Floods hit India – Heavy rains lash Andhra Pradesh

Floods hit India


People wade through a flooded road in Bhalada village, about 80 km (50 miles) south from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad August 1, 2006. Across India, more than 250 people have died since the start of the annual monsoon rains in June.

Heavy rains batter Gujarat again

AHMEDABAD : [1 Aug, 2006 1022hrs IST PTI, Times of India, 5 Aug 2006]: After a brief respite, heavy rains once again started pounding Gujarat on Tuesday even as 55,000 people were shifted by the authorities to safer places.

Meanwhile, over 100 children were lying trapped in a school in Bharwada village of Kheda district for the past four days and the IAF was planning to deploy a helicopter to rescue them, official sources said.

The children have taken shelter at the top floor of the building due to rising water level, they said.

The rescue operation was to begin early Tuesday morning but was delayed due to bad weather, which made it difficult for the helicopters to take off, they said.

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Heavy rains lash Andhra Pradesh

water, water everywhere : Heavy rains lashed Hyderabad for the past two days causing inconvenience to commuters

A huge tree is uprooted in Hyderabad due to heavy rains

HYDERABAD: The airport at Visakhapatnam was flooded following heavy rains, prompting the authorities to cancel about half-a-dozen flights for the second day on Saturday.

The runway was under one feet deep water while power supply to the airport was disrupted following incessant rains. The cancellation of air services to and from the steel city brought back the memories of similar disruption when the airport was closed for 15 days in October last year.

State Information Minister Mohammad Ali Shabbir said 600 villages, most of them in coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagarm and Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari, were affected by heavy rains.

Director of the Hyderabad Weather Office M Satyakumar said that heavy rains were likely to lash Telangana districts of Khammam, Warangal and Karimnagar over the next two days while incessant rains in the city would continue for another day.

In Vijayawada, 60 of the 130 farmers marooned in four villages– Poonavali, Kasarabala, Ganiathuru, Ramannapeta –have been rescued and two boats have been pressed into service, District Collector Naveen Mittal said.

Power supply was affected in many villages in Srikakulam district where Vamsadhara and Nagavali rivers were in spate following heavy rains in the upper reaches in neighbouring Orissa. As many as 238 villages were affected in the district while 1,500 families had been shifted to safer places.

Many trains on Eastern Railway section were running behind schedule as rainwater inundated tracks near Palasa. Services on Kothavalasa-Kirandul were affected as boulders fell on the tracks, sources said.

Heavy rains in Hyderabad – image gallery – photos

A yoA young resident empties a bucket of water as he cleans a waterlogged home following a heavy downpour at a slum area in Hyderabad on August 31, 2009. Heavy rains in the area forced the evacuation of some 200 families living in low-lying areas of the cityu

Residents clean their waterlogged home following a heavy downpour at a slum area in Hyderabad on August 31, 2009. Heavy rains in the area forced the evacuation of some 200 families living in low-lying areas of the city.

st 31, 2009. Heavy rains in the area forceAn Indian woman and her children stand at the corner of a wall as they attempt to avoid a waterlogged street following a heavy downpour in Hyderabad on August 31, 2009.ation of s

ome 200 families living A resident places an idol of Hindu God Lord ganesha on a pillar as she cleans her waterlogged home following a heavy downpour at a slum area in Hyderabad on August 31, 2009. Heavy rains in the area forced the evacuation of some 200 families living in low-lying areas of the city.

in lResidents gather outside their waterlogged homes following a heavy downpour at a slum area in Hyderabad on August 31, 2009.

Residents gather around a damaged auto-rickshaw on a waterlogged street following a heavy downpour at a slum area in Hyderabad on August 31, 2009. Heavy rains in the area forced the evacuation of some 200 families living in low-lying areas of the city.

.Vodafone to join UK iPhone battle from 2010

London: Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile operator by revenue, will sell the Apple iPhone in Britain from 2010, it said on Tuesday, finally sealing a deal to sell the popular phone in one of its biggest markets.

Vodafone, which said recently it had been hurt in Britain by not securing the iPhone deal, will join France Telecom’s Orange and Telefonica’s O2 in selling the phone in Britain. It will also sell it in Ireland.

Orange said on Monday it would start selling the phone before the end of this year, breaking O2’s exclusive two-year hold on the phone, and raising hopes that a price war between operators would push the price down for consumers.

