Latest News LIVE: Rain lashes Chandigarh, parts of Haryana and Punjab

A crucial meeting of Nepal's ruling communist party to decide the political future of embattled Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli was postponed. Stay tuned with Business Standard for the latest news

7:32 PM

India should be on 'high alert' for next 4 wks to stop locust attacks: FAO

India, which is tackling the worst locust attack in 26 years for the last three months, should remain on "high alert" during the next four weeks, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

 

Meanwhile, the Indian government has stepped up efforts and is using latest technology and equipment like drones and Bell helicopters for control of the menace. Rajasthan is the most affected state in the country. The other affected states are Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Bihar.

 

In its latest update, the FAO said that spring-bred locust swarms that migrated to Indo-Pakistan border and travelled east to northern states, are expected to return to Rajasthan with the start of monsoon in coming days.

 

These swarms will return to Rajasthan to join other swarms still arriving from Iran and Pakistan, which is expected to be supplemented by swarms from the Horn of Africa in about mid-July, it added. READ MORE...

7:22 PM

57 people and 262 animals died in flood, rainfall and lightning-related incidents in Karnataka in a month

7:17 PM

Latest News LIVE update: Heavy rain likely in Odisha in next few days

Formation of a low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal is likely to trigger heavy rainfall in Odisha in the next few days, the Meteorological Centre said on Sunday. Under the influence of a cyclonic circulation over west-central and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal off north coastal Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha coasts, a low pressure area has formed over northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal coasts, the MeT Centre said in a bulletin.

 

The monsoon trough now passes through the centre of the low pressure area over northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal coasts and thence southeastwards to east-central Bay of Bengal, it said.

 

Moreover, southwest monsoon has been active over Odisha and light to moderate rainfall has occurred at most places in the state with heavy to very heavy rainfall at one or two places over north coastal districts since Saturday.

7:04 PM

Latest News LIVE update: Heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh

Rainfall occurred at many places in Himachal Pradesh in the last 24 hours, the meterological department said on Sunday.

 

Dharampur in the state was the wettest place after recording 54 mm rain followed by Palampur-50 mm, Dharamshala-48 mm, Mehre-43 mm, Nagrota Suriyan-42 mm, Jatton Barrage-41 mm, Kufri-38 mm, Baijnath and Aghar-37 mm each, Gaggal-36 mm, Shimla, Una and Jogindernagar-32 mm each, Nadaun-31 mm, Manali and RL-1700-27 mm each, Bharari-25 mm, Mandi and Naina Devi and Sujanpur Tira-24 mm each, Kothi-23 mm, Sundernagar-22 mm and Solan-21 mm of rainfall.

 

Meanwhile, heavy rain and high-speed winds did heavy damage in and around Dharamshala on Saturday night. Electric wires fell on the road and many trees got uprooted. The electric supply also remained disrupted. Heavy damage due to the storm was reported from Nagrota Suriya, Jawali and the surrounding areas.

 

The weatherman has predicted heavy rainfall, thunderstorm and lightning at isolated places in the state on July 8 and 9. The MeT also predicted rain with thunderstorm in almost all places of the state in the next eight days.

7:02 PM

Latest News LIVE update: Earthquake of 4.2 magnitude hits Gujarat's Kutch district

A 4.2 magnitude earthquake, with its epicentre around 14 kms from Bhachau in Kutch district of Gujarat, was recorded on Sunday evening, an official said. It was preceded by four minor quakes of 1.8, 1.6, 1.7 and 2.1 magnitude between 1.50 am and 4.32 pm, the official said.

 

"A 4.2 magnitude earthquake was felt in Kutch district with its epicentre 14 km north-north-east of Bhachau in Kutch district at 5.11 pm on Sunday," the official of the Gandhinagar-based Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) said.

 

The same region had on June 14 recorded an earthquake of 5.3 magnitude that was felt across several parts of Saurashtra region, forcing people to rush out of their houses.

 

Kutch district is located in a "very high risk" seismic zone and low intensity earthquakes regularly occur there. The 2001 earthquake, also known as the Bhuj earthquake, was the third largest and second most destructive in India over the last two centuries.

6:41 PM

Latest News LIVE: Earthquake of magnitude 4.6 on the Richter scale in Mizoram today

6:40 PM

PM Modi's visit to Ladakh boosted morale of security forces: ITBP DG

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Ladakh has boosted the morale of all forces at the border and the troops are ready to sacrifice their lives for the nation like in the past, said SS Deswal, DG, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on Sunday.

 

During the inauguration of DRDO-built Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel COVID-19 Hospital in Delhi Cantonment here on Sunday, Deswal said, "Prime Minister's visit to Ladakh and his address to troops in Nimu have boosted the morale of all forces at the border. Our jawans are dedicated to the nation. The morale of our Army, Air Force and ITBP is very high. We are ready to dedicate our lives to the nation."

 

Deswal said that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel COVID-19 Hospital has been developed to help out citizens of Delhi and NCR who are affected by the coronavirus, news agency ANI reported.

 

"Our team of doctors and medical staff will take care of this facility. Our medical teams were earlier deployed to treat the Indian citizens evacuated from Wuhan in China in our COVID-19 facility in Chhawla camp. We are running 200 bedded COVID hospital in Noida for all the police forces in Delhi and NCR," he said.

 

"This hospital has 10 per cent of beds with oxygen facility. We have counsellors for mentally traumatic patients. We have a team of good psychiatrists and specialists in medicine." he added.

