The weather system moved west-northwestward and concentrated into a depression on Saturday at 8.30am, close to west of Andaman Islands, the bulletin said.
The southern districts of West Bengal, including Kolkata, woke up to light rain and an overcast sky on Monday as cyclone 'Sitrang' moved towards north Bay of Bengal, raising the likelihood of a downpour during the day and threatening to dampen Diwali festivities.
In a video, Mamata Banerjee can be seen pouring tea into paper cups from a large kettle as people gather around her and record videos of the act.
MV Ganga Vilas will begin its journey from Varanasi and sail around 3,200 km in 51 days to reach Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh, traversing across 27 river systems in the two countries, it said.
The deep depression over central Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm by Sunday evening and after changing course in a northeastward direction from northwest.
One person died "accidentally" when he had gone out fishing, she said.
IMD Director General Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said that 'Yaas' is likely to intensify into a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm by Tuesday evening and Chandbali is likely to witness the maximum damage caused by it.
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.
The Met Department has predicted light to moderate rainfall across parts of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha with the probability of the severe cyclonic storm 'Asani' recurving.
Cargo and evacuation flight operations at the Kolkata airport were suspended on Wednesday till till 5 am of Thursday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee defied protocol in a review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the post-cyclonic situation in the state and is misleading on the controversy surrounding chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, said Government of India (GoI) sources.
The 31-year-old is seeking re-election from Raghopur in Vaishali district which he had wrested back for his party from the Bharatiya Janata Party's Satish Kumar in 2015. The BJP leader had defeated Yadav's mother Rabri Devi, a former chief minister, in 2010.
In his reply, Bandyopadhyay said that as per the directive of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he left the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a review of Cyclone Yaas ravaged Digha, a popular sea resort town in Purba
Bihar Police on Wednesday arrested a person in connection with Indigo station manager Rupesh Kumar Singh's murder, which it claimed to be the outcome of a road rage.
First Information Reports were on Monday registered against Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi for allegedly violating the model code of conduct by taking their security guards inside a booth of the Digha assembly constituency in Bihar to cast votes in the state assembly polls. The FIRs for violating the model code of conduct were registered by Digha Block Development Officer Ashok Kumar at the Patna Airport police station against Prasad and Rabri.
Cyclonic storm Yaas is very likely to make landfall near Balasore in north Odisha with a speed of 155 kmph to 165 kmph, gusting to 185 kmph, around noon on May 26, the Met department said.
A day after Cyclone Yaas tore through coastal Odisha and Bengal to cause havoc as far as Jharkhand, tornadoes, torrential rains, bridge collapses and swelling rivers continued to plague eastern India as people tried to pick up their lives amid the debris of swept away mud homes and swamped farmlands.
The IMD has also issued a red-coded warning alert to the Odisha and West Bengal coasts.
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This is the first time in the history of Jharkhand that it is facing such a severe cyclonic storm.
Lalu Prasad, in his tenure, had more than doubled the number of tatkal seats, and thereby had taken out the number of berths available under normal reservation. The additional tatkal seats that are thrown open for reservation at the last moment came at a premium of Rs 75-300 and earned more revenue for the Indian Railways. Some, however, allege that this reduced the chances for passengers to buy cheaper tickets in advance.
'Yaas' is likely to cross the Odisha-West Bengal coasts between Paradip and Sagar Islands around noon on May 26 as a very severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds of 155-165 kmph, Kolkata's Regional Meteorological Centre Deputy Director Sanjib Bandopadhyay said.
With four more deaths, the toll in Bihar floods on Saturday increased to 153, while 12 more panchayat areas were inundated affecting a total population of 34.69 lakh in twelve districts.
While man and a woman were reported killed when trees came crashing down on them in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, a 13-year-old girl died in a similar incident in adjoining Howrah. No casualties have been reported from Odisha yet.
Paswan's daughter Asha Devi and her husband Anil Sadhu protested in front of the car of Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi when he had come to receive the body of the Lok Janshakti Party founder. Sadhu is presently associated with Lalu Prasad's RJD.
The Mahagathbandhan, or grand alliance, on Saturday reached a consensus on seat distribution with the JD-U and the RJD to contest 101 seats each while Congress will put up candidates in 41 seats for the October-November Bihar assembly poll.
The Eastern Railway has cancelled the departure of Howrah-New Delhi AC Special Express for Wednesday.
The CM was present at the Patna airport to receive body of the LJP founder with whom he spent long time in the politics. The CM and other leaders cutting across party lines paid respect to the septuagenarian leader, who died in Delhi on Thursday, at the airport premises.
While airlines are seeing improved demand and industry-wide seat occupancy has increased to over 60%, it is road trips which are generating higher traction. Booking trends show that customers are also choosing homestays or four- star and five-star accommodations, as hygiene and safety is a priority now.
An unspecified number of people were evacuated from coastal areas of Odisha where Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore were likely to experience heavy rainfall accompanied by high-velocity winds, particularly on May 19 and 20, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said.
Sensing anger and unhappiness over the pathetic condition of the 'ghats' (banks) along sacred Ganga river ahead of Chhath Puja -- the most popular Hindu festival in Bihar, the state government has began a cleanliness drive and beautification of all ghats in Patna and outside.
The weatherman said when 'Amphan' makes the landfall between West Bengal's Digha, some 180 km from Kolkata, and Hatiya island in Bangladesh on Wednesday afternoon or evening, it will pack sustained wind speed of 155 to 165 kmph, gusting at 185 kmph. The gale-force wind, blowing at a speed of 240 to 250 kmph and gusting to 275 kmph at one point, had lost intensity and was moving at a speed of 200 to 210 kmph, gusting to 230 kmph on Tuesday evening.
They entered the Bihar poll battle to protect and carry forward their fathers' political legacy, but many of them could not win their own seat though some tasted victory.
Alleging that the BJP-led Centre was pursuing 'vendetta politics', West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed to the Union government to withdraw its order recalling Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay and allow the senior bureaucrat to work for people amid the COVID-19 crisis.
'The TMC has become a private limited company.'
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Banerjee said the state is targeting to shift at least 10 lakh people to safer places in a bid to avoid any loss of life.
If you are a Bihari, you come with built-in patience and acceptance, points out Asmita Bihari.
The passengers of Howrah bound Kandari Express from Digha that reached its destination on Friday wee hour after several hours of scheduled time, were worried about getting back home. But, none of the 325 passengers could imagine that a pleasant surprise was awaiting them from Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee ahead of the assembly elections in the state.
According to the quality of service rules, not more than 2 per cent of total calls in a telecom circle on a network should automatically get disconnected.