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Uttarakhand: 19 feared killed in IAF rescue chopper crash

June 25, 2013
crashGauchar, Jun 25: 19 people, including Air Force and para-military personnel, were today feared killed when a sophisticated IAF helicopter crashed in bad weather near Gaurikund in Uttarakhand during rescue operations.

Vice Chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) M Sashidhar Reddy said eight bodies have been recovered and chances of any survivor among the 19 onboard were remote.

"There were 19 people onboard including NDRF, ITBP and IAF personnel. Eight bodies have been recovered," he told PTI.

Among those killed were three IAF officers, she said.

Rudraprayag SP Varinderjeet Singh said the cause of the crash is not immediately known but chances are high that the mishap occurred due to bad weather.

A senior Air Force officer in Gauchar said the ill-fated Mi-17 chopper had made two sorties to the Kedarnath area since this morning and was on its third sortie when it crashed.

The crash occurred in "difficult" weather conditions created by rains and fog, he said.

The chopper belonged to a unit from Barrackpore Air Force Station in West Bengal under the Eastern Air Command.

A Court of Inquiry has been order to investigate the crash, the spokesperson said.

The IAF said its operations in the area will continue. IAF had started inducting Mi-17 V5 choppers only last year after 80 of them were ordered from Russia.

This is the second incident of a helicopter crash this week in the hill state. A private helicopter carrying relief materials for the rain-affected people in Rudraprayag district had crashed on Sunday near Gaurikund leaving the pilot injured.

Air Force officials said eight bodies have been recovered from the crash site by the Garud Commandos of the IAF. They said the chopper had taken off at 12.30 PM from Kedarnath area and crashed within five to seven minutes.

Defence Minister A K Antony has expressed anguish over the crash. A pall of gloom descended at the helipad here after reports of the crash reached. IAF, Army and ITBP officers went into a huddle at a tent erected by the Air Force for controlling its operations.

Senior officials of the agencies involved in the rescue operations also rushed to the helipad.

IAF officers were seen making anxious calls over their cellphones and restricted frequency equipment to finetune the operations and gather details of the crash.

Presence of local police officials has been beefed up in the area after the mishap.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 31: People offered Eid-al-Adha namaz while ensuring social distancing norms at mosques in Thiruvananthapuram and Mallapuram on Friday.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had on Thursday announced that the Eid-al-Adha prayers can be offered in mosques of the state on Friday with a limited number of people due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kerala is celebrating the festival of Eid-al-Adha on Friday.

Eid al-Adha or Bakrid, also known as "Sacrifice Feast" is marked by sacrificing an animal, usually a sheep or a goat to prove their devotion and love for Allah. Post the sacrifice, devotees distribute the offering to family, friends, neighbours and especially to the poor and the needy. 

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News Network
March 2,2020

Mathura, Mar 2: Union Minister of state Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti on Sunday said after the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the Centre might bring a population control law.

Jyoti claimed that she has already spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard.

She said she believes that this issue is under the prime minister's consideration and he himself has discussed the importance of bringing this law.

Jyoti arrived here on Sunday to attend a tribute meeting held at Swami Vamdev Jyotirmath in Chaitanya Vihar. Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj was also present at the event.

"There was a time when abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir was impossible. It was feared that if such thing happens, there will be bloodbath. No one will be hold the national flag in Kashmir. But this government can bring any law in favour of the nation," Jyoti said.

"Now, everyone believes that if Article 370 can be removed...Prime Minister Narendra Modi can bring any law which is important for the country," she added.

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expat
 - 
Monday, 2 Mar 2020

already people are childless. struggling for IVF treatment. no need of population control. it is automatically getting control byu nature.

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News Network
January 27,2020

New Delhi, Jan 27: Remember the story of two friends coming face-to-face with a bear in a forest? One of the two friends climbs the tree to save his life and the other, not knowing how to, lays on the ground, breathless, pretending to be dead.

Well, that lesson turned out to be useful for this man who pretended to be dead when a tiger had both his paws on the man's chest.

Yes, that is right. IFS officer Parveen Kaswan recently shared a video of a man lying under a tiger, with their faces extremely close to each other with the caption, "You want to see how does a narrow escape looks like in case of an encounter with a #tiger. #Tiger was cornered by the crowd. But fortunately, the end was fine for both man and tiger. Sent by a senior."

Another Twitter user shared the full 30-second video in the comments. He also said that the incident occured in Tumsar in Bhandara district, Maharashtra. The spine-chilling clip shows a tiger running freely in the fields trying to avoid people who have surrounded him and are trying to shoo him away.

In his quest to run away, the scared tiger grabs a human. When he sees that people are still approaching him and trying to scare him away, he gets up and runs away for his life. All this while, the man who was captured by the animal lays still on the ground and does not make an attempt to get free.

This is what stuck with Twitter and they are praising the man for his presence of mind.

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