"Cities Have Become Heat Islands": Top Official On Heatwave Situation
NDTV
India suffered its hottest March in more than 100 years and April saw many places, including New Delhi, recording unusually high temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius on most days.
Some 80% of the states are prone to heatwaves and most have plans ready to alter office and school timings as well as working hours for labourers to avoid the hottest time of day when necessary, a government official told Reuters on Friday.
India suffered its hottest March in more than 100 years and April saw many places, including New Delhi, recording unusually high temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius on most days. More than two dozen people have died of suspected heat strokes since late March, and power demand has hit multi-year highs.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has categorised 23 of the country's 28 states and some 100 cities and districts as being at risk of suffering extreme heat. Nineteen states have already made their own heat-action plans and some others are working on them, said NDMA's policy and planning adviser, Kunal Satyarthi.
"There were only nine a few years back but currently 23 are recognised as heatwave-prone states," he said. "Cities have become heat islands, so a lot of them are drafting their own plans."
The BJP, Vishnu Deo Sai said, has shown huge respect to Ambedkar, no matter who headed the government -- Atal Bihari Vajpayee or Narendra Modi.
Shyam Benegal, who burst on the scene with his first film "Ankur" in 1974, was a chronicler of India's times and politics.
A second-cousin brother of the late legend, actor-film-maker Guru Dutt, Shyam Benegal was 90 and breathed his last at a private hospital in Mumbai. He is survived by his wife Nira and their daughter Pia.
The union government has scrapped the 'no-detention policy' for classes 5 and 8 in schools governed by it allowing them to fail students who do not clear the year-end exams, according to officials.
"Adani Defence Systems & Technologies Ltd (ADSTL) has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire 85.8 per cent shareholding in Air Works India (Engineering) Private Ltd," a company statement said.
Several domestic carriers, between October and November, received hundreds of "hoax" messages or calls on their official communication channels including on social media.
Former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's BJD has made it clear that they are not against Electronic Voting Machines, questioning instead the integrity of the election process.
Lavi Pal alias Rahul Saini was arrested after an encounter in which he was injured on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.
Seven Indians were injured in the deadly car-ramming attack in the eastern German city of Magdeburg.
The man, identified as Zakir, gesticulated to a biker to help him, even as the truck kept accelerating, showed the 36-second clip.
All the accused were arrested in November and December after reviewing data from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C), said Priyanshu Dewan, ACP (cyber).