Pandemic, Monsoon and the Olympic contribute to news and the struggle continues.

1. FACED PANDEMIC & NOW
A MONSOON DISASTER,
PERFORMANCE AT TOKYO
OLYMPICS
BHARATH SAMAACHAAR

2. Hemmed in, Yediyurappa Walks Off into the Sunset,
End of an Era in Karnataka BJP

3. Basavaraj Somappa (BS) Bommai has been chosen
as the next Chief Minister of Karnataka by the BJP
MLAs, days after the 78-year old Lingayat
strongman and veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa
resigned from Chief Minister’s office. The Home,
Law and Legislative affairs minister in former Chief
Minister B S Yediyurappa cabinet till a few days ago,
Basavaraj Bommai’s name was reportedly proposed
by B S Yediyurappa himself.

4. Basavaraj’s father S.R. Bommai, however, was one of the key figures in
Karnataka’s politics who became Karnataka’s Chief Minister in 1988.
Basavaraj’s father S.R. Bommai was also the Union Human Resource
Development (HRD) minister in former Prime Ministers HD Devegowda and
IK Gujaral’s United Front governments between 1996-1998. Basavaraj
Bommai, after a brief stint in Corporate world, began his political career with
Janata Dal (Secular). He joined BJP in 2008. He has been continuously
elected a Member of Legislative Assembly from Shiggaon constituency in
Haveri district of Karnataka, where he is credited with implementing India’s
first piped irrigation project spreading over 25,000 acres.

6. Basavaraj Bommai Elected As Next Karnataka CM
Bommai, 61, is the state home minister and is close to Yeddyurappa. He is
an engineer by profession, he has been a minister in both cabinets of
Yeddyurappa. He left the Janata Dal Secular (JDS) and joined BJP in the
year 2008. He understands the policies of BJP very well and does not shy
away from following any decision as per the party rules. Basavaraj Bommai
took oath as the 23rd Chief Minister of Karnataka. Bommai took oath on 29
July, in the presence of state Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot.

7. BENGALURU: Basavaraj Bommai was sworn in as Karnataka CM on
Wednesday, thus bringing down the curtain on weeks of political uncertainty
in the state. Keen to dispel any impression that ex-CM BS Yediyurappa
would be backseat-driving his government, Bommai categorically said: “I
will not be a rubber stamp CM.” While he would seek Yediyurappa’s counsel
and draw on his expertise, he would work to get the “stamp of approval
from the people”. Earlier in the day, Bommai called on Yediyurappa at his
house and sought his blessing. He later held a one-man cabinet meeting
with top officials and announced a slew of schemes. This includes a
scholarship programme for farmers’ children at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore.

8. Mirabai Chanu
Mirabai Chanu on July 24 opened
India's medal tally in the
ongoing Tokyo Olympics after she
bagged a silver medal in
weightlifting (women's 49kg
category).

9. Mirabai Chanu on July 24 opened India's medal tally in the
ongoing Tokyo Olympics after she bagged a silver medal in
weightlifting (women's 49kg category). During her four
successful attempts in the competition, the weightlifter lifted a
total of 202 kg, which included 87 kg in a snatch and 115 in
clean and jerk. After she won the medal, wishes from across
the country poured in and people hailed the weightlifter for her
feat.

10. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Saber fencer Bhavani Devi for her splendid
performance at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. But, she could not go past the round of 32

11. 23-year-old Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain brought cheer to the
country on an otherwise disappointing day at the Tokyo Olympics. The
first woman boxer from Assam at the Games came up with a
commanding display over experienced Germany pugilist Nadine Apetz
at the Kokugikan Arena on Tuesday. With the win by a split decision
over the senior boxer, Lovlina moved into the quarter-final of the
Women's Welterweight division (64 to 69kg). She is now just a win
away from sealing a medal for India.

12. Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu stressed the
importance of mental well-being of athletes after her
second group-stage match in women's singles at
the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.
The Rio Olympic silver medalist, who is looking to
change the colour of her Olympic medal in Tokyo,
was referring to the United States Gymnast Simone
Biles who withdrew from the much-anticipated Artistic
Gymnastics Team event for USA at the Games on
Tuesday.

13. Over the years, Sindhu has grown into a superstar
in badminton. She has taken over from Saina
Nehwal as the poster girl of Indian badminton.
Sindhu won the Olympics silver in Rio and ended a
long wait for a major tournament gold when she
reigned supreme at the World Championships in
Glasgow in 2019.
The reigning world champion comfortably won 2
games in the group stages. She will next face World
No. 12 Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark in Round of 16
later this week. A

14. PV Sindhu stormed into the quarterfinals
of the Tokyo Olympics with a straight
game victory against Mia Blichfeldt of
Denmark 21-15, 21-13. The Rio Olympics
silver medallist is just two wins away from
winning her second medal at the Games,
a feat not achieved any of the Indian
woman so far.
Sinidhu will now face the winner of the tie
between Akane Yamaguchi of Japan and
Kim Gaeun of South Korea in the
quarterfinals.

