-The Hindu Hyderabad: Phailin could generate ocean waves of 8.5 m on the coast.About 40,000 people in Visakhapatnam, 4,000 in Vizianagaram and 20,000 in Srikakulam districts of Andhra Pradesh were evacuated. Thousands of people living in vulnerable areas along the coastline in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh were evacuated, several trains cancelled and armed forces put on standby as the ‘very severe cyclonic storm', Phailin, with a wind speed close to that of...

-IANS BHUBANESWAR: The severe cyclonic storm 'Phailin' over the Bay of Bengal has gained strength, and intensified further, officials said Friday as it moved towards Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coast. The storm over east central Bay of Bengal moved westwards, slightly intensified further and lay centred about 590 km south-southeast of Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district and 600 km southeast of Gopalpur in Ganjam district, S.C. Sahu, director of Bhubaneswar meteorological centre said. It...

-Economic and Political Weekly   Much work remains to be done if the new Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act has to mark a meaningful shift for India's adivasi communities. Chitrangada Choudhury (chitrangada@csds.in) Chitrangada Choudhury (chitrangada@csds.in) is a multimedia journalist and researcher, and currently with the Publics and Policies program at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi. Among the worst excesses committed in India's six decade-old democracy, the forcible displacment...

-IANS BHUBANESWAR: Odisha has asked the collectors of 14 districts to be on high alert as a depression formed over the Bay of Bengal could intensify into a cyclonic storm and hit the state coast, officials said on Wednesday. The government has directed the collectors of cyclone prone districts, including the coastal districts of Balasore, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Bhadrak, Puri and Ganjam, not to take the warning lightly and asked them to...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: There is some good news for homemakers. Oil marketing companies have introduced a new 'star rating' system for cooking gas dealers, which will ensure that LPG cylinders are refilled within a stipulated period of time. A dealer failing to provide refills on time risks losing his rating and even his licence if the delivery is not made in eight days. In the most-privileged category are the dealers...