Vodafone said in a statement it would now offer the touchscreen smartphone through 13 of its operating companies.

.World’s most expensive Blackberry

The world’s most expensive Blackberry is pimped out with 4,459 diamonds and 18 carat yellow gold.

Designer Alexander Amosu’s device, which is made of gold and dazzles with shiny rocks, is understood to have taken 350 hours to make, reports The Sun.

But that’s not all, the device can be personalised with the owner’s name and company logo as well as offering a 24-hour concierge service focused on “accessing the inaccessible”.

And the glittering Amosu Curva Blackberry handset comes at a staggering 125,000 pounds.

A mystery millionaire in the Middle East has snapped up the first of three limited-edition handsets.

.New chip can detect cancer early

In a major breakthrough for early cancer detection, Canadian researchers have developed an inexpensive microchip that is sensitive enough to detect the type and severity of the disease.

The microchip has been successfully tested on prostate cancer, and head and neck cancer models.

It can also be used to diagnose other cancers, as well as infectious diseases such as HIV and the H1N1 flu.

Researchers at the University of Toronto here used nanomaterials for the first time to build the sensitive microchip.

In their work reported in Nature Nanotechnology this week, the researchers say the new device will make sophisticated molecular diagnostics easily available soon.

“The remarkable innovation is an indication that the age of nanomedicine is dawning,” David Naylor, who is president of the University of Toronto and professor of medicine, was quoted as saying in a university statement.

The device quickly picks up the ‘biomarkers’ that hint at the presence of cancer at the cellular level, even though these biomolecules – genes that indicate aggressive or benign forms of the disease – are generally present at low levels in biological samples, the statement said.

Analysis can be completed in 30 minutes, compared to days taken by the current diagnostic procedures.

“Today, it takes a room filled with computers to evaluate a clinically relevant sample of cancer biomarkers and the results aren’t quickly available,” said research leader and medicine professor Shana Kelley.

“Our team was able to measure biomolecules on an electronic chip the size of your fingertip and analyse the sample within half an hour. The instrumentation required for this analysis can be contained within a unit the size of a BlackBerry,” she said.

Since the current conventional, flat metal electrical sensors are inadequate to sense cancer’s particular biomarkers, the Toronto team fabricated a chip and decorated it with nanometre-sized wires and molecular ‘bait’ to make it more sensitive.

“Uniting DNA with speedy, miniaturised electronic chips is an example of cross-disciplinary convergence,” said co-researcher Ted Sargent.

“By working with outstanding researchers in nanomaterials, pharmaceutical sciences, and electrical engineering, we were able to demonstrate that controlled integration of nanomaterials provides a major advantage in disease detection and analysis,” he said.

.Smoking in pregnancy risks psychotic children: study

LONDON (Reuters): Mothers who smoke during pregnancy put their children at greater risk of developing psychotic symptoms as teenagers, British scientists said on Thursday.

Researchers from four British universities studied 6,356 12-year-olds and interviewed them for psychotic-like symptoms such as hallucinations or delusions. Around 19 percent had mothers who smoked during pregnancy.

Just over 11 percent, or 734 of the total group, had suspected or definite symptoms of psychosis.

Many previous studies have shown cigarettes can harm the fetuses of mothers who smoke while pregnant. The risks include causing babies to be born smaller and increasing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome or heart defects.

Stanley Zammit, a psychiatrist at Cardiff University’s School of Medicine who led the study, said the more the mothers smoked, the more likely their children were to have psychotic symptoms.

“We can estimate that about 20 percent of adolescents in this cohort would not have developed psychotic symptoms if their mothers had not smoked,” he said.

Despite countless studies flagging up the risks to babies, it is estimated that between 15 and 20 percent of women in Britain smoke during pregnancy.

The researchers also found drinking during pregnancy was associated with increased psychotic symptoms, but only in children whose mothers had drunk more than 21 units of alcohol a week in early pregnancy.

The reasons for the link between maternal smoking and psychotic symptoms are not clear, but Zammit and colleagues suggested that exposure to tobacco in the womb might affect a child’s impulsivity, attention or cognition.

They said more research was needed to investigate how exposure to tobacco in the womb affected children’s brains.

Only a few mothers in the study, which was published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, said they had smoked cannabis during pregnancy, and this was not found to have any significant link with psychotic symptoms.