15. Reigning world champion @Pvsindhu1 puts up a stellar performance in
pre quarters to beat M Blichfeldt 21-15, 21-13 and enters quarter finals of
@Tokyo2020 1 step away from medal.
The 26-year-old Indian, who won a silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics, will
next face the winner of the match between Akane Yamaguchi of Japan
and Korea's Kim Gaeun.
The ace shuttler is the lone Indian badminton hope left after B Sai
Praneeth's maiden Olympic campaign came to an end in the men's
single's competition.

16. Boxer Pooja Rani (75kg) stormed into the quarter-finals of the women's middleweight (69-
75kg) category in the Tokyo Olympics after defeating Ichrak Chaib of Algeria in the Round
of 16 at the Kokugikan Arena. Rani defeated Chaib 5-0 on Wednesday.

17. Overall in Indian archery, the current world number 1 in Women’s archery,
Deepika Kumari won two back to back elimination rounds and managed to
take herself till the round of 8, defeating Bhutan’s Karma 6-0 and the USA’s
Mucino-Fernandez 6-4.
Middleweight Boxer Pooja Rani earned herself a unanimous 5-0 win against
Algerian boxer Ichrak Chaib. Pooja Rani will next go against Rio Olympics
Bronze medalist Li Qiang of China in Quarter final on Saturday.
Best ever performance in Rowing despite the loss
Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh produce the best ever performance by Indian
rowers at the Olympics, clocking 6 minutes 24.41 seconds.

18. Tokyo Olympics: Nervy Deepika Kumari advances into pre-
quarters with 6-4 win over USA's Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez

19. India archer Tarundeep Rai made a comeback and won against Ukraine's
Oleksii Hunbin at Yumenoshima Ranking Field on Wednesday. Tarundeep
defeated Hunbin 6-4 to march into the round of 16.

20. Archer Atanu Das cruises into next round after beating Yu-Cheng
Indian archer Atanu Das progressed to the next round of the men`s
individual archery event after defeating Chinese Taipei`s Yu-Cheng
Dang in the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics here at Yumenoshima
Ranking Field on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Indian archer Deepika Kumari defeated USA`s Jennifer
Mucino-Fernandez in the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The India
archer defeated her opponent from the US 6-4 in the 1/16 eliminations
round.

21. Indian archer Atanu Das hit a nervous 10 in
the shoo toff to triumph over two-time
Olympic gold medallist Oh Jinhyek of South
Korea to go through to the pre-quarterfinals
in the men's individual event at the Tokyo
Olympics on Thursday (July 29). Das got off
to a shaky start, losing the first end 26-25.
He came back to tie the second and third
ends 27-27 and then won the fourth 27-22 to
make the overall score 4-4.

22. Tokyo Olympics: Boxer Satish Kumar through to quarter-finals
with 4-1 win over Jamaica's Ricardo Brown
Satish Kumar (+91kg) on Thursday won his first bout
of the Tokyo Olympics to go through to the quarter-
finals. Satish beat Jamaican Ricardo Brown 4-1 in
the round of 16 match and it means that the 32-year-
old from Bulandshahr is just one win away from
sealing an Olympic medal.

23. 1.29 crore ration cards cancelled across India
As many as 1.29 crore ration cards were deleted or cancelled by various
states and union territories during the last three years with Uttar Pradesh
and Maharashtra topping the list. The government also acted under the
relevant clauses against approximately 20,000 fair price shops (FPS).
A total of 93,78,789 ration cards were cancelled in Uttar Pradesh in 2018
(43,72,491), 2019 (41,52,273) and 2020 (8,54,025) while in Maharashtra as
many as 20,37,947 ration cards were cancelled with 12,81,922 in 2018,
6,53,677 in 2019 and 1,02,348 in 2020, Ministry of Rural Development and
Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution told the Lok Sabha .

24. Next in line to cancel and delete the ration cards were Madhya
Pradesh (3,54,535), followed by Haryana (2,91,926), Punjab
(2,87,474), Delhi (2,57,886) and Assam (1,70,057). The governments
found it easy to weed out these many ration cards after action under
NFSA Aadhaar seeding of ration cards ensured uniqueness of
beneficiaries in Public Distribution System (PDS), avoiding
duplicate/bogus ration cards/beneficiaries.

25. An offence committed in violation of the provisions of the Targeted Public
Distribution System (TPDS) (Control) Order, 2015 is liable for penal action
under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. Thus, the order empowers all
State/UT governments to take punitive actions in case of contravention of
the relevant provisions of the Order.
"During the last three years from 2018 to 2020 and current year up to June
30, a total of 19,410 actions such as FPS licenses suspended/ cancelled/
show-cause notices issued/ FIRs lodged by States/ UTs were taken," it was
said. Of the total states that did take this action, Uttar Pradesh topped with
13,905 followed by Kerala at 3,139.

