'We used to get 400-500 applications for Canada on a yearly basis until last year, but this has gone down to just 70 this year.'
The Village Resource Centres under ISRO programme must be linked with online network to disseminate agro advisory based on weather forecasting. It is very pertinent during weather calamities to minimise crop losses. In an event of unusual summer rains in Kerala, Kutttanad and Thrissur paddy farmers suffered to a large extent. If advance weather service is extended at community level, crop loss would have been minimised to some extent by covering the paddy grains.
The Bombay High Court has imposed a Rs 25,000 fine on a Nashik prison jailor for illegally rejecting a prisoner's parole application. The court stated that the jailor's decision contravened the law and was based on a government circular that is inconsistent with existing prison rules. The court has ordered the jailor to reconsider the parole application and forward it to the appropriate authority for a decision.
The GST Council on Saturday postponed a decision on cutting tax rate on life and health insurance premiums, officials said. The 55th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, decided that some more technicalities needed to be ironed out and tasked the GoM for further deliberations.
Besides the police and fire force personnel, volunteers of various service and youth outfits, survivors of the landslides and kin of the victims also became part of the search operations.
Kickstarting relief work for over 25,000 people affected by floods in Uttarakhand, Reliance Foundation Chairperson Nita Ambani has said that it is the dedication and sincerity towards lending a helping hand that matters more than money during times of natural calamities.
In an interview with CNN-IBN, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna claims to have full confidence of his party amidst demands for his resignation for failing to respond to the calamity in Uttarakhand.
Convert the Haryana result into a blessing in disguise; make the calamity into an opportunity. Maharashtra was always the big ticket game in town; MVA must win it. The Congress should shift headquarters to Mumbai for the entire month. Show urgency and a hunger to win, asserts Sanjay Jha.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) has said the current global economic crisis is turning into a human calamity as it has hit millions of poor people across the world.
'It is high time that we act instead of just talking about how and why the climate is changing.'
According to weather officials, wind speeds along and off the Odisha-West Bengal coasts are anticipated to reach 60 km/h from October 23, increasing to 120 km/h from October 24 night to October 25 morning.
As Cyclone Dana barrels toward the coasts of Odisha, threatening to impact nearly half of the state's population, the government is racing against time to execute a massive evacuation plan aimed at relocating about 10 lakh people in several coastal districts to safety. In West Bengal, the cyclone is set to bring heavy rainfall in several southern West Bengal districts, including Kolkata, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.
Donald Trump's exaggerated opinion of his dealmaking capacity can get him into trouble, observes R Sriram.
Karnataka suffered a crop loss in around 97,365 hectares out of the total bearing area of 2,26,244 hectares of coffee and spices plantations.
It is not just the financial turmoil that consumed billions of dollars but also natural catastrophe, and such disastrous incidents resulting in global economic losses to the tune of $50 billion this year.
More than 45 lakh people in 30 out of the total 38 districts of the state have been affected by the calamity in two phases since last month, according to the Disaster Management Department.
'India's economic fundamentals are much too strong to be affected by his resignation,' says B S Raghavan.
When the landslide hit, Sruthi's house was washed away, along with its inhabitants. She lost her entire family and some relatives. All she had left for a close confidante was her fiance Jenson. Days after the landslide and the loss of her family, Jenson died in a road accident that also left Sruthi with serious injuries. News of the accident and Sruthi's backdrop as the lone surviving member of a family wiped out in the July landslide, was picked up by the media, and people rushed to help.
The two leaders had a complex relationship yet formed a partnership and even after their parting of ways, the two admired each other in their efforts for India's freedom.
Several people are still feared trapped in the debris after a series of landslides that occurred in Chooralmala and Mundakkai of Wayanad.
Modi also visited one of the relief camps, which is home to many of those displaced in the massive landslides, and interacted with some of the survivors, including two children who lost their loved ones in the disaster that has claimed over 200 lives.
Out of 24,230 IIT and NIT grads, about 8,000 students didn't find any takers during campus placement drives this year.
The standing committee on home ministry on Friday unanimously recommended to the government that the devastation caused by floods in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh be declared a national calamity.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Wednesday expressed concern over China's proposed mega hydropower project on the upstream of Siang River in Tibet, stating it will have a cascading effect on India and Bangladesh in the near future.
The survivors, one with broken limbs and the other with torn clothes and bruises, were crying out for help when Rahman reached the spot.
State Health Minister K K Shailaja told reporters that the government has declared the epidemic as a 'state calamity' to take all necessary steps to ensure that the outbreak is effectively controlled. A medical bulletin issued by the government said the health status of all the three students, who tested positive for the virus, was 'satisfactory'.
As Odisha and West Bengal are bracing for a severe cyclonic storm, governments of both states started evacuating people and while deciding to close educational institutions in vulnerable areas.
Malayalam television channels aired the visuals captured on the CCTVs in some shops in Chooralmala, one of the hamlets completely destroyed in the disaster.
The CM also said that the Parliament Secretariat had issued a circular to the MPs stating that they can allot Rs 1 crore worth renovation and rehabilitation efforts in the flood-affected districts from Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme
At least 16 people lost their lives in various rain-related incidents in Telangana while the unprecedented rainfall and floods in Andhra Pradesh over the past three days affected about 4.5 lakh people leading to the evacuation of more than 30,000 to relief camps.
'We waded through the wet mud into the school, and what we saw were dead bodies strewn all over.' 'We could also see parts of human bodies buried under the wet mud.' 'It was a sight I will never forget in my life. Total devastation everywhere.'
'Heavy rains are not the primary reason for landslides in Wayanad.' 'There are all sorts of (human) intervention going on in that area.'
Aizawl has been cut off from the rest of the country due to a landslide on National Highway 6 at Hunthar.
Heavy machinery was deployed to divert the flow of the water in the affected streams towards fields, an official told PTI.
Rain-related incidents claimed nine more lives in Gujarat, taking the death toll to 16 in two days, while another 8,500 people were relocated and rescued from flood-affected areas with rains continuing to lash some parts of the state for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, officials said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Centre had sent multiple advance warnings to the Kerala government about possible floods and landslides in the state, starting as early as July 23, and nine National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams were rushed to the state the same day.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday termed as 'baseless', Union Home Minister Amit Shah's claim that the state government did not heed the Centre's warning regarding a possible natural calamity in Wayanad due to heavy rains.
One more body was recovered on Thursday, taking the toll in multiple landslides in Mizoram's Aizawl district to 28, a police officer said.
IAF pilots and crew dodged low hanging clouds, mist covered hills, steep valleys and landed on broken landing grounds to rescue civilians in Wayanad. In one mission, they had to descend vertically to get close to the survivors. IAF flew over 80 missions, saving lives and giving hope. This is how they did it.
As many as 190 people have died and over 200 injured in the massive landslides that hit Wayanad district two days ago, with the numbers expected to increase even more as rescuers unearth debris, the district administration said on Thursday.
