-The Hindu Hyderabad: Severe tropical cyclone Helen tapered off into a low pressure area on Saturday causing extensive damage to standing paddy crop and leaving six dead in the four districts of coastal Andhra region. According to official reports, six persons - two each in Krishna and East Godavari and one each in Srikakulam and West Godavari - were dead while paddy crop spread over 3.5 lakh hectares suffered extensive damage. In...

-PTI DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna on Friday said several measures are in the offing to give a boost to medical facilities in the state including construction of seven trauma centres and one mobile ambulance in each district. "A 50-bed trauma centre each will be set up in Guptkashi, Gauchar, Joshimath, Jauljeevi, Kapkot, Bageshwar and Uttarkashi," he said. All the 13 districts in the state will have a mobile medical ambulance equipped...

-PTI Uttar Pradesh government files status report on Muzaffarnagar violence in the Supreme Court Uttar Pradesh government has informed the Supreme Court that over 41,000 persons, out of 50,955 who had taken shelter in 58 relief camps in riots-hit Muzaffarnagar area, have gone back to their native places. A fresh status report, filed by Divisional Commissioner of Saharanpur, however, admitted that nearly 10,000 persons are still living in 10 operational camps and 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 Indian Express October is the month of Durga Puja and like in the rest of the country, a warm festive spirit hangs in the air in Odisha. There is a sense of life at its fullest. Memories of Friday the 29th this same month in 1999 temporarily retreat to the background amidst the hope of celebration. Is it surprising that an event 14 years ago should at all be a...