A protest march by KSU activists in Malappuram, Kerala, demanding justice for a BDS student's death in Kannur, turned tense as activists clashed with police and briefly blocked a national highway.
The IMD has issued an orange alert for heatwave conditions in parts of Kerala, prompting authorities to urge caution. Maximum temperatures are expected to reach up to 41 degrees Celsius in some districts. Strict guidelines have been issued, including the suspension of vacation classes and rescheduling of working hours.
Sports Minister V Abdurahiman said 20 deaths were confirmed on the basis of information from various hospitals where those pulled out from the water and inside the boat were admitted.
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 India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday issued a warning of significant rainfall in Kerala due to cyclone Fengal, currently positioned as a strong low-pressure area over northern Tamil Nadu.
The Indian Council of Medical Research was in talks with the Serum Institute of India for local manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies (MABs). However, it did not take off, as the volume was much less in India.
George said the boy from Pandikkad suffered a massive cardiac arrest at 10.50 am on Sunday and efforts to revive him failed.
As the heavy rains continued on Wednesday also, Orange alert was sounded in 12 of the 14 districts of the state for the day.
LIVE! Incessant rains: Red Alert in 5 Kerala districts
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 30-member team will be headed by Malappuram Additional Superintendent of Police G Sabu, a government release said.
In a letter to the principal health secretary of Maharashtra that was also marked to all states and Union Territories (UTs), the Union Health Ministry said this surge is of particular concern from the public health point of view.
IMD issued red alerts for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Idukki districts.
"The death toll has gone up to 24. The search operations are still going on. However, rains have started. "Despite that, our officials, and the NDRF are engaged in search and rescue operations," Idukki District Collector H Dineshan said.
The triple lockdown in force from Monday would last for a week.
The accident occurred at 7:45 pm while the pilot was attempting to land the B737 Air India Express from Dubai at the tabletop runway of the Karipur International Airport.
The Army, the National Disaster Response Force, police and the fire force along with the locals began rescue operations on Sunday morning at Koottickal and Kokkayar panchayats where over a dozen people are listed to be missing due to numerous landslides accompanied by heavy downpour since Saturday.
There are totally 14 Nipah confirmed cases, of whom 11 have so far lost their lives.
He told flood affected people at Meppadi and Kaithapoil that as their representative, he has spoken to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi "to ask for help for this region from the state and Central governments."
'Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of the ill-fated aircraft have been retrieved. AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau) is conducting investigations,' Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted, as fresh questions were raised on the safety parameters of the runway.
22 bodies, 13 from Kottayam district and 9 from Idukki were recovered from various rain-hit areas while National Disaster Response Force teams continued their rescue operations.
An IMD bulletin said the low pressure area could intensify into a cyclonic storm, triggering heavy to very heavy rainfall in several parts of Kerala.
Meanwhile, flight operations from the Kochi international airport will resume at 12 noon on Sunday, an airport official said.
Around six lakh people have been housed in over 2000 relief camps in the two states.
Shutters of at least 22 reservoirs in the state have been opened to drain out excess water.
A total of 311 people from various districts are under observation, Health Minister K K Shailaja said.
Nearly four lakh people have been affected across seven districts of Assam.
The Congress chief, however, said he was not expecting any cooperation from the prime minister and the BJP-led central government for the development of Wayanad and Kerala.
The attacks, which disrupted normal life, marked return of political violence on large-scale after a gap of over a year in Kannur.
Villages are flooded, roads have washed away and railway tracks have submerged under the rising waters.
The Zakat Foundation of India runs welfare initiatives for the destitute and helps with the education of poor students. Upasna Pandey/ Rediff.com discover the origins of this organisation
The government has set up a control room to coordinate the cleaning process across the state and the civic bodies have been entrusted with the task of managing the work, official sources said on Thursday.
Unlike the LDF and NDA nominees who are at ground zero and campaigning hard every day, the Congress candidate's campaign is undertaken in absentia, dependent on an army of local and imported from the rest of Kerala Congresswomen and men.
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