With the November 26 terror strikes exposing the vulnerabilities of India's coastline, the country's armed forces are carrying out a week-long joint exercise off the Gujarat coast in which they would validate concepts to counter such threats in the future.
The news will augur well for the country as large parts have been witnessing agriculture distress and water levels in reservoirs in west and south India have dipped to low levels.
A major earthquake just offshore rattled Chileans, killing five people and shaking the Earth so strongly the tremor was felt in places across South America.
Terrorism, strengthening of intelligence network, security of the coastline and key establishments, including atomic sites, will be discussed threadbare at the conference of chief ministers to be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Former chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission Dr M R Srinivasan said India's nuclear reactors, spread along the country's coastline, are secure against the threat of terrorist strikes.
At least 21 people, mostly children, were killed as the tropical cyclone Aila lashed Bangladesh's southern coastlines with wind-driven tidal surges inundating residential areas and breaching embankments. Reports reaching Dhaka said 21 people, mostly children, died of drowning or house collapses as abnormal tidal waves up to 13 feet high made their way to residential areas, damaging dozens of flood control structures like dams.
Monsoon in Mumbai is likely to get stronger and the city may experience heavy rainfall over the next 48 hours, a senior MeT official said on Thursday.
In an effort to protect India's vast coastline and ports from various threats, sea bed arrays and unmanned underwater vehicles will be used for ocean surveillance.
The Maldives chapter of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba, in association with the Al Qaeda, is one of the most ambitious plans of the two dreaded organisations till date.The two outfits have decided to move out of Pakistan and make Nepal their new headquarter, and the plan to spruce up their Maldives base has begun to materialise.Intelligence Bureau officials had warned that most of the attacks on India would be launched through the sea.
There are very few people in the world who qualify to be called a living legend. Astad Deboo is one of them.
The Pakistan maritime security agency apprehended 12 Indian fishermen and seized their two boats near the international maritime boundary on Sunday, a Porbandar-based non-government organisation claimed.
Modi said during the Congress-led regimes, terror attacks and bomb blasts would take place in Mumbai 'any time' and its coastline had become 'entry point' for terrorists.
The navy finds itself fighting for relevance, with navy planners lamenting that its share of the budget has dropped dramatically.
The new regional headquarter of the Indian Navy to be set up in Gujarat will help protect the porous 1660 km long coastline in Gujarat, said Gujarat leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil.
Army tanks and infantry moved deep into the sea Tiger base in Chalai region in Northern Mullaittivu after killing four top LTTE leaders, including Vinayagam, number three in the hierarchy list of sea tigers.
The system is likely to be inaugurated by Earth Sciences Minister Kapil Sibal on October 15.
The meeting attended by National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta, Border Security Force Director-General M L Kumawat and representatives of Navy and Coast Guards had a detailed discussion on the situation along the coastline and the steps being taken to beef up security.
A group of men were spotted moving suspiciously near a naval base at Uran in Raigad district.
Admitting that there were gaps in the intelligence set up, the government on Thursday said it will take steps, including strengthening laws and setting up a National Investigation Agency to insulate the country from terror strikes like in Mumbai. In a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha, Home Minister P Chidambaram said the government has decided to set up a Coastal Command to secure India's 7,500-km coastline and create various National Security Guard hubs.
It is a bit of a sad commentary on our democracy but the general election is going to be only the first step in forming a government. The second step will come only when the party leaders -- specifically from regional forces -- judge their positions after the polls.
Authorities in Dhaka on Wednesday night ordered a massive evacuation in the coastlines with the Met office issuing "great danger signal" for southwestern Mongla and danger signal for south-eastern Chittagong and Cox's Bazar ports in view of the severe cyclonic storm created over Bay of Bengal.
To be built at a cost of $350 million, the proposed World Island Resort, will be located on the north-east of The World development, the waterfront development of Dubai's masterdeveloper Nakheel. The CEO of 'Limitless', Saeed Ahmed Saeed, said the company will draw on its expertise in waterfront development and the creation of distinctive projects.
Indian Coast Guard Commander of Western Region A Rajasekhar said, "Though infiltration through sea is possible, the Coast Guard is patrolling the coastline by air and water to thwart any potential threat."
Entire districts without electricity and untold damage is what is left behind after Cyclone Fani, known as the worst storm to hit the state, barrelled through on May 3. Take a look at how the state is now picking up the pieces after the storm and inching towards reconstruction.
As ferry services increase and remote working becomes the norm, the rural beach town has turned into a sought-after refuge for city slickers from Mumbai and Pune.
Hours after the last three terrorists were eliminated in Taj Mahal Hotel, Maharashtra Director General of Police A N Roy said his force would do whatever it could to catch the perpetrators of the terror strikes in Mumbai. "We have knocked down many and we will catch the rest," Roy said, when asked about the strategies being taken to arrest the people behind the terror acts in the metropolis
Rescuers on Sunday struggled to reach out to thousands of survivors in the cyclone-hit southwestern coastlines of Bangladesh where the calamity left over 2,000 people dead besides flattening houses and snapping communication lines nationwide. Over 60 per cent of the crops in the affected areas have been completely destroyed due to the cyclone Sidr as the government deployed army helicopters, navy boats and thousands of troops in rescue operations.
The naval chief told his top commanders that efforts should be to make the navy an operationally focused force capable of dealing with changing environment of the 21st century.
The alarm raised at the naval base turned out to be a hoax after nothing was found.
India's first 3G network, currently being tested in some Tamil Nadu villages, could well lay the seeds of a rural ICT revolution.
The Meteorological department said tropical cyclone 'Yemyin' had moved away from Karachi on Monday night, and was expected to strike Balochistan on Tuesday.
A powerful cyclone packed with wind speed up to 280 kmph on Thursday night crossed half of Orissa's vulnerable areas without causing any damage and veered off the coast of West Bengal, bringing a sigh of relief to the two states where thousands were evacuated.
Don't go swimming in these open waters if you don't want to become bait food for some of the ocean's deadliest inhabitants.
'We might have been better prepared to deal with the pandemic had so much time, attention and money not gone into welcoming one of the stupidest men on the planet.'
The division bench took serious note of beach beds that were blocking free access to beaches.
The arrested Indian fishermen would be produced in court by the police and sent to jail.
Currently, India recycles around 300 of the 1,000 ships which are demolished per annum globally. However, countries like Japan, Europe and the US were not sending their ships for recycling to India in the absence of ratification of a global convention. That scenario is set to change with the Recycling of Ships Act, 2019.
India also happens to be the most richly endowed agricultural nation in Asia having 169 million hectares of arable land, accounting for one-tenth of the world's arable land and a fifth of the world's irrigated land at 56 million hectares with a coastline extending to 8000 km and vast marine wealth. India is the 10th most industrialised country and fourth largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity with its GDP projected to grow at nearly 8 per cent in 2006-07.
This year has been the year of the no travel, which has left millions reminiscing on adventure-filled trips abroad. To celebrate the wonder of world travel, thousands of photography enthusiasts entered Agora #Travel2020, sharing the moments they feel captured the true essence of exploration. Octavi Royo, Agora's co-founder and CEO, said: "Thanks to these photos, we can travel to some amazing corners of our planet and see them from the point of view of travel photographers." Scroll down to see our pick of the shortlisted images...
