Page 905 - Disaster Accident
Cabinet nod to ratify Minamata Convention on Mercury
The government today gave its nod to a proposal for ratification of a treaty, aimed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions from mercury and its compounds, a move which will enable India to become a member of the Minamata Convention. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the proposal for ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury and depositing the instrument of ratification enabling India to become a party to the convention. The Minamata Convention on Mercury is an international treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and its compounds. "The approval entails ratification of the Minamata Convention on mercury along with flexibility for continued use of mercury-based products and processes involving mercury compound up to 2025," an official statement said. The convention will be implemented in the context of sustainable ...
PM's wife injured in Rajasthan road accident, one relative dead
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's wife Jashodaben had a miraculous escape while a relative died when their Innova car rammed into a truck in Chittorgarh in Rajasthan, police said.
Coast Guard rescues seven fishermen off Gujarat coast
The Indian Coast Guard rescued seven fishermen from a sinking boat near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) near Jakhau off Gujarat coast today. The Coast Guard swung into action after receiving a distress call from a fishing boat, which was on the verge of sinking due to heavy ingress of water, defence spokesperson said in a statement. "When the Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) 'C-408', a front line interceptor boat stationed at Jakhau, reached the spot mid sea, the fishing boat, which was registered in Veraval, had almost sunk," the spokesperson added. Luckily, the Coast Guard personnel rescued all the seven crew members before their boat completely sank, the statement said. All the seven fishermen have been brought safely to to Jakhau harbour, it said.
Indian woman dies on air ambulance, weeks after Dubai accident
An Indian woman tourist, who recently lost her husband in a road accident here and was battling for her life, has died on her flight back home in an air ambulance, a media report said today. Neetu Jain Kawad, 38, died on Monday while being flown to Bengaluru in an air ambulance, two weeks after she lost her husband Dinesh Kawad, 40, in a tragic accident on Emirates Road on January 22. Neetu had suffered serious injuries in the accident. She had slipped into coma and was treated at a hospital in Dubai, Khaleej Times reported. The couple hailed from Bengaluru and was on a vacation here when their minibus collided with a truck near Al Aweer area, it said. The deceased have a garments business in India and had left behind their 11-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter with grandparents before coming to Dubai on a leisure trip. The accident had killed Kawad, who was sitting in the front passenger seat and the Pakistani driver of the minibus on the spot. While an Italian ...
Brazil confirms 353 yellow fever cases, including 98 deaths
Brazil's Health Ministry has confirmed more than 350 cases of yellow fever as infections pick up steam in the state at the center of the last outbreak. The current outbreak is developing more slowly than the previous one. The ministry said Wednesday that 353 people have been infected so far, of which 98 have died. During the same period in the 2016-2017 outbreak, 509 cases were recorded, including 159 deaths. Over the past week, the number of cases confirmed in Minas Gerais state more than doubled from 77 to 157. Sao Paulo state has recorded the most cases, with 161. Large swaths of Brazil have long been at risk for yellow fever, but it saw an unusually large outbreak last year, including in places not previously considered at risk.
Rail industry says key safety technology not due until 2020
The railroad industry is playing down expectations that a safety technology that could have prevented recent deadly train crashes will be in operation across the United States by the end of the year. Indeed, freight and commuter rail officials speak as if there never was any plan to complete their work on the technology known as positive train control, or PTC, by December 31. Congress required in 2008 that railroads adopt PTC and gave them seven years to do the job. When it became clear that wasn't enough, Congress gave them another three years. The discussion then was that a few railroads might need even more than three extra years, and provisions were added to the legislation to allow railroads that showed substantial progress, but couldn't meet the new deadline, the ability to obtain extensions of up to two additional years. Officials for the trade associations representing the seven major freight railroads in the US and the nation's commuter railroads now say they ...
