"It is a very proud moment for us. The country is celebrating," Kovind's daughter Swati said.
If the government had woken up on August 18, then a more planned evacuation was possible and most of the lakhs of people marooned today would not be there. It is clear that there has been a series of grave and criminal blunders that have led to this disaster of huge proportions. The trouble is, even now we do not know who people are whose neglect caused this disaster, and going by our track record we may never know who they are
In a clear snub to its coalition partner, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday cancelled a dinner for the top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party, to convey his disapproval about an advertisement featuring him with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and another on the aid provided by Gujarat during the devastating floods that had hit Bihar two years ago. The Janata Dal - United leader has always distanced himself from Modi.
Twenty people were killed on Saturday in rain-related incidents in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan even as rivers continued to be in spate in Bihar.
'We would try our best that the temple structure becomes visible in the next two years.'
Fourteen people, including a member of Legislative Assembly and two former MPs, were on Monday sentenced to 10 years in jail by a fast track court in a case related to an attack on Sitamarhi collectorate and subsequent police firing in which five persons were killed in 1998. Another convict was sentenced to five years in prison.
Several places in Arunachal Pradesh, including capital Itanagar, were cut off by floods and landslides.
The Congress and various opposition parties have demanded that NEET and JEE examinations be deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic and floods in parts of the country, even as the Union government has made it clear that they will be held as per schedule with due precautions.
The Deen Bachao, Desh Bachao conference in Patna on April 15 was attended by lakhs of Muslims. Will the electoral dividends from this rally be reaped by Nitish Kumar, the BJP (through Hindu consolidation), by both Nitish and the BJP or will it be reaped more by the anti-BJP forces, asks Mohammad Sajjad.
The India meteorological department has stated that day temperatures are likely to be above normal by 0.5 degree Celsius, reports Sanjeeb Mukherjee.
A flood-like situation prevailed in Bihar capital Patna on Thursday after it was lashed by very heavy rains over the last 24 hours.
Stating that the fight against COVID-19 is at the final stage, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday cautioned against letting the guard down before it is completely over and requested states to enhance the vaccination coverage and motivate the over 12 crore beneficiaries who are due for their second dose to take it.
'Because of the apprehension that I could be implicated in any other case by the Uttar Pradesh government, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had helped me on humanitarian grounds'
The IMD has also issued a red-coded warning alert to the Odisha and West Bengal coasts.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said career of students 'cannot be put under jeopardy for long'. 'Life has to go on. Life has to move ahead. Precious year of students cannot be wasted,' the bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai and Krishna Murari, said during the hearing conducted through video conferencing while paving the way for commencement of the exams as scheduled.
Rahul Gandhi and young leaders close to him are planning to connect with party workers on the ground and are preparing to embark on a nationwide yatra, reports Archis Mohan.
Communist Party of India general secretary A B Bardhan, who was taken ill while on way to flood-hit Saharsa and Madhepura districts in Bihar, was flown to the national capital on Monday where he was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
At the bottom of the water index for 2016-17 are Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh (UP), and Haryana, which are major producers of paddy, wheat, along with a host of horticulture crops.
Nearly all FMCG companies like Marico, HUL, ITC and the rest have been indicating that the operating environment has been challenging, with drop in consumption, especially in rural areas, severe crunch in market liquidity conditions, and disruptions and floods in several parts of the country. To overcome this, they are boosting their direct reach in the countryside.
A landslide dammed river started flowing normally after sweeping away debris that had blocked it.
Very heavy rains are expected over north Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, east Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Sikkim in the next 48 hours, with cyclonic storm Phailin now closer to the Chattisgarh-Odisha border, the National Disaster Management Authority has said.
'Urbanisation results in heavy rainfall events.'
Despite onion prices hitting Rs 130 a kg in the wholesale market, farmers have not gained enough to make a profit this season. Farmers and other stakeholders in the value chain estimate that 30 per cent crop damage this kharif season would result in a decline of about 2 million tonnes in output from Lasalgaon district alone. Similar crop damage across the country could lead to an onion shortage of nearly 7 million tonnes this year.
The hounding of Rhea Chakraborty in the Sushant Singh Rajput case is a drug that is being carefully pumped into India's veins to make it comfortably numb as it is wracked by economic ruin and disease, notes Sumit Bhattacharya.
Chief Secretary K A H Subramanian confirmed having ordered a vigilance probe into the allegations against Goswami and others saying the inquiry report was expected within a month.
JD-U leaders believe Prashant Kishor's entry would benefit its case for contesting a larger number of seats in Bihar in next year's general election.
As Kashmir valley remains under flood water, Air India has decided to ferry free of cost tourists trapped in Srinagar while Gujarat and Bihar governments are sending 75,000 food and dry food packets for affected people.
'Sharad Yadav was deeply hurt by Nitish Kumar's decision, taken without consulting the senior party leaders at a time when opposition unity was to be strengthened against the BJP. He felt ignored and is likely to take a final stand soon.'
Ahead of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's meeting with chief ministers of four Naxal-affected states next week, top bureaucrats of these states on Friday held a strategy session here on the roadmap for dealing with the menace.
The rift between the Bharatiya Janata Party and ally Janata Dal-United widened on Sunday with Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi pulling out of functions to be addressed by Nitish Kumar to protest the return of flood relief money to Gujarat, after which the chief minister cancelled his programme.
A public interest litigation was on Monday filed in the Patna high court against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for allegedly not utilising the Rs five crore in funds received from Gujarat in 2008 for Kosi flood relief.Chhaya Sarkar filed the PIL alleging that the chief minister, who was the chairman of the state disaster management authority, had committed an offence under Section 53 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 by not using the funds received from Gujarat.
'A little old man who has renounced personal possessions, walking with bare feet on the cold earth in search of a great human ideal'.
Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
Photojournalist Chandu Mhatre, one of the first to reach Bhopal after India's worst industrial disaster ravaged the city, remembers his worst seven days, in a conversation with Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com.
Dinesh Kumar Mishra narrates the travails of a village uprooted by the mighty Bagmati.
Monsoon normally starts withdrawing beginning September 1 from west Rajasthan.
Shut for nearly a year due to the pandemic, schools reopened in Bihar on March 1. Rediff.com's Archana Masih spoke to 10-11 year olds about their year away from school and what it feels like to be back.
India's exports fell for the fourth straight month in June as shipments of key segments like petroleum and textiles declined but the country's trade turned surplus for the first time in 18 years as imports dropped by a steeper 47.59 per cent.
The Bihar CM may be in the Opposition but his endorsement of Ram Nath Kovind, the NDA's presidential candidate, is among the many recent decisions that puts him apart from the others.