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At least 1,100 dead in Indonesia quake: UN, earth quake, earth quakes,indonesia,earth quake indonesia

written by indianachu at Thursday, October 1, 2009

UNITED NATIONS: The death toll from the major earthquake in Indonesia has risen to at least 1,100 and was likely to worsen, UN humanitarian chief

John Holmes said on Thursday. "The latest figures we have suggest the death toll has risen already to 1,100," he told a press briefing. "Obviously many hundreds of injured people as well and again these numbers I fear will rise as more information becomes available." The 7.6-magnitude quake toppled buildings and led to fires in Padang, home to nearly a million people on the coast of Sumatra, leaving the city largely without power and communications. Indonesian authorities earlier said the death toll hit at least 770 with 294 people seriously injured, but those numbers were expected to soar as the full scale of the tragedy unfolds. Many districts remain inaccessible to emergency services.

indianachu : 10

Boat tragedy toll rises to 41; judicial probe ordered

written by indianachu

The death toll in the worst-ever boat mishap in Thekkady lake in Kerala rose to 41 with rescuers fishing out ten more bodies of tourists today. Forty naval divers aided by helicopter support resumed the search operations this morning as mist and rains hampered their efforts last night.

A concerned state government ordered a judicial probe by a sitting high court judge into the tragedy. Among the dead 12 are from Delhi, nine from Tamil Nadu, five from West Bengal, four from Andhra Pradesh and three from Karnataka.

The victims from Delhi include ten belonging to three families, who were on a pleasure trip to the state. Of them, nine were women, including a minor girl.

Naval helicopters conducted three sorties from their base INS Garuda in Kochi since the morning in addition to the recce by choppers late last evening, officials said. Grieving relatives struggled to come to grips with the loss of their dear ones and awaited the bodies after postmortem at hospitals nearby.

The double-decker boat had sunk in the lake in Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary in Idukki district yesterday when tourists rushed to one side of the vessel to have a glimpse of a herd of elephants, causing it to tip. Officials said in all 75 tickets had been issued for the cruise which started around 4 PM. The tragedy took place about 5 km from the boarding point.

indianachu : 09

''Youths should restore national pride''

written by indianachu

Youths should have the onerous responsibility of restoring the pride of the country and addressing the need of the common man, a former chairman of ICSSR said. "The youths of today should have the fire in their belly like the younger generation had during the freedom movement to restore our national pride," said V R Panchmukhi.

Addressing the first national convention of newly formed ''youth for resurgent India'', an apolitical body, the former chairman of Indian Council of Social Science Research said youths should also identify issues which needs to be addressed for the common man. He also appealed to them to chart an independent course for our economic prosperity which serves our national interest.

"The resurgent youths should think independently about our economic growth which is best for the country," he said. He also asked them to restore our rich and traditional values that are fast eroding.

Speaking on the occasion, chairman of PTI Vijay Chopra talked about the "failing civic amenities" in Punjab and Haryana and sought better amenities for the masses like clean drinking water and electricity.

indianachu : 08

Terrorist outfits still operate from Pakistan's soil, says ex-Pakistani envoy to India

written by indianachu

Former Pakistan High Commissioner to India, Humayun Khan, on Thursday said that terrorist networks are still operating from Pakistan's soil and contended that it has been unable to root them out completely.

Khan was speaking to the media persons at the Wagah border post in Punjab on Thursday.

He is in India as a part of eight-member team to attend the 150th anniversary of the Bishop Cotton School in Shimla. An alumnus of the school, Khan and other seven members will be in Shimla for a couple of days to attend the week-long celebrations at their alma mater.

"Terrorism has created a lot of problems. Our misfortune is that many terrorist centres are still operating from our soil, in tribal areas and elsewhere. Whatever they do, we are blamed for their actions. This is the biggest problem of today's time," said Humayun Khan.

"Any incident related to terrorism - for instance the attack in Mumbai last year, they generally say that Pakistan is not doing anything to control this. I hope there is an understanding that terrorism is the enemy of both countries. We should fight it together. This is how we can improve the situation," Khan added.

He also admitted that Pakistan had patronised terrorist outfits in the past and this policy has now boomeranged.

Source : yahoo news

indianachu - 07