As voting begins in Bihar in the first phase of assembly elections on Wednesday, the fate of political leaders depends on how the electorate perceives they can solve ground-level issues from reverse migration to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the flood situation in Assam remaining critical on Monday and affecting a population of nearly 43 lakh in 33 of its 35 districts, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma directed air dropping of food and other relief materials in areas where there is heavy inundation, officials said.
The storm is likely to impact Mumbai, Thane and other coastal districts of Maharashtra like Raigad and Palghar along with Valsad, Navsari, Surat, Bhavnagar and Bharuch districts of Gujarat and Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Preparations for the impending cyclone were discussed at a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, a home ministry statement said.
After some Governors, it was the turn of Vice-Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority M Shashidhar Reddy and five of its members to resign after the new government asked them to quit their posts.
Strict lockdown-like restrictions are already in place in the southern stateand the Pinarayi Vijayan government decided to clamp the complete shutdown in the wake of severe spike in the positive cases.
Ernakulam district authorities on Tuesday said 350 cumecs of the water from Idamalayar, which reached Periyar river but there was no considerable rise in the water-level.
"The death toll has gone up to 24. The search operations are still going on. However, rains have started. "Despite that, our officials, and the NDRF are engaged in search and rescue operations," Idukki District Collector H Dineshan said.
'Already, the temperature has touched 39 degrees in some parts of Gujarat and now we are in the last week of February.' 'We need to activate the heat action plan from March 1.'
During the heavy rains through the week here and other regions of Tamil Nadu not only inflatable boats, but preparedness, determination and presence of mind came in handy for personnel including policemen and women, civic and forest workers who rescued people, animals and snakes.
The strict curbs, including a curfew from 8 pm till 7 am, and prohibitory orders during the daytime on weekdays came into force from Monday in the state.
The powerful cyclone, strongest to hit India in 20 years, made landfall at around 8 am in India's eastern state of Odisha, killing at least 12 people.
The severe cyclonic storm, which brought in its wake heavy rain coupled with gale wind till early Sunday, uprooted hundreds of trees and snapped cables in Kolkata and in the coastal districts of North and South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore, bring life to a near-halt.
Over 1,800 dead in just over a week! The bristling summer continues to claim lives across India as temperatures soar between mid-to high-40 degrees. And there's no respite in sight for at least the next couple of days.
Those who know Alapan Bandyopadhyay describe him as measured, tactical and extremely focused on achieving what he sets out to do. To many it came as a surprise that he would cut short a meeting with the prime minister.
Light to moderate rainfall in various parts of the country, including Delhi, on Tuesday brought respite from the scorching sun but heat wave claimed 16 more lives in Andhra Pradesh and three in Odisha, raising the nationwide toll to 2,357.
"This is our most massive deployment in any flood disaster till date. Now we have close to 1,600 personnel with 21 officers and 200 rubberised inflatable boats. We have rescued over 16,000 people to safer locations till now," the DG said.
A day after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar demanded central assistance of Rs 12,000 crore to tide over the drought in 33 of the 38 districts in the state, opposition leaders appeared keener to politicise the issue by portaying themselves as champions of millions of drought-hit farmers.
Several states of the country are battling grim flood situations that have affected lakhs of people and have also resulted in loss of life and property.
"Six bodies have been retrieved from the accident site so far. The rescue teams are still on job," an NDRF spokesperson said.
Kerala State Disaster Management Authority has warned about the possibilities of landslides in the hilly areas already hit by extremely heavy rainfall in the past few days and directed people living in the region and government authorities to be vigilant.
Heavy rainfall and high speed wind has badly affected normal life in Bihar in last 24 hours because of cyclonic storm Phailin impact of cyclonic storm. "More heavy rains are expected in Bihar in next 24 hours," a met department official said.
The West Bengal government has taken all precautionary measures to deal with Cyclone Yaas, likely to hit the state on May 26, and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will stay at a control room set up for the purpose to monitor the situation, officials said.
The report said the moratorium for three more months will imply that companies need not pay till August 31, 2020, and this means that there is almost minimal possibility of companies being able to service their interest liabilities then in September.
It was a repeat of scenes witnessed last month as motorists struggled to manoeuvre their vehicles on flooded roads and subways while showers led to traffic congestion in Chennai and suburbs.
Six people have lost their lives so far in the Cyclone Tauktae-hit coastal and surrounding Malnad districts of Karnataka, officials said.
With the COVID-19 positivity rate touching 0.55 percent, the Delhi government has decided to re-impose night curfew from Monday, according to sources.
Photographer Sriram Selvaraj captures some glimpses of a water-logged Chennai
The air carriers' liability and insurance draft bill has proposed a five-fold increase in compensation in case of death or injury, the report said.
Incessant showers lashed Mumbai and its neighbouring areas on Wednesday morning, leading to flooding in many low-lying areas and traffic snarls on roads.
A total of 1.79 lakh hectare agricultural land was submerged and around 90 per cent of rhino habitats -- the Kaziranga National Park and the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary -- are under water.
'What's being predicted for Mumbai is not so different from what Kolkata experienced.' 'People should definitely be alert and aware and follow the advice of the disaster managers.'
Heavy rains lashed south and east central Gujarat causing flood like situation in localities alongside rivers flowing through Valsad, Navsari and Surat districts and killing at least five persons at two places, officials said on Tuesday.
Nearly 6,000 passengers were stranded as train services on the Konkan Railway route in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district were suspended on Thursday after a river overflowed following heavy rains, while incessant downpour badly hit road and rail traffic in several parts of the state, including around Mumbai, as authorities called in NDRF to help the administration in rescue efforts.
Nearly four lakh people have been affected across seven districts of Assam.
Bangladesh on Wednesday launched a massive evacuation campaign as weathermen warned that cyclonic storm Mahasen had moved further towards the coast.
With Tamil Nadu witnessing a sharp increase in the covid-19 cases, the government on Saturday announced clamping a two-week 'total lockdown' across the state to curb the spread of the pandemic.
The flood situation eased in Assam and northern districts of West Bengal with water receding and no fresh deaths being reported in both the states.
The home minister held a video conference with Chief Ministers of Gujarat and Maharashtra -- Vijay Rupani and Uddhav Thackeray respectively -- and Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Praful Patel, and assured them all central help in view of the impending cyclone, an official statement said in New Delhi.
On Monday, around 5,000 nurses of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi went on a strike over their long pending demands, including those with regard to the Sixth Central Pay Commission.
ISRO needs next generation launchers and new facilities to manufacture and launch them.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances