Emergency workers on Thursday were scrambling to rescue nearly 50 people trapped under rubble after a landslide in western India killed at least sixteen people.
Heavy rain triggered the landslide at about 11pm on Wednesday in Raigad, Maharashtra, hitting at least 40 houses in the hilly area, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.
Emergency workers were deployed to Irshalwadi village in the Khalapur area to rescue those trapped and 75 people were evacuated, he said. But more heavy rain hampered the relief effort.
The district has had heavy rain for the past two days.
Rescue workers recovered 16 bodies before night fell and local authorities advised they suspend the search, Director General of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Atul Karwal, told Reuters.
"It is not possible to look for people in the dark in such terrain," he said, adding he remained hopeful more could be found alive.
It was estimated that at least 225 people lived in the hamlet, Mr Fadnavis told the state assembly, adding over 80 had managed to escape.
More than 100 people were feared trapped in the debris.
Home Minister Amit Shah said that four National Disaster Response Force teams were sent to the spot to carry out rescue operations.
“Our priority is to evacuate people from there and give immediate treatment to the injured,” he said.
Images on social media showed houses completely destroyed while massive trees had been uprooted.
Those injured were taken to hospital for treatment.
Torrential rain has hit at least 10 districts in the state. The India Meteorological Department issued an alert for “heavy to very heavy” rainfall in several districts on Thursday.
In India's largest city, Mumbai, authorities closed down schools amid rainfall warnings.
At least eight other districts will continue to face heavy rain, thunderstorms and strong winds until the weekend, the IMD said.
if you go
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
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France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
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Wed, Aug 29:
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- Oman bt Nepal by 7 wickets
- UAE bt Singapore by 215 runs
Thu, Aug 30: UAE v Nepal; Hong Kong v Singapore; Malaysia v Oman
Sat, Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong; Oman v Singapore; Malaysia v Nepal
Sun, Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman; Malaysia v UAE; Nepal v Singapore
Tue, Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore; UAE v Oman; Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu, Sep 6: Final
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
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The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
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