A massive landslide on the Gangotri highway in Uttarakhand has left 700 pilgrims stranded, an official said on Friday.

The landslide took place 55-km away from Uttarkashi near Dabrani.

District Magistrate of Uttarkashi, Ashish Chauhan was also held on the route and the rest 700 ‘kanwar’s’ were being taken from an alternate route, the official told IANS.

Chauhan and other officials have gone to Surakki village, some 15-km from the landslide zone.

Some pilgrims have returned to Sukki while others are waiting in their vehicles on the highway itself.

Border Road Organisation personnel have been deployed to clear the rubble on the route, the official added.

A team of officials led by Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Devendra Singh Negi have been asked to camp at Dharali to ensure smooth transfer of the stranded pilgrims trapped.

Only 48-hours back a massive landslide created havoc at Dharali, some 80-km from Uttarkashi.

District Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal informed that debris were continuously flowing from the hills, making it difficult for the highway to be clear.

The Regional Met Office has meanwhile predicted another bout of heavy rains in the hill state from Saturday.

According to the weatherman, Champawat, Udhamsingh Nagar, Nainital, Tehri and the state capital Dehradun will witness very heavy rainfall in the next 24-hours.

Fifteen people were killed in rain-related incidents as heavy showers lashed Kerala, authorities said on Thursday.

Idukki district remained the worst affected with 10 deaths, of which five from one family lost their lives after their house caved in due to a mudslide.

The other five victims were from Malappuram district who were washed away by the waters of the Chaliyar river that has increased to its highest levels since 1994.

State Power Minister M.M. Mani, who hails from Idukki, said: “Things are pretty bad and I have visited the affected areas and on Thursday morning, the shutters of the Idamalyar dam was opened. We will open one shutter of the Idukki dam also…”

The Idukki dam’s shutter was last opened in 1992.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan held an emergency meeting here to assess the situation.

August 6 is etched in an apocalyptic manner on the global consciousness given the nuclear enormity that engulfed the unsuspecting residents of Japan’s Hiroshima on that day in 1945. Three days later Nagasaki met the same fate, though tragically August 9 receives even lesser attention from a jaded world whose attention span often oscillates from one tweet to another.

The “national herd” in every major demographic cluster is episodically led from one sensational but banal event to another and the collective danger that the nuclear weapon poses to humanity is glossed over, with a fleeting reference on Hiroshima Day when platitudes are dutifully mouthed by the political leadership across the world.

The year 2018 is a bit different, but in an alarming way. Prickly nuclear nationalism now rules the roost and the charge has been led by the world’s oldest and most powerful democracy. On July 23, US President Donald Trump tweeted — as is his wont — to Iranian President Rouhani, and this one was in all caps:

NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)

To be fair to Trump, this tweet was in response to what the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had said the previous day (July 22) when he warned Washington that provoking Tehran over the nuclear deal could lead to the “mother of all wars”. The Iranian reference was in no doubt — it was invoking the spectre of WMDs — long-range missiles fitted with nuclear warheads.

Over the last year, the global nuclear arsenal has increased in numbers among the nine nations in the world that are nuclear-weapon capable. This apocalyptic club that holds the world to ransom includes the original five – the US, Russia, UK, France and China. Post-1964, the other four who have joined this “club” are Israel, India, Pakistan and now North Korea. Today the most serious national security threat to the US is deemed to be a mix of the nuclear weapon and terrorism as posed by non-state entities — often with state support.

Paradoxically, over the last year, Pakistan, often referred to as the cradle and nursery of global terrorism, has the distinction of possessing the world’s fastest-growing nuclear weapon arsenal. Much of this capability has been enabled by a deep and opaque partnership with China and North Korea.

Furthermore, Pakistan is the only nation among the nuclear nine wherein the command and control of the nuclear button rests with the Pakistan military and the civilian leadership is only notionally in the loop. Whether Imran Khan, if he becomes the Prime Minister, will be able to assert civilian control remains moot. There are many voices even within Pakistan that believe a mercurial Khan may not be the most prudent choice, when it comes to nuclear weapons.

