12 special flights to reach India on Day 6 of 'Vande Bharat Mission'

Beijing, Jun 11: Floods and mudslides in south China have uprooted hundreds of thousands of people and left dozens dead or missing, state media reported Thursday.

The bad weather has wreaked havoc on popular tourist areas that had already been battered by months of travel restrictions during the coronavirus outbreak.

Torrential downpours unleashed floods and mudslides that caused nearly 230,000 people to be relocated and destroyed more than 1,300 houses, official state news agency Xinhua reported, citing the Ministry of Emergency Management.

In southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, six people were reported dead and one missing, Xinhua said.

Streets were waterlogged in popular tourist destination Yangshuo, forcing residents and visitors to evacuate on bamboo rafts.

The local government said more than 1,000 hotels had been flooded and more than 30 tourist sites damaged.

One owner of a family-run hotel told Xinhua that the guest rooms were submerged in one metre (three feet) of rainwater.

The extreme weather has dealt a hefty blow to the region's tourism sector, which is still reeling from the COVID-19 epidemic.

The emergency management ministry said there were direct economic losses of over 4 billion yuan (more than $550 million) from the flooding, Xinhua reported.

In Hunan Province, at least 13 people were killed in rain-triggered disasters, and another eight people are missing or killed in southwestern Guizhou province, according to the local emergency response departments, Xinhua said.

The heavy downpours began at the beginning of June and have led to "dangerously high water levels" in 110 rivers, Xinhua reported.

Further rainstorms are expected in the next few days across the south.

Motera, Feb 23: A day before US President Donald Trump's visit to Ahmedabad, a makeshift VVIP entry gate erected outside the newly-built cricket stadium in Motera area here collapsed due to gusty winds on Sunday morning, an official said.

The entire incident was recorded by a bystander and aired on local television channels.

The makeshift entry gate was made of welded steel rods and covered in flex banners.

After some time, a portion of another makeshift gate structure at the stadium's main entrance also collapsed due to the windy weather, another official said.

No one was injured in both the incidents and work was underway to put the structures back in place, he said.

"The (VVIP) entry gate collapsed when fabrication work was going on. It was not a major incident. No one was injured in the incident," said Special Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, Ajay Tomar said.

President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in a roadshow here on Monday and later address the 'Namaste Trump' event at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera area where over one lakh people are expected to be present.

The stadium has already received 'Building Use' permission from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, an official earlier said.

It is the world's largest stadium with a capacity to accommodate 1.10 lakh spectators.

The stadium has been rebuilt after demolishing the old one which had a seating capacity of 49,000 spectators.

New Delhi, Apr 16: The number of COVID-19 cases in India has reached 12,759, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

According to the official data, India has 10,824 active cases and 1514 discharged and cured cases. Meanwhile, 420 people have died from the disease which originated in China.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases in the country which stands at 2919, including 295 cured and discharged and 187 deaths.

With 1578 coronavirus cases, Delhi is in the second position of India's tally of corona infected people; followed by Tamil Nadu (1242) and Rajasthan (1023).

Kerala, which reported India's first coronavirus case, has 388 confirmed cases, including 295 cured and discharged and 187 deaths.

On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, that border the national capital, have 773 and 205 cases, respectively.

Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh and Pudducherry have reported 33, 21 and 7 cases respectively. While West Bengal has 231 coronavirus infected people, Odisha has confirmed 60 cases.

The newly carved union territories -- Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir--- have 17 and 300 cases, respectively.

In the Northeast, 33 people were detected positive for COVID-19 in Assam, which is the worst-affected states in the region. Six corona cases were confirmed from Meghalaya, two each from Manipur and Tripura and one from Arunachal Pradesh. Nagaland remains free from coronavirus till date, said the Ministry.