26. Chennai Rain: City areas like Royapettah, Triplicane, Mylapore, Mount
Road, Madhavaram, Kodungaiyur, Vyasarpadi, Perambur, and Puzhal
areas received heavy rains for more than an hour on Monday.
Tamil Nadu has been receiving heavy rainfall ever since the southwest
monsoon began in June this year. Most of the reservoirs in western and
southern Tamil Nadu filled due to good showers in these two months.
Pandalur in the Nilgiris received the maximum rainfall of 16 centimetres in
24 hours by Monday morning. Another town, Devala in the Nilgiris,
received 10cm of rainfall while Oothukottai in Thiruvallur district received
9cm.

27. As heavy rains batter several parts of west and south India, the meteorological department on
Friday said isolated extremely heavy falls are very likely over Konkan, Goa and central
Maharashtra in the next two days. Scattered to fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls
are likely to continue over Gujarat till July 23, but its intensity will increase from July 24, it said.

29. Flooding and landslides are common during India's treacherous monsoon
season between June and September, while also causing poorly constructed
buildings and walls to collapse.
At least 34 people were killed after several homes were crushed by a
collapsed wall and a landslide triggered in Mumbai, capital on Maharashtra,
last weekend. Rainwater also inundated a water purification complex,
disrupting supply "in most of the parts of Mumbai", a megacity of 20 million
people, civic authorities said. Last month, 12 people were killed when a
building collapsed in a Mumbai slum. 39 people died when a three- storey
apartment block collapsed in Bhiwandi near the financial capital.

30. A bill that seeks to declare Haryana-based NIFTEM and Tamil Nadu-
based IIFPT as institutions of national importance was passed in
Parliament on Monday. The National Institutes of Food Technology,
Entrepreneurship and Management Bill, 2021 was passed in the Lok
Sabha.
As many as 14 opposition parties came together Wednesday [28/7] over
the Pegasus row, demanding that the matter be discussed in both
Houses of Parliament. Led by Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, the opposition
leaders held a meeting to discuss the issue, which was followed by a
joint press conference.

31. Pegasus Snooping
Issue
”Citizens’ data security and privacy”

32. Pegasus Snooping Issue 'Most Important' for IT Panel; Will Question Govt
Officials on This: Tharoor
Parliamentary panel on Information Technology will question government
officials on allegations relating to suspected phone tapping of politicians,
journalists and others using Pegasus spyware, the committee chairman
and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Tuesday asserting that
it is the “most important issue” for many members. The 32-member
Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT is scheduled to meet on
Wednesday [28 July], for which the listed agenda is ”Citizens’ data security
and privacy”, according to a notification issued by Lok Sabha Secretariat.

33. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should call an all-party meeting to discuss
the Pegasus snooping scandal, Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday.
Rahul Gandhi’s name was among the many identified as alleged targets of
a long ‘snooping list’. According to an exposé by a global consortium of
media agencies, including The Wire in India, politicians, world leaders,
journalists, activists and civil servants were allegedly targeted using
Pegasus, a sophisticated spyware owned by Israeli tech company NSO
that claims to sell its product to vetted governments and their agencies.

34. United Opposition resolves to not let House function till Pegasus on table
A UNITED Opposition Wednesday [28/7] resolved to lift the blockade of
Parliament only if the NDA government agreed to a discussion in the
House on the Pegasus scandal in the presence of either Prime Minister
Narendra Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah. Leaders of 14 Opposition
parties of both the Houses met at Leader of the Opposition in Rajya
Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge’s chamber to coordinate their floor strategy.
This could mean a complete washout of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The
Houses could not function for the eighth successive day on Wednesday amidst
Opposition protests.

35. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had earlier called for
parties to set aside differences at the state level, called the
experience of the joint Opposition meeting extremely humbling.
“Amazing experience, wisdom and insight in everyone present,”
he said. Addressing the media with other leaders, he added, “If
we say now that we will not do a discussion on Pegasus... and
agree to a discussion on some other issue... then (the issue of)
Pegasus will be over.”

36. In the first few days of the Parliament session, the parties have been
separately raising issues like price rice, farm laws, Covid situation and the
Pegasus row. On Wednesday, almost all the Opposition parties gave similar
notices demanding a discussion on the alleged spying scandal. While floor
leaders of the Trinamool Congress were not present at the Opposition
meeting, the party made light of this, saying the TMC has long been pitching
for such unity. With both Banerjee and NCP leader Sharad Pawar making
overtures to Opposition parties, the meetings held over the past two days
indicate Rahul is taking a more active role in pitching the Congress for the
space.

37. The new NEP was launched on July 29 last year. The policy
document proposes to make structural changes in school and
higher education to improve understanding of foundational
concepts and employability of graduates,
The academic bank of credit (ABC) in higher education, a
competency-based assessment for students in Classes 3, 5 and
8, and undergraduate engineering programmes in regional
languages.

38. The new NEP was launched on July 29 last year. The policy document
proposes to make structural changes in school and higher education to
improve understanding of foundational concepts and employability of
graduates, respectively, among other things. At Thursday’s event, the PM
will address policy makers in the domain of education and skill
development, students, teachers, across the country. In anticipation of
the event, the University Grants Commission has notified its regulations
on ABC. The credit bank will be a virtual entity which will keep records of
academic credits secured by a student.

