Thousands evacuated as Phailin turns into a super cyclone

October 11, 2013

Super_cyclone Bhubaneswar, Oct 11: Cyclone Phailin with a wind speed of 220km per hour is turning into a super cyclone before making landfall on Saturday evening near Gopalpur in Odisha where the government has galvanized its machinery to deal with its impact and is evacuating thousands of people from low-lying areas.

"The US Navy has also forecast that the wind speed will be above 240kmph. Therefore, the cyclone is not less than any super cyclone for us," special relief commissioner P K Mohapatra said.

He said that though the IMD on Friday indicated that the wind speed would be limited to 185kmph, it was now forecasting it at 220kmph.

Mohapatra said the IMD had declared the 1999 calamity as a super cyclone as the wind speed had crossed 220kmph.

"This time around, the wind speed is not much different than the previous super cyclone," he said.

Squalls with a wind speed of 45-55kmph to 65kmph have already started along Odisha coast since morning.

"It would increase in intensity with gale wind speeds reaching 210-220kmph along and off south Odisha at the time of landfall," the IMD said in a bulletin categorised as an Orange Message.

It would make landfall near Gopalpur in Ganjam district on Saturday evening after crossing an area between Paradip in Odisha and Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

The IMD said the cyclone over east central Bay of Bengal remained stationary and lay 520km south-southeast of Paradip and 530km southeast of Gopalpur.

The IMD forecast a storm surge of 2.5 metre to 3.0 metre in Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts.

A storm surge is a rise of the sea as a result of atmospheric pressure changes and winds associated with a storm.

Local Cautionary (LC-III) has been hoisted in all the ports in the state.The Navy, Airforce, NDRF, ODRF were ready for relief and rescue operation as soon as the cyclone hit the coast, Mohapatra said.

A worried state government held meetings and evaluated the changed circumstances.

"At least 28 teams of the National Disaster Response Forces are at the disposal of the Odisha government for evacuation and relief operations," a senior official said after one such meeting.

So far eight teams of NDRF, reaching having 20 personnel, have been deployed in Puri district, the official said.

Revenue and Disaster Management Minister S N Patro said district collectors have been told to complete evacuation of people by this evening.

"We do not want to take any chance," Patro said, adding that shelters were ready.

Appealing to the people not to panic, chief minister Naveen Patnaik asked them to cooperate with the government in relief and rescue operations.

Earlier:

Cyclone Phailin: Antony asks armed forces to be ready

New Delhi Oct 11: Defence Minister A K Antony today asked the armed forces to be ready to move in to Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in view of the impending severe cyclonic storm Phailin.

Two IAF IL-76 aircraft have already airlifted NDRF teams and equipment to Bhubneshwar.

IAF assets have been kept on stand by at various bases including – Raipur, Nagpur, Jagdalpur, Barrackpore, Ranchi and Gwalior.

It has also kept two C130J aircraft, 18 helicopters, 2 AN-32s aircraft on a standby to move at a short notice besides asking its Eastern Air Command to coordinate relief operation with the task force positioned at Barrackpore.

The intensity of cyclonic storm Phailin is likely to increase as it has crossed the wind speed of 205-215 kmph in the early hours today, the MET department said.

The storm is still 520 km south-southeast of Paradip, 530 km southeast of Gopalpur, and 530km east-southeast of Kalingapatnam.

It would move northwestwards and cross north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast between Kalingapatnam and Paradip, close to Gopalpur (Odisha) by evening of 12th October as a "very severe cyclonic storm" with a maximum sustained wind speed of 205-215 kmph. The tide height too is expected to be around 2 meters to 2.5 meters.

"The intensity of the storm has increased in the last few hours. Although it is a very severe cyclonic storm, it still cannot be termed as a super cyclone. We have keeping a close watch on it" said a senior MET department official.

Earlier:

Phailin gains strength, wind speed to reach 215 kmph: IMD
Phailin_gains Bhubaneswar, Oct 11: The severe cyclonic storm Phailin over east central Bay of Bengal today further intensified and is all set to make a landfall close to Gopalpur in Odisha at a wind speed of at least 205 kmph tomorrow.

"The very severe cyclonic storm, PHAILIN over east central Bay of Bengal moved west-northwestwards with a speed of 15 kmph and lay centred about 520km south-southeast of Paradip, 530 from Gopalpur and 530km east-southeast of Kalingapatnam," the IMD said in its latest bulletin.

"It would move northwestwards and cross north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast between Kalingapatnam and Paradip, close to Gopalpur (Odisha) by the evening of October 12," the IMD said.

IMD, which till last night expected that the wind speed would remain limited within 185 kmph during landfall on Saturday, said in its latest bulletin that Phailin would hit with increased intensity with a maximum sustained speed of 205-215 kmph.

Similarly, though IMD forecast a storm surge of 1.5 meter to 2 meter in Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts in the coast yesterday, today it said the storm surge height will be around 2 meter to 2.5 meter above astronomical tide. This would inundate low lying areas of Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur in Odisha.

