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57,000 pilgrims stranded in Uttarakhand

June 18, 2013

UttarakhandDehradun, Jun 18: More than 30 people died and 57,000 pilgrims visiting the Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri shrines were stranded in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts on Monday as unprecedented rains wreaked havoc on Uttarakhand.

Rains also pounded Himachal Pradesh and several parts of Haryana, which were flooded after the level of the Yamuna rose alarmingly.

Reports from the Uttarakhand Disaster Management and Mitigation Centre said over 30 people died in rains, cloudbursts and landslips in Dehradun, Tehri, Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts.

According to reports received till Monday night, 19 persons have been severely injured, and seven have gone missing.

Anand Sharma, Director of the Meteorological Centre, Dehradun, said: “Dehradun on Monday morning registered a record rainfall of 340 mm. This amount of rain in June is seen almost after five decades.”

Mr. Sharma forecast landslips and heavy rains in the Kumaon region, and Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts.

According to the Central Water Commission, the water level in the Ganga had risen by 1 metre above the danger mark.

The Army, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Border Security Force (BSF), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are handling rescue operations.

Army and private helicopters have been kept ready.

The District Magistrates have informed Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna that people residing along rivers have been shifted to relief camps.

Rudraprayag District Magistrate Neeraj Khairwal said Rambada was the worst-affected in the district.

Chamoli District Magistrate S.A. Murugesan said Govindghat, Tangadi, and Patal Ganga were affected. The Badrinath-Rishikesh road, the Chamoli- Virahi road and the Kedarnath-Gaurikund road were damaged.

In Uttarkashi, the Rishikesh-Yamunotri and Rishikesh- Gangotri highways were blocked at several places.

ITBP spokesman Deepak Pandey told The Hindu: “Around 300 victims have been accommodated in the ITBP camp at Joshimath and 350 at Joshimath Gurudwara.” “The ITBP personnel are clearing the blockage on the outskirts of Joshimath.”

Mr. Bahuguna said: “We have given all District Magistrates a free hand to deal with the situation. Our priority is to rescue the pilgrims…”

“All relief measures, including deployment of helicopters, are in place, but no relief services are able to reach the people as road links have snapped,” he said.

The Chief Minister said the extent of damage was not ascertained yet as information received by the government was only through helicopter surveillance. “I will be going to the Prime Minister this week to request for a flood control package for the State.”

PM’s assurance Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called up Mr. Bahuguna and assured him that the Centre would give the State all assistance. The annual Kailash Mansarovar Yatra has been stopped at Buddhi in Uttarakhand. The pilgrims have been accommodated at various locations, an ITBP officer said.

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News Network
August 8,2020

The Kozhikode International Airport located at Karipur is not safe for the landing of flights in rainy season, according to an air-safety expert, who had warned the aviation ministry and the civil aviation regulator about this in 2011. 

The warning was particularly about the dangers of permitting passenger aircraft to land on runway 10 of the airport during rains and unfavourable wind conditions. 

Nine years later, on August 7, 2020, the warning became a reality when an Air India Express pilots landed in tailwind conditions and the aircraft overshot the tabletop runway to drop off the end and crash.

 “An aircraft landing on runway 10 in tailwind will experience poor braking action due to heavy rubber deposits … All such flights … are endangering the lives of all on board,’’ said Capt Mohan Ranganathan, in a letter sent on June 17, 2011 to then director general of civil aviation Bharat Bhushan and Nasim Zaidi, chairman of a civil aviation safety advisory committee, which was formed after the May 2010 Mangaluru air crash which killed 158 people.

“My warning issued after the Mangaluru crash was ignored. It is a table-top runway with a down slope. The buffer zone at the end of the runway is inadequate,” Capt Ranganathan said. Given the topography, he pointed out, the airport should have a buffer of 240m at the end of the runway, but it only has 90m (which the DGCA had approved). “Moreover, the space on either side of the runway is only 75m instead of the mandatory 100m,” he added.

Capt Ranganathan said there is no guideline for operations on a table-top runway when it is raining. “Runway 10 approach should not be permitted in view of the lack of runway end safety area (RESA) and the terrain beyond the end of the runway. RESA of 240m should be immediately introduced and runway length has to be reduced to make the operations safe,” his letter said.

