Page 890 - Disaster Accident

Paswan administers Swachhta pledge to food ministry's officials

Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today administered the Swachhta (cleanliness) pledge to officials of the department of food and public distribution. The ministry is holding 'Swachhta Pakhwada' from February 16-28 to create awareness among officials as well as the general public on the importance of the need for sustained maintenance of cleanliness and hygiene, an official statement said. Paswan asked his ministry's officials to join the countrywide cleanliness drive.

4 killed as bus collides with truck in Rajasthan

Four people were killed and seven others injured when a bus they were travelling in collided with a truck in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan today, police said. The accident occurred near Piparda village under the Rajnagar police station area when the bus, which was on its way to Asind from Surat, collided with the truck, they added. Three passengers died on the spot while a girl succumbed to injuries during treatment, police said, adding that the condition of the injured was stated to be stable.

MP CM to compensate affected farmers

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will compensate the farmers affected by hailstorms in parts of the state, he said on Friday.Chouhan met the hailstorm hit farmers in Sagar city of Madhya Pradesh and said: "I will compensate the loss with relief fund and Fasal Bima Yojana, provide extra Rs 25,000 to distressed farmers for wedding of their daughters."Unseasonal rains and hailstorms have damaged crops in Madhya Pradesh over the last few days. At least 984 villages have been affected.The Chief Minister also said the state government would look after the education of the farmers' children.

Allianz considers group's stance on coal insurance

MUNICH (Reuters) - Germany's Allianz is considering whether to stop insuring new coal power plants but told environmental campaigners it would stay in the business for now.

Chouhan assures relief to hailstorm-hit farmers

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday announced relief of Rs 30,000 per hectare and an equal amount under the crop insurance scheme to farmers whose crops were damaged due to hailstorm earlier this week.

Over 40 houses gutted in U'khand village fire

Over 40 houses were gutted in a major fire that broke out in Savani village here in the wee hours today, rendering scores of people homeless and charring nearly a hundred cattle to death, officials said. The blaze started in a wooden house in the village on the Uttarakhand-Himachal border and gradually engulfed the adjoining ones leaving only around five houses in the entire hamlet intact, Uttarkashi District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan said. Chauhan, who rushed to the spot with rescue teams this morning, said 45 houses were burnt down in the fire, adding that the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained. As many as 39 houses were completely destroyed whereas six were partially burnt, the DM said from the spot. The fire might have spread from a bonfire lit by villagers, he said. Nearly a hundred cattle were also charred to death, the DM said. The affected families were evacuated to Jakhol, about 7 km from the village, where relief material was made available to them, Chauhan said. No

Tectonic danger facing Chinese-built Gwadar Port

Pakistan's Gwadar Port, which is being upgraded by the Chinese as part of the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, could face a geographical catastrophe in the not too distant future, according to scientists of both countries.According to a South China Morning Post report, the Makran Trench, which is located off the southern coast of Pakistan, is earthquake prone, and therefore, could damage Gwadar Port should there be a tectonic disturbance.The Makran Trench is the meeting point for two tectonic plates and is close to Gwadar, a deep-sea port.The potential natural calamity to the facility that has been leased to China for 40 years could undermine Beijing's ambitions to revive trade from China through Asia to Africa and Europe.Chinese and Pakistani scientists have teamed up to survey the trench that is a seismically active zone in the Arabian Sea, where one plate is inching beneath the other in a "subduction zone".The last major earthquake to hit the .

Avalanche kills one skier in Gulmarg

One Russian skier lost his life on the spot after being hit by an avalanche in Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.Meanwhile, the four other skiers of the group have been rescued.Recently, heavy snowfall has gripped Gulmarg, a skiing destination visited by thousands of tourists each winter.Earlier in February, three Army personnel died while one sustained injuries after an avalanche hit an Army post in Machil Sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district.

Russian skier killed by avalanche in Gulmarg

A Russian skier died after being buried by an avalanche in a skiing resort in Jammu and Kashmir's Gulmarg, police said today. Four others were rescued alive from the resort and taken to a local hospital for treatment, a police spokesman added. Authorities had issued an avalanche warning for the higher reaches of Kashmir following fresh snowfall on Monday. This is the second incident of an avalanche hitting foreign skiers at Gulmarg this year. On January 18, a Swedish skier was killed when he was hit by an avalanche.