39. According to a statement by the Education Ministry, the PM will unveil
a website dedicated to Artificial Intelligence, National Digital Education
Architecture (NDEAR) and National Education Technology Forum
(NETF). While NDEAR will be single platform that will showcase digital
solutions for problems faced in the education sector, NETF is proposed
to be an autonomus body that will provide evidence-based advice to
Central and State Government agencies on technology-based
interventions for education.

40. Indian-American Veena Reddy has been sworn in as the new
mission director for US Agency for International Development
(USAID). Reddy is the first Indian-American to be elected to this
position. "Today, Veena Reddy was sworn in as our new Mission
Director. She will be the first Indian-American to lead
@usaid_india, representing the best of both countries, and aims
to bolster #USIndia's development partnership leveraging her
unique experiences and leadership," tweeted USAID on Monday.

41. New Delhi: Earthquake tremors were felt in the national capital on
Monday morning. According to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC),
mild tremors were confirmed around 6:42 am due to which the metro
services were halted on Monday (July 26, 2021) morning.
"Mild tremors were confirmed around 6.42 AM in the morning. As a
standard procedure, trains were run on cautionary speed and stationed at
next platform. The services are now running normally," DMRC said in a
tweet.

42. Several parts of Delhi-NCR received heavy rainfall on Tuesday [27/7]
morning, resulting in waterlogging on several road stretches, including
Pragati Maidan in central and Dhaula Kuan in the southern part of the city.
The waterlogging also created traffic snarls in different locations of the city.
Traffic moved at a slow pace at ITO, underneath Moti Bagh metro station,
Dhaula Kuan underpass, near Pragati Maidan, Mathura Road, Vikas Marg,
Ring Road near IP Flyover, Rohtak Road among others. Some of the
stretches and areas where waterlogging was reported included Dhaula
Kuan, Mathura Road, Moti Bagh, Vikas Marg, Ring Road, Rohtak Road,
Sangam Vihar, Kirari and near Pragati Maidan among others.

43. The water level in the Yamuna in Delhi on Thursday [29, 7] rose to 203.37 metres,
close to the warning mark of 204.50 metres after heavy rains in the upper catchment
areas of the river.

44. Delhi-NCR wakes up to rain, thunderstorms; IMD predicts more showers
Parts of the National Capital Region (NCR), including Delhi, Gurugram and Gurugram
witnessed moderate to heavy rainfall on Tuesday [27/7] morning.
The I M D said, "Thunderstorms with moderate to heavy intensity rain will continue to
occur over many places of southwest Delhi, New Delhi, East Delhi, Shahdara, Preet
Vihar, Central Delhi, northeast Delhi, South Delhi, southwest Delhi, Gurugram, Manesar."
Scattered thunderstorms may continue till Wednesday. "Thunderstorms with light to
moderate intensity rain will occur over Faridabad, Ballabgarh, Palwal, Aurangabad
(Haryana), Noida, Greater Noida, Indirapuram, Chapraula, Ghaziabad and adjoining
areas during the next 2 hours,".

45. Evacuation: As many as 112 people lost their lives, 99 still missing due to
incessant rainfall in Maharasthra till Saturday (July 24, 2021) night, said the
Relief and Rehabilitation Department.
The heavy downpour has forced about 1.35 lakh people to evacuate from the
flood-affected areas, according to the state government's data.
"As per the data of July 24 at 9.30 pm, about 1 lakh 35 thousand people
have been evacuated from the flood-affected areas.
A total of 112 deaths have been reported and 3221 animals have died. A
total of 53 people were injured and 99 are missing," said Relief and
Rehabilitation Department.

46. Rains: Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway Shut for Traffic for 3rd Day; Around 2,000
Karnataka-bound Vehicles Stranded
The Mumbai-Bengaluru highway shut for vehicular traffic for the third day
on Sunday as its stretch near Shiroli village remained submerged. Around
2,000 Karnataka-bound vehicles are stranded on the national highway.
The highway Is shut for traffic after part of it got submerged due to rising
water level as a result of incessant rains in the district. “The stretch near
Shiroli continued to be closed for the vehicular movement near Shiroli
village as the bridge near there remained inundated,” Kolhapur
Superintendent of Police (SP) Shailesh Balkawde said.

47. A series of flash floods triggered by cloudbursts claimed 22 lives in parts of
the country on Wednesday [28/7]. Teams of the National Disaster
Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed to carry out rescue
operations and assess the damage. In Maharashtra, the death toll from
rain-related incidents climbed to 213. Raigad, one of the worst-affected
districts, accounted for 95 of the reported fatalities. Other districts reeling
under massive landslides include Satara and Ratnagiri, while floods have
claimed lives in Kolhapur and Sangli.

