Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced a financial aid of Rs 1 crore from her Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme for the flood-hit districts of Karnataka.


"I am a member of Parliament from Karnataka. I want to offer Rs 1 crore from my MPLAD for Kodagu district," Sitharaman said while taking part at an event.


Earlier on Friday, the Defence Minister also visited the flood-ravaged district of Kodagu and pledged support for the restoration work where hundreds have been rendered homeless. She had also assured that the Indian Army and the Air Force will work in rebuilding the lives of those who have been affected.


Kodagu is one of the worst affected areas in Karnataka as torrential rains have left a huge trail of destruction, with hundreds taking shelter in temples, churches and Madrasas.


On August 21, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had urged the Centre to provide Rs 100 crore relief fund for the Kodagu district. Similarly, former chief minister Siddaramaiah also appealed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide necessary relief for the victims of the floods. -- ANI


Image: Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Kodagu today.

The ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee were today immersed in the Arabian Sea near the Gateway of India in Mumbai in the presence of senior BJP leaders. Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah had handed over urns containing Vajpayees ashes to all the BJP state unit chiefs asking them to immerse it in rivers and seas across the country. The "asthi kalash yatra" here, which took place in the afternoon today, had several BJP leaders travelling in a boat and its city unit chief Ashish Shelar and senior state minister Vinod Tawde immersing the ashes in the sea amid sloganeering by party workers eulogising Vajpayee.


Image: PM Modi with the urns containing Atal Bihari Vajpayee's ashes at the BJP HQ in Delhi.

An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 hits the Andaman Islands: USGS

Health Ministry approves an additional grant of Rs.18.71 crore under National Health Mission (NHM) to Kerala for disbursing to Village Health, Sanitation & Nutrition Committees for Kerala flood relief, as per the state's  request.

An Indian army team in Palakkad, Kerala, creates a barrage using railway sleepers and prevents water from entering the village after the Kannadipuza river changed course. 

The UAE has said today that there has been no official announcement so far on any specific amount as financial aid for Kerala.

The assessment of relief needed for the flood and aftermath is ongoing. Announcing any specific amount as financial aid, I dont think it is final, since it is still ongoing, Ahmed Albanna said.

The Indian Express in a report said that when asked if UAE had not announced Rs 700 crore in aid, the ambassador said, Yes, that is correct. It is not yet final. It has not been announced.


UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum had first tweeted on August 18 that his country had formed a committee to explore ways of helping Kerala.


An estimated three million Indians live and work in the UAE, of whom 80 per cent are from Kerala.


The centre has maintained that it has not received any official offer for financial help from any nation for Kerala.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had, however, tweeted on August 21 that the UAE will "provide Kerala an assistance of Rs. 700 crore. Kerala has a special relationship with UAE, which is a home away from home for Malayalees. We express our gratitude to UAE for their support."


Meanwhile, the European Union made an initial contribution of 190,000 euros in humanitarian aid funding to support the Indian Red Cross Society for immediate relief assistance.

While the Indian government is going by the policy of not accepting foreign aid for disaster relief that was framed after the tsunami hit India, former National Security Advisor and Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said while the 2004 decision was to not accept foreign participation in relief, it could be accepted for long-term rehabilitation case by case.

In other news, the Kerala government had yesterday filed an affidavit in the Supreme court, saying the sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one of the reasons for the unprecedented flooding in the state. The affidavit also said that out of a total population of about 3.48 crore, more than 54 lakh (or one-sixth of the population of Kerala) had been directly affected by the floods.

Iran hurt India's pride in kabaddi yet again as it delivered a second straight knockout punch to the sport's most successful nation in the women's gold medal match of the 18th Asian Games here today. The two-time defending champions was shocked 24-27 in a thrilling final as the firm favourites settled for silver. India's raiders disappointed in the title clash as Iran came from behind to jolt them in the second half. The Iranian women emulated thus their male counterparts, who had shocked seven-time champions India in the semifinals yesterday.

More than 50,000 people were killed by landslides around the world between 2004 and 2016, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Sheffield.


The team, which compiled data on more than 4,800 fatal landslides during the 13-year period, also revealed for the first time that landslides resulting from human activity have increased over time.


The research is published today in the European Geosciences Union journal Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences.


