-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Police is routinely criticized for being baton happy and using undue force during lathi-charge to control crowds. However, a first of its kind data released by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that whenever police have conducted a lathi-charge, it's the men in khaki who have suffered most injuries. The data show that in 2014 lathi-charge was carried on 382 occasions. In these, while 262...

-The New Indian Express NAGAPATTINAM/KARAIKAL: With just two weeks left for pongal, the farming community along the Nagapattinam and Karaikal coasts was abuzz with preparation for reaping the harvest of six months' hard work. However, the tsunami on December 24, 2004 swallowed their paddy fields whole, bringing with it tonnes of mud and saline water. Ten years on, farmers are now posting twice the yield of their pre-tsunami days, with the...

-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to impart disaster management training to 10,000 college students in the wake of the state witnessing two consecutive calamities within a fortnight. "We have planned to integrate youth power with disaster management. Ten thousand student volunteers from 100 colleges will be trained on basic management skills by the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority," chief minister Naveen Patnaik said today. Stating that people in the 13...

-The Times of India BHUBANESWAR: The United Nations on Tuesday appreciated the state government's preparedness in dealing with the 'very very severe' cyclone Phailin, saying it would highlight the efforts as a successful case study globally. Terming the evacuation of nearly one million people, which ensured minimal loss of human lives, a 'landmark success story', special representative of the UN secretary general for disaster risk reduction Margareta Wahlstrom told TOI, "We are...

-The Indian Express Death toll mounts to 25; government describes situation in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts as "critical" Gopalpur/Srikakulam/Bhubaneswar: The death toll in calamity-ravaged Odisha on Monday mounted to 25 with four more persons perishing in several areas of the State in the aftermath of cyclone Phailin that triggered heavy rains and floods in some districts. The government described the situation in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts as "critical". Relief and rescue operations have been...