GENERAL NEWS INDIA – OCTOBER 2009

Thursday, October 01st 2009
Tourist boat capsizes in Kerala
A tourist boat with more than 50 on board capsized at the Periyar tiger reserve at Thekkady in Kerala. Almost 34 people have been confirmed to have drowned. Most of the victims are from North India, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The death toll is expected to rise as rescue operations continue. In the meanwhile the Kerala chief minister has called for a probe into the matter.

Saturday, October 03rd 2009
Heavy rains affect northern parts of Karnataka
Around 100 people have been killed due to heavy rains that lashed the northern parts of Karnataka. Over six districts were under water due to unprecedented rain and floods since September 30. The affected areas include Raichur, Gulbarga, Bijapur, Koppal, Bellary and Bagalkot. Bellary was the worst hit. The Army, Navy and Air Force have been called out for rescue and relief operations. Thousands of people have been displaced due to the floods. 

Monday, October 05th 2009
Flood waters recede in Karnataka, Andhra continues evacuation
The floods caused due to unprecedented rains in the past few days has left around 170 people dead in Karnataka even as flood waters recede. The worst hit districts of north Karnataka were Bijapur, Bagalkote, Raichur, Koppal and Gulbarga. Andhra Pradesh on the other hand has been severely affected by the floods with the evacuation process still continuing in the Krishna and Guntur districts. Flood waters from the Krishna river have cut off Vijaywada town from the Hyderabad side, breaching the Chennai National Highway. The river was swollen after 10 lakh cusecs of water from the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam were released on Sunday. Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Krishna and Guntur are the worst affected districts. Close to 3 lakh people are in relief camps across the state. 

Wednesday, October 07th 2009
Flood waters recede, relief work continues in N. Karnataka , A P
As the flood waters receded the state governments of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have accelerated the relief work in the affected areas. The death toll due to the floods have now crossed 250. In Karnataka some 2.5 lakh houses have either been destroyed or damaged. Over 1.8 crore people in over 1,490 villages are said to have been affected .the government has asked for Rs. 16,500 crore from the centre for rehabilitation. Around 3.6 Lakh flood victims continue to take shelter in 277 relief camps. The people affected are now facing fears of large epidemics and the task of rehabilitation. 

Friday, October 09th 2009
18 policemen ambushed by Naxals
18 policemen who were on a patrol duty near Laheri village in the Gadchiroli district, a North eastern region in Maharashtra bordering Chhattisgarh were killed in an ambush by Naxals. The encounter between the Naxals and the commandos of the special anti-Naxal force C 60 lasted for about three hours. The Border Security Force has now been deployed to the area.

Tuesday, October 13th 2009
Indian Industrial sector on its way to recovery
As per the data for August which was released on October 12, 2009, the year-on-year growth in output is 10.4%. What this means for the Indian industry is that it seems to be on its way to recovery. However economists attribute the growth rate of the industrial production to "Base effect" and many are unaffected by this surge. The IIP had grown by just 1.7% year on year last year and so the current August figures are being compared with a relatively low base.

Monday, October 19th 2009
Bangalore set to be a climate tech hub
The Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO) in partnership with the ministry of environment is all set to launch the National Institute of Climate and Environment(NICE) in Bangalore. NICE will monitor, measure and model impacts of climate change. Two dedicated satellites, one to monitor Himalayan glaciers and forest cover, the other to monitor greenhouse gas emissions will be launched in polar orbit in 2010and 2011.

Wednesday, October 21st 2009
More Maoist violence in Midnapore
Armed Naxal guerrillas stormed a police station in West Midnapopre in W.Bengal killing two police officers . They have also taken the officer in-charge of the station as hostage. The attackers included some women combatants. They captured and took away arms and ammunition from the Sankhrail police station. Rs 9.23 lakhs were also looted from a nearby bank. They also left behind posters demanding the release of Chhatradhar Mahato leader of the People's Committee against Police Atrocities(PCPA). 

Thursday, October 22nd 2009
Goa Express accident kills 22
A speeding Delhi bound Goa Samparkranti express rammed into a stationary Mewar express on the busy Mathura-Vrindavan line killing 22 passengers leaving 23 injured. The horrific accident occurred early on Wednesday just 3 Km from the outer signal of Mathura junction station. Rescue workers had to use sophisticated gas cutters for the rescue work as the impact of the collision caused several coaches of both trains to be reduced to a heap of mangled metal.

Friday, October 23rd 2009
Somali pirates hijack ship with Indians on board
The Somali pirates have struck again, this time they have held a Panama-registered vessel with 24 Indian sailors on board. The 24 Indians include the captain and the chief officer of the ship. The ship was on its way from Novorrossiysk in Southern Russia to Kenya's Mombasa port. The ship MV Al Khaliq was laden with grains and was seized off the coast of Seychelles.

Friday, October 23rd 2009
Urban local bodies to have more women
The Union cabinet cleared a proposal to raise the reservation for women in Urban local bodies from 33 to 50%. The Municipalities will now see more number of women who will occupy half the seats in these urban local bodies. The provision will be applied to the total number of seats which would be filled by direct election, offices of chairpersons and also for seats reserved for SCs and Sts. This increased representation of women hopes to bring in significant benefits in terms of higher priority to women's issues in critical areas of urban governance and service delivery.

Wednesday, October 28th 2009
Rajdhani trainjacked by Maoists
A Bhubaneshwar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express was taken under siege by Maoists at a nondescript station called Banstala which is 8 Kms from Jhargram town. Cadres belonging to the People's Committee against Police Atrocities(PCPA) then ambushed the security forces who rushed to the rescue of the train. Fierce gunfighting continued for about 5 hours. The drivers of the train who were abducted were later released. 

Friday, October 30th 2009
Fire rages at IOC, Jaipur
A massive fire erupted at the fuel depot of the Indian Oil Corporation(IOC) located at the Sitapura industrial area on the outskirts of Jaipur on Thursday night. Around 6 people have been killed in the fire with 150 injured. The army has been deployed to handle the situation as the fire continues to rage. Over five lakh residents who live in its vicinity have been moved to safer locations. This has been termed as the worst fire in the history of IOC.