An IIT Delhi professor has been booked for alleged negligence following the death of a PhD student during excavation work near the archaeological site of Lothal in Gujarat. The incident occurred in November 2024 when the student, Surabhi Verma, died after a 10-foot deep excavation pit collapsed on her while she and her professor, Yama Dixit, were collecting soil samples. The FIR was registered based on a complaint by the student's father, alleging that Dixit's negligence led to Verma's death. Dixit has been charged with causing death by negligence and endangering life. The investigation revealed that the team was unaware of the high water level beneath the visible dry soil, and had not informed police or local authorities before starting the excavation.
Shreya Yadav (25) from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni (25) from Telangana and Nevin Delvin (24) from Kerala drowned after water gushed into the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar here following heavy rains on July 27.
'Could the impending new crisis, vibe coding, similarly create not a disaster like what befell Indian handlooms during the Industrial Revolution but another opportunity like what the Y2K crisis created?' asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
'They charge such high fees and offer us this safety. Our lives have become a mockery.'
Air India, which operates 72 weekly flights from various cities to Dubai, and IndiGo cancelled their services on Wednesday.
Rau's IAS Study Circle, where the three students were killed on Saturday after its basement was flooded due to rain, has already been sealed by police.
Criticising the police for arresting an SUV driver and blaming him for the incident, the high court said, "Mercifully, you have not challaned the rainwater for entering into the basement."
The coaching centre at whose establishment three students died due to rain-induced flooding in the basement on Sunday condoled the loss of young lives and said they are fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigation.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted above-normal rainfall for the upcoming monsoon season in India (June to September). The cumulative rainfall is estimated to be 105 percent of the long-period average. The IMD has also ruled out the possibility of El Nino conditions during the entire season. The monsoon is crucial for India's agriculture sector, which supports the livelihood of a significant portion of the population and contributes substantially to the country's GDP. However, while the prediction of normal rainfall brings relief, climate change is expected to cause variations in rainfall distribution.
Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi was present at the site as the agency cracked down on illegally run basements of coaching institutes.
The Congress on Sunday called for fixing accountability over the death of three IAS aspirants due to waterlogging in a building in Delhi with Rahul Gandhi asserting that common people are paying the price for irresponsibility of institutions at every level.
India is expected to experience hotter-than-usual temperatures from April to June, with more heatwave days in central and eastern India and the northwestern plains, the IMD said. Most parts of the country will see higher-than-normal maximum temperatures, except for some areas in western and eastern India where the temperatures are expected to be normal. Minimum temperatures will also be above normal in most regions. The IMD has warned that landslides could occur in parts of Kerala and Karnataka in the Western Ghats and that northeastern states might face flooding in April.
Four southern districts in Tamil Nadu are experiencing severe flooding after record-breaking rainfall, prompting Chief Minister MK Stalin to schedule a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi for immediate relief measures.
"What is Delhi Police doing? Have they lost it?" wondered the Delhi high court on Wednesday, while castigating the police for a 'strange' probe by arresting an SUV driver for his alleged role in drowning of three civil services aspirants at a coaching centre.
'We need to raise the costs and consequences for Pakistan. It is long overdue. Our initial surgical strike was effective for about six months. Then, the Balakot strike provided a deterrent for perhaps two to three years. But we cannot operate under the assumption that such limited responses will suffice for decades to come.'
It is time for the administration to wake up from 'deep slumber' and take appropriate steps to address the condition of Delhi's coaching centres, the Delhi high court has said, while granting interim bail till November 30 to four co-owners of the basement of an Old Rajinder Nagar building that housed a coaching centre where three civil services aspirants drowned in July.
Delhi Metro on Thursday said it has withdrawn a poster on breast cancer awareness that asked women 'to check your oranges' but the questions remained -- does the metaphor obscure the message, does it help women in a cloistered society get comfortable or more awkward by sexualising a body part.
