in the auto rickshaw to Kokilaben Ambani hospital, where they are recuperating," Aditya said in a statement. Rajkumar Palekar (64), the auto driver, and Surekha Shivekar (32), the passenger, were injured in the accident. Aditya said that he would bear their medical expenses. Based on the statement of Shivekar, Versova police registered a complaint against the actor-singer under sections 279 (rash driving), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal ...
Nepal plane crash toll reaches 51
The death toll in US-Bangla Airways plane crash while landing at Nepal's only International Airport, the Tribhuvan International Airport, has risen to 51, the country's Ministry for Home Affairs stated in a release.As per the statement, 22 deceased have been identified as Nepali, 28 Bangladeshi and One Chinese. Other 20 are undergoing treatment at various hospitals in Kathmandu."The bodies will be handed over to families after their post-mortem," Home Ministry spokesperson Jhankanath Dhakal said.The plane en route to Kathmandu from Dhaka, which crash landed on Monday, had 33 Nepali, 32 Bangladeshi, one Chinese and one Maldivian passenger on board, in addition to the crew.The reason behind the crash of the 17-year old aircraft is yet to be ascertained, but the aviation staff has recovered its black box and an investigation into the incident has been launched.
Safety of passengers priority: Govt on aircraft grounding
Union minister Jayant Sinha today said safety of passengers was paramount for the government and aircraft with Pratt & Whitney engines could be used only after they were considered safe post technical analysis. His comments came after the aviation regulator DGCA grounding 11 A320Neo planes with faulty Pratt & Whitney engines. We have to give paramount priority to safety. There are 43 such engines in the worldwide, out of which 19 are currently in India, used by IndiGo and GoAir. "We don't consider these engine safe as of now and the technical analysis is underway. They could be used only when we consider them safe, Sinha told news channels. Budget carriers IndiGo and GoAir today cancelled as many as 65 flights after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) grounded 11 of their A320Neo planes with faulty Pratt & Whitney engines. The Gurgaon-based IndiGo cancelled 47 of its 1,000-odd flights per day, while the Wadia Group-promoted GoAir said it had cancelled 18 ...
IndiGo, GoAir cancel over 65 flights; passengers face tough times
Hundreds of passengers today saw their travel plans going haywire as IndiGo and GoAir cancelled at least 65 flights after they grounded a total of 14 planes due to engine problems, leading to a sharp rise in fares on certain routes. While the two budget carriers have been maintaining that cancellations have not been too many, industry sources said more disruption in flight schedules are likely tomorrow since a single aircraft is utilised for multiple flights on a given day. The Gurgaon-based IndiGo cancelled 47 of its 1,000-odd flights per day, while the Wadia Group-promoted GoAir said it had cancelled 18 flights. IndiGo, which operates around 1,000 services daily, said it cancelled less than 5 per cent of its flights today. GoAir cancelled 18 flights originating from over eight cities. The carrier operates 230 flights per day. On Monday, aviation regulator DGCA directed grounding of 11 A320 neo planes powered with a certain series of Pratt & Whitney engines following three ...
Time ripe for Japanese cos to invest in India's food sector: FSSAI chief
The time is ripe for Japan to increase volume of its food items in India through imports or investment in the food processing sector as regulatory environment has undergone a paradigm change, FSSAI Chairman Ashish Bahuguna said today. "The time is ripe for increasing volume of availability of Japanese foods in India whether through imports or increasing investment in India's food processing sector, "Bahuguna said at an event. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has harmonised the regulations in tune with international requirement of CODEX. All standards and regulations are transparent, he said. "I would like to underscore that regulatory environment has undergone a paradigm change. ....There is huge scope for Japanese food products in India. Invest in this sector. You will be assured of all kind of support not only from government of India but also from private food businesses," he added. The FSSAI chief said that the regulator is no longer obsessed with food ...
Sasan Power wants more coal to divert to another plant: Centre to HC
The Centre today claimed in the Delhi High Court that Sasan Power Ltd, a Reliance Power subsidiary, was seeking permission to mine more coal since it wanted to divert it to another power plant which was not permissible. The submission, however, was opposed by the company's counsel saying there was no danger of diversion and everything was on documents and inspection was also being done by the government authorities. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Maninder Kaur Acharya told a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar that it was hazardous to store more coal than the actual requirement, so they should mine coal and use it. "We are not stingy. It's that they do not require more coal. As per the inspection, their requirement is 18 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) coal and we have granted permission for it. They should make out the case for asking one MTPA coal more, i.e. 19 MTPA," Acharya said. The ASG was making submissions in response to the plea of the ...
'Rly accords high priority to track maintenance'
The railways had taken measures to strengthen the process of maintenance of tracks and improving safety, the national transporter said today, hours after it drew flak in a CAG report for poor maintenance of tracks. A statement issued by the railways said the government accorded the highest priority to safety in train operations, due to which the number of derailments during the period between April, 2017 and February, 2018 had come down to 53, as compared to 76 from April, 2016 to February, 2017. In its report, which was tabled in Parliament today, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said from 2014-2015 to 2016-2017, 16 accidents or derailments took place due to deficient track maintenance in the five zonal railways it audited -- South Western Railway, North Central Railway, East Central Railway, South Eastern Railway and Southern Railway. The audit covered the period from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017, focussing on maintenance of tracks in 29 sections of high-density network .
I'm sorry, says Aditya Narayan a day after accident
Playback singer and anchor Aditya Narayan on Tuesday expressed regret over an accident involving his car which rammed into an autorickshaw and left two persons injured.
J&K's ambitious PAO system deferred after Finance Minister's ouster
A day after Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu was dropped from the cabinet, the ambitious public accounts office (PAO) system he had envisaged was put on the hold, said informed sources on Tuesday.
Forest fire breaks out in Chalakudy range; extinguished
A forest fire broke out in over 20 hectares in the Chalakudy forest division in the district but it was put out early today, officials said. The fire broke out yesterday causing anxious moments to authorities as it came close on the heels of the Theni forest blaze in neighbouring Tamil Nadu that claimed 11 lives. Forest officals took immediate steps and put out the fire, the forest fire monitoring cell said here. The fire, spotted in Pillapara and Athirapally areas, was doused by a team comprising over 60 officials, they said. In a related development, as a precautionary measure, authorities have temporarily banned trekking in the forests of the state in the wake of the fire in the Kurangani hills of Theni on March 10.
Death toll in Nepal crash rises to 51, Bangladeshi experts join probe
The toll in Nepal's worst aviation disaster rose to 51 today with the death of two more passengers, as Bangladeshi experts joined the probe amid reports of an apparent confusion between the pilot and air traffic control over the runway. The Dhaka to Kathmandu US-Bangla Airlines flight, with 67 passengers and four crew members on board, caught fire after it careened off the runway and ploughed into a football ground near the Tribhuvan International Airport yesterday. The Nepal Home Ministry confirmed the death of 51 people in the crash the deadliest aviation accident in 25 years in Nepal, according to Himalayan Times. Earlier today, hospital authorities confirmed the death of pilot Captain Abid Sultan. His co-pilot First Officer Prithula Rashid was died yesterday, the report said. Meanwhile, a Bangladeshi delegation today joined a six-member Nepali committee to probe the crash-landing. The Bangla delegation includes Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism A K M Shahjahan Kamal, ...