However, on the other hand, such prudence at the very top of national political leadership, while desirable, went out of the window with the election of Trump as US President, a leader who recently boasted about the size of his “button” apropos his North Korean counterpart.

The deeper concern in 2018 is that nuclear weapons are being brandished in a far more visible manner and the leaders of the US, Russia, Iran and North Korea are cases in point. Each of them has justified this posture as a case of safeguarding their national security, sovereignty and integrity. The consequences that will follow by way of an apocalyptic regional nuclear fallout with millions — yes, millions — killed receive little or no attention.

The greater anguish is that the global political leadership remains indifferent to such nuclear sabre-rattling and has done an ostrich act by treating these statements as political rhetoric (bluff and bluster?) and devoid of substance. And civil society, which in the 1960s and 1970s was alert to the gravity of the nuclear threat, is now cynical. The nuclear threat joins the cluster of many lost causes — global warming, ocean pollution, the plastic peril and shrinking bee population among other amber lights that are flashing.

One slender sliver that followed the focus put by former US President Barack Obama on the nuclear threat is the effort by the ICAN — the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons — that was launched in 2007. This global NGO comprising almost 500 partners from 100 countries has pushed for an international treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. Elimination of the global nuclear arsenal is the Holy Grail and in 2017 ICAN successfully negotiated and concluded this treaty at the UN.

ICAN was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace prize for its effort but the major powers, including India, have distanced themselves from this advocacy. Thus the ICAN initiative, while laudable, remains ineffective.

Ironically, India, which has legitimately claimed a distinctive nuclear status in the global order, has ceded the disarmament space it once led from 1960 to 2010. India is a non-signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and demonstrated its nuclear-weapon capability in May 1998. Pakistan followed and South Asia exudes a nuclear prickliness that is disquieting.

Based on its nuclear profile that combines nuclear restraint and responsibility, India was admitted to the global nuclear order in late 2008, thanks in large measure to the political resolve of then US President George Bush.

While New Delhi remains committed to “universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable nuclear disarmament”, it has made no significant effort in the last few years to demonstrate its status as a “different” kind of nuclear-weapon power. ICAN is a case in point.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought commendable traction to the challenge of global terrorism since assuming office in May 2014 but has remained relatively reticent on the nuclear issue. One hopes that the Indian leadership will address the nuclear issue at the global level with the urgency it warrants, so that Hiroshima-Nagasaki remain the tragic exception.

At least 91 people were killed and hundreds of others injured in a massive quake measuring 7 on the Richter scale that struck Indonesia’s Lombok Island, authorities said on Monday.

The shallow quake on Sunday evening that occurred only 10 km underground, comes a week after another temblor hit Lombok, popular with tourists who visit its beaches and hiking trails, killing 16 people.

It was followed by about 130 aftershocks, some over magnitude 5. A tsunami warning was issued but was lifted after a few hours.

The earthquake was also felt in neighboring Bali as well as in some parts of East Java.

The Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) on Monday morning sent a search and rescue team to the affected area, reports Efe news.

Most fatalities were caused by the collapse of buildings, according to the BNPB, which added that hundreds of the injured have to be treated outside hospitals because of the poor condition of the buildings.

“The main focus at this time is the search, rescue, and assistance to people affected by the earthquake and meeting their basic needs,” the BNPB said, pointing out the urgent needs for medical personnel, clean water, food, blankets and medicine.

BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said 1,000 domestic and foreign tourists were evacuated.

President Joko Widodo said the government will compensate victims whose houses were ruined by the quake, reports The Jakarta Post.

“As (the President) and on behalf of Indonesian citizens, I express deep sorrow for the lives that were lost during the earthquake,” Joko said.

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because it lies on the Ring of Fire – the line of frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions that circles virtually the entire Pacific rim, the BBC reported.