48. The Krishna river breached danger level, and over 100 people were moved to
safety in Sangli overnight while helicopter rescue has begun in Mahad.
Telangana and Karnataka too are on high alert.
Three more teams of NDRF reached Chiplun, while four teams are already
engaged in rescuing people as incessant showers in the hilly regions of
Ratnagiri district wreaked havoc in the coastal town, along with illegal
constructions near the Vashisthi river bed and discharge of water from the
Kolkewadi dam. The district administration has issued a list of people, who are
stuck in the flood. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to CM Uddhav
Thackeray on Thursday and assured all possible help.

49. Even as the torrential rains lashing across Karnataka took a break, the
threat of landslides in Shivamogga, Chikmagalur, Kodagu, Hassan and
Belagavi districts in Karnataka continues to haunt people.
Due to heavy rains for over a week, multiple landslide incidents have been
reported from Thirthahalli and Sagara Taluk of Shivamogga district.
There have been more than 10 incidents of landslides in Bharathipura
region and similar cases are being reported from Huligudda, Yedehalli,
Kolikalugudda and other places in Shivamogga district. The movement of
heavy vehicles was restricted after a huge crack surfaced on the
Mangaluru-Madikeri road following a landslide near the Made village.

50. Pune: People on board a bus had a narrow escape as they were rescued just
before the vehicle got washed away into a river in Kolhapur district.
“More care should be taken on Godavari and Krishna rivers catchment areas,”
the CM told the roads and buildings (R&B) department to assess the flood
situation and examine the conditions. Bhimashankar, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas,
has been submerged in water as flood water surrounded the historic temple.
Due to the water flowing with strong force, the bus fell off the bridge and got
stuck in water and swept away by the strong currents, he said. Kolhapur district
guardian minister Satej Patil said instructions have been given to file an offense
against the bus driver.

51. An official said that Kolhapur has turned into an island, and has been cut
off from the rest of the state as all roads approaching the city are under
water. Rescue and relief operations are still underway. As many as 2.3
lakh people have been evacuated so far. Chief minister Uddhav
Thackeray is said to visit the flood-affected areas of Pune and Satara on
Monday, while Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar will visit Sangli. A day
ago, CM Thackeray had visited Chiplun, the site of severe flooding, and
interacted with residents, businessmen and shopkeepers. He promised
them all help from the state government to restore normalcy in the area.
Before that, the chief minister had also visited Mahad.

52. Maharashtra Flood Updates: Kolhapur Cut Off, NH4 Shut; CM Uddhav in
Satara, Dy CM Ajit in Sangli Today [26/7]
Maharashtra Floods Updates: Water levels in western Maharashtra’s
flood affected districts continue to be above danger mark, even as
rains have reduced. NH4, which links the four big cities in India –
Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai – remains closed as several
heavy vehicles are stranded on the highway.

53. Maharashtra’s weekly positivity rate has dropped to 3.8% from
last week’s 4.36%, indicating a downward trend of the second
Covid-19 wave.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the positivity
rate should remain below 5% for an outbreak to be considered
under control. Positivity rate is the percentage of tests of a
particular infection returning positive. The state currently has 10
districts with positivity rates above the state average of 3.8%.

54. Maharashtra on Sunday [25/7] reported 6,843 new coronavirus positive
cases and 123 fatalities, raising the overall tally to 62,64,922 and the toll to
1,31,552, the state health department said. With 5,212 patients being
discharged after treatment during the day, the count of recoveries in
Maharashtra went up to 60,35,029 so far, leaving the state with 94,985 active
cases, it said. Maharashtra`s case recovery rate now stands at 96.33 per
cent while the fatality rate is 2.09 per cent. Mumbai reported 364 new cases
and 10 deaths, taking the count of infections to 7,34,118 and the number of
Covid-19 fatalities to 15,837.

55. Maharashtra- first state to fully vaccinate 1 crore people
Notching a major milestone, Maharashtra became the first and
only state, so far, to fully vaccinate more than one crore people
against Covid, a top official said on Monday (July 26).
"A total of 1,00,64,308 were fully vaccinated with the two doses of
Covid-19 vaccine here till 4 p.m. today (Monday)," said Additional
Chief Secretary, Health, Pradeep Vyas.(PTI Photo)

56. Maharashtra Monsoon Mayhem:
Water levels in western Maharashtra’s flood-affected districts continue to
be above the danger mark. Drones are helping in monitoring the floods
affected areas, real-time water levels, and damage so that the required
help can be provided. Rescuing people from floods is a daunting task full
of challenges. Days after torrential rain triggered floods and landslides
across several districts in Maharashtra, killing 138 people and leaving
dozens still missing, two national highways remain closed to traffic along
with other key roads making it difficult to evacuate people stranded on the
roofs of their submerged homes.

57. Heavy Rainfall in Konkan, Goa, Central Maharashtra
The IMD on Friday [23 July, 2021] said isolated extremely heavy falls are
very likely over Konkan, Goa and central Maharashtra in the next two days.
Scattered to fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls are likely to
continue over Gujarat till July 23, but its intensity will increase from July 24,
it said. “Fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very
heavy falls very likely to continue over west coast during next 2-3 days with
reduction thereafter,” the IMD said. The IMD, however, predicted rainfall
activity to increase from Sunday in several other states in the north Indian
plains, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh.

