The Central team will be on a three-day visit to the affected areas and its itinerary will be decided on its arrival in Chennai on Friday, he added.
England were forced to make a change to their original playing XI after several of their players were laid low by a virus that also threatened to delay the start of the match.
Dropping clear hints about joining Aam Aadmi Party, expelled Samajwadi Party leader Kamal Farooqui on Sunday met Arvind Kejriwal and said "everybody is interested" in joining the nascent party.
Incessant downpour battered several states, including Kerala, Maharashtra and Karnataka, on Friday, with landslips and floods throwing normal life out of gear.
Pakistan violated the ceasefire for the third consecutive day on Monday by firing small arms on forward posts and four hamlets in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district.
Flood situation in south Bengal turned grim on Saturday with 1.19 lakh people taking shelter in relief camps in 12 districts of the state even as weatherman forecast more heavy rains in the next two days.
About 1.82 lakh people have been evacuated to safe places by the rescue teams in last 48 hours.
Chief Minister K Palaniswami announced a solatium of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of each of the victims
The Indian vice-captain said the team should explore different options for the job.
Daily wagers are running out of resources, including ration and cash, and the state governments might not be able to sustain their needs for a longer period of time, given the lockdown has already been extended until May 3.
Samajwadi Party government exempts Dedh Ishqiya from tax ; Mulayam and Akhilesh camp in Saifai to welcome Madhuri-Salman
Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belt of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa as Cyclone Tauktae hurtled northwards towards Gujarat on Sunday, leaving four people dead in Karnataka and two in Goa, damaging hundreds of houses, uprooting electricity poles and trees and forcing evacuation.
Images from the FIFA World Cup Group E match between Japan and Costa Rica on Sunday.
The flood situation eased in Assam and northern districts of West Bengal with water receding and no fresh deaths being reported in both the states.
All documents and data were safe as there was a Disaster Recovery Centre for every bank
Kerala State Disaster Management Authority has warned about the possibilities of landslides in the hilly areas already hit by extremely heavy rainfall in the past few days and directed people living in the region and government authorities to be vigilant.
One man was killed and two others injured in Thrissur district on Tuesday after an uprooted tree fell on them in heavy rains and strong winds.
Rescue operations were underway in three subdivisions of Darjeeling district where multiple landslides have claimed 38 lives besides washing away highways and damaging homes.
The port city of Visakhapatnam was limping back to normalcy on Wednesday with restoration of essential supplies and public transportation services, three days after it was battered by cyclone Hudhud.
The flood situation in Assam worsened on Friday following incessant rainfall in the upper catchment areas of Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh, affecting more than three lakh people in 13 districts and hit road communication in several places.
Murugan, along with Santhan, both Sri Lankan nationals, were taken in a police vehicle following their release to the special refugee camp in Tiruchirappalli in the state.
Over two dozen "unprovoked" ceasefire violations by Pakistan have been reported after the army announced that it carried out surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control.
According to the officials of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, one of their sanitary workers was badly injured due to the storm and calamitic conditions in the state.
Meanwhile, water will be released from Chembarambakkam lake, one of the key drinking water sources to Chennai, since it was nearing capacity, the government said.
So worried is Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde of desertions that he is asking rebel MLAs in Guwahati to sign affidavits affirming that they won't go back on supporting the 'cause of Hindutva' after reaching Mumbai.
Over 200 houses were damaged, scores of people were rendered homeless and nine persons were injured as storms lashed pockets of three districts of West Bengal since last night.
The death toll has climbed to 12 in the first wave of flood in Assam this year.
An ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh will be given per person to the next of kin of those killed in the floods.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has transferred five Kashmiri Pandit employees from Kashmir to Jammu, a step welcomed by the community members who have been on a strike for over two months in support of the demand for their relocation over safety concerns.
Restoration of peace and the normal routine of daily life, compared to the past, stands out as its most significant achievement, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs, four years after the abrogation of Article 370.
A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan and comprising justices R S Reddy and M R Shah said that voluntary contribution can always be made to the NDRF as there is no statutory bar under the Disaster Management Act.
With weather clearing up, relief operations on Sunday gained momentum in Uttarakhand as the government came out with a roadmap for clearing tonnes of debris and extricating bodies in Kedarnath and adjoining areas ravaged by flash floods over a month ago.
The floods have also damaged crops in 2 lakh hectares of land.
The floods have affected 31 lakh people across 13 districts and also widely damaged crops in different parts of the state.
'My son and my father were pulled out of the hiding place on second floor, beaten badly and were thrown down from the roof'
Altogether 20,000 Indian nationals have been evacuated from quake-torn Nepal and arrangements were being made to take them to their homes by trains from Raxaul, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Tuesday.
Despite a slow down in polling at midday due to the scorching heat, voter turnout was around 50 per cent till 2 pm on Friday for elections to the lone Mizoram Lok Sabha seat and by-poll to the Hrangturzo assembly seat.
The broad patterns tell us that to sweep UP, the BJP has to retain its voteshares of the past three elections. But to merely win it, the party can do so while losing some voteshare, and perhaps up to as much as 10 per cent, observes Aakar Patel.
South Africa have recalled fast bowler Anrich Nortje and all-rounder Wayne Parnell, and handed a first Twenty20 International call-up to batsman Tristan Stubbs, in a full-strength squad for the five-match tour of India starting on June 9.
'The BJP would like to build a 'rainbow' coalition of different castes and communities buttressed by the appeal of nationalism and Hindutva.'
