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Top Stories
UN seeks
130 m dollars for relief
What is India News Service,
Thursday, 30 December 2004, 2000 hrs IST
UN relief teams assisting victims of the deadly tsunamis have together sought 130 million dollars from international donors to meet requests for immediate relief.
"We are launching from the country teams the following appeal for money needed immediately for a total of 130 million
dollars," UN chief disaster relief coordinator Jan Egeland told reporters.
He said the first amount of 70 million dollars would go to Sri Lanka, 40 million dollars to Indonesia and 20 million to the Maldives islands.
He saw 50 to 60 nations joining the relief effort and said so far the world body has got pledges for more than 220 million dollars and amount is continuously increasing, adding that the outpouring of aid was not only from traditional donors and partners but also from several Asian and Gulf nations.
A much larger, coordinated appeal for the first six months would be launched, probably by the Secretary-General, on January 6 in New York.
54 aftershocks
rock Andamans: A staggering 54 aftershocks of magnitude above 5.0 on the Richter scale have been recorded in the seas off the Andaman and Nicobar islands, following the 8.6 magnitude quake at 6.29 on December 26, even as the remoteness and inaccessibility of several of the worst-hit islands continue to stymie rescue efforts.
Death toll rises to 120,000:
The mercilessness of Asia's tsunami has grown clearer as worst-hit Indonesia sharply raised its death toll, taking the number of fatalities around the whole Indian Ocean region above 120,000.
Post-tsunami
fears
A fax led to panic attacks in Andamans: Paranoia is one of the first fallouts of devastation and the inhabitants of these islands, living under the perpetual shadow of the giant waves returning will probably agree. Thursday's alert from the Centre passed on by the administration caused widespread panic and it took some time for normalcy to be restored.
In
Chennai, it was a tsunami-sized panic: A looming threat of killer tsunami attacking the already-battered TN coast again fizzled out, much to the relief of the public and
officials.
Alert hits relief work, triggers 2nd exodus:
It was a case of the already displaced suffering further displacement. Hundreds of survivors of last Sunday's tsunami disaster ran out of temporary relief centres and fled towards other places, as a fresh tsunami alert from the Union Home Ministry set off a wave of panic among the people on Thursday.
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Aftermath
Fate of Sikh ex-servicemen\92s families in Nicobar uncertain:
The fate of 2,000-odd families of Sikh ex-servicemen from Punjab and Haryana, living in Campbell Bay, or Mini Punjab as it is popularly known, on the southernmost island of Nicobar is uncertain even as Navy and Coast Guard personnel continue rescue and relief operations.
Tsunami damage put at
Rs. 5,500 cr: Preliminary estimates made by industry have put the economic cost of the destruction caused by the tsunami in India at Rs. 5,500 crores.
I\92ve even lost my appointment
letter, says IGCAR scientist: For a number of scientific officers and employees of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), living in this township, life has to
start from the scratch as the killer Tsunami had made a clean sweep of their belongings.
Silver lining
Jarawa boy says his tribe had foreseen tsunami:
The first good news from the devastated island is here. There are now definite signs of the Jarawa tribe having survived Sunday's tsunami. A 12-year-old Jarawa boy from the hinterland made it to the civilised world at the Primary Health Centre in South Andaman on Thursday morning. The jubilant boy brought with him signs of the survival of his tribesmen.
IA evacuates record number of people: Indian Airlines has evacuated a record 1,117 passengers from Port Blair on a single day today. It operated 11 flights to and from Port Blair. Seven flights were operated from Kolkata and four from
Chennai.
Donations pour in:
As the nation tried to come to grips with the tragedy that hit the coastal regions on Sunday, people contributed generously to the victims.
Animals can sense disaster, they have a sixth sense, say experts:
Wild animals seem to have escaped the Indian Ocean tsunami, adding weight to notions they possess a "sixth sense" for disasters, experts said on Thursday.
Government response
Home Minister convenes emergency meeting:
Home Minister Shivraj Patil convened an emergency meeting of top officials in the wake of a fresh
tsunami alert.
PM rules out tsunami cess:
Stating that the Centre was treating tsunami disaster as a \93national calamity\94, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today ruled out imposition of any cess \93as of now\94 to mop up resources.
Manmohan touring affected areas: The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, today left for Thiruvananthapuram to survey the tsunami-hit coastal
areas.
Mass burial, cremation in Tamil Nadu: Mass burial and cremation were carried out in various districts of Tamil Nadu today to prevent an outbreak of epidemic as the death toll due to Sunday\92s tsunami waves in India crossed 20,000, with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands alone accounting for 12,000.
India not to join world tsunami warning system:
Despite suffering loss of thousands of lives, the Indian Government still has no intention to join the international tsunami warning system, while claiming that it would strengthen its own network to face any such tragedy in the future.
Govt got wind 1 hr before waves hit Chennai
: At 7.50 am on Black Sunday, more than one full hour before the tidal waves hit the Tamil Nadu coast, the top brass of the Indian Air Force knew that the Car Nicobar Air Base had been inundated. But it was only 41 minutes later\97during which time the waves were heading west\97that the first communique went out from the Indian Meteorological Department to the Government.
Vaccination
drive on: The government said it had launched a massive operation to prevent the outbreak of epidemic in tsunami-hit areas. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has undertaken a massive vaccination drive targeting children in the affected areas.
Kalam calls for tsunami warning system:
The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, called for a tsunami warning system along the entire Indian coastline on the lines of the one in the 27 Pacific nations, safeguarding them from distant source tsunamis.
States
Dense fog blinds northwest; trains, flights delayed:
Biting chill and dense fog threw normal life out of gear in the entire north-western meteorological zone including areas across Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.
SP seeks more time from EC:
The Samajwadi Party on Wednesday sought from the Election Commission additional time of two months beyond the January 4 deadline for the completion of organisational polls.
Huts destroyed in fire:
Hundreds of huts were destroyed today in a fire which broke out at Tsunami-ravaged Kitchangkuppam village, near here, after an LPG cylinder accidentally exploded. Official sources told UNI that a spark from a cremation point, where more than 25 decomposed bodies were cremated, was said to be the reason for the fire mishap.
Nanavati Commission\92s term extended:
The government today decided to extend the term of the Nanavati Commission, probing the 1984 riots in Delhi in the aftermath of the assassination of Indira Gandhi, by one month while approving an agreement with Bahrain to extend mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.
Centre scraps task force on river interlinking: The Centre today scrapped the Task Force on Interlinking of Rivers, constituted by the previous National Democratic Alliance Government, and announced the setting up of a Special Cell in the Ministry of Water Resources.
Neighbours
Aziz, Fazl fail to end rift on key issues:
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, on Wednesday failed to resolve differences over the issue of President Pervez Musharraf's uniform.
Aziz calls Indian premier, offers help:
Prime Minister Shaukat on Wednesday telephoned Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh conveyed his condolences over the massive destruction and tragic loss of life in southern India.
Deal in final stages for Chinese frigates: Negotiations with China and the US for the procurement of new frigates and aircraft for the Pakistan Navy are in final stages, said Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Shahid Karimullah on Wednesday.
Overall
The Andamans and the southern states panicked: A fresh tsunami alert sent
the disaster-struck areas into a desperate tizzy.
Mass burials are taking place: The enormity of the tsunami problem is
driving the authorities to dig mass graves.
Pakistan is buying Chinese frigates: Military co-operation between
the two neighbours is getting better, and that's no good news to India.
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