Megha Engineering commissions mega power transmission project
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) today announced it has successfully commissioned India's largest power transmission project in western Uttar Pradesh. The plant would transmit 13,220 MVA of power, said the infrastructure major. Built as a build-own-operate-transfer project, it used the latest gas-insulated substation (GIS) technology for the first time in the country, MEIL Director B Srinivas Reddy said in a release here. "The transmission capacity of the Rs 4,150 crore Western Uttar Pradesh Power Transmission Company Ltd project is equal to the combined transmission capacities of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and only behind Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. "This is the first such project in the private sector and used air-insulated substations and gas-insulated substations, the latest and proven technologies," Reddy said. MEIL began the work on the project in 2011 and completed it in the first week of this month. The company
PM's wife injured in road accident
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's wife Jashodaben, got injured in an accident after her car collided with a truck in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh district on Wednesday.Jashodaben was rushed to the hospital, where her condition was said to be stable.The accident took place while she was returning to Gujarat after visiting her relatives in Baran district.According to the police, "The accident took place at around 10:00 am near Katunda area in Chittorgarh district. There were seven people in the car, most of them were believed to be her relatives."Minutes after the accident, senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot took to Twitter and said, "Sad to learn about the road accident near Chittorgarh, Rajasthan in which Jashodaben and others got injured and one person died... May God give strength to bereaved family... Hope n pray those injured recover soon.." (sic).
Two workers die in South Africa mine collapse
Two gold mineworkers were killed today after ground collapsed at a mine belonging to Sibanye-Stillwater, owners of the same mine where nearly 1,000 workers were trapped last week following a power cut. In a statement the company said "two employees were fatally injured during a fall of ground" that occured shortly after midnight at its Kloof mine, 50 kilometres southwest of Johannesburg. Operations have been suspended at the shaft pending an investigation into the incident. Last week 955 gold miners were trapped underground for more than a day at a Sibanye-Stillwater gold mine after a power cut at a mine in the Free State province, 290 kilometres southwest of Johannesburg. They were later rescued unharmed after engineers restored power and hoisted them to the surface. The latest incidents have reignited safety concerns in the mining sector. "We are deeply worried about the safety of workers and we are continuing to witness these shocking fatalities," said the National ...
57 died in accidents on Jammu-Poonch highway in 2017: JK Govt
As many as 57 persons were killed and 54 others injured in road accidents on the Jammu-Poonch National Highway in 2017, state legislative assembly was informed today. Revenue, Law, and Parliamentary Affairs minister Abdul Rehman Veeri said that 73 accidents took place on the highway last year. He was replying to a Calling Attention Notice moved by PDP legislator Surinder Choudhary about deaths on roads, especially on Jammu-Poonch National Highway. Veeri said the Transport department has taken several initiatives and efforts are afoot to minimise road accidents and resultant causalities on National Highways. "Special drives are being launched by Traffic Police department against visible offences, like dangerous driving, use of mobile phones while driving, triple-riding, riding without crash helmet, overloading, overtaking, driving without seat belt," said Veeri. "Strict mechanism has been taken up for the issuance of licences. Widening and repairing of roads with further .
Three killed as canter hits tractor trolley
Three people were killed and two others injured today after a tractor-trolley was hit by a canter-truck on a bridge and both vehicles fell into a river, police said. The accident took place around 6 am on the bridge over the Kosi river in Udham Singh Nagar district's Sultanpur area, Sub-Inspector Indresh Kumar said. The tractor-trolley, which had broken down, was hit by the truck at great speed from behind. The impact was so strong that both vehicles fell into the river by breaking the bridge's gurad rails, he said. Three people, including a woman, died on the spot, the SI said. Those killed were on the canter-truck which was loaded with beverage bottles. Those injured were on the tractor- trolley transporting wood, he said. The injured were admitted in a hospital in Kashipur, he said.
Enhanced Production by CIL Helps Decline in Coal Imports
As per Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics (DGCI&S), a small quantity of coal was imported (including Coal, Coke and Briquittes etc.) from USA during October, 2017 viz. 1.07 MT (against 0.36 MT imported in January, 2015).
WB Cong chief files PIL for forming disaster management units
West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury today filed a PIL in Calcutta High Court seeking setting up of disaster management units in all districts of the state to avoid delay in responding to road accidents like the one in Murshidabad recently that claimed 43 lives. Inordinate delay in responding to the accident had led to so many deaths, Chowdhury claimed and prayed that the state government be ordered to set up disaster management units in all the districts, his lawyer Pratik Kumar Chatterjee said. Alleging that provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, had not been followed by state and district administrations Chatterjee said, "There was a two-hour delay in the arrival of a crane after the accident." "Divers arrived after six hours and the disaster management team reached the spot 11 hours after the accident took place," he said. At least 43 people died in the accident on January 29, one of the worst road accidents in West Bengal in recent years. The bus ...