The team found that more than 700 fatal landslides that occurred between 2004 and 2016 had a human fingerprint. Construction works, legal and illegal mining, as well as the unregulated cutting of hills (carving out land on a slope) caused most of the human-induced landslides. -- PTI

Dharamshala in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh has witnessed its second highest rainfall for a 24-hour period, the Meteorological centre said today. As per data recorded by centre, 292.4 millimetres rainfall was witnessed in Dharamshala in 24 hours ending at 8.30 am today. As a precautionary measure, schools have been shut in Kangra. -- PTI

While his party binds the people of India, the BJP-RSS divides them and spreads hatred, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has said. Addressing the Indian diaspora at a function organised by the Indian Overseas Congress in Berlin last night, he said the Congress's thought of "unity in diversity" came from the times of Guru Nanak Dev.


Taking on the BJP-led NDA government in India, Gandhi said while long speeches were being given and hatred was being generated, farmers continued to commit suicide and youngsters were unable to see a future for themselves.


"The Congress belongs to all, works for everyone and our work is to spread the thought of unity in diversity. Today, the government in India is working differently," he said. Gandhi said India's competition was with China and jobs would either go there or come here.


"The BJP-RSS people are dividing our own people. They are spreading hatred in our own country. Our job is to bring the people together and take the country forward and we have shown how to do it," he said.


The Congress chief once again claimed that while China gave jobs to 50,000 people in 24 hours, India gave employment to only 450 people in the said period.


"There are long speeches, spewing of hatred, but farmers are still committing suicide and the youth cannot see a future. "We want India to go forward and you will never hear of any Indian spreading hatred or anger anywhere. This is our culture, this is your culture," he said.


Gandhi also noted that his thoughts emanated from those of Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh guru, and thanked the members of the Indian community living in Germany, many of whom are from Punjab, for supporting the Congress and helping the party form government in the state. He told them it was their government in Punjab and his doors were open to them in case they needed something.


"When we needed you, you stood with us and helped us form our government in Punjab. A friend in need is a friend indeed and you have been true friends," he told the gathering.


The Congress chief also mentioned that a German MP had told him Europe's strength was unity in diversity. "I thought, you are saying this today, we have been speaking of unity in diversity from the times of Guru Nanak. Our strength is listening to everyone, even the weakest, the poorest person. Every Indian religion talks about helping the last man in the line," he said.


The Congress chief was accompanied by party leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's wife Preneet Kaur, who has been an MP and a Union minister in the past. Gandhi, who was on a two-day visit to Germany, will now head to the UK, where he is scheduled to address the students of the London School of Economics tonight and then the Indian Overseas Congress a day after. -- PTI

The Jharkhand High Court today refused to extend the provisional bail of fodder scam convict and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad and asked him to surrender by August 30 before the CBI court.


Hearing the prayer for extension of provisional bail for three months on grounds that the RJD leader needed to undergo treatment, Justice Apresh Kumar Singh asked Prasad to surrender by August 30 before the CBI court and directed the state government to provide medical care whenever needed.


Appearing for Prasad, Abhishek Manu Singhvi prayed for extension of provisional bail for three months for treatment of anal abscess, kidney stone and enlarged prostate glands.


CBI counsel Rajiv Sinha objected to the prayer, saying the RJD leader has availed about 12 weeks for his treatment. Medicare is available in the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi, he said. -- PTI

No, not Kerala or Karnataka, that's Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath conducted an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas today. 

Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi Palainasamy said today that Kerala's accusations towards Tamil Nadu are false and baseless. Kerala has maintained that the the water released from the Mulllaperiyar dam by Tamil Nadu caused the flooding in Kerala.


"If you say, excess water was discharged from one dam (Mullaperiyar) then how did water reach all parts of Kerala? The excess discharge of water from 80 dams caused flood in Kerala.

 
"Water from Mullaperiyar Dam was released one week after the floods struck Kerala. It was not done immediately after the floods. Three warnings were issued, first at at 139 feet. second at 141 feet and third warning at 142 feet. Water was released in a phased manner," the CM said.


The Supreme Court today ordered that the water level at the Mullaperiyar dam be maintained at 139 feet till August 31 keeping in mind the grave devastation that has taken place due to the unprecedented floods in Kerala.


A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud considered the Centre's submission that the sub-committee of the Mullaperiyar dam had met on August 23 and directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that the water level is maintained at 139 feet, which is two feet below the permissible limit fixed by the apex court.


