Archives for 2021

Bengaluru: With Cyclone Tauktae wreaking havoc in the coastal and surrounding Malnad districts of Karnataka, four deaths have been reported in the state so far, officials said on Sunday.

According to a situation report by Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority officials Sunday morning, 73 villages, 17 taluks in seven districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Kodagu, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru and Hassan have been affected by the cyclone so far.

Among the 73 villages affected, a maximum of 28 are from Udupi district.

Among the four deaths reported so far one each are from Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga, officials said.

While one fisherman who went to tie his boat died in Uttara Kannada as he got hit by another boat, a person died in Udupi due to electricity mishap, they said, adding that one death each were reported in Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga due house collapse and lightning respectively.

A total of 318 people have been evacuated so far, as per the situation report, and 298 people are currently taking shelter in the 11 relief camps that have been opened.

Damages to a total of 112 houses, 139 poles, 22 transformers, 4 ha of horticulture crops have been reported so far, it added.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday asked in-charge Ministers of coastal districts and Deputy Commissioners there to visit affected areas and carry out rescue and relief works.

Yediyurappa called Ministers incharge of coastal districts and Deputy Commissioners and took stock of the situation there, his office said in a statement.

The Chief Minister has directed the officials to call the Ministers concerned or him directly if in need of any emergency assistance from the state government, it said.

As per the situation report, due to cyclone Tauktae heavy to extremely heavy rainfall was observed over six districts, three coastal districts (Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada) and three Malnad districts (Shivamogga, Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru) in the past 24 hours.

The rainfall was accompanied by gale winds speed reaching 70 to 80 km/hour, gusting at times upto 90 km/per along and off Karnataka coast, it said.

Heavy to extremely heavy rainfall was observed over the state mainly over coastal and Malnad districts during last night, it further said, 313 stations recorded more than 64.5 mm (heavy) rainfall in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga, Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru districts during 08:30 AM of May 15 to 8.30 AM of May 16.

The highest rainfall of 385 mm was recorded at Nada Station in Kundapura taluk of Udupi district, and 15 stations recorded more than 200 mm of rainfall in the district.

There has been coastal erosion due to rough seas along the coast, roads along the shore have been damaged, the report said, there has also been uprooting of trees due to gale winds and damage to poles and transformers.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned light to moderate rainfall at most places, with heavy to very heavy falls at isolated places in the coastal and adjoining ghat districts of the state on Sunday.

Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said, around 1,000 trained personnel from fire force, police, coastal police, home guards, SDRF have been deployed in the three coastal districts and they will work with coordination in rescue and relief operations, also NDRF teams have also been roped in.

State’s Revenue Minister R Ashoka on Saturday had said that the effect of the cyclone is likely to be there till May 18 and had warned fishermen not to venture into the sea till then.

NEW DELHI: Petrol price on Sunday was increased by 24 paise per litre and diesel by 27 paise, pushing rates across the country to record highs and that of petrol in Mumbai to near Rs 99 a litre.

The increase led to rates in Delhi climbing to Rs 92.58 per litre and diesel to Rs 83.22, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

Rates had already crossed Rs 100-mark in several cities in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and with the latest increase, price in Mumbai too was inching towards that level.

A litre of petrol in Mumbai now comes for Rs 98.88 and diesel is priced at Rs 90.40 per litre.

Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges.

Rajasthan levies the highest value-added tax (VAT) on petrol in the country, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

This is the ninth increase in prices since May 4 when the state-owned oil firms ended an 18-hiatus in rate revision they observed during assembly elections in states like West Bengal.

Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan had the costliest petrol and diesel in the country at Rs 103.52 per litre and Rs 95.99 a litre, respectively.

In nine increases, petrol price has risen by Rs 2.19 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.49.

Since March last year when the government raised excise duty on fuel to an all-time high, petrol price has increased by a record Rs 22.99 per litre (after accounting for a handful of occasions when rates fell) and diesel by Rs 20.93.

Oil companies, which have in recent months resorted to unexplained freeze in rate revision, had hit a pause button after cutting prices marginally on April 15.

This coincided with electioneering hitting a peak to elect new governments in five states including West Bengal.

No sooner had voting ended, oil companies indicated an impending increase in retail prices in view of firming trend in international oil markets.

Central and state taxes make up for 60 per cent of the retail selling price of petrol and over 54 per cent of diesel.

The union government levies Rs 32.90 per litre of excise duty on petrol and Rs 31.80 on diesel.

NEW DELHI: More than 1.84 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and UTs, while nearly 51 lakh doses are in the pipeline and will be received by them within the next three days, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.

The Centre has so far provided more than 20 crore vaccine doses (20,28,09,250) to states and UTs free of cost, it said.

Of this, the total consumption, calculated based on average up to May 14, including wastages, is 18,43,67,772 doses, according to data available at 7 pm on Saturday.  

