Authorities are treating the sightings as a serious security and environmental matter, putting coastal villages on alert and intensifying patrolling on beaches.
Cyclone Ditwah exits Sri Lanka after causing widespread destruction and over 120 deaths, heading towards the Indian coast. Heavy rains and high winds are expected to continue.
Heavy rains continue to batter Tamil Nadu, causing a rise in reservoir levels and prompting a red alert. Schools and colleges are closed in several districts as authorities prepare for potential flooding.
The chief minister's office said the special team will be headed by IG Sparjan Kumar and will include four senior women IPS officers of the state.
Several Indian states bordering Pakistan have implemented stringent security measures, including school closures, blackouts, and cancellation of leave for police and administrative personnel, in response to escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. These measures were taken after India conducted airstrikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam massacre. Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and West Bengal have all implemented these precautionary measures.
Maharashtra has witnessed 823 incidents of communal unrest since January this year, with demands for the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb and the spread of distorted facts on social media fomenting fresh trouble. Districts like Nandurbar, Pune (Rural), Ratnagiri, Sangli, Beed, and Satara have seen communal unrest in recent days due to right-wing organizations' demands for the demolition of the Mughal emperor's tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The state witnessed 4,836 Hindu-Muslim related communal crimes in 2024, with 170 incidents classified as cognisable and 3,106 as non-cognisable cases. The violence in Nagpur, triggered by protests demanding the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb, highlights the role of social media in spreading inflammatory content and instigating people. While the state has taken measures to curb the spread of misinformation, concerns remain over the impact on communities and the need for promoting peace and understanding.
Severe cyclonic storm 'Montha' has begun making landfall off the Andhra Pradesh coast, with the process expected to continue for the next three to four hours. The storm is expected to cross the coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, near Kakinada, with wind speeds of 90-100 kmph.
According to a situation report issued by the DGS, the oil containment measures have temporarily stabilised the situation, but full risk mitigation will happen only on successful commencement of saturation diving to extract the remaining trapped fuel oil from the vessel, MSC Elsa 3.
It was "possibly a Pakistani fishing vessel", but the identity and other details will be ascertained once the boat is intercepted, the official said.
The Karnataka high court on Friday permitted the Union government to issue travel documents to facilitate the return of a Russian woman and her two minor daughters who had been discovered living in a cave in coastal Karnataka.
'We will win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in 2024.'
The crew of an Iraqi cargo vessel were denied permission to disembark at Karwar port in Karnataka by the coastal security authorities as per special instructions given by the central government "after the Pakistan incident", Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Friday.
Neymar was fined 16 million reais ($3.33 million) for breaching environmental rules during the construction of his coastal mansion in southeastern Brazil.
MLA of the ruling CPI-M and actor M Mukesh was on Tuesday formally arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the rape case against him on a complaint by a female actor.
This is important because he is to be seen as a sure winner before criss-crossing the state to campaign for candidates of the party or an alliance, highlights N Sathiya Moorthy.
Former Kerala Chief Minister and veteran CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan, a key figure in Kerala's political history, died on Monday at the age of 101. He was a founding member of the CPI(M) and served as Chief Minister from 2006 to 2011.
Abu Farhan Azmi, son of Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi, has denied brandishing a weapon in a fight in Goa, calling the incident a "small thing" that got out of hand. He maintains he is not against the coastal state and has been visiting Goa for 20 years. Azmi's father has recently faced criticism for comments praising Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy visited some inundated areas in their respective territories.
The ministry of civil aviation clarified that, contrary to circulating reports, a video recorder that had been recovered at the crash site was not the DFDR.
A Liberian cargo ship carrying 640 containers, including 13 hazardous cargoes, has sunk off the coast of Kerala, raising concerns of environmental damage. The ship, MSC ELSA 3, capsized and sank in the early hours of May 25 after listing rapidly. The three remaining crew members were rescued by the Indian Navy. The Indian Coast Guard is monitoring the situation for any oil spills and has positioned a ship with pollution response equipment at the scene. The ship was carrying 84.44 MT of diesel and 367.1 MT of furnace oil, in addition to the hazardous cargo. The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority has cautioned the public against touching any cargo containers or oil spills that may wash ashore.
