Hundreds of people are being evacuated from coastal villages in Kutch district in view of cyclone Biparjoy, but authorities are facing a challenge as many villagers are reluctant to leave their livestock and belongings behind.
A total of 33 teams have been earmarked by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to undertake relief and rescue operations in Gujarat and Maharashtra ahead of the expected landfall of cyclone 'Biparjoy' near the Jakhau port in Kutch district, officials said on Wednesday.
It will also be the third cyclone to hit the western state in June since 1965, the meteorological office said.
All armed forces including the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and Indian Coast Guard have made necessary preparation to provide assistance to the local people of Gujarat.
The WR is taking various measures including setting up disaster management rooms, help desks, and keeping relief trains ready.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has seized 56 kg of cocaine from a container near the Mundra port in Gujarat's Kutch district, a DRI official said on Thursday.
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad has seized 75.3 kg of heroin estimated to be worth Rs 376.5 crore from a container near the Mundra port in Kutch district, an official said on Tuesday.
Police have arrested a shopkeeper in Gujarat's Kutch district for not taking vaccine against COVID-19, against the backdrop of the state government setting July 31 as the deadline for people in such businesses to get their first jab.
SpiceJet said its freighter aircraft, which was heading to Chongqing in China, returned to Kolkata on Tuesday as the pilots realised after take off that its weather radar was not working.
The state government has begun preparations to deal with the fallout of the cyclone as it will bring very strong wind and heavy rainfall in the region, officials said.
Since January this year, Indian exporters have begun to dread the shipping news. That's because most of it would be about another lot of shipping companies deciding to avoid Indian ports on account of delays.
The two episodes on a single day have taken the total number of technical malfunction incidents involving SpiceJet aircraft to seven in the last 17 days.
The CG and ATS personnel seized the boat Al Sakar which had 50 kg heroin on board, in the Arabian Sea, the official said.
Relief Commissioner Alok Pandey told reporters that the government is constantly working to ensure that there is no loss of life due to the weather phenomenon.
SpiceJet will now be 'doubly careful' and strengthen inspection of aircraft before they leave to operate flights, airline's Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said on Wednesday.
No lives were lost after cyclone Biparjoy made landfall. Preparations for Biparjoy were not only extensive, they were also telecast far and wide. Ahead of the cyclone's landfall, Shyam G Menon observes there was considerable publicity on how much the government was geared up to face the storm and its aftermath.
Aviation regulator DGCA conducted 53 spot checks on 48 SpiceJet aircraft between July 9 and July 13 and it did not find any major safety violations, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said on Monday. "However, as a safety measure, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered SpiceJet to use certain identified aircraft (10) for operations only after confirming to the regulator that all reported defects/malfunctions are rectified," Singh said in his written reply in Rajya Sabha. SpiceJet planes were involved in at least eight technical malfunction incidents in the 18-day period starting June 19, following which the DGCA had on July 6 issued a show-cause notice to the airline, stating that "poor internal safety oversight" and "inadequate maintenance actions" have resulted in degradation of safety margins.
SpiceJet has failed to 'establish safe, efficient and reliable air services' under the terms of Rule 134 and Schedule XI of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, the notice issued by the DGCA stated.
Even as raw material prices start cooling off from their peaks, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies' margins are expected to remain under pressure at least in the next quarter. This is because commodity prices continue to remain high year-on-year (YoY). Consumer companies will also continue to increase rates as they have been taking price hikes in a staggered manner. They have not yet passed the entire price increase of raw materials to consumers.
The operation was jointly carried out by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) off Agatti coast in Lakshadweep, sources told PTI.
The move comes days after the Indian Navy also warned of a possible terror attack from the sea side.
During these eight weeks, the budget carrier will be subjected to "enhanced surveillance" by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Hemant Shivsaran lists the number of projects the Modi government has announced since August to woo Gujarat voters.
Gujarat, for the second consecutive year, has topped the Niti Aayog's Export Preparedness Index 2021 which is aimed at assessing the readiness of the states in terms of their export potential and performance. Gujarat was followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana, according to the government think tank's report. Union territories and states like Lakshadweep, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Ladakh and Meghalaya were placed at the bottom.
Today, the current spike is accepted as a long-term reality and has impacted all aspects of the economy in different ways
Airports hold pride of place in the government's National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) programme to monetise public assets. Private airport operators, including the Adani group, Fairfax, GMR and Zurich Airport, are expected to evince interest in the next round of public private partnership (PPP) development of state-owned Airport Authority of India (AAI) airports. Industry analysts, however, do not expect bids to be as high as the last round, which saw Adani group gain control of six airports.
Consumers can expect a 5G launch in the country soon. Telecom companies (telcos) say if auctions take place on time - the target is July - they would be able to offer some services in a few cities by the end of this year and a full roll-out from 2023. But the question is: will 5G turn the tables for telcos financially? Will average revenue per user (ARPU) improve? Will mobile consumers upgrade to 5G quickly and pay more? Will the expanded functions that 5G enables drum up sufficient revenues? In simple terms, will telcos make more money?
The state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd has proposed to lay a Rs 1,300 crore (Rs 13 billion) pipeline from Mundra in Gujarat to Delhi for transporting petroleum products to northern India.
Through increase in import duty, the government aims to help domestic oilseed crushers and edible oil producers who suffered badly last year due to cheap imports
"De-watering by pumps from INS Trikand and CGS Amal are continuing operation to keep the vessel safe. Presently, MV Infinity One continues to list and is proceeding to Karwar (with INS Trikhand escorting it) at slow speed. The vessel is expected to enter harbour later in the day," a defence spokesperson said on Thursday morning.
These mega projects, worth about Rs 1 trillion, would boost the economy, ensure smooth supply of petroleum products across the nation and also provide the much-needed relief to people looking to get back to work after the lockdown.
The government is buying out the shares of India Ports Global, which are now held in a 60-40 ratio by the JNPT and Deendayal Port Trust in Kandla.
The facility would be made available on a pilot basis, with complementary services.
It had also washed its hands off the fourth container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, despite making a winning bid, with Port of Singapore Authority as the lead partner.
Tropical storm 'Tauktae' (pronounced as Tau'Te) which had intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm, lies close to the Gujarat coast, the India Meteorological Department said. "The landfall process has started and will continue during next two hours," the IMD said.
Shipping: Policy to increase India flagged tonnage soon
Achal Kumar Joti will take over as the head of the Election Commission on July 6.
Nearly 750,000 tonnes of imported sugar are stuck at the Kandla and Mundra ports even as prices skyrocket in the domestic market. That's because the sugar importing mills in Uttar Pradesh have still not been able to arrive at an agreement on processing imported raw sugar by millers in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Mahindra Satyam has approached the Commerce Ministry for more time to develop the three IT Special Economic Zones in Andhra Pradesh as it has decided to go slow on its expansion plans due to the slowdown.