Military training plane crashes in Turkey; 2 pilots dead

Turkey's military says a plane used to train pilots has crashed in western Turkey, killing its two pilots. A military statement said the SF-260D light trainer plane went down on Friday after taking off from Cigli air base near the Aegean port city of Izmir. Its wreck was discovered some 3 kilometers north of the base. The military said an inspection was underway but gave no details on the possible cause of the crash. Last month, a Turkish Air Force cargo plane similarly crashed during a training flight in southwestern Turkey, killing two pilots and a technician on board.

984 villages in MP ravaged by recent hailstorms

As many as 984 villages in Madhya Pradesh were hit by recent hailstorms that caused extensive damage to crops, an official said today. Villages in Sehore, Bhopal, Hoshangabad, Shivpuri, Ashoknagar, Raisen and other districts in the state were lashed by hailstorms between Sunday and Monday. State Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan yesterday held a meeting here and took a review of the post-hailstorm situation. He directed the officials to estimate the crop damage in a transparent manner, a public relations department official said. During the meeting, Chouhan was informed that 984 villages were affected by hailstorms, he said. "The CM directed that teams conducting survey of the affected villages should consist of officials of agriculture and panchayat department, revenue department, sarpanchs, panchs and other public representatives, so that farmers do not have any complaints with the crop loss estimation," the official said. The chief minister said that lists of ...

Kyrgyzstan stops flights amid snowstorm

Ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan halted flights leaving the country's main airport near the capital Bishkek today, citing a snowstorm that it said had affected conditions for takeoff. "All departures have been delayed due to the unusual weather conditions," a spokeswoman at the airport told AFP by telephone. The spokeswoman could not immediately say when departures would resume. This is the second time this year Kyrgyzstan's main airport has stopped flights from departing the airport. Authorities have been especially cautious since a Turkish cargo plane flying in foggy conditions crashed into a village close to the airport in January last year, killing 39 people. Central Asia, a landlocked region positioned between western China and Iran has seen bouts of wild weather and temperatures well below seasonal averages this year. Flights were cancelled and a state of emergency declared when a snowstorm struck Astana, the capital of Kyrgyzstan's neighbour Kazakhstan in January, briefly cutting off road .

Russian skier dies in Gulmarg avalanche

A Russian skier was killed in an avalanche while four other skiers were rescued on Friday in Jammu and Kashmir's ski resort Gulmarg, police said.

2 dead in separate road accidents in UP

Two men died and one was injured in two road accidents here, the police said today. In the first incident, a school principal and a teacher were returning to Mau yesterday evening after their examination duty, when their motorcycle collided with a moving tractor at Seura village, they said. Both of them were rushed to a hospital where the teacher succumbed to his injuries while the principal is still undergoing treatment, the police said. In the other incident, a 35-year-old man, who was riding a cycle, died after being hit by a four-wheeler at Gangauli village yesterday, they said The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, the police said.

Facebook opens its Community Help to organisations, businesses

Facebook has started opening up its Community Help feature -- part of the Safety Check system -- to businesses and other organisations so that that they can provide critical information and services for people to get the help they need in a crisis.

'Mercury' to release on April 13

Actor-filmmaker Prabhudheva's upcoming Tamil silent thriller film "Mercury" will be hitting the screens on April 13.

One-way traffic restored on Jammu-Srinagar highway

The strategic Jammu-Srinagar national highway that had remained closed for the last four days, was restored for one-way traffic on Friday.

Russian ship catches fire

A fire broke out on board a large anti-submarine Russian ship of the Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok on Friday, media reports said.

Delhi cabbie held for molesting 10-year-old

A private cab driver, who used to transport children to school, was on Thursday arrested for molesting a 10-year-old girl.The driver was arrested from Mangolpuri area.An investigation has been initiated in this regard.

Four reported killed in Rio de Janeiro flooding

Flash floods caused by heavy rain in Rio de Janeiro killed four people and caused major traffic snares today after sweeping through residential areas, local media reported. Globo News said a 12-year-old and a police officer were among the dead. Two adults were also reportedly killed in a mudslide. The fire department did not immediately respond for confirmation of the toll. The flooding followed dramatic rainstorms overnight accompanied by lightning and high wind. Residential streets, including in impoverished favelas, were inundated and a stretch of the coastal cycling path built ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics collapsed. Major highways were partially blocked, leading to traffic jams. Globo showed dramatic footage of water gushing down narrow streets, carrying away a car, while a man on a motorcycle struggled to try and escape the deluge. Authorities said that in the west of Rio, the rain usually expected for the whole of February fell in one night.