.Heavy rains in many parts of the state

HYDERABAD: Heavy rains lashed the state in the past 24 hours due to low pressure area over west central Bay of Bengal. 
Met officials said on Wednesday that moderate to rather heavy rain or thundershowers were likely at most places over coastal and Telangana districts and in many places across Rayalaseema. The officials said isolated heavy to very heavy rain was likely to occur over coastal and Telangana districts, while isolated heavy rain was likely in Rayalaseema over the next 48 hours.

Except Nellore (-37%) and West Godavari (-14%) districts, all other districts either received normal or excess rainfall over the past one week. Officials said all the regions in the state received excess rainfall in the past one week ending September 30 (Telangana 66%, Rayalaseema 67% and coastal Andhra 21%).

Meanwhile, the seasonal rainfall (June 1 to Sept 30) for Telangana and coastal Andhra continued to be deficit at -35% and -25% respectively, while it was normal in Rayalaseema, which received 393.3 mm against a normal of 380.9 mm.

Places that recorded very heavy to heavy rainfall over the past 24 hours include (in centimetres) Achampet (Mahabubnagar) 18, Kalwakurthy (Mahabubnagar) 14, Nuzvid (Krishna) 13, Eluru (West Godavari) 11, Kodangal (Mahabubnagar) & Madhira (Khammam) 10 each, Shadnagar (Mahabubnagar) 9, Mahabubnagar, Visakhapatnam AP, Jurala Project & Nagarkurnool (both Mahabubnagar) & Miryalguda (Nalgonda) 8 each, Visakhapatnam, Devarakonda (Nalgonda), Makthal & Wanaparthy (both Mahabubnagar), Paleru Bridge (Krishna) & Tandur (Ranga Reddy) 7 each.

Other areas that received good rainfall include Nalgonda, Anakapalle (Visakhapatnam), Atmakur (Kurnool), Kollapur (Mahabubnagar), Macherla (Guntur), Mahabubabad (Warangal), Nagarjunasagar dam (Nalgonda) 6 each, Hyderabad, Kalingapatnam, Kurnool, Nandigama, Rentachintala, Alampur (Mahabubnagar), Armoor (Nizamabad), Mantralayam (Kurnool), Ramannapet (Nalgonda), Sangareddy (Medak) 5 cm each, Guntur, Kakinada, Khammam, Tuni, Vijayawada, Allagadda, Alur & Srisailam (all Kurnool), Chevella, Dundigal, Medchal, Pargi & Vikarabad (all RR), Dowleswaram, Prathipadu & Rajahmundry (all East Godavari), Golkonda (Hyderabad), Kaikalur (Krishna) & Tenali (Guntur) 4 cm each.

.Heavy rain kills 36 in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh

Bengaluru/Hyderabad: At least 36 people have been killed due to heavy rain in several north Karnataka districts and Andhra Pradesh, officials said on Thursday. The downpour has inundated several villages, damaged crops and has disrupted communication and transport links.

In Andhra Pradesh, the rain has been incessant since Wednesday and has thrown normal life out of gear.

Several villages in Mahabubnagar and Kurnool districts were inundated as rivulets, streams and tanks were overflowing. Officials said at least 10 tanks in Mahabubnagar district had breached their banks.

Two people drowned in a rivulet in Alwaynpalli village near Jadcherla town in Mahabubnagar district, about 120 km from Hyderabad. Three other people were washed away in two different incidents in the same district, while one person died due to lightning in Karimnagar district, about 150 km from Hyderabad.

An Indian Air Force helicopter Wednesday rescued five students caught in flood waters in Mahabubnagar district.

Three villages in Mahabubnagar were cut off from the rest of the district. Revenue officials have begun efforts to rescue people stranded in the low-lying areas.

Kurnool town, about 250 km from Hyderabad, and dozens of villages in Kurnool district were also inundated. In some of the affected areas in Kurnool town people were sitting on rooftops waiting for help.

Authorities in Kurnool district have evacuated about 12,000 people and have opened 21 relief camps.

The heavy rain also damaged roads, breaking the transport link to several villages. Electricity and communication lines were also damaged.

Chief Minister K. Rosaiah held a high-level meeting here Thursday morning to review the situation. He directed officials to take measures to evacuate people from low-lying areas.