As floodwaters recede in Kerala, the focus is now on taking care of the over 10.40 lakh people staying in relief camps and rehabilitating people whose houses have been destroyed in the deluge. People from all over the country and abroad have pitched in to help the state by offering material and also cash donations to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF).


A total of Rs 539 crore has been received till last night, official sources said. Though people from relief camps have started returning to their homes, more than 10.40 lakh people were still in 2,770 camps across the state.

The Supreme Court today sought response from the West Bengal government on a plea seeking a CBI probe into the killing of three BJP workers in the state. A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan issued notice and sought response of the West Bengal government and CBI on a plea filed by BJP leader and advocate Gaurav Bhatia. Bhatia, appearing in person, said the three disturbing murders of Shaktipad Sarkar, Tirlochan Mahato and Dulal Kumar have taken place in the state but police have not registered FIR and their family members have been allegedly threatened. He said a CBI probe should be ordered and compensation of Rs 50 lakh should be directed to be given to the family members. He also sought security for family members of the victims. -- PTI

If tweets and retweets by the boss are an indication of popularity, Aam Aadmi Party leaders Ashutosh and Ashish Khetan had fallen out of favour with party chief Arvind Kejriwal long before they announced their resignation.


The diminishing importance of the two leaders, both former journalists who made their political debut when they joined the party, and their tensions with the top leadership is reflected in the chief minister's timeline, reveals an analysis of Kejriwal's Twitter account over two months.


From June 18 to August 15, Kejriwal only retweeted two of Ashutosh's tweets and three of Khetan, far less than those of other leaders who enjoy his confidence. Kejriwal, who has over 14 million followers on Twitter and is the second most followed politician in India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a prolific tweeter and uses the microblogging platform with great effect.


That he chose to virtually ignore his once trusted lieutenants spoke volumes, said party observers. In the same period, Kejriwal retweeted 102 tweets of his party members, including his deputy in the government Manish Sisodia, 80 tweets of journalists and 11 tweets of leaders from other parties. This excludes his own tweets and random retweets.


The analysis of his Twitter account also revealed that he retweeted Sisodia 31 times and AAP's Delhi unit chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj 19 times.


Kejriwal is known to operate his Twitter account himself and is guided by inputs from his social media team, said an AAP leader. He usually retweets posts that speak highly of the Delhi government's work and information critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.


Party sources said the unease between Kejriwal and rebel party leader Kumar Vishwas also came to the fore when the chief stopped retweeting his once trusted lieutenant's tweets. Though Ashutosh and Khetan are believed to have resigned on August 15, the latter announced he was quitting earlier this week. Kejriwal is yet to accept their resignations.


When Ashutosh announced his resignation from the party on August 15, Kejriwal responded by saying, "How can we accept your resignation, Sir? Not in this birth. Sir, we all love you." Ashutosh was a close confidant of Kejriwal's and a back-door negotiator with several rebels, including its lawmakers. This was seen as evidence of the importance of the political newbie who had joined the party just before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.


Kejriwal used Khetan and Ashutosh as key negotiators to resolve the crisis between him and Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan. Party insiders said discontent among senior leaders had been growing since the party nominated Delhi-based businessman Sushil Gupta and chartered accountant N D Gupta for the vacant Rajya Sabha seats from Delhi along with senior leader Sanjay Singh. They said Ashutosh, Khetan and Kumar Vishwas, a founder member of the party, were upset over the AAP leadership's choice of the businessman and the chartered accountant for two of the three Rajya Sabha seats in April.


All three AAP nominees are now members of the Upper House Later, the party chose Pankaj Gupta to contest from Chandni Chowk for the 2019 Lok Sabha election over Ashutosh, who had lost the seat in 2014 polls. Khetan, too, is believed to be upset because the party is not keen on fielding him from the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat he had contested and lost in 2014. -- PTI


Image: Arvind Kejriwal with Ashish Khetan.

Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan claim men's doubles gold in Asian Games tennis.

The Delhi High Court today dismissed the appeal of 15 persons belonging to the dominant Jat community against their conviction and sentencing in a case of burning alive a 70-year-old Dalit man and his physically-challenged daughter at Mirchpur village in Haryana's Hisar district in 2010.


A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta said even after 71 years of Independence atrocities on Scheduled Castes community has shown no signs of abating.


The court also directed the Haryana government to rehabilitate families belonging to the Dalit community who were displaced after the 2010 incident.


