The home ministry on Wednesday dropped domestic air travel from the list of prohibited activities during the ongoing lockdown, paving the way for operations of regular commercial flights. Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla issued the order in this effect in his capacity as chairperson of the national executive committee under the National Disaster Management Act.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Centre and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board on implementation of safety guidelines issued by it for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu.
Maharashtra has decided to relax lockdown restrictions on the basis of Covid positivity rate and availability of oxygen beds in Maharashtra. In a late night order, the state government said it will implement the new five-level eased curbs from Monday. This comes a day after Uddhav Thackeray's office took a U-turn on unlock plan announced by earlier by minister Vijay Wadettiwar. Here's all you need to know about the five-level unlock plan in Maharashtra:
Tamil Nadu government deployed state and national disaster response force teams in Kanyakumari district, which bore the brunt of the rain fury.
The Delhi government had been forced to impose lockdown amid a steep rise in COVID-19 cases on April 20. Although, the cases have come down and positivity rate has reduced from the high of 35 per cent on April 26 to around 23 per cent now, but strictness is needed.
Heavy rains continued to pound Chennai and nearby districts on Monday under the impact of a cyclonic storm, which is likely to cross the coast in Andhra Pradesh on December 5.
The horrific disaster that has struck Uttrakhand has been assessed as a mix of natural and man-made. In fact, the various media analyses indicate we were asking for it and there were enough warnings and indications that this would happen, says Lt Gen (retd) Prakash Katoch.
The India Meteorological Department on Friday predicted that Delhi will likely receive light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms for the next 4-5 days.
The National Disaster Response Force on Friday intensified its relief and rescue operations in the rain and flood-battered Chennai and its adjoining areas as it added 20 more teams for the job and rescued over 10,000 people till now.
Nearly 6,000 passengers were stranded as train services on the Konkan Railway route in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district were suspended on Thursday after a river overflowed following heavy rains, while incessant downpour badly hit road and rail traffic in several parts of the state, including around Mumbai, as authorities called in NDRF to help the administration in rescue efforts.
The entire coastal region of Odisha has been experiencing rainfall since Friday night.
The pleas raising issues about the dam, which was built in 1895 on the Periyar river in Idukki district of Kerala, came up for hearing before a bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and CT Ravikumar.
This is more than 25 per cent higher as compared to the same period of the previous year when the prime minister had 78 domestic engagements.
He also ordered discontinuation 'with immediate effect' of the services of a private agency which was making telephonic contact with home-quarantined individuals to guide them.
The court also directed that the NDRF should be trained and equipped to tackle the drought-like situation.
'What's being predicted for Mumbai is not so different from what Kolkata experienced.' 'People should definitely be alert and aware and follow the advice of the disaster managers.'
One person was killed in a landslide caused by heavy rains in Vijayawada city but no other casualties have been reported from elsewhere so far, according to sources in the State Disaster Management Authority.
'We are not organising any large celebrations on New Year's Eve to avoid last-minute changes in guidelines.'
The national camps at Sports Authority of India (SAI) Centres have been shut since mid-March to contain the virus, which has infected over 65,000 people and caused more than 2,000 deaths in India. Kiren Rijiju, on May 3, had stated that camps for all athletes will resume by May end.
The paper said 65,130 people were killed in 3,175 incidents of floods. Some 40,358 people died in 117 tropical cyclones, with 344.9 deaths per mortality event. There were 706 heat wave incidents that claimed the lives of 17,362 people, the paper said, adding there is a rise in the number of casualties because of this type of EWE.
Taking strong exception to former West Bengal chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay skipping a meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, government sources on Wednesday said his conduct has made a severe dent to Indian Administrative Service and it could lead to anarchy.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday donated a month's salary over and above Prime Minister Narendra Modi's directive to all BJP MPs to contribute Rs one crore from MPLAD funds in the country's fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
Kejriwal said the lockdown was required so that the gains made after much struggle are not lost.
The Manali-Leh National Highway-3 was blocked after heavy rainfall triggered landslide in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district on Friday.
A group of five people, including candidates but excluding security personnel, is allowed to take part in door-to-door campaigning.
Coal Secretary Anil Swarup has been appointed as school education secretary.
The eight Malaysian Tablighi activists were hiding in the Delhi-NCR region and they tried to take the advantage of a special flight arranged by the Malaysian high commission for their citizens stranded in India due to the coronavirus-triggered 21-day lockdown.
The court declined to increase the number of people or allow use of other floors of the mosque for offering prayers as sought by senior advocate Ramesh Gupta on behalf of the Delhi Waqf Board, but allowed them to move an application before the SHO for the same.
In accordance with ''Level-1'' alert under the graded response action plan (GRAP), private offices will function with physical attendance of 50 per cent of the staff, barring essential categories.
Strict lockdown-like restrictions are already in place in the southern stateand the Pinarayi Vijayan government decided to clamp the complete shutdown in the wake of severe spike in the positive cases.
Restaurants with 50 per cent capacity, weekly markets and religious places will reopen in Delhi from June 14, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday, saying the COVID-19 situation has significantly come under control in the city.
'Now they're talking about changing the Constitution; they feel they have no reason now to hide their intentions.'
The lack of proper coordination and disaster management plan on the part of railways resulted in the stampede at Allahabad station during last year's Maha Kumbh Mela in which 37 persons were killed, the Comptroller and Auditor General has said.
The Maharashtra government has announced a five-level plan to relax the coronavirus-induced restrictions in the state, based on the weekly positivity rate and the occupancy of oxygen beds.
Shah also struck a placatory tone in his interview and said that there was coordination between the Centre and the state in tackling Covid in Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the situation, and assured all possible assistance to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. The prime minister also chaired a meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to assess the situation.
'The prime minister expressed concern and assured all possible help to the state,' CMO said.
The district administration has instructed tourists to postpone their visit to Dharamshala in view of the heavy rains.
Fresh incidents of cloudburst, landslides and house collapses were reported in Uttarakhand after moderate to heavy rains lashed the state.
The SC asked the Kerala government to file its response during the day on an application against the three-day relaxation in COVID-19 restrictions in the state in view of the upcoming Bakrid festival.
