Kerala Floods 2018: 370 dead and 357, 50,000 rescued, red alert continues in 11 districts

A total of 846,680 people made homeless by devastating floods in Kerala are sheltering in 3,734 camps, says Kerala CM.

 

Kerala Floods 2018: The death toll has reached 370 in flood-hit Kerala as two more deaths were reported on Sunday morning. Around 58,000 people were rescued from different districts of the state. The rains have estimated to have inflicted a loss of Rs 19.5 billion to the state's economy, chief minister Pinanrayi Vijayan informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi who took stock of the situation.

Modi's aerial survey to witness the massive loss and destruction triggered by the torrential rains in Kerala was cut short on Saturday due to bad weather, state government officials said. He saluted the people of the rain-ravaged Kerala for their "fighting spirit" and said today the nation stands firmly with the state in this hour. Over 314,000 people have been moved to relief camps.

As Kerala faces its worst floods in over a century, Central Railways on Sunday morning sent over 1.4 million litres of drinking water from Pune to extend a helping hand in the relief work in the state. Several states governments too, have announced financial aid to Chief Minister's Relief Fund along with Centre announcing a relief of Rs 5 billion for the relief work.

While around 50,000 people were rescued in districts like Ernakulam, Chengannur, Pathanamthitta and Thrissur, there are still many more waiting to be rescued.

Barring Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Kasargode, the remaining 11 districts of Kerala continued to be on red alert and can expect more rains.

The worst affected places include Aluva, Chalakudy, Chengannur, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta, where massive rescue operations were on as scores of persons were rescued.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a review meeting in Kochi that the death toll since May 29 had climbed to 357. Over 3.53 lakh affected persons had been lodged in over 2,000 relief camps, he said.

Modi sanctioned Rs 500 crore to the flood-battered state, apart from Rs 100 crore announced earlier by the Centre on...continue reading

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News Source: BS

Nipah Virus Scare: Fruit and vegetables from Kerala banned in Gulf

Region takes about a third of all Indian fruit shipment and quarter of vegetables sold abroad; consignments from other states could face ban, too, if virus not contained.

Health News : With Kerala continuing to battle the infectious and deadly Nipah virus, all fruit and vegetables from the state have been banned in the majority of nations across the Arabian Gulf. The region is India’s largest export market. Nipah has claimed 17 lives till now.

Last week, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain had ordered complete import restriction on fruit and vegetables from Kerala. Over this weekend, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait also announced officially that import in both categories would stop till further notice.

Since most countries in the region have similar and closely knit Customs rules, media reports from Oman suggest it might also follow.

The brain-damaging Nipah virus appeared in Kerala early last month. It is contagious and there is no vaccine for it. The natural host of the virus is a fruit bat of the Pteropodidae family, according to the World Health Organization. As a result, major importing nations are now wary of produce grown in Kerala and have also issued severe travel advisories against visiting the state. The timing is expected to hit the southern state hard, as fruit export generally swells in the hot month of Ramzan, currently on.

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Also Read: Nipah Virus

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“Right now, it is difficult for Customs inspections at ports to find out whether any consignment is infected, since the foods do not show any physical signs. Other Indian states might come under the restriction if the virus spreads,” said Ali Shaaban Balah, acting chief of the plant protection & quarantine section at the ministry of works, municipalities and urban planning in the government of Bahrain.

The Gulf region is India’s largest market for fruit and vegetables, with the UAE being the single biggest importing nation on both counts. Export to the nations in the Gulf cumulatively make about 35 per cent of all fruit shipment and nearly a quarter of all vegetable ones from India, according to data from the commerce ministry.

“There have been complaints from the industry whereby consignments have now started being turned away from Kuwait, Qatar and other nations but we are yet to receive formal communication from some of these countries,” said a senior official here from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority.

Read More → Nipah Virus Outbreak

Cyclone Ockhi: 19 dead, 690 people rescued, Navy continues rescue ops

At least 690 people were rescued, while 96 were still missing

 

Business News Today : The Tamil Nadu revenue control room on Sunday stated that the total number of deaths caused due to cyclone Ockhi has reached 19.

The state department also said that at least 690 people were rescued, while 96 were still missing.

It further stated that 63 people were hospitalized, while 74 houses were fully damaged and 1,122 houses were partially damaged.

Meanwhile, the Indian Navy continued the search and rescue operations over Southeast Arabian Sea and Lakshadweep and Minicoy (L&M) Islands in the aftermath of cyclonic storm Ockhi.

Ten naval ships, including capital ships like Chennai and Kolkata, were deployed over Southeast Arabian Sea and L&M islands.

In addition, eight aircrafts including long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft P8I were deployed throughout the day.

Amid a political slugfest over Cyclone Ockhi, Union Earth Sciences Minister Harsh Vardhan said the IMD issued its first alert to Kerala about heavy rain on November 28 and a warning about the cylcone a day later.

In a statement, Vardhan said on the afternoon of November 29, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued the first bulletin of the cyclone warning and it was conveyed to all district officials in Kerala, the state disaster management authority and the chief secretary.

“In the first bulletin, the information was clearly provided on the possibility of further intensification of the system into a cyclonic storm and associated adverse weather.

Click to Read → Cyclone Ockhi

Don’t portray every inter-religious marriage as ‘love jihad’

The HC bench upheld a marriage between a Hindu woman and a Muslim man

 

The Kerala High Court on Thursday held that all inter-religious weddings cannot be viewed as 'love jihad' as it upheld a marriage between a Hindu woman and a Muslim man.

A division bench comprising justices V Chitambaresh and Sathish Ninan made the observations in its judgement on a habeas corpus petition filed by the man. A habeas corpus plea is filed to ensure a person under arrest is brought before a court which will determine whether the detention is legal.

"We are appalled to notice the recent trend in this state to sensationalise every case of inter-religious marriage as either 'love jihad' or 'ghar wapsi' even if there was platonic love between the spouses before," the court said.

The bench also cited the Supreme Court order in the Lata Singh versus state of Uttar Pradesh case of 2004 to emphasise the need for encouraging inter-caste and inter-religious marriages.

"We caution that every case of inter-religious marriage shall not be portrayed on a religious canvass and create fissures in the communal harmony otherwise existing in the God's Own Country - Kerala," the bench said and upheld the marriage.

It said the present case was projected by the parents of the woman as 'love jihad' whereas the man, who was in love with her and married her later, termed it as 'ghar wapsi' (a bid to coerce her to come back).

The woman from Kannur had left her home on May 16 along with the Muslim youth. On a complaint from her parents, police had traced and detained them in Sonepat in Haryana a month later.