If an aircraft is unable to stop within the runway, there is no RESA beyond the end. The ILS localiser antenna is housed on a concrete structure and the area beyond is a steep slope. “The Air India Express accident in Mangalore should have alerted AAI to make the runway conditions safe. We have brought up the issue of RESA during the initial Casac-sub group meetings. We had specifically mentioned that the declared distances for both runways have to be reduced in order to comply with ICAO Annex 14 requirement,” Capt Ranganathan said.

He said the condition of the runway strip was known to DGCA teams that have been conducting inspection and safety assessments. “Have they considered the danger involved? Did the DGCA or the airlines lay down any operational restrictions or special procedures?”

The letter also refers to Approach and Landing Accident Reduction (ALAR) training, which is supposed to be mandatory before every monsoon, but airlines don’t follow it, he said. “70% of accidents take place during approach and landing and that is why this training is essential,” he added.

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News Network
January 19,2020

New Delhi, Jan 19: Reacting to a tweet by ace lawyer Indira Jaising urging her to forgive the four men on death row for brutally raping that finally took her life, Nirbhaya's mother said on Saturday: "Even if God asks me, I won't forgive them."

Speaking to news agency, over the phone, the mother who had been fighting for seven long years to send her daughter's killers to the gallows, said, "...even if god comes and asks me to forgive them, I will not. People like these (Jaising) are a blot on the society."

Commenting on Jaising's tweet, she said: "Who is she to tell or suggest to me to forgive them. What relation does she have with me. I have nothing to do with such people. She can be a relative of those (the convicts) that she is having a soft corner for."

"She is an insult to women. She is running a business in the name of human rights. She is a veteran, she should give a message to the society. But she instead will go against her own kind," she added.

Earlier in the day, Jaising had requested Nirbhaya's mother to follow the example of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who had moved for the clemency of a woman, Nalini Murugan convicted for the assassination of her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"While I fully identify with the pain of Nirbhaya's mother I urge her to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who forgave Nalini and said she didn't want the death penalty for her. We are with you but against death penalty," Jaising tweeted on Friday.

A Delhi Court on Friday issued fresh death warrants against the four convicts -- Akshay, Pawan, Mukesh and Vinay in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Satish Kumar Arora fixed 1 February as the date of execution of the four death row convicts. They will be hanged at 6am.

The move came after the prosecution moved an application seeking issuance of fresh death warrants following the rejection of the mercy plea of one of the convicts Mukesh by President Ram Nath Kovind.

The 23-year-old victim was brutally gang-raped and tortured on December 16, 2012, which later led to her death.

All the six accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused was a minor and appeared before a juvenile justice court, while another accused committed suicide in Tihar Jail.

Four of the convicts were sentenced to death by a trial court in September 2013, and the verdict was confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014 and upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2017, which also dismissed their review petitions.

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News Network
April 12,2020

New Delhi, Apr 12: With 34 deaths and 909 new positive COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the total number of coronavirus cases in India on Sunday climbed to 8356, including 716 cured and discharged and 273 deaths, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

At present, there are 7367 active COVID-19 cases in the country.

"A total number of COVID-19 positive cases rises to 8356 in India, including 716 cured/discharged, 273 deaths and 1 migrated," said the Health Department.

The highest number of positive cases of coronavirus was reported from Maharashtra at 1761, including 127 deaths, followed by Delhi (1069 and 19 deaths), Tamil Nadu (969 and 10 deaths) and Rajasthan (700 and 3 deaths).

There are 452 coronavirus positive cases in Uttar Pradesh, including 45 cured and discharged and 5 deaths.

The states which have crossed 200-mark for COVID-19 positive cases also include Madhya Pradesh (532), Telangana (504), Gujarat (432), Andhra Pradesh (381) and Kerala (364).

While 19 people were detected positive for coronavirus in Chandigarh, 207 cases were confirmed from Jammu and Kashmir and 15 from Ladakh.

In North-East, Assam has confirmed the highest number of corona positive cases at 29, followed by Manipur and Tripur at two each and Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh at one each.

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