An Air India aircraft with 242 passengers on board heading to London crashed in the Meghaninagar area near Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon, the police said.
Assam's flood situation remained critical on Tuesday with over 6.71 lakh people affected in 20 districts in the second wave of flooding this year, as the Indian Air Force (IAF) rescued 13 stranded fishermen from the severely-hit Dibrugarh district, an official said.
'While it is very easy to blame the chief minister, the bureaucracy should be held accountable. Chief ministers come every five years but bureaucracy is a permanent setup. The bureaucracy is trained for handling such situations with alacrity.'
'The Weather Channel argues that India faces the gravest challenge: Climate change-induced health vulnerability.' 'This is an issue often neglected, alerts Claude Arpi: "Prolonged summers, unpredictable rains, floods, droughts, and rising sea levels are the harsh realities of climate change in the country. These factors increase the frequency and severity of illnesses, pushing people into poverty, and forcing migration".'
Amid a spike in Covid-19 infections in some parts of the country, the Centre on Wednesday asked states and Union territories to consider imposing local restrictions in public observance of the upcoming festivals and limit or do away with mass gatherings for effective control of the pandemic.
Local residents have stressed that land acquisition for rehabilitation must be completed promptly, as it has been delayed after estate owners challenged it in the Kerala high court.
In the last 24 hours, eight people have died after drowning in flood waters -- two each in Barpeta and Karimganj districts, one each in Darrang, Hailakandi, Nalbari and Sonitpur districts and eight people are still missing.
Altogether 34,189 people, comprising 14, 675 women and 3,787 children, are reeling under the impact of the deluge.
As Kerala battles severe heat, the meteorological department has issued a maximum temperature warning for 12 districts for the upcoming five days.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday visited the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel site for a review of the rescue operations being carried out there to evacuate 40 labourers trapped inside since Sunday morning following its partial collapse.
Since bodies are still being found from the slush and debris left behind by the river in both the states, the exact casualty count will be clear in the next few days after collating the details, officials said.
The SDMA said the ill-fated private boat was carrying 73 passengers, including eight crew.
Relaxation of restrictions as per the situation in different areas is only under consideration and no decision has been taken, a statement from the Chief Minister's Office said.
While incessant rain in the past 24 hours has wreaked havoc in parts of the northeast, triggering flash floods, the national capital experienced one of its hottest days.
What happened in Bengaluru is a wake-up call, no celebration of sport should ever come at the cost of human life, asserts veteran cricket correspondent K R Nayar.
Major rivers of the state, including the Brahmaputra, were flowing above the danger level at different places.
The National Disaster Management Authority on Monday asked states to be more proactive on disaster management and appoint full-time chiefs for disaster management authorities. "The states have to become more proactive. The responsibility to respond to any disaster is with them. I know many states which are not aware of what funds are available with them for natural disaster. We need to really educate the states," said NDMA's Vice Chairman M Shashidhar Reddy.
The truth about what triggered the fatal crash of the Dreamliner should not only help bring the guilty to book, but also outline the future course of action in aviation safety, notes Nivedita Mookerji.
An alert has been sounded across Assam as cyclone 'Mahasen' is likely to hit the northeastern states on Thursday night, officials have said. All boats and ferry services on Brahmaputra have been closed for the next three days and fishermen have been directed not to venture out to the river.
At least five people were killed in separate rain-related incidents on Tuesday in Bengaluru, which has been reeling under incessant rains for the past three days causing widespread flooding in several residential areas and turning roads into virtual rivers.
As the low-pressure area in the south-eastern Arabian Sea intensified into a severe depression on Friday, heavy rains lashed many parts of Kerala and huge tidal waves started hitting low-lying coastal areas.
The number of houses that have developed cracks has now risen to 826 out of which 165 are in the "unsafe zone", a bulletin from the Disaster Management Authority said.
An official statement said Modi chaired a meeting where he was briefed about the likelihood of above-normal maximum temperatures over most parts of the country during April-June, with high probability of such conditions in central western peninsular India.
The Brahmaputra and Barak rivers along with their tributaries are in spate, even as floodwaters started receding from a few areas, they said.
Many in the specialised force feel they are not being treated on par with those in the armed forces. Sahil Makkar reports
As Odisha and West Bengal are bracing for a severe cyclonic storm, governments of both states started evacuating people and while deciding to close educational institutions in vulnerable areas.
The flood situation in Assam took a serious turn on Thursday with over 100 villages inundated and nearly 50,000 affected people so far.
The ATRs have been sought on a range of matters within four weeks, the officials said.
The India Meteorological Department has issued a 'Red Alert' and predicted 'very heavy' to 'extremely heavy' rainfall across several districts of Assam over the next five days.
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.
The flood situation in Assam deteriorated drastically on Thursday with one person losing his life and nearly five lakh people reeling under the deluge across 12 districts, an official bulletin said.
As many as 400 fishermen from Gujarat are stranded in the Arabian Sea, 40 nautical miles off Daman coast in south Gujarat, due to the cyclonic storm advancing towards the state. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile, called a review meeting of the state Disaster Management Authority, the revenue department and district administration in view of the impending cyclone and directed the district administration to keep an eye on the changing weather.
The India Meteorological Department has issued a 'Red Alert' and predicted 'very heavy' to 'extremely heavy' rainfall across several districts of Assam till Thursday.
The flash flood affected 25,065 people in four districts - Mangan, Gangtok, Pakyong and Namchi, the report said.
The protesters demonstrated against the NTPC's Tapovan Vishnugad Hydroelectric Project which was being constructed in the area.
In case the test is negative, the passenger will still have to undergo seven-day home quarantine.
The important observation on the interpretation of the provision came in a judgement by which the top court directed National Disaster Management Authority to issue guidelines in six weeks for ex gratia compensation to families of those who died of Covid.
A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R S Reddy and M R Shah said if any State/Union Territory in exercise of their jurisdiction under the Disaster Management Act (DMA) has taken a decision that it is not possible to conduct the final year/terminal semester examination by September 30, then they can make an application to the UGC for extending the deadline.
The commission also directed political parties to adhere to the provisions of the model code of conduct and broader guidelines on Covid-19.
While rain intensity reduced on Tuesday compared to a day ago, affecting mainly districts in the Saurashtra region, administration carried out rescue and relief operations on a large scale, shifting thousands of people to shelters.
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