Shimla : A helicopter from the Indian Air Force (IAF) has been requisitioned to airlift the tourists stranded at Chandertal in Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh while a rescue team from Kaza has reached Kunzum Top and is just eight kilometres away from the lake, Principal Secretary, Revenue, Onkar Chand Sharma said on Tuesday.

Around 300 people, mostly tourists, are stuck in camps at Chandertal, located at an altitude of 14,100 feet, following rain and snowfall in the region.

“Two of them were facing breathing issues due to the high altitude and they would be airlifted,” Sharma said.

All the stranded people would be evacuated to safe places by Tuesday night, he said, adding that about 100 people were rescued from different places in the hill state on Monday.

Two teams have been deputed for road restoration — one from the Losar side and the other from Kaza. The team comprises members of the administration, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), police and local villagers, the officials said.

Sharma informed that since the onset of monsoon on June 24, the state has suffered a loss of Rs 780 crore and the figure is expected to go up as excessive damage has been caused to roads, bridges and water supply schemes.

As many as 1,239 roads, including the Shimla-Kalka and Manali-Chandigarh national highways, are blocked due to heavy downpour over the last three days, according to the state emergency operation centre.

Bus service is suspended on 1,416 routes of the Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) while 679 buses are held en route, transport officials said on Tuesday.

The supply of essential items was hit in several areas of the hill state, including Shimla and Manali, as the Chandigarh-Manali and Shimla-Kalka national highways were closed following landslides, caving in of roads and flooding.

Several areas in Kullu and Mandi remained without electricity as 2,577 transformers were disrupted while the water supply was also affected in several areas, including state capital Shimla, as 1,418 water supply schemes have suffered damage.

Manali town and the adjoining areas remained cut off for almost a day as roads were blocked due to landslides. Mobile connectivity has also been disrupted.

The rains have stopped since Monday evening and the rescue operations and road restoration work have gained pace as the water level in the rivers has subsided, Kullu Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Garg said. “We are hopeful that mobile networks would start working in Manali during the day,” he added.

Men and machinery have been deployed to restore road connectivity in Manali, Kasol and the Parvati valley and the Manali road would be cleared for light vehicles soon, Garg said, adding that relief camps have been set up in Kullu and Manali and those stranded are being taken care of.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu would visit Kullu, Lahaul and spiti and Mandi during the day, and conduct an aerial survey of the affected areas.

There were also reports of landslides in Shamti, in the suburbs of Solan, damaging two houses and an office.

The meteorological department has warned of the possibility of moderate to high flash floods in Shimla, Sirmaur and Kinnaur districts.

Heavy to very heavy rain lashed parts of Sirmaur, Shimla, Mandi and Kinnaur districts. Nahan received 250 mm rain, followed by Dhaulakuan (138.5 mm), Jubberhatti (90 mm), Kufri (67 mm), Narkanda (65 mm), Shimla (64 mm), Mashobra (60.5 mm), Kalpa (48 mm), Reckongpeo (42 mm), Mandi (46 mm) and Sundernagar (45 mm).

Gurugram: In a heart-wrenching incident, a 19-year-old girl in Gurugram was stabbed to death on Monday, in the presence of her mother, who made desperate attempts to save her daughter.

The incident was captured on a CCTV camera and the footage showed that, although the incident took place in the presence of other people too, none of the eye-witnesses came to the girl’s help. The relatives of the victim handed the murder accused Rajkumar, aged 23 years, to Palam Vihar police officials.

The initial investigation has revealed that the duo was engaged four months ago, but the marriage was cancelled a few days back. The girl was murdered as she refused to marry the youngster.

Several media houses, however, have been projecting the crime to be a case of attack on Hindu girls by their Muslim lovers. Popular Kannada daily Kannada Prabha has reported the incident with the headline, ‘Muslim youth kills Hindu girl for refusing to marry him’.

The Gurugram police officers, however, have clarified on Twitter, “The knife used to kill the girl and the mobile phone of the arrested accused have been confiscated. The girl seems to have been stabbed twice. The body has been sent to conduct a post-mortem test.

Further investigation of the case is underway.”

Mangaluru: An Air India Express flight scheduled to depart for Dubai from Mangalore International Airport faced a delay of 12 hours due to a technical fault. The flight, which was supposed to take off at 11.05 p.m. on Monday night, finally departed at 12.10 p.m. on Tuesday.

As a result of the prolonged delay, approximately seven passengers opted to cancel their journeys and made alternative travel arrangements. However, 161 passengers decided to continue with their travel plans and boarded the flight to Dubai.

Passengers were informed about the technical fault with flight IX813 and were initially informed that the flight would be diverted to Thiruvananthapuram, with accommodation provided at a hotel. From Thiruvananthapuram, they would proceed to Dubai. However, most passengers expressed a preference for an empty flight to be brought directly from Thiruvananthapuram to Mangalore, allowing for a non-stop journey. Responding to this feedback, Air India arranged for a replacement flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Mangalore, enabling the passengers to continue their journey to Dubai.

Meanwhile, flight IX383, originally scheduled to depart at 9.15 a.m. on Tuesday, was rescheduled for 6.45 p.m.

Air India expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to passengers and released a statement addressing the situation. “The flight scheduled for Dubai on Monday night was able to fly to Thiruvananthapuram. Passengers were told that the flight would proceed to Dubai after maintenance work was completed in Trivandrum. However, as the passengers preferred to wait for the empty flight to arrive from Thiruvananthapuram, there were delays. We have ensured continuous catering for passengers, and passengers have also cooperated,” the statement read.

New Delhi: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday said India has been a melting pot of cultures and religions that have co-existed in harmony for centuries, and Islam occupies a unique and significant “position of pride” amongst the religious groups in the country.

Doval’s remarks came during an event here at the India Islamic Cultural Centre where Muslim World League Secretary General Sheikh Dr Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, who is on an India visit, also addressed the gathering.

Doval hailed Al-Issa as an authentic global voice of moderate Islam and a profound scholar with a deep understanding of Islam.

Hailing the “excellent” relations between India and Saudi Arabia, Doval the ties were rooted in shared cultural heritage, common values and economic ties.

“Our leaders share a common vision for the future and have been closely interacting with each other,” the National Security Advisor said.

In his remarks, Doval said India as the world’s largest democracy and the mother of democracies is a land of incredible diversity.

“In your (Al-Issa) talk you elaborately mentioned diversity as a fundamental trait of our existence. It (India) has been a melting pot of cultures, religions, languages and ethnicities that have co-existed in harmony for centuries. As an inclusive democracy, India has successfully managed to provide space for all its citizens regardless of their religious, ethnic and cultural identities,” he said.

“Amongst its numerous religious groups, Islam occupies a unique and significant position of pride with India being home to the second largest Muslim population in the world,” he said.

To give an idea of the scale we are talking about, India’s Muslim population is almost equal to the combined population of over 33 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Doval added.

Ayodhya: A 25-year-old man allegedly threw acid at a woman here in the Haiderganj area of the city after his marriage with her was called off, police said on Tuesday.

The woman has been referred to Lucknow Trauma Centre in critical condition and the man has been arrested, police said.

The man went to the 20-year-old woman’s house late Monday night and threw acid at her while she was asleep, police said.

Inspector General Ayodhya Range Pravin Kumar said Rajkaran Sharma was known to the victim and her family and lived in an area under the Inayat Nagar Police Station.

He was miffed that his marriage with the woman was called off. The reason why it happened was not specified.

“We will file the chargesheet in the court in two days and within 15 to 20 days we will get the guilty punished,” the IG added.