58. Gujarat: The IMD said scattered to fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls are
likely to continue over Gujarat till July 23, with an increase in intensity from July 24. “It is
likely to increase to fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very
heavy falls on July 24-26. Isolated extremely heavy falls also likely over Gujarat region July
25,” the IMD added.
Madhya Pradesh: an orange alert for 24 Madhya Pradesh districts, predicting heavy
rainfall in isolated places over Jabalpur, Rewa, Satna, Anuppur, Umarai, Dindori, Katni,
Narsinghpur, Mandla, Sagar, Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh, Vidisha and Sehore, Rajgarh, Betul,
Burhanpur, Khandwa, Khargone, Dhar, Dewas, Agar Malwa, Ashok Nagar, and Shivpuri.
Several areas inundated in water due to floods in Maharashtra. Moderate to heavy rain and
thundershower occurred at most places in Uttar Pradesh.

59. MP, Telangana, Odisha: It said fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with
isolated heavy to very heavy falls are likely to continue over east and
adjoining central India during July 23-25 with reduction thereafter. Isolated
extremely heavy falls also likely over west Madhya Pradesh on July 23 and
July 24 and east Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha on July 23, the
IMD added.
Uttar Pradesh: Uttar Pradesh is likely to receive heavy downpour on Sunday
at isolated areas in the western parts, the IMD said. The state witnessed
light to moderate rainfall and thunderstorm on Saturday, with heavy
downpours at isolated places in the eastern part of the state.

60. Telangana C M has also put the entire administration on high alert after
heavy rains and huge inflows from upstream Maharashtra and Karnataka
began flooding large swathes of the state. “More care should be taken on
Godavari and Krishna rivers catchment areas,” the CM told the roads and
buildings (R&B) department to assess the flood situation and examine the
condition of roads and bridges. Bhimashankar, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas, has
been submerged in water as flood water surrounded the historic temple.
On the other hand, over 100 people were moved to safety in Sangli overnight
after Krishna river water was rising.

61. Rains LIVE: July, 24- 2021 Mumbai, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Satara. At least 129 people have died in
various rain-related incidents, including multiple landslides and flooding, in Maharashtra in the
past two days. The deceased included 38 people who died in a landslide in a village in the
coastal Raigad district's Mahad tehsil on Thursday, a senior official informed. Over 84,000 people
under the Pune division were shifted to safer places yesterday as heavy rains continued to
wreak havoc in the state. No immediate relief appears in sight.
The IMD has issued a red alert for six districts that have been pounded by downpour,
forecasting "extremely heavy" rainfall and recommending preventive actions. The alert has been
issued for Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg in coastal Konkan and also for Pune, Satara and
Kolhapur in Western Maharashtra. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has
expressed grief over the incident and announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of each
deceased person and free treatment for all the injured persons.

62. Intense rainfall coupled with excess rainwater from Mahabaleshwar draining
into river Savitri and causing it to overflow.. It triggered disaster at Mahad in
Raigad, with the city and surrounding villages under water, two landslides in
the district in which more than 40 people are dead, rescue operations
hampered by the floodwaters and disruption in telecom services and power
supply.

63. Taliye in Mahad taluka, where a huge landslide occurred on 22 July,
Thursday evening, is a village of 240 people, located 22 km from Mahad city.
Around 35 houses were buried under the debris of a hillock that came
crashing down on the houses. Officials said over a 100 people escaped the
landslide as they were out for work. Around 85 people were hit by the
landslide. A rescue team of National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) pulled
out 33 bodies on Friday morning. Some 50 people are still missing and
feared trapped under the debris. “Thirty-three bodies have been recovered
from the debris of Taliye village and the rescue operation on,” said Raigad
Collector Nidhi Chowdhury.

64. In another landslide in neighbouring Poladpur taluka, 10 people died and six
others were seriously injured. The landslide took place at Sutarwadi in Govele
gram panchayat area around 10 pm on Thursday.
Rescuers had found the bodies of 10 people in the debris by Friday evening.
Thirteen others were moved to Poladpur rural hospital for treatment.
A clearer picture about casualites, health emergencies and other mishaps,
damage to property and vehicles as well as livestock and animals at both the
landslide sites would be clear only after a day or two, officials said. With
phones and power supply down, those with family members, relatives and
friends at the two landslide sites have been unable to reach them.

65. Over a 1,000 people have been evacuated by the district administration from
Mahad taluka, including Mahad city.
With the entire Mahad city under water, power sub-stations have been
damaged and there has been no electricity since Thursday [22/7] night.
With no electricity, people, including government officials, have no access to
electricity even to charge their phones.
The police are using wireless devices to communicate with the people.
Mahad city may not have electricity supply even on Saturday. Two 220 KV
towers between Kandalgaon and Mahad have collapsed, disrupting power
supply. Mahad and Poladpur talukas were in darkness Friday night.

