What makes Ullozhukku worth recommending is its ability to surrender to the surprises and yet grow with its characters, observes Divya Nair.
Floods have ravaged 12 of the 37 districts in the state -- the worst-affected being Patna, Vaishali, Bhojpur, Khagaria and Samastipur districts.
Fresh rains triggered by a low pressure compounded the miseries of flood victims in Odisha.
The floods have affected 31 lakh people across 13 districts and also widely damaged crops in different parts of the state.
While the flood waters receded in Bongaigaon and Sivsagar districts of Assam, fresh inundation occurred at a dozen villages in Nagaon even as four districts continued to reel under the impact of floods on Sunday.
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The death toll in Assam in the current flood rose to 30 on Wednesday with 14 bodies recovered from worst-affected Goalpara and Kamrup (rural) districts even as relief and rescue work continued round-the-clock.
Hundreds of families of missing people in the flood-affected districts of Madhepura, Saharsa, Supaul, Purnia and Araria, are optimistic that their missing kin will be traced. They have been running from pillar to post ever since water receded to get information about their dear ones.
The Yamuna river in Delhi swelled to the highest recorded level in 10 years on Tuesday and is expected to rise further, officials said on Tuesday.
Food packets and water bottles were being aerially dropped to marooned people, he added.
Swirling waters inundated 12 districts of Buxar, Bhojpur, Patna, Vaishali, Saran, Begusarai, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpur and Katihar.
India and Israel are the only two countries whose aid workers will not be granted special visas by Pakistan to join relief efforts for the millions of people affected by the country's worst floods.
Nearly half a million people in Pakistan have been hit by the deadliest flood in the country's history that has claimed over 230 lives, as authorities braced to save major towns along the swollen Chenab river, which has left a trail of devastation.
When it comes to the Congress and Wayanad, the only way the scepticism in the minds of some in Kerala may be addressed is by the Gandhi family proving that they are more than a passing caravan in town, reports Shyam G Menon.
The 14 days old Karnataka crisis is finally over. Terming the truce a birthday gift to L K Advani, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and the 'rebel' Janardhan Reddy said at a joint press conference -- that the crisis is over and they are returning to Karnataka to work for the flood-relief victims.
With rains relenting, the flood situation in northern and coastal regions of Karnataka that claimed 168 lives, improved considerably on Monday.
Over 1,42,000 people have been rescued from the flood-ravaged parts of Jammu and Kashmir so far, as the relief operations launched by the Armed forces entered the 12th day on Saturday.
India on Friday sent two naval ships and a C-17 aircraft with relief material like medicines and tents along with teams of rescue experts to Sri Lanka which has been severely battered by tropical cyclone Roanu.
"The JD-U and BJP are engaging in shadow boxing. There appears to be an agreement between BJP and JD-U that they would play Hindu and Muslim cards, respectively, to confuse voters," Paswan said while commenting on the recent tiff between the two ruling coalition partners of Bihar.
The death toll in Bihar floods today mounted to 64 with over 33 lakh people spread across 13 districts affected by the deluge.
The Congress is "not a factor" in the Assembly polls in Bihar as the situation in the state is vastly different from that in Uttar Pradesh, which had seen the revival of the ruling party at the Centre, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav said.
Araria accounted for 20 flood deaths, followed by Sitamarhi (11), West Champaran (9), Kisanganj (8), Madhubani and Purnea (5 each), Madhepura and Darbhanga (4 each), East Champaran (3), Sheohar (2) and Supual (1), said Anirudh Kumar, special secretary in the state disaster management department.
Army was helping them in relief operation, Pal said, adding that around 1,200 people affected by flood were staying in five camps, including four put up in the city, he said.
Lack of aviation fuel has affected relief operations in the flood-affected district of Kolhapur as helicopters could not be pressed into service for dropping food packets, official sources said.\n
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari finally visited the flood-hit areas in the southern province of Sindh on Thursday, two weeks after the country was hit by its worst humanitarian crisis in 80 years. Zardari visited the city of Sukkur located on the banks of the Indus River to take stock of the rescue and relief efforts. Zardari's decision to undertake a trip to France and Britain earlier, despite the country reeling under the worst floods in its history.
Continuous torrential rain and ensuing floods in the northern part of Fujian Province forced the Xiamen Railway Station to suspend all trains after some railway lines were disrupted.
Official sources claimed in Patna on Saturday that more than nine lakh people of the 10 lakh flood victims had either moved out to safer places on their own or had been evacuated by the state government, Central agencies and other organisations engaged in rescue and relief operation.
The flash floods have already damaged Pakistan's economy and will leave marks on the country's agriculture and economic growth.
Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa reports how recommendations by the National Disaster Management Authority were ignored and how mining projects have contributed to the disaster.
Water levels have started receding in Srinagar and telecommunication has been restored in parts of the city after it faced the worst floods in decades.
The armed forces have rescued over 76,500 people in the flood-ravaged parts of Jammu and Kashmir where around 30,000 troops along with 80 transport aircraft and helicopters including the world's biggest Mi-26T chopper have been deployed for the relief operations.
'Except that the population was much less.' 'I remember my uncle and family moving away from the base of a hill whenever it rained for more than a couple of days without a dry day in between.' 'Perhaps the older generations knew if it rained for more than a certain time, they must pack up to a camp or to a relative.' 'As some of the interviews of the survivors on the Malayalam television channels show, the elderly people had a premonition a tragedy would happen, and those who acted on those premonitions survived.'
A special control room at the forces' headquarter New Delhi is monitoring the situation 24X7.
Government doctors were visiting severely affected areas to distribute medicine for the residents to safeguard themselves against diarrhoea and other water-borne infections.
Officials said navy divers and rescue teams found bodies beneath 25 feet of stagnant floodwaters
Over 500 soldiers, 1,000 people and 62 speedboats have been sent for rescue work while more than 10,000 people have been sent to ensure the safety of river banks.
Yadav is chargesheeted in the flood relief scam.
