17 killed in K’taka road accident

Jul 22,  5:41 PM
In Karnataka, 17 people have been killed in a road accident in Sindhgi Taluk of Bijapur district. A private bus moving from Bijapur to Gulbarga hit a cruiser passenger van coming from the opposite direction, killing 11 men, five women and a girl child travelling in the van. Remaining five people in the van were injured and admitted to the Bijapur district hospital. The ten passengers of the private bus were also injured in the head on collision. According to the police, the van is registered in Maharashtra and the dead are reported to be from Sangli district. The accident took place near Mallayana temple in Sindhgi on Bijapur-Jewargi-Gulbarga route.

Heavy rains continue to lash several parts of Andhra

Jul 22,  2:1 PM
In Andhra Pradesh, heavy rains continued to lash several parts of the state today while water levels in various reservoirs are rising. The water levels in Godavari River came down to 48 feet at Bhadrachalam while it is still flowing at dangerous levels of 17 feet at Dhawaleswaram in East Godavari district. Several parts in Telangana and North Coastal Andhra regions have received rainfall to a tune of3 to 5 cms since this morning under the influence of the fresh formation of low pressure in North Bay of Bengal. Meanwhile, heavy inflows are reaching Jurala project on Krishna River following opening gates of Almatti reservoir in Maharshtra.
AIR correspondent reports, over hundred villages abutting Godavari River especially island villages remained marooned and relief measures are underway on war footing. Two more helicopters pressed into service to carry out rescue and relief operations in Rajhamundry and Karimnagar. Besides ten teams of the National Disaster Relief Force already operating at different parts of the rains affected districts, one more team has been sent to Narsapur in West Godavari District with all rescue material like life boats. Over 15 thousand people are taking shelter in relief camps set up at various places. Revenue officials informed that over five thousand houses were damaged and crops in sixty thousand hectare were damaged due to heavy rains.

Solar panel scam: Kerala HC rejects Tenny Jopan’s bail plea

Jul 22,  12:48 PM
The Kerala High Court today rejected a bail plea by Tenny Jopan, former personal staff member of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, arrested in connection with the solar panel scam. Justice S S Satheesachandran rejected the bail plea, taking into account the objection raised by prosecution that allowing bail would jeopordise the investigation process which is now underway. Tenny Jopan was arrested by the police for having direct involvement in the solar panel cheating case involving 40 lakh rupees.

Flood situation grim in UP as major rivers still in spate

Jul 22,  1:34 PM In Uttar Pradesh, the flood situation continues to be grim as most of the major rivers flowing through the state, continue to be in spate. About 134 villages have been affected in Lakhimpur Kheri, 68 in Sitapur, while 225 and 53 villages have been affected by floods in Bahraich and Barabanki, respectively. In Gorakhpur, 90 villages are flooded, 150 villages are flooded in Siddharthnagar, 104 in Sant Kabir Nagar and 41 in Basti. The rivers Sharada, Ganga, Ghaghra, Yamuna, Ramganga, and Rapti were flowing around or above the danger mark. Though the government has pressed relief teams into service for conducting the rescue operations and to rehabilitate people, the situation remains grim in all the nine affected districts. The Met department has also predicted heavy rain in some parts of the state over the next few days. In addition, most major rivers in the sub-Himalayan terai region are also reported to be in spate. According to Relief Commissioner’s office, while Sharda is flowing above the danger mark in Paliakalan, the Ghaghra is one meter above the red mark in Bahraich. The high volume of water in the Ganga has raised a flood threat in Kannauj, Allahabad, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur and Ballia, while Yamuna is in spate at Baghpat, Auraiya, Hamirpur, Banda and Allahabad. Nearly four lakh persons have been rendered homeless as a result of the recent floods. Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur and Bahraich have been worst hit by the flood waters. About 1.19 lakh persons have been affected in Sitapur, while one lakh persons have lost their homes and livelihoods in Lakhimpur Kheri. In Bahraich, traditionally a flood-ravaged region, about 225 villages and hamlets, comprising more than 96,000 people, have been affected by the flood waters since last month. Here Ghaghra is posing a major threat to the remaining areas with its continuous upsurge. J&K FinMin elected as Chairman of Empowered Committee of State FinMins on GST Jul 22,  5:55 PM Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather has been unanimously elected as the new Chairman of Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST). A decision in this regard was taken at the meeting of state Finance Ministers in New Delhi today. The committee has been tasked to pursue implementation of GST. The new chief will have a formidable task of pursuing the new indirect tax regime which will subsume excise, service tax and local levies. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance had last week finalized its views on the GST Bill, which was introduced in Parliament in 2010. The post of chairman of the Empowered Committee has been lying vacant since 17th of last month when Bihar finance minister Sushil Kumar Modi resigned following the JD(U)-BJP split in the state. Delhi receives light rain today Jul 22,  2:8 PM Various parts of Delhi received light rain today, a day after heavy rainfall disrupted normal life in the city. The weatherman has forecast more rain later in the day. The minimum temperature recorded was normal at 26.7 degree and the maximum is expected to be around 34 degree Celsius. BJP bandh in TN evokes partial response Jul 22,  5:29 PM bandh today called in protest against attacks on its leaders in the State has evoked partial response in Tamil Nadu. The BJP State General Secretary Ramesh was killed by assailants last week in Salem. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had announced that a special investigation division will probe the murder. In Tiruchirapalli, Thanjavur and other central districts all shops were open, and vehicles plied as usual. However, in Kannyakumari, Nagapattinam, Erode and Coimbatore most of the shops were closed. Transport buses plied in convoy with police protection in Kanniyakumari. In Nagapattinam, police arrested hundreds of people who tried to protest in the streets. Manipur achieves success in implementing Total Sanitation Campaign Jul 22,  2:17 PM Manipur has achieved a significant success in the implementation of the Total Sanitation Campaign. Altogether 66.30 percent population of the state has been covered by the Campaign. The Communication and Capacity Development Unit (CCDU) of State Public Health Engineering Department is implementing the Campaign in the state. State Director of CCDU, L. Swamikanta told AIR News that the target for construction of school and anganwadi toilets have been achieved by the first week of May last. He said, altogether 1,74,528 individual household latrines have been constructed under the Scheme out of the total target of 2,63,254. Out of the total target of 386 sanitary complexes to be constructed in the state under this scheme, 308 sanitary complexes have also been constructed to achieve open defecation free status.