The high court pronounced the verdict on the appeal of 15 persons challenging their conviction and sentence by a trial court in the case. The victims and the police had also appealed in the high court seeking enhancement of punishment awarded to the convicts and acquittal of others.


The trial court had on September 24, 2011, convicted 15 of 97 men belonging to the Jat community. The house of Tara Chand was set on fire resulting in burning alive of the father and daughter on April 21, 2010 after a dispute between Jat and Dalit community of the village.


On October 31, 2011, the trial court had sentenced Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal to life imprisonment for committing unintentional killing under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code. Five others -- Baljeet, Karamveer, Karampal, Dharambir and Bobal -- were handed down jail term of five years for their offences including rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, mischief and putting ablaze victims' houses and provisions of SC/ST (POA) Act. Seven others, convicted under milder penal provisions, were released on probation by the trial court, which had earlier acquitted 82 out of 97 accused in the case. -- PTI

In a relief for Mamata Banerjee, the Supreme Court today turned down the pleas of CPI(M) and BJP seeking cancellation of elections on over 20,000 uncontested local body seats in West Bengal. All these uncontested seats were won unopposed by candidates of the ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition parties had alleged that their candidates were obstructed from filing nomination papers.


The apex court, however, took note of the allegations and said the aggrieved candidate may file election petitions to challenge panchayat polls in courts concerned.


A bench comprising Chief Justice DIpak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud exercised its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution and held that the limitation period of 30 days for filing the election petitions, which has expired, would now commence from the date of notification of panchayat poll results.


Earlier, the apex court had termed the situation as "grim and grave" and had directed the West Bengal State Election Commission not to declare and notify the results of panchayat body elections in the wake of allegations of large scale violence and alleged obstruction of filing nomination papers.


The court, meanwhile, set aside the Calcutta High Court decision directing the state poll panel to allow filing of nomination papers in panchayat elections through electronic forms such as e-mails and WhatsApp.


"The high court was in error while allowing the filing of nomination papers through electronic forms," it said, adding, "no such process is either mentioned nor allowed under the provisions of the Representation of Peoples Act".


Out of a total 58,692 posts for gram panchayat village, zilla parishad and panchayat samiti, 20,159 had remained uncontested in the violence-marred local polls in the state held in May this year. The court was hearing the pleas by parties like the BJP and CPI (M) alleging that candidates from ruling All India Trinmool Congress in West Bengal were only allowed to file nomination papers and as a result, they won without any contest. Earlier, the West Bengal government had told court that the row over the recently concluded panchayat polls in the state has led to a "constitutional crisis" since the tenure of several Panchayats were over and new bodies have not been made functional. -- PTI

In a familiar high-pitched hyperbolic monologue, another episode of Arnab Goswami's Daily Newshour 'The Debate' wrapped up on August 22. The topic chosen for the hour-long debate was -- "What's wrong with chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai?" in the wake of former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah being heckled by a crowd in Srinagar two days after he chanted the slogan in Delhi.


The show started with Goswami urging everybody to shout 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and ended with a lecture on the Indian Constitution by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra. In between, there were comical moments like Abdullah accidentally referring to Goswami as 'pagal' and hastily correcting his faux pas.


However, the gaffes were not limited to Abdullah and this article is about the ones that Goswami made during the length of the show. These were originally pointed out by Shuddhabrata Sengupta, an artist, curator and writer with the Raqs Media Collective.  Read more

The niece of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Kanti Mishra has rebuffed another niece of the late leader, Karuna Shukla, over her statement criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party for carrying the veteran leader's ashes to different states for immersion.


Speaking to ANI, Mishra said, "He (Vajpayee) does not belong to me or her (Karuna), he belongs to the nation. Everyone cannot go to Delhi so when 'Kalash' comes to their state they get a chance to pay their last respects".


Mishra's statement comes after Karuna, a Congress leader, alleged that the BJP is politicising the former prime minister's death for gains in the upcoming 2019 elections.


Vajpayee passed away on August 16 at All India Institute for Medical Sciences in the national capital. Following the cremation of the leader, his ashes were distributed to the presidents of BJP-ruled states for immersion. -- ANI

In a widely condemned incident, Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, former diplomat and Rediff.com columnist, was attacked by Students Federation of India activists in January 2016 at the venue of the Global Education Meet in Kovalam.   

