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Quake warning in Assam

What is India News Service, Monday, 3 January 2005, 2000 hrs IST


The Assam Government put all districts on maximum alert in the wake of a warning by scientists in the United States that the aftershocks of the killer-quake off Sumatra were moving northwards and could trigger a major quake in Assam. 

At a hurriedly convened high-level meeting, the Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, ordered all district authorities and Government departments to keep ambulances, boats, bulldozers, tents and stock other essential items for rescue and relief operations on standby. Mr. Gogoi also ordered mock drills of rescue and relief operations at the block and panchayat levels. 

He told department heads, including the Directors General of Police and Civil Defence, that he would inspect the drills. 

Epidemic scare in Andamans: The bodies buried under debris have not been disposed owing to an absence of earth-moving machines, according to an official.
 
Death toll crosses 1,27,000: The confirmed number killed in the massive earthquake and tidal waves that hit Indian Ocean shorelines a week ago passed 1,27,000 today, as more bodies were recovered in Sri Lanka.

Moderate quake in West Nicobar: An earthquake measuring 6 on the Richter scale tonight shook the West Coast of Great Nicobar Island just four hours after one which hit the coast this evening. The quake occurred at the latitude of 6.5 degree in north and longitude of 91.9 degree east, the Indian Meterological Department said and described it as a moderate one.

Immense damage to ecology feared in Andamans: As the world focuses its attention on the lives and property devastated by the tsunami waves, environmentalists fear that the damage to the ecology will be no less, particularly in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 

Relief and rehabilitation

Karnataka to adopt some villages: Karnataka will contribute Rs 25 crore towards the PM’s Relief Fund. Cash contributions amounting Rs 4.6 crore have been received.

UNICEF taking up immunisation in TN, Kerala: The immunisation campaign is being conducted at relief sites in eleven districts in Tamil Nadu and three districts in Kerala.

Army, Navy in top relief gear: The Indian Navy and the Army have been pressed into service for relief operations in the tsunami-affected areas of Tamil Nadu while the administration, as a preventive measure against the outbreak of the epidemic, conducted mass immunisation programmes among the victims.

Rains & floods hamper relief work: Heavy rains and fresh floods disrupted aid deliveries to Asia's tsunami-hit villages on Sunday, just as a global $2 billion relief operation started to kick in a week after walls of water left millions struggling to survive.

J&K politicians, separatists join tsunami rehab cause: Shabbir Shah, the only Kashmiri separatist leader who visited Bhuj in Gujarat when earthquake wreaked havoc, said the Kashmiri people's heart goes for the tsunami victims.

Telugu film industry comes forward to aid victims: The Telugu film industry has come forward with a helping hand and made major contributions to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. Hyderabad City Police Commissioner Dinesh Reddy also contributed Rs 15 lakh on behalf of his department to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

Footwear wanted for tsunami-hit villages: After clothes and medicines, there is one high-priority item on the priority list for Nagapattinam district: footwear. 

Rescued alive after 6 days: A 63-year-old man was found in an unconscious state at Akkaraipettai by rescue workers, six days after the disaster ravaged this district of Tamil Nadu. 


Other headlines

Kanchi seer granted bail in assault case: The Madras High Court on Monday granted bail to Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswati in the Radhakrishnan assault case, directing him to furnish a personal bond for Rs 25,000.

National Security Advisor J N Dixit dead:  Sixty-eight-year-old Dixit, who had served in all the South Asian countries except Maldives, was brought dead to the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences around 6.30 a.m.  He was involved in pushing forward the peace process with Pakistan. Comment: Dixit’s death may hamper peace process

PIL seeks change in National Anthem: The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre on a PIL seeking deletion of word ''Sindh'' from the national anthem as it was no longer part of the country after partition.

Nanavati panel report by month-end: The Justice Nanavati Commission, which is inquiring into the 1984 riots and preparing to submit its report to the Union Home Ministry, sees a ‘pattern’ behind the attacks on Sikhs. “The evidence does indicate a pattern in which the riots took place and the pattern in which the attacks took place on the Sikhs,” Justice G.T. Nanavati said.

Allies leave Cong in a jam: An assertive, resurgent Congress is now realising how difficult it is to accommodate allies in states having favourable political conditions. Sources in the party say, more than Bihar where the Congress is not a major force, Jharkhand will witness pure mayhem during seat-adjustment talks.

Gujarat to give citizenship to 900 Pak migrants: The Centre has delegated powers to the Gujarat Government to grant citizenship to nearly 900 migrants from Pakistan who have been residing in four districts of the state for the past several years.

Cold wave in North India: After a brief respite, chill was back in North India with mercury dipping in most parts, including the national capital, and frigid conditions prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh after fresh snowfalls. Two persons were killed when a Food Corporation of India (FCI) truck was crushed under a landslide triggered by rain and snowfall on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.

States

Death rate falls in road mishaps: The death rate, paradoxically, was not the highest in states with maximum number of vehicles like Maharashtra and Gujarat.

20,000 to be inducted as siksha sahayaks: The new year has brought an unexpected bonanza for 20,000 unemployed youths who were on Saturday recruited as para-teachers or siksha sahayaks as part of the Government's drive to universalise education and check the drop out rate in schools.

BJP assigns the task of wooing Paswan to Nitish: Even if a broad pre-poll alliance is not clinched with the LJP, the NDA wants to have some kind of seat sharing arrangement.

Orissa Govt flayed for mangroves' destruction: Orissa's providential escape from the tsunamis has triggered an environmental debate over the vulnerability of its vast coastline to such disasters. Accusing fingers are being raised at the Government for winking at the wanton destruction of coastal mangrove forests and sand dunes which constitute the first defence against natural calamities.



Neighbours

MMA warns Musharraf of joint struggle: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal on Sunday demanded that Gen Pervez Musharraf should quit the offices of president and the chief of army staff. Otherwise, it warned, he would face "a strong and joint opposition movement".

US drone crashes in tribal area: An unmanned US surveillance plane crashed near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan in the rugged tribal terrain of North Waziristan, officials said on Sunday.

 
Overall

Assam was put on alert: A new warning suggests a quake could rock Assam. 

Kanchi seer got bail in assault case: The Shankaracharya was asked to give a personal bond.

Musharraf was warned of united protest: The Pakistan opposition is saying he can either be army chief or president.