Dominic Xavier mulls over the intriguing puzzle why the PM-CARES fund is opposed to the transparency guaranteed by the RTI.
The funds will be released to West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Sikkim as assistance for the damage caused by cyclone, floods and landslides during the year.
The BJP hailed the order as a "resounding blow to the nefarious designs" of Rahul and the Cong described it as a "body blow to transparency".
Houses in low lying areas of Kerala were flooded in the heavy rains, while the accompanying strong winds uprooted trees, damaged homes and caused power disruptions, throwing normal way of life into disarray across the state.
This comes as Supreme Court is hearing a petition filed by lawyer-cum-petitioner, Gaurav Kumar Bansal, seeking an ex gratia compensation for those family members, who died due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
'At COP30, the emphasis will be on unlocking climate finance, reinforcing the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and building resilience through inclusive transitions and the mainstreaming of adaptation.'
'There were literally thousands of houses with cracks.' '40 percent of the town has been affected.'
With different agencies showing divergent predictions regarding the southwest monsoon, the central government and states are gearing up to face adversity with various line ministries reportedly being directed to undertake mock drills and hold preparatory meetings. Around 56 per cent of the net cultivable area of the country is rain-fed, accounting for 44 per cent of foodgrain production. The June-September rains contribute around 73 per cent of the annual precipitation.
Five persons were killed on Tuesday in two separate incidents of landslips triggered by incessant rains in Meghalaya's West Garo Hills district.
Singh, who is in China, said on Twitter that he had spoken to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and assured of all possible help.
The maximum damage has been reported from Mandi, Kangra and Chamba districts, he said, adding that so far 36 weather-related incidents have been reported from the state.
At least 12 people died and 34 persons were injured in a pharma plant explosion in Sangareddy district of Telangana on Monday, State Minister Damodara Raja Narasimha said.
The 2025 US National Security Strategy marks a major pullback, with America turning backward and effectively allowing China greater dominance in Asia. while long-time partners like India are left to face an increasingly unstable global order largely on their own, observes Rajeev Srinivasan.
Taking note of large-scale deaths because of the heat wave in various parts of country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked a Group of Ministers to discuss and decide on its inclusion as natural calamity.
"The international community should get onboard so that the environmental balance is not destroyed," he said.
A comprehensive risk assessment warns that Kishtwar district in Jammu and Kashmir faces a serious threat from glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), endangering lives, infrastructure, and the ecosystem. The report calls for immediate mitigation measures and long-term strategies to build resilience.
'...they always address problems superficially, never tackling root causes.' 'Currently, the policy response will focus on immediate relief -- getting people to safety, providing facilities, clearing debris.' 'This is necessary, but once immediate relief operations end, everything returns to 'normal' without addressing underlying vulnerabilities.'
The court also directed that the NDRF should be trained and equipped to tackle the drought-like situation.
'You are talking as if Patna has been the only place which has suffered on account of heavy rain. What happened in Mumbai and America when these places were battered by similar downpour?'
The fund generated a lot of interest immediately after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced its formation of the fund in the last week of March after the COVID-19 outbreak and appealed for donations, prompting several private firms, government bodies and individuals, including celebrities, to donate money.
The successful effort to combat Cyclone Phailin threatens to put disaster mitigation, and a fundamental overhaul of how disaster management in India is structured, on the back-burner, says Anand Sarkar.
Earlier on Saturday, six bodies were recovered and two more were retrieved a short time later, the police said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reviewed the preparedness to deal with the situation arising out of the likely formation of Cyclone Jawad that is expected to hit the North Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coast and directed officials to take every possible measure to ensure that people are safely evacuated.
Sudha and Akshata Murthy's candid confessions about each other.
Karnataka suffered a crop loss in around 97,365 hectares out of the total bearing area of 2,26,244 hectares of coffee and spices plantations.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar has rejected a privilege notice against Union Home Minister Amit Shah after he cited a 1948 government press release to authenticate his statement that a Congress leader was part of the management of Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had moved the notice against Shah for "casting aspersions" on Congress Parliamentary Party head Sonia Gandhi.
Modi called for ensuring maintenance of all essential services such as power, telecommunications, health and drinking and their immediate restoration in the event of damages caused to them.
Centre releases Rs1,712cr to TN, Rs 1,234cr to Karnataka for drought.
The construction of a Bailey bridge to connect the landslide-hit areas, where several people are believed to be stranded, alongside the deployment of sniffer dogs and over 1,000 rescuers from Central and state emergency response teams conducting massive search operations, constitutes one of the largest rescue efforts in the Wayanad, devastated by a deadly calamity.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's sudden resignation after only a year in office has thrown Japan into political turmoil, raising doubts about how the country will handle economic and regional challenges, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
After the initial release of funds, the central government follows certain rules and guidelines before awarding the final aid to any state for a natural calamity.
Madhya Pradesh minister P C Sharma said the rain-affected roads in the state would be repaired by November 30.
Nine more people have died as heavy rains lashed Uttar Pradesh for the third day, taking the death toll to 28, while a red alert has been sounded on Tuesday in six districts including the worst-hit Barabanki and Gonda.
On Wednesday, Air India had carried out a test flight landing at the naval base.
States have been told to prepare in advance to counter any impact of an adverse southwest monsoon.
State pegs total loss due to rains at Rs 8,481 crore.
Relentless heavy rain led to a landslide on the route to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop the Trikuta hill on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least five people and injuring 14, officials said.
Many families in the affected area are finding it hard to sever their emotional ties with their homes and move out.
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.
The number of subsidence-affected homes rose to 678 while 27 more families were evacuated to safety, a bulletin from the Disaster Management Authority in Chamoli said, adding so far 82 families have been shifted to safe locations in the town.
