Author: Indmedia

When a wall of water suddenly crashes from the sky and sweeps away homes and roads within minutes, one of the first words officials and the media in India reach for is ‘cloudburst’. However, the term is often misused in a way that can distract from poor planning and crumbling infrastructure.What counts as a cloudburst?According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a cloudburst occurs when a small area, around 20-30 sq. km, receives 10 cm or more of rain in an hour.To put this in perspective, Indore receives 1,062 mm of rain every year on average. A cloudburst could dump…

There are no limits to a human’s materialistic wants and emotional feelings. Attachment is the quickest development to happen and the slowest to recede. This is possibly why archaeologists in El Salvador found a 2,800-year-old burial of a person clutching a sea turtle vessel.The Mesoamerican burial found a face-down human skeleton that may be from a pre-Maya civilisation that practised human sacrifice. According to a translated statement from El Salvador’s Ministry of Culture, the burial was found on July 2 in Antiguo Cuscatlán, a suburb of San Salvador, during excavation work directed by Carlos Flores Manzano, an archaeologist and doctoral…

NEW DELHI: A protest over a pair of shorts at one of Delhi University’s most elite colleges has sparked a wider debate on how much control educational institutions should have over adult students, and where personal freedom starts.St Stephen’s College has started its new academic session with some students deliberately turning up in shorts after the college banned them from classrooms, the assembly hall, library, dining hall and chapel. Principal Susan Elias’s notice has sparked accusations of “moral policing”. But the bigger question that campuses across India face beyond the immediate controversy is whether colleges should be in the business…

HC summons tahsildar in Kondapur land row Hyderabad: Taking strong exception to the manner in which revenue authorities determined the ownership status of a disputed land parcel, Telangana high court on Tuesday summoned the Serilingampally tahsildar to appear in person on July 30 and explain the circumstances that led to the demolition of structures on the property.Justice NV Shravan Kumar issued the direction while hearing a petition filed by Pemmasani Sudha Rani, who alleged that revenue and HYDRAA authorities demolished her compound wall and a watchman room without issuing any prior notice.The court expressed shock over the manner in which…

Ahmedabad: Unesco’s World Heritage Committee (WHC) has expressed serious concern over two major construction projects within Ahmedabad’s World Heritage City, stating that they were completed despite expert warnings and without following mandatory heritage assessment procedures, potentially threatening the city’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV).The observations were made during Unesco’s 48th World Heritage Committee session held in Busan, South Korea, from July 19 to 29, where the findings of a Joint Reactive Monitoring Mission that visited Ahmedabad in March were reviewed.Ahmedabad Heritage LapsesAccording to the committee, the Danapith fire station and its multi-level parking facility were completed before a comprehensive Heritage Impact…

File photo used for representational purpose. GURGAON: A special POCSO fast-track court in Haryana’s Nuh has sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for the rape and murder of a 17-year-old boy in 2019.The court of additional sessions judge Ashu Sanjeev Tinjan also imposed a fine of Rs 45,000, with additional simple imprisonment in case of default.According to police, the victim went missing from his home in Dehana village on the night of October 31, 2019. His body was found hanging inside a fodder storehouse the following morning.In his complaint, the boy’s father alleged that his son had…

SpiceJet passengers in a heated altercation with the airline staff PUNE: Around 150 passengers bound for Pune on SpiceJet flight SG-939 from Delhi endured an ordeal stretching from Monday evening into Tuesday afternoon after repeated delays, hours inside a sweltering aircraft and an eventual flight cancellation.The airline had to arrange another flight around 3pm on Tuesday for the flyers. For a Delhi-based working professional, Rahul Singh, his business trip to Pune stretched for over 24 hours. The flight was scheduled to take-off at 4.55pm on Monday and land at Pune around 7.35pm.Singh said his ordeal began on Monday when the…

CHANDIGARH: A dramatic scene unfolded during a protest by Akali Dal Waris Punjab De in Chandigarh on Wednesday, when a worker climbed on top of a water cannon vehicle as police used water cannons to disperse the demonstrators.The protest was organised by members of Waris Punjab De demanding the release of its MP Amritpal Singh and other Sikh leaders. The protesters attempted to march towards the residences of Punjab governor Gulab Chand Kataria and chief minister Bhagwant Mann.A heavy police force was deployed at the Chandigarh-Mohali border, where barricades were put up to stop the protesters from moving ahead. Police…

SP MP Akhilesh Yadav speaks in Lok Sabha during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Tuesday Lucknow: Use of nail-fitted sticks, tear gas shells and giving electric shocks to youth and students protesting paper leaks was no less than ‘Emergency’, said Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Parliament on Tuesday.“The agitation was perhaps the first ever where parents participated with their children. I salute the youngsters for their morale and resolve that forced the govt to give in. Govt thought it was invincible, but the youth proved that ‘Jhukane wala chahiye … ye sarkar bhi jhukti hai…

Nagpur: Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal on Tuesday accused BJP-led Mahayuti govt of jeopardising the future of the state’s youth through repeated examination paper leaks and rising unemployment caused by the closure of thousands of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).In a statement, Sapkal alleged that after controversies surrounding NEET and TET examinations, the question paper for Maharashtra Public Service Commission’s (MPSC) drug inspector recruitment examination was circulated on WhatsApp before the test.“The BJP govt cannot conduct even a single examination properly. Paper leaks have bulldozed the hopes and aspirations of lakhs of students and their parents,” he alleged.Sapkal claimed…