Bengal govt plans 200 modern vessels for ferry service
West Bengal has placed an order for 200 new modern vessels equipped with safety amenities and double engines to strengthen ferry services in the state, Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikari said today. The vessels will have three categories with a sitting capacity of 40, 60 and 100 passengers. Besides the new modern vessels, modernisation of some 118 jetties has been completed while work is on in another 418 jetties for ensuring safety of passengers, the minister informed the Assembly. He said standard operating procedures have been given to 415 jetty operators. In the wake of accidents, Adhikari said the government has initiated steps for licensing of generator-powered boats used in ferrying people. There are some 12,000 such boats plying across the state. He said in line with the Gatidhara project that offers subsidy of up to Rs 1 lakh for owning a commercial car, the state government is also offering such subsidy to purchase safer boats. It was not clear from the ...
50 villagers taken ill due to 'food poisoning'
About 50 villagers were taken ill after consuming food at a private event in Raigarh's Gerwani village on Tuesday.Out of them, 30 people were referred to a nearby hospital.The cause of the food poisoning is still under investigation.
MP: 8 labourers killed as truck overturns; CM announces help
Eight labourers, including a woman and three minors, were killed and as many injured when a sand-laden truck overturned in the district early today, a police official said. The Madhya Pradesh government has announced an assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the families of each of the deceased. Sixteen labourers, all local tribals, were sitting in the truck when it turned turtle after one of its wheels got stuck in a ditch near Allu village, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Seema Alawa told PTI. Most of the victims, who used to load sand into trucks, died after getting trapped under the vehicle, the ASP said. Soon after getting information, the police rushed to the spot, she said. The truck's driver fled after the accident, the officer said, adding that a probe was on into the incident. The injured persons were admitted to the district hospital and the bodies were sent for post mortem, the ASP said. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced an assistance of Rs 2 lakh .
Indian tourist dies two weeks after Dubai accident
An Indian woman tourist, who was fighting for her life after a crash in Dubai in which her husband died, did not survive her flight back home in an air ambulance for emergency treatment.
The MP village that still lacks roads, electricity
A person is only carried on shoulders after his/her death, but in Madhya Pradesh's Ghonghsa village, the alive people are the ones who are shouldered to cross narrow hilly straps and reach the nearby road.With water bottles in hands, sick villagers have to commute on other people's shoulders to reach hospitals as the area is still covered with forests.The highly risky tracks are impossible to cover during rains and dangerous for pregnant women.During a meeting with district collector Tejaswi S. Naik, the residents of the village on Tuesday requested the official to take a tour and conduct a survey in the village. Following this, Naik assured the villagers of providing basic facilities like electricity and water supply.An elderly villager, Balwant Singh, said that no official has ever visited the area. "Politicians only come here to ask for votes and never seen again after elections," he said.Another villager Dariyav Singh said that the locals had never met the area MLA, adding that ...
Taiwan quake highlights hi-tech island's shoddy building past
Taiwan has built itself a reputation for cutting edge technology, efficient public transport and safe streets. But an earthquake has again highlighted the well-off island's history of shoddy construction and questionable safety standards. It has become a familiar sight. A quake strikes Taiwan, rattling homes and nerves but leaving most of the epicentre intact, except for one or two isolated spots where it strikes with deadly force. Usually the collapsed buildings are old, built before Taiwan brought in better building codes, and still have not been reinforced. Rescuers in the eastern tourist city of Hualien are racing against the clock to locate missing residents in a precariously tilting apartment block after a moderately strong 6.4 quake struck overnight. At least seven people have died across the city and some 88 people remain unaccounted for. For many there is a grim sense of deja vu. Exactly two years earlier, on 6 February 2016, a quake of the same magnitude hit ...
Railway employee killed over minor dispute in UP
A railway employee was killed by some unidentified persons allegedly over a dispute about opening a gate near Ballia railway station, police said today. The assailants hit Shailesh Tiwari (35) with a blunt object last night after they felt that he was causing unnecessary delay in opening the gate, they said. The GRP has filed an FIR against unidentified persons on a complaint by station master Raju Rai. "No arrests have been made in this connection so far and a probe is on," an official said.