Tag: India

780,000 evacuated in India ahead of major cyclone

BHUBANESWAR, India (AFP) — Nearly 800,000 people in India’s eastern coastal districts have been evacuated ahead of the expected arrival of a major cyclone packing winds of up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) per hour, officials said Thursday. The Indian weather service said Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Fani is expected to make landfall on Friday afternoon near the Hindu holy town of Puri. A state relief department official told AFP that 780,000 people were moved […]

India braces for cyclone, puts navy on alert

BHUBANESWAR, India (AFP) — India deployed emergency personnel Wednesday and ordered the navy on standby as it braced for an extremely severe cyclonic storm barrelling towards the eastern coast. Tropical Cyclone Fani, located in the Bay of Bengal and packing wind speeds up to 205 kilometres (127 miles) per hour, is expected to make landfall at Odisha state Friday. Authorities have also ordered the evacuation of thousands of people from coastal districts likely to bear […]

Strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake rocks NE India: USGS

NEW DELHI, United States (AFP) — A strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh early Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said. The epicenter of the shallow quake was about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of Along, and 180 kilometers southwest of the state capital Itanagar. It struck at 1:45 am (2015 GMT Tuesday). Arunachal Pradesh is India’s least densely populated state, but is still home to more than 1.2 million people, according […]

Thunderstorms kill 35 in India

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Thunderstorms swept across western India killing at least 35 people and leaving widespread damage, officials said Wednesday. Strong winds barrelled through Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh states felling walls, trees and electricity lines. The storms have also been blamed for at least 25 deaths in Pakistan this week. At least 10 people were killed in the desert state of Rajasthan, where a wall of dust swept over several cities. Another […]

Successive quakes hit Mohean, India; strongest tremor recorded at 5.1 magnitude

  (Eagle News) – A succession of moderately strong quakes hit near Mohean, India with the strongest recorded at magnitude 5.1, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The quakes were located more than a hundred kilometers east southeast of Mohean, India or near Nicobar Islands between 15:09 UTC time or 11:09 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, until 3:55 p.m. UTC time or 11:55 a.m. Thursday, April 11 Philippine time. The first tremor was a 4.7 […]

The three women hoping to upset India’s Modi at the polls

by Abhaya SRIVASTAVA Agence France-Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) – India’s alpha-male Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces three formidable women looking to spoil his chances of winning a new term in elections beginning next week. AFP profiles them here: ‘Big sis’ Feisty and fiery Mamata Banerjee is the first female chief minister of the eastern state of West Bengal — home to more people than Germany — where Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) needs to […]

Modi declares India ‘space superpower’ as satellite downed by missile

by Jalees Andrabi NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India said Wednesday it destroyed a low-orbiting satellite in a missile test that proved the nation was among the world’s most advanced space powers. In a rare address to the nation just weeks out from a national election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India had joined the United States, Russia, and China in accomplishing the feat. A missile fired from a testing facility in Odisha, eastern India, […]

Finland tops world happiness rankings, South Sudan bottom: UN

Finland ranked as the world’s happiest country for the second year running while war-torn South Sudan sank to the least contented in a United Nations report released on Wednesday. The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people, known for their love of forests, lakes and saunas, topped the study which used survey data asking citizens in 156 countries how happy they perceive themselves to be, as well as measures such as life expectancy, income and social […]

Negligence case over deadly Mumbai bridge collapse

MUMBAI, India (AFP) — Indian police said Friday they had filed a negligence case against Mumbai’s civic and railway authorities after a footbridge collapsed killing six people and injuring dozens more. The bridge, which was under repair, gave away around 7.30 pm (1400 GMT) on Thursday as rush hour commuters made their way into Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus, the city’s main train station. It was the latest accident to highlight creaking infrastructure in India’s financial capital […]

Mumbai bridge collapse kills six: officials

MUMBAI, India (AFP) — Six people were killed and dozens injured when a footbridge collapsed near Mumbai’s main train station on Thursday, the latest accident to highlight creaking infrastructure in India’s financial capital. The bridge, which was under repair according to multiple Indian media reports, gave way around 7:30 pm (1400 GMT) as rush hour commuters made their way into Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus. Officials from the local disaster management office said six people had died […]

Mumbai bridge collapse kills four

  (AFP) — Four people were killed and dozens injured when a footbridge collapsed near Mumbai’s main train station on Thursday, the latest accident to highlight creaking infrastructure in India’s financial capital. The bridge, which was under repair according to multiple Indian media reports, gave way around 7.30 pm (1400 GMT) as rush hour commuters made their way into Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus. “Twenty-eight people were injured when the bridge collapsed. Four of those taken to […]

India dominates list of world’s most polluted cities

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India dominated a list of the world’s most polluted cities in 2018, taking 22 of the top 30 spots, according to a Greenpeace report. Air pollution is estimated to contribute to 7 million premature deaths every year and is considered by the United Nations to be the single biggest environmental health risk. While Delhi was again named the capital with the dirtiest air, in tenth place, neighbouring business city Gurugram, […]