GADCHIROLI, MAHARASHTRA: An 11-year-old girl was today found dead in a well at the school hostel premises in Armori town near here, police said.

The minor girl identified as Trunali Mahendra Chaudhari was a student of Class V at Mahatma Gandhi Vidyalaya in Armori and resided in Indira Gandhi Girls’ Hostel of the school.

Her parents rushed to the hostel after its warden today informed Trunali’s relatives that she could not be found at the hostel and school, Armori Police Station In-charge Subhash Dhawle said.

“They searched the area, but could not trace Trunali. Finally some locals, who accompanied her parents, looked into the well on the hostel premises and found the body, which was then taken out,” Sanjay Wakde, a social worker from Armori said.

Accusing the hostel warden and the school management of negligence, the victim’s parents have refused to take custody of the body until action is taken against the guilty.

A large crowd gathered outside the Armori police station seeking action against those responsible for the girl’s death.

The process of registering an offence in this connection was on, the Station In-charge said, adding that investigation was underway.

United Nations: Over three million children under the age of five in Nepal are at the risk of death or disease this winter due to a severe shortage of fuel, food, medicines and vaccines, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said. Over the past 10 weeks, vital imports of essential commodities were restricted at Nepal’s southern border due to unrest over the country’s new constitution, Xinhua reported. The government’s regional medical stores have already run out of vaccines against tuberculosis, while stocks of other vaccines and antibiotics are critically low, Monday’s report said. UNICEF cautioned that children still recovering from earthquakes in April and May could be the worst hit. Earlier this month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his growing concern over the blocking of essential supplies on the Nepal-India border, and called on all sides to lift these restrictions without further delay. Over 200,000 families affected by the tremors are still living in By news24online, 01 Dec 2015 12:36 PM
temporary shelters, at an altitude above 1,500 metres where weather conditions would be harsh in winters. Fears are also growing that the rising dependence on firewood because of the fuel crisis is increasing indoor pollution, which in turn could lead to a spike in cases of pneumonia. Last year over 800,000 children under five suffered from this condition in Nepal and around 5,000 died, UNICEF said. The plight that children are facing in the country will deteriorate further in the winters, said UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia Karin Hulshof. “Children need to be protected from disease, cold and hunger. UNICEF urges all sides to address the restrictions on essential imports of supplies to Nepal. There is no time to lose.

By The New Indian Express, 02 Dec 2015 05:41 AM
CHENNAI: Overflowing lakes and tanks, submerged roads, subways, potholes and manholes indistinguishable under a thick sheet of water, traffic stopped, trains cancelled and diverted, and the Army called in – it has seldom been this good and so bad for the metro during the monsoon. Even as two columns of the Army’s Garrison Infantry Battalion were deployed in Tambaram and Urapakkam for rescue work, Chennai spent Tuesday shivering in cold and fear. The weatherman predicted more rains in the next three days due to a trough of low pressure near north Tamil Nadu. The showers that began in the morning went on almost incessantly throughout the day, debilitating the city and its citizens in the process. In the 12 hours between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm, the city received as much as 186 mm rains. Substantial but not historic, not even the worst during this monsoon season. However, as this came on the back of incessant showers all through November that had already filled up all water bodies in and around the city, lakes and tanks began overflowing before long. Some lakes even breached, drowning streets and houses along their course. Worsening the situation, water managers had to release water from the reservoirs that were already filled to the brim in the recent record rains. Roads and subways were inundated within hours, crippling movement of traffic within the city and even outside. Vehicles were crawling bumper-to-bumper, inch by inch, and many stalled when water level continued to go up with each passing hour. Soon afterwards, suburban rail lines were affected, most seriously in the southern parts where floodwater inundated railway tracks beyond Pallavaram. Even the northern part was not spared, as EMU services were cancelled after a few hours. With the tracks submerged, many express trains had to be cancelled while several others had to be diverted. Later in the night, Chennai airport authorities went into a huddle after rainwaters began inching up, and suspended operations in the evening. The officials said they would review the situation on Wednesday. (Clockwise from top) Vehicles crawl through the flooded Jawaharlal Nehru Salai between Vadapalani and Koyambedu as torrential rains pounded the city on Tuesday; a dog tries to cross the road; a car that fell into a drain on the Porur bypass service road; a patient being shifted in pouring rain near the Tambaram Government Hospital | A RAJA CHIDAMBARAM, shiba prasad sahu As showers continued without any let up, traffic on the arterial GST Road came to a halt after water bodies in the southern part began overflowing on to residential areas and roads. Other approaches to the thickly populated areas too went under, cutting off Tambaram almost completely. Even buses headed to the southern regions of the State that passed through the road, it took nearly seven hours to reach Tambaram from Koyambedu, a trip that would normally take less than an hour. Though the rains intensified in the morning, scores had already left for work before the warnings came in. Realising the risk, many companies declared a holiday and sent staff back on their vehicles. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday evening called up Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and enquired about the flood situation in the State. He assured all support and cooperation to the State government in handling the natural calamity.

KARACHI: Approving the meeting between the India and Pakistan Prime Ministers in Paris, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammed Asif said that everybody hoped the meeting between the two leaders would help bring down tensions in South Asia. “Tensions between two nuclear-armed countries was a cause of concern for the entire world. Peace in the subcontinent is obviously the first option,” the Dawn quoted Asif as saying. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi shook hands and sat down to talk to each other on Monday on the sidelines of the Climate Summit in Paris. Backing the brief meeting, Asif said it indicated a positive side to the relations between the two nations and will ‘bring down the temperature which has been high since last year’.

(1 Dec) Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim has bases in Pakistan though he keeps shifting his location from time to time, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Inputs available from different agencies suggest that Dawood, a prime accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, has bases in Pakistan and keeps changing his location from time to time, Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary told the House. He said that India has from time to time been apprising Pakistani authorities of details concerning Dawood, including passports and his reported addresses in the neighbouring country, with the request that he be handed over for facing trial here for terrorist activities and other offences. “The government will keep pursuing this matter through different channels to ensure that Pakistan and its agencies fulfil their international obligations in the context of the Red Corner Notice issued against Dawood Ibrahim and the relevant UN Security Council resolution,” he said in reply to a written question. Earlier, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had told the Parliament that the government would leave no stone unturned in bringing back Dawood. “The Indian government is committed to bringing back Dawood,” he had said.