Glimpses from India and around the world that will make you smile and cry.
Over 40 people are still missing after a series of cloudbursts occurred in Kullu's Nirmand, Sainj and Malana, Mandi's Padhar and Shimla's Rampur subdivision on the night of July 31 and wreaked havoc.
Terror outfits in Jammu and Kashmir are now constructing elaborately-designed underground bunkers deep inside thick forests and elevated ridges instead of taking shelter in local houses, officials said. This tactical shift, fuelled by eroding local support, presents a new challenge to the Army and other security forces.
Year by year, our cities remain defeated in the face of weather conditions, costing us time, money, resources and often lives, observe Amit Kapoor and Bibek Debroy.
A dozen teams of the NDRF will be deployed to ensure the safety of the people who embark on the yatra from July 1, they added.
'What we are witnessing is not a freak incidence or a freak occurrence, but a new climate reality where warming oceans, monsoon variability and local geography are combining to produce extreme events.'
Lightning claims more lives in India annually than any other extreme weather event. Between April and July this year alone, 1,621 people died due to lightning strikes.
The death toll included over 450 from intense heat wave last summer, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
The officials identified the deceased as Ashwani Sharma (24), his brother Dwarka Nath (55), niece Virta Devi (26) and their guest Om Raj (38), a resident of Banshara in Rajgarh. The rescuers are searching for Sharma's sister-in-law, Bidya Devi (55).
The flash flood, triggered by heavy rain, struck Shalan town in Ning'an city, submerging its low-lying primary school where 352 pupils and 31 teaching staff were staying.
Many low-lying areas in West Bengal's sub-Himalayan region were reeling from a flood-like situation while major rivers in Bihar were flowing above the danger level at several places as unabated heavy rain lashed the country's eastern parts on Sunday.
The body of a junior commissioned officer was retrieved from a stream in the Poshana area of Surankote late Saturday evening, while the body of a second soldier was found this morning as the water level started receding in the district.
Raja and his wife Sonam disappeared on May 23 hours after they checked out of a homestay at Nongriat village, 20 km from where his body was found, they said.
National Disaster Response Force personnel on Tuesday joined the search for a missing tourist from Indore a day after her husband's body was found in a gorge in Sohra area of Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district, police said.
Heavy rains and landslides in Himachal Pradesh have resulted in multiple fatalities and widespread disruption, including road closures and train cancellations.
'We cried our hearts out as we saw our huts going underwater. It was hard to believe that I was fast asleep at the same spot just 15-20 minutes ago'
Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary Party chief L K Advani asked his party MPs to donate Rs 10,000 from their salary for providing relief to victims of flash floods in Leh and suggested that the MPLAD funds be diverted for rehabilitation and rebuilding of the region.
At least two persons were killed and four others injured in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district as a mortar shell, reportedly carried by the floodwaters of Teesta river, exploded, police said on Friday.
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.
At least seven persons killed in flood and landslides triggered by incessant rain in South West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya where about one lakh people from over 200 villages have been rendered homeless so far even as the authorities have been caught off guard in the face of disaster.
The Amarnath pilgrimage resumed on Monday after remaining suspended for three days following flash floods that claimed 15 lives, while the Jammu and Kashmir administration said it would get a clear picture by Tuesday about the damage.
A tsunami-like tidal water waves ripped through an Australian valley, killing at least nine people, including four children, as cars and trees were tossed around and military helicopters soared above to search for 72 people reported missing.
Road and rail links between lower and upper Assam remained disrupted for the fourth day on Tuesday.
Normally, the southwest monsoon makes its onset over Kerala by June 1 and covers the entire country by July 8. It starts retreating from northwest India around September 17 and withdraws completely by October 15.
The meteorological centre in Shimla issued a 'red' alert on Sunday for very heavy downpour in 10 districts of Himachal Pradesh, while services on the Shimla-Kalka rail line were suspended for hours till the debris and trees fallen on the tracks following overnight rains were removed.
Rajasthan's three districts -- Jalore, Sirohi and Barmer -- are reeling under a flood-like situation due to heavy rainfall caused by cyclonic storm Biparjoy, an official said on Sunday.
Originating from Vasudhara Tal, perhaps the largest glacial lake in Uttarakhand, the Dhauli Ganga flows in a meandering course, which takes it through the Nanda Devi National Park.
The labourers, who are said to be of Nepali origin, were engaged in the construction of a hotel.
Seven more deaths were reported on Friday from interior villages of the flood-hit East and West Midnapore districts, raising the toll to 53, even as the situation further improved.
The threat of flash floods in Himachal has reduced substantially because of receding water levels of river Sutlej.
Two teams of glaciologists will head to Joshimath-Tapovan on Monday to study the causes of massive flood caused after a part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, the director of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology said.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said on Saturday the loss to the public and private property due to flash floods in the state could be much higher than the state government's preliminary estimate of around Rs 2,575 crore. He said the detailed estimate of flash floods loss would be assessed after normal life is restored in the entire area.
The flash floods triggered by swirling waters of Gai-Nadi and Jiadhal rivers have left a trail of devastation in Dhemaji district of eastern Assam.
The latest rains since Saturday evening led to lakes and other water bodies overflowing and triggering flooding of several low-lying areas, including places affected last week, in Hyderabad and on the outskirts.
Chidambaram said this to state Chief Minister Nabam Tuki who called him at New Delhi yesterday and briefed him on the extensive damages caused by the recent spate of flash floods in the state, official sources said in Itanagar on Friday.
About 40 people went missing on Sunday after a lorry carrying about 50 people was washed away in flash floods in a rivulet in Guntur district as it was drying negotiate the flood waters over a bridge. The tragedy occurred when the toll in the continuing heavy rains and flood over the last two days has mounted to 59 -- 14 of them in the state capital Hyderabad and 13 in Krishna district.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday announced a Rs 100 crore grant for development of the flood-ravaged Dhemaji district in the state.
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