Two passengers died and 75 others were rescued after a speed boat crashed into a ferry off the Mumbai coast. The ferry, carrying 80 passengers and five crew members, was on its way to Elephanta Islands when the speed boat circled it before crashing into it. The Navy and Coast Guard launched a massive rescue operation, with 11 Navy boats, three Marine Police boats, and a Coast Guard boat deployed. Four helicopters were also involved in the search and rescue operation. Police, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority personnel, and local fishermen are assisting in the rescue efforts. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that seven to eight passengers remain missing.
The exit deadline for Pakistani nationals visiting India on SAARC visas ended on April 26, while for the rest, except those on medical visas, it is set to close on Sunday, April 27 amid escalating tensions between the two countries over the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.
Coastal police stations and police chiefs have been alerted about suspicious vessels.
Holi was celebrated with pomp and splendor across India on Friday, with people soaking in the festivities by smearing 'gulaal' on each other and exchanging greetings and sweets. Homes and streets wore a colourful look as the revellers splashed colours and feasted on traditional delicacies. Public transport did not ply in the morning in most major cities while metro services started functioning from noon. As Holi coincided with the second Friday prayers during the holy Islamic month of Ramzan, security -- including increased patrolling and picketing -- was beefed up in several states. In Delhi, more than 25,000 security personnel were deployed. Police closely monitored about 300 sensitive areas with CCTV cameras and drones.
Jaydeep Apte, a Thane-based sculptor, had executed the contract to make the statue.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said if stainless steel had been used for construction of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue at Rajkot fort in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, it would not have collapsed.
Intermittent, widespread rains lashed Chennai and other regions of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday and the India meteorological department said the low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal has turned into a well-marked low pressure area and it is likely to become a depression.
In a letter sent to Naval commander Abhishek Karbhari, Area Coastal Security Officer and Area Civil-Military liaison officer, on August 20, an assistant engineer of the PWD in Malvan taluka of Sindhudurg district highlighted that parts of the statue were gathering rust and it was looking "unpleasant".
Cyclone Fengal expected to make landfall near Puducherry.
Maharashtra, which has witnessed a number of terror attacks with the latest being on Mumbai, has demanded constitution of a Central Coastal Security Authority.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said that one person died in the state in cyclone Dana, even as the administration evacuated around 2.16 lakh people from the low-lying areas.
This comes at a time when the group's copper plant in Tamil Nadu remains shut for nearly three years, causing a Rs 5 crore loss every day.
A random security check on fishing vessels by Coast Guards has found that several fishing vessels were operating under a single name and licence, a fishermen's organisation has said raising concerns over Mumbai's coastal security.
The woman and Althaf had been friends on Instagram for the last three months and both belonged to the same town (Karkala).
A 50-year-old American woman was found tied to a tree with an iron chain in a forest in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, and a set of documents, including an Aadhaar card with a Tamil Nadu address, were recovered from her possession, a police official said on Monday.
'Hindu voters in coastal Karnataka lean more towards Hindutva than Hinduism which explains why the Siddaramaiah government's perception as anti-Hindu worked wonders for the BJP in coastal Karnataka.'
Widespread rains lashed parts of Tamil Nadu on Thursday, prompting authorities to declare a holiday for schools in Chennai and many other districts.
As Cyclone Dana barrels toward the coasts of Odisha, threatening to impact nearly half of the state's population, the government is racing against time to execute a massive evacuation plan aimed at relocating about 10 lakh people in several coastal districts to safety. In West Bengal, the cyclone is set to bring heavy rainfall in several southern West Bengal districts, including Kolkata, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.
This is the first cyclone in the Bay of Bengal this pre-monsoon season.
Modi unveiled the statue on December 4 last year on the occasion of Navy Day. He also participated in the celebrations at the fort.
