The war of words between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Uttarakhand floods continue, even as thousands continue to be stranded in the flood-hit state.
Army and air force contingents have been rushed in to assist in relief and rescue operations.
Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall near Jakhau Port in Gujarat on Thursday evening with a wind speed of 115-125 kmph gusting to 140 kmph as heavy rains lashed the coastal region, where several areas plunged into darkness due to power cuts and a large number of trees, electric poles and hoardings got uprooted.
The flooding in Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra has left people without homes and brought about destruction worth crores.
More than 180 people have lost their lives and nearly one crore people were affected in floods in West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Odisha.
"Our house is gone, household goods have perished and all our animals killed. We did not have anything to eat," said Chamail Singh of Rajouri district while showering praise on Indian Air Force for air-dropping food items and other relief material.
Many people are feared trapped following two landslides at Shiv temple in the Summer Hill area and the Fagli area of Shimla city.
The U'khand CM appealed to people to not make the tragedy an occasion for building an "anti-development narrative"
Kindness and compassion is all you need to survive and build your life. And that is what makes 2018's Kerala story so relevant, notes Divya Nair.
At least eight persons were killed in a cloudburst near the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas on Friday evening, damaging 25 tents and three community kitchens, officials said.
'While the US-Pakistan relationship has been stabilised, it's still mired in uncertainty.'
Hundreds of people complained that they had to go without food and sleep in the aftermath of cyclone, which has wreaked havoc in Bengal, as their homes lay inundated amid heavy showers that continued to pummel several parts of the state.
Days after he was airlifted along with his family to safety, 10-year-old Taukeer Ahmed was on Saturday on a rescue boat returning to his marooned house in Raj Bagh locality to retrieve his most loved possession -- his school bag.
The IMD also issued a red alert in the same 10 districts for August 3 also.
Over 7.24 lakh displaced people have been sheltered in 5,645 relief camps dotting the state, they said.
Tourism is badly affected. Entire apple orchards have been washed away. 2 million people are threatened with loss of livelihood.
Over 150 people have been killed and lakhs have been stranded in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been hit by the worst floods in five decades.
The Srinagar-Leh National Highway connecting Ladakh with Kashmir Valley was reopened for traffic on Tuesday after remaining closed for seven days due to heavy rains, boosting connectivity to the flood-hit region awaiting crucial supplies.
The flood-ravaged Srinagar city has been divided into three zones to expedite the cleaning up and sanitation operations, an official spokesman said on Tuesday.
Over 6,000 people are feared to have been killed in the devastating floods, cloudbursts and landslides in Uttarakhand in June, the government said on Tuesday.
For the first time in the last 26 years, a shutter of the Cheruthoni Dam was opened on Thursday.
Villages are flooded, roads have washed away and railway tracks have submerged under the rising waters.
'In one instance of the Pakistani army's violation of the Ceasefire, I ordered a far tougher response designed to deter the enemy.' 'I warned that 'unexpected damage' to their forces will be inflicted if they continued with such ceasefire violations.' A fascinating excerpt from Lieutenant General K Himalay Singh's Making of a General: A Himalayan Echo.
Many senior officers believe the chief should have taken a stronger stand against using army resources to help what one officer calls "a government-friendly godman".
The visual of a man kneeling down in muddy waters to help women step on to him to get into rescue boats went viral on Sunday.
Heavy rains pounded south and central Kerala on Saturday wreaking havoc in many parts with some people feared missing in the landslides that occurred in hilly areas bordering Kottayam and Idukki districts prompting the state government to seek the assistance of the Army and Air Force for rescue operations.
A four storey building in Surat, which was submerged under water, collapsed on Thursday and many people are feared trapped, an official said.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who undertook an aerial survey of rain ravaged areas of Idukki and Wayanad, said Kerala was in the midst of an unprecedented flood havoc and the calamity has caused "immeasurable misery and devastation."
Flash floods triggered by torrential rain have killed at least 22 people in India and forced more than 1,70,000 from their homes.
After undertaking rescue operation in the flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir, the National Disaster Response Force is now focusing on relief operations and had deployed 'boat hospitals' in water logged areas to provide health care facilities to the stranded people.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who presented the budget in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, said the government will target a growth rate of 3.5 per cent in the coming fiscal year.
Top Union ministers and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including party chief Amit Shah, on Wednesday reviewed the political and security situation in Jammu and Kashmir besides discussing rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.
Shutters of at least 22 reservoirs in the state have been opened to drain out excess water.
The IMD has also issued a red-coded warning alert to the Odisha and West Bengal coasts.
'As I set course for the Helicopter Training School this morning,' notes IAF Helicopter Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe, 'I bow my head in respect for the institution which made me the man I am.' 'I also salute the Chetak which taught me much more than flying.' 'Both these institutions, in their own right, justify the crest and motto of the School: Achievement through Knowledge.'
Pruthviraj Jadeja, the policeman, braved fierce current floodwaters and strong winds to save the children. The cop also earned the praise of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani who shared the video and lauded the officer on Twitter.
In a subtle show of strength to China, the Indian Air Force on Tuesday landed its C-130J Super Hercules transport plane at the world's highest and recently-activated Daulat Beg Oldie airstrip in Ladakh near the Line of Actual Control, the scene of a stand-off with Chinese troops in April.
Announcing the start of day-time domestic commercial operations, the Airports Authority of India said on Saturday night that decision on night operations would be taken on Sunday.
The location of the landfall is north of Dhamra and south of Bahanaga, close to Bahanaga block, on the coast, around 50 km of Balasore, he said.
