'The problem is that all this reconstruction work is being monitored by the prime minister himself with inputs being provided directly by the PMO so nobody in the state government dare contradict them even if their suggestions are totally contrary to what the ecology of this region requires.'
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.
Nearly 1,000 pilgrims are stranded in various areas of Garhwal following a series of landslides in Uttarkashi and Chamoli districts.
Even as cyclone Fani made landfall on Friday morning near Puri in Odisha, various states took measures on a war footing to mitigate the suffering caused to the common man. Here's a photo essay on how states tackled the most powerful cyclone to hit India in 20 years.
Mount Agung has been hurling clouds of white and dark grey ash nearly 10,000 feet into the atmosphere since the weekend and lava is welling up in the crater.
As rains continue to lash across Kerala days ahead of the expected onset of Southwest monsoon, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday issued a red alert in five districts of the state for Sunday and Monday indicating extremely heavy rainfall.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to issue fresh guidelines for providing minimum standards of financial help to families of those who lost their lives to COVID-19.
The overwhelming feeling at the end of COP 27 was that despite decades of meetings and landmark accords, like the Paris Agreement, the world was still not doing enough to slow the climate crisis, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met his British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the COP26 climate summit here and discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in areas like green hydrogen, renewables and clean technology, economy and defence.
Heavy overnight rains across Uttarakhand on Monday led to a rise in the levels of most water bodies, including the Bhagirathi River and the Tehri Lake.
The prime minister also asserted that in view of the COVID-19 situation, the states must ensure that people follow all health precautions such as wearing of face masks, hand sanitisation and maintaining an adequate physical distance with each other while undertaking rescue efforts.
"You cannot have a lockdown of people, and a lockout of the economy. That is not the way to formulate policy. We are not criticising, we are only saying it is time to rethink, we will support the government in every possible way," said Kapil Sibal.
Ernakulam district authorities on Tuesday said 350 cumecs of the water from Idamalayar, which reached Periyar river but there was no considerable rise in the water-level.
Representing India at the 'High-Level Segment for Heads of States and Government' at the UN COP26 underway at Glasgow, UK, Prime Minister Modi said that India is working very hard on tackling climate change related issues.
The number of people infected with COVID-19 in teh US climbed to over 140,000 and the death toll reached 2,475.
Major rivers in Ratnagiri district, including Jagbudi, Vashishti, Kodavali, Shastri, Bav are flowing above the danger level. As a result, Khed, Chiplun, Lanja, Rajapur, Sangameshwar towns and nearby areas have been affected and residents are being shifted to safer places.
The IMD has also issued a red-coded warning alert to the Odisha and West Bengal coasts.
'We need an early warning system in India.'
Nine persons were on Sunday killed and five others injured as several houses caved in following a series of cloudbursts in different areas of Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district, taking the death toll since Friday to 47.
"I will fight for compensation, that is your right," he said.
Speaking during a video interaction with Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana beneficiaries from Madhya Pradesh, he also said that there was 'vikriti' (distortion) in the system of the previous government.
Incessant rains in the past few days have caused flood in at least three districts of Arunachal Pradesh, with Chief Minister Nabam Tuki sounding a red alert across the state.
The death toll from Thailand's worst flooding in decades reached 506 on Sunday, as flood waters threatened to inundate more areas in downtown Bangkok, the interior ministry said.
The strategic 900-km-long Chardham project worth Rs 12,000 crore aims to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns -- Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath -- in Uttarakhand.
The bodies were recovered on Saturday morning from the debris of flattened houses in the worst-hit Ukhimath area of the district, Disaster Management and Mitigation Centre officials said in Dehradun.
Estimated to cost Rs 125 crore, the centre, will be set up in Hyderabad.
West Bengal and Odisha have evacuated lakhs of people from vulnerable areas to safety as severe cyclonic storm 'Yaas' is nearing the coast and is expected to make landfall near Dhamra Port in Bhadrak district early on Wednesday morning.
Senior administrative officials have rushed to the spot and search and rescue operation has been launched.
"A recent Columbia University study that supports that death is prevented by earlier lockdowns bears the fact that Narendra Modi's government has done an excellent job in clamping lockdown," Tennessee-based Dr Indranill Basu Ray said in a statement.
Located in a small township in the eastern part of Bengaluru is IBM's new Security Command Centre, which is surrounded by offices of multinational tech companies. This unit is the centrepiece of IBM's multi-million dollar investment to help businesses prepare for the growing threat of cyberattacks across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. This facility is the first of its kind in the region. It helps train in cybersecurity response techniques through highly realistic and simulated cyberattacks.
It would be a tragedy if unchecked global warming destroys our habitat.
Rising healthcare costs have made health covers indispensable. how do you choose one that suits you best?
The Indian economy, severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic, is projected to contract by a massive 10.3 per cent this year, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday. However, India is likely to bounce back with an impressive 8.8 per cent growth rate in 2021, thus regaining the position of the fastest growing emerging economy, surpassing China's projected growth rate of 8.2 per cent, the IMF said in its latest 'World Economic Outlook' report.
'Events like the one we saw on Sunday are complex geological processes which can be impacted by weather and climatic conditions.' 'It is difficult to attribute something like this to just one factor or to a particular time period, especially when we have still not understood the exact cause.'
A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M R Shah said industries and employees need each other and they should sit together to arrive at a settlement on the issue of payment of wages.
The tsunami warning centre, which has taken shape at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services in Hyderabad, will issue alerts for the killer waves within 30 minutes of an earthquake. The centre will generate and give timely advisories to the Ministry of Home Affairs for dissemination to the public for which a satellite-based virtual private network for disaster management support has been established.
'Does it mean that till the COVID-19 fight is over, the governor should be non-functional, in sleep mode, and fiddling in the Raj Bhavan while the state is burning?'
Prime Minister Modi's had previously written a book charting Gujarat's response to the climate change crisis.
Accepting Odisha's proposal of constructing an additional 162 cyclone shelter houses as they helped in providing safe stay for people after evacuation from the coast, WB team agreed to provide assistance of $55 million for the purpose, the sources said.
Important for Chinese President Xi Jinping will be Zhao's discussions on the issues of Tibet and the Dalai Lama and his assessment of the likely results of India's coming national elections, notes former senior RA&W officer and China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