The court said multi-storey buildings were being allowed to operate but there was no proper drainage.
Year by year, our cities remain defeated in the face of weather conditions, costing us time, money, resources and often lives, observe Amit Kapoor and Bibek Debroy.
A similar drive will later be carried out across the city against establishments operating illegally from basements, the official said.
The pictures and videos of the locals wading through waist deep water in Bawana JJ colony area, waterlogged houses, school and hospital went viral on social media even as teams of engineers from Haryana and Delhi worked on a war footing to plug the breach.
Officials have said an absence of drainage system and safety measures, and use of basement for commercial activities in violation of norms led to the death of three civil services aspirants at the coaching centre.
Among the cities that have fully implemented their projects are Agra, Varanasi, Madurai, Coimbatore, Udaipur, Pune, Surat, and Vadodara
Adani Properties Pvt Ltd (APPL) has emerged as the highest bidder for the redevelopment of Motilal Nagar in Mumbai, offering more built-up area than its nearest rival, L&T. This will be the second mega redevelopment project of Adani Group in Mumbai, after the Dharavi slum redevelopment project. The total estimated redevelopment cost of Motilal Nagar is around Rs 36,000 crore, and the rehabilitation period is seven years from the project start/commencement date. The project will rehabilitate 3,372 residential units eligible under MHADA, 328 eligible commercial units and 1,600 eligible slum tenements.
The "weaponisation" of economic activity - through tariffs and sanctions - is now a reality, with countries leveraging these tools strategically, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at the Raisina Dialogue recently.
Scenes from flooded Delhi after the Yamuna rose well above the danger mark, July 13, 2023.
If you make prawns, using this very precise and methodical recipe, it is sure to turn out like it came all the way from Kerala straight to your plate.
Despite high exposure to floods, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Sikkim are the best performing states in terms of flood early warning systems (EWS), according to the report by independent policy research think tank The Council on Energy Environment and Water.
Landslides and flash floods triggered by incessant rain in Himachal Pradesh have paralysed normal life.
The high court on Friday pulled up the police for not questioning any Municipal Corporation of Delhi official till now or even seizing the relevant file from the civic body, which could have been an important piece of evidence.
His appeal came a day after three boys drowned in a ditch while bathing in floodwaters in northwest Delhi's Mukundpur Chowk area.
Despite recent fatal stampedes at the Kumbh Mela and a Delhi railway station, pilgrims, driven by faith, continue to participate in the holy gathering in Prayagraj. Despite safety concerns, pilgrims from across India are undeterred by the tragedy and are taking the holy dip at the Triveni Sangam.
Six weather stations across Delhi recorded over 100 mm of rain in a single day, the India meteorological department (IMD) said on Thursday, categorising it as an "extremely intense spell".
Glimpses of the devastation caused due to heavy rainfall in the national capital and other parts of northern India.
The police identified the driver and the vehicle through the CCTV footage of the area.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has initiated action against coaching centres flouting norms and it will set up a high-level committee to probe the incident that claimed three lives due to flooding in a coaching centre's basement, MCD officials said on Sunday.
The year 2024 was the hottest year on record, with the global average temperature exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time, according to the European climate agency Copernicus. Every month from January to June was the warmest ever recorded, and from July to December (except August), each month was the second warmest on record. Scientists are warning that the world is entering a new climate reality, with extreme heatwaves, floods, and storms becoming more frequent and severe. The report also highlights the failure of developed nations to meet their climate finance commitments to developing countries, despite the urgency of the situation.
The TMC-led West Bengal government has already started laying the groundwork for the election, setting the tone with the recent Bengal Global Business Summit and the state Budget.
In the talks, China emphasised that the two sides should proceed from the fundamental interests of China, India and adhere to the strategic height and long-term perspective of China-India relations, the readout said.
The Yamuna river in Delhi swelled to 207.25 metres and was flowing precariously close to the all-time record level of 207.49 metres.
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