 

The DRDO-built Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel COVID-19 Hospital in Delhi Cantonment, the temporary hospital structure that has been erected in 11 days and has 1,000 beds including 250 ICU beds, informed DRDO officials.

 

Delhi has a total of 97,200 COVID-19 cases, including 68,256 recoveries and 25,940 active cases, as per the last bulletin of the Delhi Health Department.

6:28 PM

IAF ramping up deployment in key bases along LAC amid border row with China

The Indian Air Force is significantly enhancing deployment of its frontline jets, attack helicopters and transport fleet in all its key bases guarding the airspace along the Line of Actual Control in view of heightened border tension with China in eastern Ladakh, people familiar with the development said on Saturday.

 

The IAF has also pressed into service a fleet of C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft as well as C-130J Super Hercules in transporting heavy military equipment and weaponry to several forward bases to further ramp up India's military preparedness in the region.

 

The IAF is also using its Ilyushin-76 fleet to transport troops to various areas along the Line of Actual Control, the 3,500 km de-facto border between India and China, the people cited above said.

 

They said the force has already moved a sizeable number of its frontline Sukhoi 30 MKI, Jaguar, Mirage 2000 aircraft to several key air bases including Leh and Srinagar. READ MORE...

6:20 PM

Coronavirus vaccine unlikely before 2021, says Science Ministry

6:10 PM

954 hectares of land along Yamuna floodplain still under cultivation: NGT panel

A committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to monitor the cleaning of Yamuna has informed it that 954 hectares of land along the river's floodplain is still under cultivation and sought eviction of those possessing the land, news agency PTI reported.

 

The Yamuna Monitoring Committee, which comprises retired NGT expert member B S Sajwan and former Delhi chief secretary Shailaja Chandra, told the NGT that a drive to remove illegal cultivation by encroachers had been taken up and till January 7, 352.36 hectares of land has been evicted and repossessed.

 

"There are 954 hectares under encroachment and agricultural use. YMC has been following up on this relentlessly but in 20 months no plan for eviction has been given," the YMC said.

 

"NGT may consider directing that a plan for eviction of those possessing the land and where there are no court stays be prepared. Delhi Development Authority needs to be reprimanded for evading doing this for so long. Without a plan, the agriculturists will only get more strength to ward off reclamation efforts whenever these are mounted," the committee said.

6:01 PM

Lightning kills 43 people in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar; rains lash several parts of country

At least 43 people were killed after being struck by lightning in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as rains and thunderstorm occurred in several parts of the country on Saturday, officials said.

 

Instances of wall collapse, uprooting of trees and waterlogging were reported in Maharashtra as heavy rains lashed large parts of the western state, including Mumbai, for the second day on Saturday. However, there were no casualties.

North India witnessed predominantly sultry weather, with Punjab and Haryana recording above-normal day temperatures. In the national capital, the mercury oscillated between 37 and 40 degrees Celsius in most parts of the city.

 

Light rains and cloudy skies over the next three-four days are expected to keep the mercury in check in the national capital, Meteorological department officials said. Rainfall was recorded at isolated places in Uttar Pradesh, where at least 23 people were killed and 29 others injured after being struck by lightning. READ MORE...

 

 

5:51 PM

Highest single-day spike of 1,153 Covid-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh

5:46 PM

BSF seizes 884 Phensedyl cough syrup, rescues 10 cattle along India-Bangladesh border

The Border Security Force (BSF) has seized 884 bottles of Phensedyl cough syrup and resued 10 cattle along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal.

 

"The BSF troops of South Bengal Frontier seized 884 bottles Phensedyl worth Rs 1,14,449 and rescued 10 cattle during the anti-trans border crime operations on June 4-5," BSF said in a press release.

 

These Phensedyl were being smuggled to Bangladesh through the different locations of the border districts of the state, the force added. So far in the year 2020, the BSF troops of South Bengal Frontier have seized 1,43,379 bottles of Phensedyl and 2,429 kilogram of ganja in international smuggling cases, news agency ANI reported.

5:40 PM

India should focus on 15 items of imports to achieve self-reliance: Assocham

Industry body Assocham has identified15 large import items for ramping up the country's domestic capacity to achieve the objective of Aatmanirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India in 2-3 years. These items include electronics, coal, iron-steel, non-ferrous metals and vegetable oils, among others.

 

The analysis, based on the latest data, shows that the electronics goods are the largest non-oil import segment. Despite the country being under partial lockdown, India imported electronic goods worth USD 2.8 billion only in May, 2020.

 

"In the circumstance of the industry operating in a normal way, these imports are near about USD 5 billion a month - a huge drain on the forex which needs to be curtailed," Assocham said in a note.

5:34 PM

Uttar Pradesh reports massive dip in revenues in first quarter of 2020-21

Uttar Pradesh has witnessed a massive dip in tax and non-tax revenue collection in the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year owing to the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on commercial and industrial activity.

 

Against a tax and non-tax revenue target of Rs 46,127 crore for the April-June period, the state’s collection stood at a mere Rs 17,412 crore or 37.74 per cent of the quarterly goal.

 

According to UP finance minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, the tax revenue during the April-June 2020 was Rs 15,716 crore against the target of Rs 41,602 crore, which was only 37.77 per cent of the quarterly target. Similarly, the non-tax revenue mop up stood at Rs 1,696 crore or 37.5 per cent of the Rs 4,525 crore target set for the April-June quarter of 2020-21. READ MORE...