“More than 1.84 crore COVID vaccine doses (1,84,41,478) are still available with the states and UTs to be administered. States with negative balance are showing more consumption (including wastage) than vaccine supplied as they have not reconciled the vaccine they have supplied to Armed Forces,” the ministry said.  

It said 50,95,640 vaccine doses are in the pipeline  and will be received by states and UTs within the next three days.

Vaccination forms an integral component of the comprehensive strategy of Government of India of containment and management of the pandemic (including Test, Track, Treat and COVID Appropriate Behaviour). 

The Centre has been supporting the nationwide vaccination drive by providing COVID vaccines free of cost to states and UTs, in addition to several efforts to ramp up its production and supply, the ministry stated.

Implementation of the Liberalized and Accelerated Phase 3 Strategy of COVID-19 Vaccination has started from May 1 as part of which the government has opened up inoculation for all aged above 18.

Under the Strategy, every month 50 per cent of the total Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) cleared vaccine doses of any manufacturer would be procured by the Centre. It would continue to make these doses available to state governments free of cost as was being done earlier. 

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced extension of the ongoing lockdown by one more week in the national capital to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The lockdown imposed on April 19 has been extended for the fourth time till May 24 morning.

It was scheduled to end at 5 am tomorrow.

The COVID-19 situation has been improving in Delhi with the number of cases and positivity rate going down steadily in the past few days.

The chief minister said the lockdown is being extended as the gains made so far in combating the coronavirus cannot be lost due to relaxations now.

ALAPPUZHA: “The rockets launched by Hamas fly above our heads. We are safe in the bunker constructed in my home. When rockets are fired  from faraway places, we get alerts on the mobile phones and, at the same  time, the local alarm starts ringing,” said Sajeesh Lawrence, a native of Nedumkandam in Idukki, who is working as a caregiver in war-torn Tel Aviv.

“We immediately move into the  bunker.  Such bunkers are available in public places like parks, shopping areas, playgrounds and in big buildings. The Israeli  government has also introduced an app to monitor the movement of Hamas from  the borders and alert people, which is a relief to the millions who are  staying in the city of Tel Aviv,” he added.

Sajeesh, son of Lawrence Padickal who had been in Tel  Aviv for the past nine years working as a caregiver,the phone that the death of Malayali caregiver Soumya Santhosh is a rare incident, because the country is well equipped to intercept rockets and thwart other  kinds of attack from Gaza and other border areas. 

“More than 1,700  rockets had been launched by Hamas in the past four days and a majority of them were destroyed by the Israeli defence system. However, very few were missed and these hit houses and other human intervention areas of the country,” 37-year-old Sajeesh said.

“Soumya’s death was also because of such an attack. Hamas has been launching rockets for the past many years and, in 2014, it mounted a strong attack and Israel retaliated. In the years after, such attacks had been very few and the  recent relaxation of restrictions in the entry into Al Aqsa  mosque had led to the massive attack by Hamas and Israel’s retaliation,” he added.

His wife Asha and son Alon are in the Maldives. “Buildings are constructed in the  country with features to withstand such attacks. A room of each house is constructed as a bunker. The wall of that room will be constructed in  double-layered concrete and iron windows,” Sajeesh said.

“Oxygen cylinders, dry fruits, medicines and other essentials are always available in the bunker. When  a rocket is fired from the launchpad of Hamas in Gaza, the defence system automatically detects its direction and distance it will travel before hitting the target. An alert is sent to the mobile phones in the area and the local alarm set by the government administration goes off,” he said.

“After hearing it, people move into the bunkers. When Hamas launches rockets, the  Iron Dome aerial defence system of Israel destroys it mid-air most of the time. Very  few are missed and these hit civilian areas,” he added..

“Normally, the Israeli government does not retaliate  immediately. When it becomes a serious problem, they issue a warning to the people in the border areas of Gaza and  start retaliating. Such a retaliation is taking place,” Sajeesh said.

Sajeesh’s father said, “We are concerned about the developments in Israel. Sajeesh keeps saying that the people are safe there, but we are in fear.”

MUMBAI: In view of IMD’s warning about Cyclone Tauktae, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the authorities in coastal districts of the state to remain alert and well-equipped to tackle the situation.

“Be alert and ensure rescue operation wherever necessary,” Thackeray was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) late night on Friday.

Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg districts are likely to bear the brunt of the cyclone and hence the collectors of these districts have been asked to take all necessary precautions in terms of rescue equipments and manpower, Thackeray said.

He said this during a meeting of the Disaster Management Authority that was held to take stock of the preparations to tackle the cyclone, the statement said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had said on Friday that the depression in the Arabian Sea is likely to intensify into a “very severe cyclonic storm” on May 17 and cross the Gujarat coast a day later.

It had also said the weather condition has intensified into a deep depression and it is very likely to further intensify into cyclonic storm Tauktae by Saturday morning.

It is very likely to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm by Saturday night,.

The IMD had predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in Konkan and Goa on May 15-16.