Tales of grit and humanity from Kerala: Sinna Durai, a specially abled person from Pathanamthitta's Othera, saved a couple's life when they were stuck in the floodwaters. "I heard them cry for help. So I arranged a makeshift raft and helped them move to an elevated platform. We were rescued soon after," he told news agency ANI. 

The sorry image of a wailing leader visiting relief camps for riot victims was completely incoherent with what he did next, blaming the minority community for the disturbance. Utkarsh Mishra/Rediff.com pens a tribute from the heart. Do read

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visits flood and landslide affected areas in Kodagu. Sreevidya PI Deputy Commissioner of Kodagu district also present.


The torrential rains that lashed the district last week has left a huge trail of destruction and claimed at least 16 lives. Thousands have been rendered homeless.


Sitharaman is expected to visit affected areas including Kuvempu Layout, Sai Layout and talk to people there, the Karnataka BJP said. She will then travel to landslide-hit areas of Madapur and take stock of the situation. After that, she is scheduled to visit a relief camp in Madikeri and interact with the flood-affected people there.


The defence minister will also hold meetings with the district administration and other officials at the Deputy Commissioner's office on the relief and rehabilitation work.


Sitharaman, who is Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, is the second Union minister to visit the flood-ravaged district, after D V Sadananada Gowda, who also hails from the state. -- PTI

In a shocking revelation, a recent study has found that alcohol is associated with nearly one in 10 deaths in people aged 15-49 years old. Overall, according to the research that estimates levels of alcohol use and health effects in 195 countries between 1990 to 2016, 2.8 million deaths occur each year worldwide.


Based on their analysis, the authors suggest that there is no safe level of alcohol as any health benefits of alcohol are outweighed by its adverse effects on other aspects of health, particularly cancers.


According to lead author, Dr Max Griswold of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, USA, "Previous studies have found a protective effect of alcohol on some conditions, but we found that the combined health risks associated with alcohol increase with any amount of alcohol. In particular, the strong association between alcohol consumption and the risk of cancer, injuries, and infectious diseases offset the protective effects for ischemic heart disease in women in our study."


"Although the health risks associated with alcohol starts off being small with one drink a day, they then rise rapidly as people drink more. Policies focusing on reducing alcohol consumption to the lowest levels will be important to improve health. The widely held view of the health benefits of alcohol needs revising, particularly as improved methods and analyses continue to shed light on how much alcohol contributes to global death and disability," added Dr Max Griswold.


Globally, one in three people (32.5 percent) drink alcohol - equivalent to 2.4 billion people - including 25 percent of women (0.9 billion women) and 39 percent of men (1.5 billion men).


On average, each day women consumed 0.73 alcoholic drinks, and men drank 1.7 drinks.Drinking alcohol was the seventh leading risk factor globally for premature death and disease in 2016, accounting for 2.2 percent of deaths in women and 6.8 percent of deaths in men. -- ANI

The Indian Air Force conducted multiple rescue missions in Kerala's worst deluge in a century. The pilots speak to Rediff.com's Archana Masih. Do read


Image: The crew of a rescue team led by Wing Commander B K Sahu (in red), Co-pilot Squadron Leader J P Mothsra (on his right), Flight Gunner Sergeant Sudhir (far right) and Garud Commando Vikas (left) Photograph: Kind courtesy Wing Commander B K Sahu.

In a bid to lessen the suffering of the people of Kerala and to provide them timely relief, Headquarters Maintenance Command of the Indian Air Force, at Nagpur took an initiative under the leadership of Air Marshal Hemant Sharma AVSM VSM, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief to airlift relief material for flood-hit Kerala.


Civil Administration and various NGOs at Nagpur have also donated relief material for the flood-affected people. Even citizens of Nagpur have come forward to contribute relief material. The vendors who supplied the utility materials also extended considerable discounts on the purchases made for relief material.


The collected relief material was airlifted on August 23 from Nagpur by a special aircraft of the Indian Air Force so that it can reach the affected citizens at the earliest.


Apart from relief material, 22.5 tonnes worth food grains (rice, dal, wheat flour, vegetables, oils, milk etc.), clothing, medicines, cleaning and sanitary materials and water was dispatched by a parcel van attached to Sabari Express.


As many as 357 people have lost their lives so far, with the state facing a loss of Rs 19,512 crore. Rescue and relief operations in the state have been stepped up to evacuate the stranded people from the flood-affected areas.  -- ANI


Image: Over 10 lakh people have been forced out of their homes owing to the floods, which are being described as the worst the state has witnessed in a century.