Since the weather office has warned of more rain over the next two days, especially in coastal Andhra and Telangana regions, the chief minister asked the district collector and other officials to be on high alert.

In Karnataka, the worst affected was Bijapur district, about 580 km from Bangalore, with 17 deaths. The victims were either washed away in flooded rivers or died when their homes collapsed.

Belgaum, Koppal, Bellary, Raichur, Bagalkot and Bidar are the other districts battered by the downpour which continued Thursday morning.

“Deaths have been reported from these districts also. We fear at least 30 people have lost their lives. We are awaiting detailed information from the affected places,” said a spokesperson for the chief minister on Thursday.

“Rescue and relief operations are on in full swing in the affected areas. Ministers from these districts have cut short their presence at a brain-storming session near Mysore and rushed back to supervise the operations,” he said.

Since late Wednesday, it has been raining in state capital Bangalore too. Meteorological officials said the conditions would remain the same till Friday.

.Copter rescues 5 students from river

Hyderabad : Five students who tried to cross the Dundhubhi River on foot were stranded and had to be rescued by a helicopter dispatched by the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah.
They were part of a group of seven friends who were going to their native village, Pothireddy Palle village in Mahbubnagar district, for the Dasara vacation.
On Wednesday morning, they reached the Dundhubhi River and decided to cross it on foot as the water was just knee deep. While Raghavendra, Naveen, Jagdish, Sharath and Anil ventured to cross the river, the other two stayed back after seeing the water level rise steeply.
By this time, the five boys were in the middle of the river and struggling. Two of them clambered up a small rock in the middle of the river while the other three held on to a log to keep from drowning.
The two students on shore alerted the police and locals. The Mahbubnagar collector, Ms Damayanthi, immediately sought the help of higher officials. The Chief Minister got to know of the incident and ordered the Chief Secretary to dispatch a helicopter.
Soon, the IAF helicopter from Hakimpet Air Force station flew to the spot and brought the five safely to the shore by 4.30 pm.
“It took us nearly an hour to reach the site around 150 km away from our base. We navigated through extremely bad weather to reach the spot,” said Group Captain Rajesh Isser, the pilot of the helicopter.
Interestingly, the chopper had to later make an emergency landing at Maheshwaram in Rangareddy district because of bad weather.
“It was the TV channels that highlighted our situation and saved us,” said Naveen, an MCA student.

.Seats returned to colleges

Hyderabad: Eamcet officials have decided to surrender vacant seats in the convenor quota to respective engineering colleges and have asked them to conduct spot admissions on their own by issuing notifications in newspapers.
Despite conducting two rounds of counselling, about 9,017 seats remained vacant. The Eamcet officials have decided not to conduct a third round of counselling as it would delay the academic session further.
Eamcet-qualified students will now have the option to attend a special counselling session on October 5 for admission into minority colleges.
To woo students, the engineering colleges are coming out with “special packages.” While the tuition fee in the convenor quota is Rs 1,30,000 for the entire four-year B.E/B.Tech course (Rs 32,500 per annum), the colleges are offering a “special fee package” of Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh for the entire course duration.
As many as 9,017 seats in engineering and pharmacy colleges in the convenor quota remained vacant even after the second phase seat allotment ended on Tuesday. However, the number of vacant seats may increase further because hundreds of students who have been allotted seats in the second phase are expected to refrain from taking admissions.
The managements of engineering colleges are wary of such “non-reporting” students.
While 1,38,617 students were allotted seats in the first phase, about 14,430 of them have not reported to the colleges to claim admissions. In the second phase, the counselling was held for 27,793 seats but only 18,776 seats were filled up.
A total of 2,42,820 have qualified in the Eamcet engineering stream. With the addition of new colleges apart from the increase in seats in the existing colleges, the seats in convenor quota went up from 1,46,155 seats in the first phase to 1,52,124 seats in the second phase.

.Digital ants to fight computer viruses

Washington: In the never-ending battle to protect computer networks from intruders, security experts are deploying a new defence, modelled on one of nature’s hardiest creatures – the ant.

 

Unlike traditional security devices, which are static, these “digital ants” wander through computer networks looking for threats, such as “computer worms” – self-replicating programmes designed to steal information or facilitate unauthorised use of machines.

