At least two people died in Bengaluru as pre-monsoon storms wreaked havoc in the city known as India’s Silicon Valley because of its high-tech industry.
The capital city of Karnataka state was lashed with torrential rains for three days, flooding low-lying areas and underpasses.
India's Meteorological Department warned that the city will continue to receive heavy rainfall till the end of the month.
A 22-year-old woman died inside a taxi in a flooded underpass and a 31-year-old man died after falling into a storm well on Sunday, the first day of the deluge.
Potholes have appeared in many major roads and more than 20 houses have been flooded in Mahalakshmi area, local media reported.
In Mallaswer, an upscale part of the city, the jewellery store Nihaan Jewellers was flooded with rain and sewage, uprooted plants and trees, destroying ornaments worth 20 million rupees.
Footage captured on mobile phones showed the moment the muddy water gushed into the showroom, submerging gold-plated ornaments.
“About five feet [1.5 metres] of rainwater and sewage water came inside the shop. The rainwater has no place to go down the drain, as the road is illogically built. There is no drainage, they are building a road but have not left space for the water to go down the drains,” the shop's owner Priya Sanjay told The National.
“Our shop is in the basement. There is a ton of mud and leaves inside the shop. We have incurred a loss of 2 crore [20 million] rupees. We completed the first anniversary last year but now, we have lost everything. It is because of the authorities and lack of planning.”
The municipal corporation said it was struggling to deal with calls about the flooding.
“We are getting 300 calls a day regarding the sewage and drainage and tree felling,” said Manjunath Swamy, deputy commissioner for administration.
“This time it is not only raining but wind speed as well. The wind speed is 36 kph, which is uprooting trees.”
Mr Swamy said authorities had sent teams from the forest department and collaborated with the water and electricity bodies and the fire service to help citizens.
“We have cleared the underpasses and closed them during the evening as the rains are mostly in the night. Traffic and police authorities have been informed to not allow anyone to use them. We have closed around 18 to 21 underpasses,” he said.
The city, with a population of about 13 million, is surrounded by lakes and ponds. Each year, floods are triggered by torrential rainfall in the monsoon season because of poor infrastructure and drainage.
In many areas, a lack of culverts leads to sewage and rainwater building up, resulting in waterlogging.
Activist say that the construction of roads and residential and commercial buildings is out of control and the infrastructure cannot support the rate of development.
“Bengaluru has seen exponential growth as an IT hub but the most dynamic city has come at a cost of more population than it can accommodate. The infrastructure growth has not kept pace with population,” said Srinivas Alavilli, a civic rights activist.
He said there was a lack of political accountability.
The city does not have and Mr Alavilli said this meant a lack of clear vision and policies.
“The political economy is such that it revolves around real estate,” he said.
“It was a sleepy town and suddenly woke up to become an IT hub but the governance structure has not evolved. The decentralisation of administration has not happened.
“There is no political accountability as there is no empowered city governance. There is a lack of planning by the authorities, it is always the reaction, response and relief system. There is a governance gap.”
Six large-scale objects on show
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- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
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China
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Miguel Cotto world titles:
WBO Light Welterweight champion - 2004-06
WBA Welterweight champion – 2006-08
WBO Welterweight champion – Feb 2009-Nov 2009
WBA Light Middleweight champion – 2010-12
WBC Middleweight champion – 2014-15
WBO Light Middleweight champion – Aug 2017-Dec 2017
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Sector: FinTech
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- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
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- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
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She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
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