66. Rescue efforts were being hampered by landslides blocking roads,
including the main highway between Mumbai and Goa.

67. Water levels rose to 3.5 metres (12 feet) in areas of Chiplun, a city 250
kilometres (160 miles) from Mumbai, following 24 hours of uninterrupted rain
that caused the Vashishti river to overflow, submerging roads and homes.
The Indian Navy deployed seven rescue teams equipped with rubber boats, life
jackets and lifebuoys to the affected areas, along with a helicopter to airlift
marooned residents. Specialist Navy divers accompanied each team.
India's meteorological department has issued red alerts for several regions in
the state, indicating that heavy rainfall will continue for the next few days.

68. Thousands Of Houses Damaged As Goa Reels Under Heavy Rain, Worst Flooding In Decades
One person has been killed and around 1,000 houses were damaged and
hundreds of people were evacuated from low-lying parts of Goa were
inundated due to heavy rains and overflowing of rivers. The state on
Friday witnessed one of the worst floods in nearly 40 years. Sattari,
Bicholim, Ponda, Dharbandora, Bardez and Pernem are among the worst
hit by the deluge, which has also damaged property worth crores.

70. Worst floods since 1982
“This is one of the worst floods since 1982. Properties worth crores of
rupees have been damaged,” Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said.
In Pernem taluka (North Goa), the Chapora river was flowing above the
danger mark due to which water had entered low-lying areas damaging 88
houses, while eight persons were evacuated.
The Chapora river also caused devastation in Bardez taluka where 167
homes were damaged and nine people evacuated.
In Bicholim taluka, Valvanti and Chapora rivers were overflowing due to
which 164 houses were damaged, while 40 people were rescued.

71. Sattari was one of the worst-hit talukas where 130 houses were damaged
while 65 people had to be rescued as Valvanti and Mahadayi rivers crossed
their danger levels.
In Ponda taluka, several people in Waghurme village were stranded in their
submerged homes and attempts were on to rescue them.
The coastal state has been experiencing heavy rains over the past few days.
On Thursday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a
warning that a circulation in the Bay of Bengal is likely to trigger low-pressure
area that will cause more rainfall in Goa.

73. At least forty-seven people have died in flood and landslide incidents in
various areas of Maharashtra. As rescue operations remain ongoing, the IMD
on Friday [23 July, 2021] also issued a red alert for six districts of the state.

74. Heavy rains caused severe waterlogging in Punjab’s Mohali. The
downpour exposed the municipal council's apathy towards completing
repairs. Multiple residential areas were submerged in water. Residents
said the municipal corporation should take steps to solve the issue of
waterlogging.
A cloudburst has been reported near the Holy Amarnath shrine in
Kashmir on Wednesday. No yatris present at the cave at the time of the
cloudburst, they said. Home Minister Amit Shah said in a tweet that he
spoke to Manoj Sinha, lieutenant governor of J&K, regarding the incident.

75. The Army under Operation Varsha has mobilised columns for flood relief in
Maharashtra and has taken over 100 people to safe locations. A total of 15
flood relief teams from Aundh Military Station and Bombay Engineering
Group, Pune have been deployed for flood relief and rescue operations in
Sangli, Palus, Burli, and Chiplun, as per a press release issued by the Army.
The army is also providing cooked meals and drinking water in tankers to the
locals and set up medical camps wherein medical teams of Army Doctors
and Nursing Assistants have been deployed to provide necessary first aid
and medicines to locals being evacuated from flood-affected areas.

76. Parked car submerges in swollen river at Shaniwar Peth in Pune
Parked car submerged into swollen Mutha river at Shaniwar Peth in Pune.
After heavy rains in the catchment area, the Khadakwasla dam discharges
16,247 cusecs of water into Mutha River. The release was maintained at the
rate of 1,000 cusecs in the morning and was gradually increased up to 11,704
cusecs by afternoon and 16,247 by late evening. An alert has been issued by
the Pune Municipal Corporation for people living in the low lying areas. An
irrigation department official said water would be released from the
Khadakwasla dam on Friday as well if the catchment continued to receive
heavy spells of rain.

77. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely at isolated places over Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, east Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and
Meghalaya on July 26, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

78. Warning of an increase in rainfall activity over Western
Himalayan Region and adjoining plains of northwest India from
July 26, the IMD said that fairly widespread to widespread
rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls is likely over
Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh during July 26 and 29,
over Uttarakhand during July 25 and 29 and over Jammu &
Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan & Muzaffarabad, Punjab, and
Haryana from July 27 till 29.

79. Maharashtra rain toll reaches 149, at least 100 still missing
WITH THE Maharashtra government pegging the death toll due to heavy rains
in the Konkan region and western parts of the state at 149, including 37 deaths
recorded on Sunday [25/7], Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that a
relief package will be announced soon — and a separate force on the lines of
the NDRF will be set up in vulnerable districts to ensure a quicker response
during natural disasters.

