28 killed, 22 missing as heavy rains hit north India; Delhi, UP on flood alert

Agencies
August 19, 2019

New Delhi, Aug 19: Heavy rains lashed northern parts, leaving at least 28 people dead and 22 missing in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab on Sunday, while a flood alert was sounded in parts of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

Haryana has asked the Army to remain on standby after 8.14 lakh cusec water was released from the Hathini Kund barrage in the Yamuna river.

At least 22 people, including two Nepalese, were killed and nine others injured in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh, while three people died and 22 went missing following a cloudburst in Uttarakhand. Three people lost their lives in Punjab.

In southern India, the death toll in flood-ravaged Kerala climbed to 121 with the retrieval of more bodies. Ground Penetrating Radars were put into use to locate bodies at Kavalappara in Malappuram and Puthumala in Wayanad, where massive landslides had wiped out two villages.

Delhi witnessed rains with the maximum temperature settling at 29.7 degrees Celsius, four notches below the season's average, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 24.8 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season's average.

As the water level in the Yamuna river neared warning level, the Delhi government sounded a flood alert for the city and asked people living in the low-lying areas to move to safer places as the water level in the Yamuna river is expected to cross the danger mark, officials said.

An official said the Yamuna river was flowing at 203.37 metre on Sunday evening and its water level is expected to rise further in next 24 hours after 8.14 lakh cusec water was released from the Hathini Kund barrage in Harayana at 5 pm.

In Uttar Pradesh, several rivers, including Ganga, Yamuna and Ghaghra, are in spate. Ganga is flowing above the danger mark in Badaun, Garhmukteshwar, Naraura and Farrukhabad. Similarly, the Sharda river at Paliakalan and the Ghaghra river at Elginbridge are flowing above the red mark, the Central Water Commission said.

In Uttarakhand, three people were killed and around 22 went missing as heavy rains lashed the state. Cloudbursts in Mori block of Uttarkashi district wreaked havoc in several villages, damaging several houses in Arakot, Makuri and Tikochi villages. A woman was also washed away in Dehradun district when her car fell into a seasonal river, they said.

Heavy rains remained unabated in Himachal Pradesh, leaving at least 22 people, including two Nepalese, dead and nine others injured in rain-related incidents in the state.

Nine people died in Shimla, five in Solan, two each in Kullu, Sirmaur, Solan and Chamba and one each in Una and Lahaul-Spiti districts. Landslides hit a spot near the RTO office here, leaving three people dead. One person sustained injuries in the incident.

Due to heavy rains, district officials in the state have ordered closure of all educational institutions in Shimla and Kullu on Monday.

Gates of the Pandoh and the Nathpa Jhakri dams in Himachal Pradesh are being opened as the water level in the Beas and Sutlej rivers is very high. People have been requested to stay away from rivers, rivulets and streams to avoid any untoward incident, officials said.

Train services between Shimla and Kalka were disrupted on Sunday after multiple landslides blocked the rail route in the state.

Heavy rains remained unabated in Haryana and Punjab on Sunday causing floods in some parts, while authorities sounded a high alert in the two states.

Following heavy rains in Aol village of Punjab, three members of a family were killed when the roof of their house collapsed.

Eleven people, including four women, have been rescued after they got stuck when the overflowing water of Beas river flooded their village in Punjab's Gurdaspur district.

In Rajasthan, water has started receding and there was no flood-like situation anywhere in the state. An official said 49 people have died in rain-related incidents in the state since June 15 and 500 people have been evacuated from the rain-affected areas.

In West Bengal, weather in large parts of south Bengal, including the metropolis, improved after two days of torrential rain that led to waterlogging in many areas and snapped road links at several places.

Rains lashed several parts of Chennai and its neighbourhood with the MeT office predicting more showers during the next two days.

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News Network
January 13,2020

New Delhi, Jan 13: The Delhi High Court on Monday sought response of the city police, Delhi government, WhatsApp Inc, Google Inc and Apple Inc on a plea of three JNU professors to preserve data, CCTV footage and other evidence relating to the January 5 violence on the varsity campus.

The Delhi Police informed the court that it has asked the JNU administration to preserve and hand over CCTV footage of the violence.

Justice Brijesh Sethi listed the matter for further hearing on Tuesday.

The court was told by Delhi government Standing Counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra that the police has not yet received any response from the university administration.

The counsel said police has also written to WhatsApp to preserve data of two groups "Unity Against Left" and "Friends of RSS" including messages, pictures and videos and phone numbers of members, related to JNU violence incident.

The petition was filed by JNU professors Ameet Parameswaran, Atul Sood and Shukla Vinayak Sawant seeking necessary directions to the Delhi Police Commissioner and Delhi government.

The petition also sought direction to the Delhi Police to retrieve all CCTV footage of JNU campus.

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Agencies
June 19,2020

Srinagar, Jun 19: Suspended Jammu and Kashmir DSP Davinder Singh, arrested while ferrying two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorists in a vehicle on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway earlier this year, was granted bail by a Delhi court on Friday, his lawyer said.

Singh and another accused in the case - Irfan Shafi Mir - were granted the relief by the court in a case filed by special cell of Delhi Police, noting that the probe agency failed to file charge sheet within 90 days from his arrest, as prescribed under law, their lawyer M S Khan said.

The bail was granted on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and two sureties of like amount.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: The Centre has written to all states and Union Territories stating that smartphones and tablet devices should be allowed for hospitalised Covid-19 patients so that they can interact with family and friends through video conferencing, which would provide them psychological support.

Though mobile phones are allowed in hospital wards, the missive was issued following some representation from the kin of patients alleging otherwise.

Director-General of Health Services (DGHS) in the Health Ministry Dr Rajiv Garg in the letter to the principal secretaries of health and medical education of states and Union territories said appropriate protocols for disinfecting devices and allotting timeslots can be developed by the hospital concerned to facilitate contact between patients and their family.

He underlined that administrative and medical teams should be responsive to the psychological needs of patients admitted in Covid-19 wards and ICUs of various hospitals.

"Social connection can calm down patients and also reinforce the psychological support given by the treating team. Please instruct all concerned that they should allow smartphones and tablet devices in patient areas so that the patient can video conference with their family and friends," stated the letter issued on July 29.

"Though mobile phones are allowed in the wards to enable a patient stay in touch with his or her family, we received representations from the patient families from some states stating mobile phones are not being allowed by hospital administrations because of which they were not being able to stay in contact with the patient," said Dr Garg.

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