Away from the distraction of its new high-profile politics, Wayanad's worries seemed very down to earth, discovers Shyam G Menon.
There can be no one answer to the question at the centre of an anxious debate across a world coping with COVID-19 and wondering what will happen if another one comes, but the global scientific community has been working on multiple tracks to ensure that humankind is better prepared.
Eyewitness accounts said hearing 'something like a boom' and then 'clanking of objects', while the fire raged for well over half an hour, destroying the copter, killing its occupants and reducing huge trees to ashes.
"Cyclone Nisarga is likely to become a severe cyclone in the next 12 hours. It will continue to move for the next six hours in a northerly direction along the coast, after that it will re-curve as a cyclone and cross Raigad and Daman-Raigad," Aanand Sharma, deputy director, IMD told ANI.
Elections to the 40-member Goa Assembly are due in two months. Recent visits by Banerjee, Kejriwal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi heated up things in the otherwise "susegad" atmosphere in the small state.
'Man-made interventions vastly increased the magnitude of the tragedy.'
India's 1600-km long Western Ghats mountain chain, which has forests older than the Himalaya mountains, has been added to list of world heritage sites by the United Nations.
Mumbai and its adjoining areas were lashed by heavy showers on Tuesday, causing water-logging at a number of places, including railway tracks, which slowed the movement of trains and vehicles on roads.
Many elderly villagers said it was for the first time in their decades-old life that they were seeing and experiencing such severe rainfall.
Extensive anthropogenic interference, as part of developmental activities, is a significant factor that increases this hazard manifold. As a result, the landscape in the Himalayan, north-eastern regions and many other regions of India are highly susceptible to reoccurrence of landslides, says Dr Nitish Priyadarshi.
Poor dam management was considered as a major reason for the 2018 floods in the state that led to a loss of around Rs 50,000 crore and claimed as many as 483 lives, reports Shine Jacob.
The funniest wildlife photography competition in the world.
'Is it not deplorable that even after 75 years of independence, there are people in our society who have been denied freedom?'
Lonely Planet unveiled its list of Asia's Top 10 destinations for 2018.
Rediff.com's Rajesh Karkera takes us on a trip to one of Maharashtra's most scenic hill stations.
While the violence of guns gets more media attention the war between votaries of sustainable development and those who favour rapid industrial growth rages on.
Delhi, Sunderbans and the Western Ghats are among the hotspots of illegal trade of tigers, their parts and products, says a new global report.
Pre-monsoon rainfall, colloquial referred to as "mango showers", is vital to many parts of the country.
Debutant director Jayan Cherian's had a tough time getting past the Censor Board to release the film.
Readers share their travel pics. You can share yours too!
The Indian partner will be one among the the seven highly specialised global coffee roasteries of the coffee giant.
The rare purple frog is one of the iconic species that highlights the most crucial issue being discussed at Rio+20, reports Darryl D'Monte.
The BJP is certain that the TMC will divide the Opposition votes, leaving it free to cruise through the polls.
Normal life was affected across Kerala by the dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the Left Democratic Front on Monday to protest the Centre's move to implement key recommendations of the Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats conservation.
In his constituency Malampuzha, locals can't get enough of Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, his policies and his caustic speeches, says Shobha Warrier
The company is confident that more hotel owners will be keen to associate themselves with the Hilton brand, the second-biggest hotel chain globally after Marriott.
The incident is said to have occurred in the wee hours when a huge mound of earth fell on the 'row houses' and two children and five women were among the deceased, most of whom were plantation workers from neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
In the footage, which was aired by a private news channel, Maoists' Karnataka state committee chief Chandrashekhar Gorebal said the Maoists were now attempting to spread around the Western Ghats in Karnataka.
4 copters of the IAF and their 10 commandos are involved in the rescue operation.
We invited readers to send in their interesting monsoon snapshots. Here are some more responses -- and you can share yours too!
Barn owl, an endangered species, has come under increased threat in Kerala's Western Ghats, one of its natural habitats, with many recession-hit businessmen from some states seeking it for sacrifice in the belief that it will help them tide over the meltdown.
The study, conducted by over 1800 scientists from 130 countries paints a gloomy picture for sensitive eco-systems, which include Western Ghats in India, tropical Andes and Cameroonian Highlands, where more than 79 per cent of the mammal species are under threat.
Names like Symbiosis International University, Bharati Vidyapeeth and the newly-established Foundation for Liberal and Management Education already have their presence in this valley, which is building its brand as the country's largest education hub.
'We will have to face the effects of climate change for generations to come!'
Ditch that foreign trip! Here are all the reasons why you totally must pack your bags and travel in India first!
'With just 2.4 per cent of global landmass, India houses six to eight per cent of planetary biodiversity and hence is a prime target of wildlife criminals.'
Sometimes it is the man behind the machine who makes mistakes, sometimes it is the machine which does so, and sometimes it is a combination of both and some other factors that leads to an accident, notes Helicopter pilot IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe.
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