A large number of charas packets, estimated to be worth crores of rupees, have been recovered in Gujarat's Kutch and Devbhumi Dwarka districts, according to police reports.
Despite ongoing tensions in West Asia, the successful arrival of the LPG carrier 'Nanda Devi' in Gujarat ensures a steady supply of liquefied petroleum gas to India, highlighting the country's efforts to secure its energy needs.
Wearing a white diving helmet and ochre robes, Modi sat cross-legged on the sea bed, folded his hands in prayers while being helped by the Navy divers and waved peacock feathers before offering them to Lord Krishna.
'We are stuck in a very bad situation. Thank you so much #NDRF for rescuing us,' Radha captioned the post, expressing her gratitude for the timely assistance.
The state government has begun preparations to deal with the fallout of the cyclone as it will bring very strong wind and heavy rainfall in the region, officials said.
Rain-related incidents claimed nine more lives in Gujarat, taking the death toll to 16 in two days, while another 8,500 people were relocated and rescued from flood-affected areas with rains continuing to lash some parts of the state for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, officials said.
Even as rains abated in most parts of Gujarat on Friday morning, several towns and villages witnessed water logging due to swollen rivers, officials said.
The situation in rain-battered Gujarat improved slightly on Thursday as the rainfall activity subsided, but Vadodara and some other parts of the state are still reeling under a flood-like situation due to overflowing rivers while the authorities continue the rescue and relief operations.
Proxy advisory firm IiAS has recommended that institutional investors should vote against Anant Ambani's appointment on the Reliance Industries board, citing his age as the reason. Is that why Anant and his dad, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani, worshipped at the Dwarkadhish temple in Devbhumi Dwarka district, Gujarat, on Tuesday?
Officials in coastal Devbhumi Dwarka said around 1,300 people have been shifted to safer places so far.
The India Meteorological Department has said that the landfall process of Cyclone 'Biparjoy' has started in Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat. The landfall process will carry on till midnight with wind speeds reaching a maximum of 140 kilometres per hour, the IMD said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated 'Sudarshan Setu', the country's longest cable-stayed bridge of 2.32 km, on the Arabian sea connecting Beyt Dwarka island to mainland Okha in Gujarat's Devbhumi Dwarka district.
The cyclone is expected to make landfall on Thursday evening as a 'very severe cyclonic storm' with maximum wind speed reaching up to 150 kilometres per hour, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
It will also be the third cyclone to hit the western state in June since 1965, the meteorological office said.
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.
Cyclone 'Biparjoy' has an extensive damaging potential and it is likely to impact Kutch, Devbhoomi Dwarka and Jamnagar districts of Gujarat the most, the India meteorological department said on Tuesday.
The cyclone will make a landfall at around 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm on Thursday
The very severe cyclonic storm 'Biparjoy' intensified into an 'extremely severe cyclonic storm' and is likely to cross Saurashtra-Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts around the afternoon of June 15 as a 'very severe cyclonic storm (VSCS)', the India Meteorological Department said on Sunday.
AAP's Gujarat chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi will contest the next month's assembly elections from Khambhalia seat in his home district of Devbhumi Dwarka, the party's national convener Arvind Kejriwal announced.
Cyclone Biparjoy has left a trail of destruction in Gujarat's Kutch and Saurashtra regions as some 1,000 villages are still without power with hundreds of electric poles getting damaged, while several coastal villages were flooded due to heavy rains and incoming seawater, officials said on Friday, a day after the storm made landfall.
Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall near Jakhau Port in Gujarat on Thursday evening with a wind speed of 115-125 kmph gusting to 140 kmph as heavy rains lashed the coastal region, where several areas plunged into darkness due to power cuts and a large number of trees, electric poles and hoardings got uprooted.
Hundreds of people are being evacuated from coastal villages in Kutch district in view of cyclone Biparjoy, but authorities are facing a challenge as many villagers are reluctant to leave their livestock and belongings behind.
Earlier, in September, authorities seized around 3,000 kg of the drug at the Mundra port in Gujarat's Kutch district.
The police detained five women and Shree Rajput Karni Sena president Mahipal Singh Makrana before he could meet them in Ahmedabad.
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.
Apart from 15 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 12 teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), personnel of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Indian Coast Guard and Border Security Force (BSF) are deployed for relief and rescue operations, officials said.
The rains were being caused due to a cyclonic circulation lying over north east Arabian sea and adjoining Saurashtra and Kutch regions, the IMD said in its bulletin.
Relief Commissioner Alok Pandey told reporters that the government is constantly working to ensure that there is no loss of life due to the weather phenomenon.
A total of 33 teams have been earmarked by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to undertake relief and rescue operations in Gujarat and Maharashtra ahead of the expected landfall of cyclone 'Biparjoy' near the Jakhau port in Kutch district, officials said on Wednesday.
"A fisherman from Thane in Maharashtra, who was on a fishing boat 'Jalpari,' was killed after the PMSA personnel opened fire on him and other crew members on Saturday evening," Devbhumi Dwarka Superintendent of Police Sunil Joshi said.
The India meteorological department on Sunday issued an 'orange' alert for Gujarat, saying the state was expected to receive "heavy to very heavy rainfall" on July 24.
Gujarat Police have registered an FIR on charges of murder and attempt to murder against 10 personnel of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) after they fired at an Indian fishing boat in the Arabian Sea off Gujarat coast, killing a crew member and injuring another, an official said on Monday.
When the Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was declared elected unopposed to the Lok Sabha from Surat on Monday, he became the first candidate to achieve the feat from Gujarat since its formation 64 years ago though the erstwhile state of Saurashtra saw a similar instance in 1951.
Fed up with cold response from district administration to their demand to declare Devbhoomi Dwarka in Ahmedabad as drought-hit, farmers on Tuesday knocked at the God's door for help and submitted a memorandum to Lord Krishna seeking divine intervention to alleviate their sufferings.
'I am entering politics because I have seen the sufferings of the people of Gujarat'
The DG said the maximum of four teams of the NDRF have been positioned in Kutch district and the Gujarat government has done an in-depth evacuation exercise as part of which fishing boats have been anchored, big ships have been sent to the high seas so that they are not affected by the tidal waves, more than 4,000 hoarding have been taken down so that they don't become deadly flying objects as strong winds blow.
Announcing yet another pre-poll "guarantee" in Gujarat, Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said his party, if voted to power in the state, will waive farm loans and also create a mechanism to buy produce from farmers at Minimum Support Price (MSP).
The results are expected to have a bearing on the 2019 parliamentary polls.
Heavy downpour continued in various parts of Gujarat on Tuesday and six people died in rain-related incidents in the last 24 hours, raising the toll to 69 since June 1, officials said.
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