Photos that will make you forget everything you thought you knew about the state.
The South Central Railway as well as the East Coast Railway cancelled several trains while some were terminated midway, officials said, adding a few express trains were also diverted.
Here are the first moments of the severe cyclonic storm 'Fani'.
'It is very likely to move nearly northwards for next few hour and recurve slowly north-northeastwards along Narsapur, Yanam, Kakinada, Tuni and Visakhapatnam coasts during noon to evening on Wednesday and emerge into west central Bay of Bengal off North Andhra Pradesh coasts by night,' the India Meteorological Department said in its national bulletin.
Agitators squatted on railway tracks at various places, leading to cancellation, short-termination and diversion of several trains.
Unless Punjab has a chief minister who is able to look beyond community/vote bank politics, carry all sections of society, stop appeasing while addressing genuine concerns and break the stranglehold of the SGPC over Sikh affairs, my beloved home state is bound to die and conversions will be rampant, warns Sanjeev Nayaar.
Fresh rains triggered by a low pressure compounded the miseries of flood victims in Odisha.
The cyclone, according to an IMD report early Sunday, is developing into a severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal and can potentially become a very severe cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours, S N Pradhan, the chief of NDRF said in New Delhi.
Swami Swaroopanand, who was the Shankracharya of Dwarka, Sharda, and Jyotish Peeth, was not keeping well for over a year, his aide said.
On Monday night, when President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Padma awards at a civil investiture ceremony in the Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the loudest applause was reserved for Swami Sivananda, the 125-year-old yoga guru who walked barefoot to receive the Padma Shri -- after prostrating before Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and President Kovind.
As cyclone Hudhud weakened and moved to Chhattisgarh, Odisha government on Monday braced for relief and rehabilitation in the affected southern districts where its damaged houses and uprooted trees even as heavy rainfall was expected to lash these areas.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance released its manifesto for the February 20 Punjab polls on Saturday, promising a slew of sops for various sections, including 75 per cent reservation in all government jobs for youngsters from the state, an unemployment allowance, 35 per cent reservation for women in government jobs and massive infrastructure development.
According to an official, two fresh deaths have been reported in Cuttack and Khurda districts of the state.
The extremely severe cyclonic storm, which made landfall at Puri on Friday, unleashed copious rain and windstorm that gusted up to 200 kmph, blowing away thatched roofs of houses, swamped towns and villages, before weakening and entering West Bengal
Unusual means of connecting with the electorate are also being adopted by ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government, who are doing their bit to reach out to the voters.
The weather system over the South Andaman Sea and the adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal is very likely to move north-westwards and strengthen into a depression by Saturday, the Met Department said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party plans to celebrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday on September 17 over a period of 16 days as Seva Pakhwara (service fortnight).
Accepting Odisha's proposal of constructing an additional 162 cyclone shelter houses as they helped in providing safe stay for people after evacuation from the coast, WB team agreed to provide assistance of $55 million for the purpose, the sources said.
The railways observed a week of Azadi ki Rail Gadi, from July 18-23, through 27 trains and 75 railway stations, across 24 states that are linked to the Indian freedom struggle.
Yogi and other ministers performed yoga to celebrate the eighth edition of the International Day of Yoga, June 21, 2022.
'All hydropower projects in the Himalayan region must be stopped.' 'Joshimath is not alone.'
West Bengal and Odisha have evacuated lakhs of people from vulnerable areas to safety as severe cyclonic storm 'Yaas' is nearing the coast and is expected to make landfall near Dhamra Port in Bhadrak district early on Wednesday morning.
Born on 8 August 1896 in Sylhet district (now in Bangladesh) of undivided India, Swami Sivananda lost his mother and father at the age of six. Due to abject poverty, his beggar parents could feed him mainly boiled rice water during his childhood days.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said all families in Puri and in those parts of Khurda, which had been 'extremely severely affected' in the storm, will get 50 kg of rice, Rs 2,000 in cash and polythene sheets, if covered under the Food Security Act (FSA).
Earlier, the IMD had predicted light to moderate rainfall accompanied by wind with 40 to 50 kmph in north coastal Odisha under its impact, he 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 Odisha government stepped up relief and restoration activities as cyclone Hudhud passed to neighbouring Chhattisgarh on Monday after claiming three lives, damaging about 50,000 thatched houses, electrical infrastructure and roads in four districts.
Chants of 'Jai Jagannath' rent the air all over as the news about the Supreme Court giving its nod for holding the world famous car festival in the pilgrim town reached the state bringing cheers among people, irrespective of caste, creed and religion.
'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.
The idols of Lord Ganesh, the god of prosperity and wisdom and a slayer of obstacles ('vighna-harta'), will be installed in homes across the state with pomp and gaiety.
According to the SRC, the evacuation of eight lakh people is the largest-ever evacuation operation in the country.
The Supreme Court had on Monday allowed the holding of the Rath Yatra in Odisha's Puri, a ground on which the Gujarat government had moved its plea.
Flood waters engulfed vast areas of the delta region of Mahanadi river system in Odisha even as the death toll due to heavy rains and floods in the state climbed to 34.
Petrol price on Thursday was hiked by 35 paise per litre and diesel by 15 paise, pushing rates to a new high across the country. Petrol in Delhi now costs Rs 101.54 a litre and diesel Rs 89.87 per litre, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The increase comes after rates stayed mute for three days. Petrol price was last hiked on July 12, on a day when diesel rates had seen its first reduction in almost three months. The increase on Thursday neutralised the 16 paise price cut in diesel on July 12.
Even as cyclone Fani made landfall on Friday morning near Puri in Odisha, various states took measures on a war footing to mitigate the suffering caused to the common man. Here's a photo essay on how states tackled the most powerful cyclone to hit India in 20 years.
'With profound sorrow we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning,' the MEA tweeted.
The IMD has also issued a red-coded warning alert to the Odisha and West Bengal coasts.
On the itinerary: Luxury camping, tribal homestays, heritage cities.
Unless controlled and contained, given the untested belief that the north Indian labour support and follow the Hindutva kind of political ideology, there is a potential in terms of ideological clashes with their Dravidian brethren in the local neighbourhoods, and it all escalating into violence, especially during election time, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of the ill-fated aircraft have been retrieved. AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau) is conducting investigations,' Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted, as fresh questions were raised on the safety parameters of the runway.
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