More than half of the world’s active volcanoes above sea level are part of the ring.

Thousands of people in 116 villages of Assam’s Golaghat district have been affected by flooding after excess water was released from a dam located at Nagaland’s Wokha district, officials said.

The dam is run by the North East Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO).

This is the second wave of floods since last week affecting 1,04,205 people in five districts — Golaghat, Sivsagar, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Darrang. Over 93,000 marooned people are from the 116 villages of Golaghat, officials added.

Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials said the floods have also affected 7,424 hectares of agricultural land and over 26,000 people have taken shelter in 123 relief camps opened by the state government. Large tracts of paddy fields are also covered with sediments affecting the farmers.

Various organisations, including the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), have criticised NEEPCO for releasing water without informing the villagers. They have demanded compensation for the affected people.

“The NEEPCO has not only released water from its reservoir but also sediments, which have submerged the paddy fields and houses of villagers in the 116 affected villages. The farmers have lost livelihood as the sediments have covered their paddy fields. Houses and livestock have been washed away,” KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi said on Monday.

NEEPCO on Monday clarified that due to incessant rain in the upper catchment area, the water level of the reservoir had started increasing abruptly since July 25.

“The sudden rise in water level on July 31 necessitated releasing of excess water,” said NEEPCO in a statement issued on Monday. The NEEPCO authorities said they have shared the information with the Golaghat district administration.

Two waves of floods have affected Assam since June, affecting more than 10 lakh people. According to the ASDMA, 42 people have so far died due to floods in various parts of the state.

The night-long ban on vehicular movement through the 30km Bandipur forest road in southwest Karnataka would continue, said state Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Friday.

“The night ban on movement of vehicles through Bandipur forest area from 9 p.m to 6 a.m will continue as before,” Kumaraswamy told reporters here.

The Chief Minister’s Office also clarified that there was no proposal to build an elevated road through the forest for vehicular traffic towards Kerala.

“There’s no change in the state government’s stand on night ban on vehicles, and construction of an elevated road through the forest is not feasible,” reiterated Kumaraswamy.

The assertion and clarification came a day after a local media report alleged that the state government had agreed to lift the night ban on vehicles, especially buses and trucks, as sought by the Kerala government through the Central government.

Citing a letter from Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Secretary Y.S. Malik, the report said the Chief Minister and state Public Works Department (PWD) Minister H.D. Revanna had recently agreed to lift the night ban as sought by the neighbouring Kerala state.

Revanna is the elder brother of Kumaraswamy and both are sons of former Prime Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda.

Vehicular movement has been banned since 2009 for nine hours from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m in the forest area to prevent road mishaps, man-animal conflict and to protect wildlife on both sides of the Karnataka-Kerala border.

Attempts by the Kerala government and the transport lobby to lift the night ban has failed over the years after the Karnataka High Court banned it and the Supreme Court upheld it subsequently.

Outraged by the reported consent on lifting the ban, conservationists, activists and wildlife experts took to the social media since Thursday and initiated an online campaign for continuation of the ban.

Earlier in the day, state Forest and Environment Minister R. Shankar told reporters at Mysuru, about 150km from here, the state government would maintain status quo to protect wild animals from air and noise pollution.

“We will not buckle under the pressure of Kerala or central government to lift the night ban as man has no right to endanger the life of animals or disturb their fragile ecosystem,” Shankar told reporters.

The ‘Silicon Valley fo India’, Bengaluru on Tuesday joined 13 other cities, including London, to clean up the toxic air and check pollution in urban areas around the world.

Hosting the first meeting of the C40 Air Quality Network regarding the threat of toxic air pollution, Bengaluru brought experts and policymakers from 13 other cities from the world over to find solutions.

“Formed when London Mayor Sadiq Khan visited India in December last year, the network-enabled leaders to share information and work together to develop plans for how each city will clean up its toxic air,” an official statement said.

