Prayers for Karunanidhi
Residents and DMK cadre offer prayers for the speedy recovery of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi at a house on Subramania Pillai Street, Singanallur, in Coimbatore where Mr. Karunanidhi lived during 1945-48. He began his career as a screenplay writer in the Tamil film industry from this house.
Helicopter crashes in Beijing: China Daily
A crane lifts a helicopter after it crashed in Beijing, China on July 30, 2018. | Photo Credit: Reuters
A hellicopter crashed near a bridge in northern Beijing about 11 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Monday, the official English-language China Daily newspaper said on its website. The paper gave no information beyond identifying the site of the incident, near the Jixiangsi bridge. A video clip of what appeared to be a crashed helicopter was circulating on Chinese social media, such as the Twitter-like Weibo. Reuters could not immediately verify the report or the video clip.
MH370 final report offers no new information
MH370 safety investigator-in-charge Kok Soo Chon shows the MH370 safety investigation report booklet to the media after a news conference in Putrajaya, Malaysia | Photo Credit: Reuters
Families of passengers on board missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 said on Monday that an investigation report released to them offered no new findings to explain the plane's mysterious disappearance. The report comes two months after Malaysia called off a privately funded underwater search for the aircraft carrying 239 people that disappeared on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.
Hundreds trapped on mountain after earthquake
Indonesian soldiers and rescue team gather to prepare for evacuating tourists from Mount Rinjani, seen in the background, at Sembalun in East Lombok, Indonesia on July 30, 2018. | Photo Credit: AP
Rescuers are trying to evacuate hundreds of tourists trapped on Mount Rinjani on the Indonesian island of Lombok after an earthquake that killed 15 people triggered landslides. Mount Rinjani National Park chief, Sudiyono, said more than 800 tourists were registered to climb Rinjani, an active volcano, when a strong earthquake rocked Lombok early on Sunday. He said on Monday about 300 of them had managed to get down the mountain. Sudiyono, who uses one name, said, “Information that we have from survivors is more than 500 people are trapped on the mountain and gathered near the volcano lake Segara Anakan.” - AP
A man walks debris from destroyed houses in an area affected by an earthquake at Sajang village, Sembalun, East Lombok, Indonesia on July 30, 2018.
| Photo Credit: AP
New get-up for TDP MP N. Sivaprasad
TDP MP N. Sivaprasad dresses up as a folk artiste outside the Parliament on Monday, July 30, 2018, to protest demanding the grant of Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh | Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena
Telugu Desam Party MP N. Sivaprasad, who is known for his novel method of protesting outside the parliament, has yet again dressed up in costume. Today, he was dressed as a folklore artiste. The party has been agitating since the Budget session of Parliament demanding the grant of Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.
Assam's draft NRC released
People check names on NRC list in Morigaon district of Assam on Monday, 30 July 2018. | Photo Credit: Ritu Raj Konwar
More than 40 lakh of 3.39 crore applicants have been left of the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam that was released on Monday. The draft NRC was released by the Registrar General of India, Shailesh, and NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela in Guwahati. As many as 3,29,91,384 people had applied for the NRC, while applications of 2,89,83,677 were accepted, said Mr. Shailesh.
Voting in landmark election underway in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean voters queue to cast their ballots in the country's general elections in Harare, Zimbabwe, July 30, 2018. | Photo Credit: Reuters
Voters in Zimbabwe are going to the polls on Monday in the country’s first election without long-time leader Robert Mugabe’s name on the ballot. Both parliamentary and regional body polls are scheduled to take place simultaneously, the BBC reported. The country’s founding President Mugabe was ousted in a coup in 2017 after almost four decades in power.
Northern California blaze slows down
Burned trees rest in a field after the Carr Fire burned through the area on July 29, 2018 in Whiskeytown, California. A Redding firefighter and a bulldozer operator were killed battling the fast moving Carr Fire that has burned over 80,000 acres and destroyed hundreds of homes. The fire is 5 percent contained. | Photo Credit: AFP
The deadly Northern California wildfire that has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes slowed down Sunday after days of explosive growth, giving officials hope even as they announced the discovery of a sixth fatality. In Redding, officials stuck a hopeful tone for the first time in days. “We’re feeling a lot more optimistic today as we’re starting to gain some ground rather than being in a defensive mode on this fire all the time,” said Bret Gouvea, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s incident commander on the blaze around Redding, a city about 230 miles (370 kilometers) north of San Francisco.
Burned trees and homes are juxtaposed in a neighborhood in the aftermath of a wildfire, Sunday, July 29, 2018, in Redding, California. | Photo Credit: AP
Yamuna bridge closed for rail traffic
A scene at the Old Yamuna bridge on Monday. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
The Northern Railway (NR) on Monday said the old Yamuna rail bridge has been closed for train traffic since midnight as a precautionary measure after the river crossed the danger—mark. “At 12.20 a.m., the old Yamuna Bridge (Loha Pul) temporary closed for rail traffic as water level has reached at 205.53 metre mark,” an NR official told IANS.
(With inputs from Agencies)