Squally winds speed reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph have already started along Odisha coast this morning under the influence of Phailin. "It would increase in intensity with gale wind speed reaching 205-215 kmph along and off coastal districts of south Odisha at the time of landfall," the IMD said.

Meanwhile, a worried state government held several meetings and took stock of the situation in the changed circumstances. The state government has already asked the district authorities to start evacuation of people living in low lying areas close to the sea.

"We have ordered that nobody should be allowed to stay in thatched and weak houses," Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Mohapatra said.

The personnel of of Odisha State Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and fire men have already been deployed.

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'Right to access internet a fundamental right': SC on J&K restrictions

News Network

January 10,2020

New Delhi, Jan 10: The Supreme Court while hearing petitions challenging restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday stated that the right to access the internet is a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution of India.

"It is no doubt that freedom of speech is an essential tool in a democratic setup. The freedom of Internet access is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution," a two-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana stated while reading out the judgment.

The top court said that Kashmir has seen a lot of violence and that it will try to maintain a balance between human rights and freedoms with the issue of security.

It also directed the Jammu and Kashmir administration to review the restrictive orders imposed in the region within a week. “The citizens should be provided highest security and liberty,” the apex court added.

The top court made observations and issued directions while pronouncing the verdict on a number of petitions challenging the restrictions and internet blockade imposed in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year.

The Supreme Court had on November 27 reserved the judgment on a batch of petitions challenging restrictions imposed on communication, media and telephone services in Jammu and Kashmir pursuant to revocation of Article 370.

The court heard the petitions filed by various petitioners including Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kashmir Times editor Anuradha Bhasin.

The petitions were filed after the central government scrapped Article 370 in August and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Following this, phone lines and the internet were blocked in the region.

The government had, however, contended that it has progressively eased restrictions.

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Baby who tested COVID-19 positive when he was 20 days old recovers fully when he turns 45 days old

News Network

April 30,2020

Hyderabad, Apr 30: A 45-day-old baby boy, who tested positive for COVID-19 when he was 20-days-old, was discharged from a state-run hospital here on Wednesday after his full recovery.

The baby from Mahabubnagar, who contracted the infection from his father, was 20-days-old at the time of admission (on April 4), a COVID-19 bulletin said.

He was discharged after being cured, it said. The baby, probably the youngest to contract the infection in the country, was treated at the state-run Gandhi hospital in the city.

State Health Minister E Rajender expressed happiness over the baby being discharged after recovery.

An official release said 35 people were discharged today and 13 of them were children.

Those who were discharged thanked the doctors and medical personnel of the hospital and the minister has lauded the doctors and other medical staff for their efforts, it said.

Among those undergoing treatment at the hospital, 10 are being treated in the ICU.

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Never talked about charging migrant labourers; 85% fare borne by railways, 15% by state govts: Centre

Agencies

May 4,2020

New Delhi, May 4: The government has not talked about charging anything from migrant labourers as 85 per cent of the transportation cost is borne by the railways and 15 per cent by state governments, the Centre said on Monday amid a row over the national transporter allegedly charging the workers for ferrying them home during the COVID-19-induced lockdown.

The government also said the process of transporting the stranded migrant labourers was being coordinated by states “except for one or two states”.

Asked if the migrant labourers were being charged for being ferried home, Joint Secretary at the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said that as far as migrant labourers are concerned, the guidelines have clearly stated that under the infectious disease management one should stay where he or she is.

“Based on the request given from states for particular cases, permission was given to run special trains. Be it government of India or the Railways, we have not talked about charging from workers. Eighty-five per cent of the transportation cost is borne by the Railways, while states have to bear 15 per cent of the cost,” he told reporters.

“Based on the request of the states the process that started, under which limited number of stranded migrant labourers have to be transported for a particular reason, is being coordinated by the state governments, except for one or two states,” Agarwal said.

At the daily briefing on the COVID-19 situation, Agarwal also said that in the last 24 hours, 1,074 COVID-19 patients have recovered, the highest number of recoveries in one day.

The recovery rate stands at 27.52 per cent with 11,706 COVID-19 patients cured till now, he said.

Agarwal said in the last 24 hours, 2,553 novel coronavirus cases were reported, taking the number of overall cases to 42,533. The total number of active cases stands at 29,453, he said.

The joint secretary also said that the COVID-19 curve is relatively flat as of now and it was not right to talk in terms of when the peak would come.

“If we collectively work then the peak might not ever come, while if we fail in any way we might experience a spike in cases,” he said.

Amitabh Kant, Chairman of the Empowered Group dealing with civil society, NGOs, industries and international partners, said in 112 aspirational districts, “we worked with the collectors and in these 112 districts only 610 cases have been reported which is two per cent of the national level infection”.

In these 112 districts, 22 per cent of India's population resides, he said.

In a few districts like Baramulla, Nuh Rachi, Kupwara and Jaisalmer more than 30 cases have been reported, while in the rest of the places very few cases are there, Kant said.

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why is no one talking about privatized railways? why Adani is not offering free travel to laborers?