The C40 Cities is an organization of 96 global cities to fight climate change and work towards a sustainable future. Co-chaired by Khan and Bengaluru Mayor Sampath Raj, the C40 Air Quality Network, a body of 20 global cities formed in December last year which aims to develop solutions for air pollution.

A total of 13 cities were part of the meeting: Berlin, Chennai, Dar-es-Salaam, Delhi, Johannesburg, Kolkata, London, Los Angeles, Portland, Quito, Salvador, Tel Aviv and Warsaw.

“The discussions and knowledge sharing on how other cities have dealt with air quality challenges are beneficial,” Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said on the occasion.

As part of the C40 Air Quality Network, the participant cities signed the ‘clean bus’ and ‘fossil fuel-free streets’ declarations, thereby relying on low-emission vehicles that run on electric power instead of traditional fuels like petrol and diesel, that contribute to high emissions.

Even as Bengaluru is implementing projects promoting the use of electric vehicles and plans to have an all-electric bus fleet in the city by 2030, Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara said the government is committed to implementing an air quality management plan for the capital who also holds the portfolio of Bengaluru Development Minister.

An estimated seven million people die prematurely each year due to air pollution, according to the World Health Organisation.

A total of 220 cow carcasses were seized from a warehouse in Rajasthan’s Alwar district early on Wednesday, police said.

The animal carcasses were found buried inside a Govindgarh facility, Sub-Inspector Dhara Singh told IANS.

Other than the cow carcasses, there were also remains of buffaloes and goats seized from the location.

Singh said that beef was supplied to Haryana, Rajasthan and other surrounding states from this place.

The raid was launched following an arrest of a man on Tuesday and his interrogation, Singh said, adding that a probe was on.

The Govindgarh police sub-inspector also said that the Tuesday’s arrest came after three women were arrested on Monday when they searched a number of houses and seized 40kg of meat found in their possession.

Veterinary doctors and a large number of people were present when the police raided the warehouse on Wednesday.

Heavy rains lashed across nine of the 14 districts in Kerala on Tuesday as the Met office forecast that the downpour will continue till Wednesday.

All schools and colleges were closed in the capital district following overnight heavy showers.

A 75-year-old man was electrocuted here as came into contact with a live wire.

Idukki district authorities are keeping a close watch on the rising waters in the Idukki dam, where an “orange alert” has been issued as the water level touched 2,395m.

A red alert would be sounded if the waters reach 2,399 metres, paving the way for opening the floodgates of the dam, which have not been opened since 1992.

Even though the catchment areas of the dam have been receiving rains, the intensity is just one-third of what it was earlier. The authorities, however, are confident that there is nothing to worry about.

The residents living in and around the low-lying areas of downstream have already been alerted.

The district authorities have made elaborate arrangements and a 1,000-strong police force is camping in the area to tackle any eventuality.

Several people have been killed, hundreds remain missing and around 6,600 are homeless after a hydroelectric dam under construction collapsed in Laos, authorities said on Tuesday.

Officials did not specify the exact number of fatalities. The Xepian-Xe Namnoy dam, situated around 550 km southeast of the capital, collapsed on Monday, unleashing flash floods in six villages, Lao News Agency reported.

The administration of the province of Attapeu, where the dam was built, requested basic humanitarian assistance for the affected. Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith postponed government meetings and went to the affected area in Sanamxay district with senior officials to monitor relief efforts, the state media said.

Pictures showed villagers stranded on the roofs of submerged houses and boats carrying people to safety. “The disaster claimed several human lives (and) left hundreds of people missing,” according to the agency.

The Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Power Company (PNPC) began building the dam in 2013 and it was due to begin generating power this year.

Thai company Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, a partner in the PNPC project, said that the collapse occurred due to continuous rain, which caused a high volume of water to flow into the project’s reservoir.

“Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Power Company Limited and related agencies had evacuated the people who reside around the area to temporary shelters (…). In addition, urgent assessment of the situation is being made in order to be able to immediately resolve the situation once the water level of the dam has decreased,” the company said in a statement.