80. A statement from the state secretariat control room said that death toll in
various rain-related incidents, including floods and landslides, in
Maharashtra rose to 149 on Sunday with 36 more bodies being found in
Satara and Raigad districts as rescue operations gathered pace, while 64
people remain missing. A break-up of the figures showed 28 more deaths
being reported from the Satara district in western Maharashtra and eight
from the Raigad district in the coastal region. The government said 60
deaths were so far reported in Raigad, 21 in Ratnagiri, 41 in Satara, 12 in
Thane, seven in Kolhapur, four in suburban Mumbai, and two each in
Sindhudurg and Pune.

81. A total of 875 villages in Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and Pune were affected by
the torrential rains, it said. “Five relief camps have been set up in flood-hit
Chiplun city in Ratnagiri district. 25 teams of the NDRF, four teams of the
SDRF, two teams of the Coast Guard, five teams of the Navy and three
teams of the Army are conducting the relief and rescue operations,” the
statement said. As the bridge over the Vashishthi river connecting Chiplun to
Mumbai has collapsed, the road remains shut for the traffic. The state
government has provided a emergency financial aid to Raigad and Ratnagiri
districts. Satara, Sangli, Pune, Kolhapur, Thane and Sindhudurg, also
affected by rains.

82. The reduced downpour will help the rain-battered state to carry out relief
operations, crippled last week due to continuous record-breaking rainfall.
At least 153 people lost their lives, 64 have been missing and 230,000
people have been displaced in the worst floods Maharashtra has seen in
decades. Pummeled by the rains, key state and national highways in
Maharashtra remain disconnected from the rest of the country for four
consecutive days. The Mumbai-Bengaluru highway, partly submerged
near Kolhapur, continued to be shut for vehicular traffic for the third day on
Sunday [25/7]. Kolhapur-Pune, Mumbai-Goa, Kolhapur-Ratnagiri were
shut till evening in patches in Ratnagiri, Kolhapur and Sindhudurg.

83. Nearly 2,000 Karnataka-bound vehicles, including trucks, are stranded on
the national highway, the district police told PTI. The highway was shut for
traffic since Friday after a part of was submerged due to rising water levels
amid incessant rain in the district.
Troops of the Indian Army have intensified relief and rescue operations in
Sangli, Kohlapur and Ratnagiri districts. More than 80 stranded locals from
the flood-affected areas of Bastwad in Kolhapur were rescued on Sunday, a
defence release said. The army also set up a Central War Room for
coordination between the three services for ongoing flood relief operations
in Maharashtra.

84. At least 34 self-contained National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)
teams, deployed to carry out relief operations in the flood-hit state,
evacuated 500 stranded persons and rescued 44 people from the affected
areas on Sunday.
The situation in Maharashtra worsened after torrential downpour over
Thursday and Friday triggered the worst floods and landslides in decades
in Raigad, Ratnagiri, Palghar, Thane, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Sangli and
Satara districts. In Sangli, 196,957 people have been evacuated, while in
Kolhapur, 145,930 have been taken to safe places and temporary shelters.

86. The Indian men`s hockey team
stormed into the Olympic Games
quarterfinal with a 3-1 victory over
defending champions Argentina in its
penultimate pool match here on
Thursday. The top-four make the
last-eight stage from each group.
India will play hosts Japan in their
final pool match on Friday.

89. Enhanced rainfall activity with fairly widespread
rainfall and isolated heavy to very heavy falls
likely over Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal,
Jharkhand, and Bihar from July 27, IMD said.
For IMD, heavy rainfall is between 64.5 mm to
115.5 mm, very heavy rain 115.6 mm to 204.4
mm, and extremely heavy rainfall above 204.4
mm.
Maharashtra Monsoon
Mayhem.
Floods and Landslides

90. Coronavirus: Mumbai division comprising the city and its
satellite towns reported 1,184 fresh infections and 38
deaths, which raised the tally to 16,34,633 and the toll to
34,089, as per the department. Nashik division saw 1,100
new cases including 943 in the Ahmednagar district. Pune
division reported 2,168 infections including 665 in Satara
and 657 in the Pune district.

91. Covid-19: Pune city added 267 new cases and Pimpri Chinchwad 161, it
said. Kolhapur division saw 1,963 cases during the day including 691 in
the Sangli district. Kolhapur district, which has been recording a spike in
cases for the last few months, added 582 infections.
Aurangabad division reported 56 cases, Latur division 314, Akola division
40, while Nagpur division recorded 18 fresh cases, the department said in
a report. Nagpur reported just two new cases in the day. No Covid-19
fatality was reported in the city. The entire Nagpur division and Akola
division in the Vidarbha region did not report a single death during the day.

92. A massive landslide near Basteri in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh
on Sunday caused heavy boulders to fall on the nearby vehicles including
a tempo traveler, leading to nine tourists being killed and two others being
injured. The landslide, that was triggered by the recent rainfalls, damaged
some vehicles and caused a bridge to collapse. Vehicles that bore the
brunt of the falling boulders have been crushed from multiple angles. Their
roofs and bonnets have been pressed due to the pressure from the
boulders while their glasses have been broken. According to the police, the
nine people were killed after heavy boulders fell on their tempo traveler.
The passengers were on their way to Sangla from Chitkul.