 

When a digital ant detects a threat, it doesn’t take long for an army of ants to converge at that location, drawing the attention of human operators who step in to investigate.

 

The concept, called “swarm intelligence”, promises to transform cyber security because it adapts readily to changing threats.

 

“In nature, we know that ants defend against threats very successfully,” explains Errin Fulp, computer science professor and expert in security and computer networks, at the Wake Forest University (WFU).

 

“They can ramp up their defence rapidly, and then resume routine behaviour quickly after an intruder has been stopped. We were trying to achieve that same framework in a computer system,” he says.

 

Current security devices are designed to defend against all known threats at all times, but the bad guys who write malware – software created for malicious purposes – keep introducing slight variations to evade computer defences.

 

As new variations are discovered and updates issued, security programmes gobble more resources, antivirus scans take longer and machines run slower – a familiar problem for most computer users.

 

Glenn Fink, research scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington, came up with the idea of copying ant behaviour. PNNL, one of 10 Department of Energy (DoE) labs, conducts cutting-edge research in cyber security.

 

Fink was familiar with Fulp’s expertise developing faster scans using parallel processing – dividing computer data into batches like lines of shoppers going through grocery store checkouts, where each lane is focussed on certain threats.

 

He invited Fulp and Wake Forest graduate students Wes Featherstun and Brian Williams to join a project there this summer that tested digital ants on a network of 64 computers.

 

Swarm intelligence, the approach developed by PNNL and Wake Forest, divides up the process of searching for specific threats, says a WFU release.

 

“Our idea is to deploy 3,000 different types of digital ants, each looking for evidence of a threat,” Fulp says.

 

Fulp introduced a worm into the network, and the digital ants successfully found it. PNNL has extended the project this semester, and Featherstun and Williams plan to incorporate the research into their master’s theses.

.‘Timely treatment can cure mental illness’

HYDERABAD: Early identification of mental disorder symptoms and proper and timely treatment can cure mental illness.

Family members play a major role in detecting psychiatric disorders at an early age to avoid complications at a later stage, said Dr. V. Sharabhandh Raj, president of Hyderabad Psychiatric Society.

Biological symptoms functions like sleeplessness, self neglect, excessive hunger or no hunger; sudden change in behaviour patterns like withdrawing from family and friends or psychotic behaviour like self talk, paranoid illusions, laughing among themselves, are some of the symptoms of those suffering from mental illness, Dr. Sharabhandh Raj said. Addressing a press conference, Dr. Raj said that ‘World Mental Health Week celebrations’ would be conducted by Institute of Mental Health and Hyderabad Psychiatric Society from October 4 to 10. They are aimed at promoting awareness on mental health problems among general public.

Nearly 10 per cent of the population suffers from mental illness but only seven per cent are benefited by treatment.

“According to police records, nearly 10 to 12 lakh people attempt suicides every year throughout the country but only two lakh commit suicide. But the numbers could be more,” he added.

.New masks to prevent H1N1 virus

 

 

HYDERABAD: Boldness is a mask for fear. But it wouldn’t help against a virulent disease. With the swine flu scare in air, masks are up for grabs. But how safe are they? Here is a new protective gear, which promises to provide the best line of defence against the H1N1 virus.

Made of patented barrier fabric imported from North Carolina, USA, it is treated with microbe shield for anti-bacteria properties. It is also given Teflon treatment for fluid repellence and easy soil release.

While the masks available in the market have a pore size of more than 15 to 20 microns, this one has just 3 micron size.

“Viruses can still attack but this antibacterial mask offers a higher degree of protection than what is available in the market”, claims P.V. Ravi Kumar, director, Plus Ventilation.

Apparel
A city based company, the Plus Ventilation is manufacturing clean room apparel for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, electronics and health care industry. The full length overall complete with hood and booties comes for Rs.4,000 and is more useful for healthcare workers who are in close contact with patients afflicted with HINI virus or HIV.

This protective outfit is already being used in the operation theatres by the Tata Cancer Institute, Mumbai, Kasturba Hospital, Manipal and Nanavati Hospital, Mumbai. Closer home companies like Virchow Biotech, Bharat Biotech, UNI-Sankyo Ltd are using the special garment.

For the general public, the Plus Ventilation is offering the antibacterial mask for Rs.100. The best thing about it is that it can be rinsed in hot water and reused.

“Even after 150 times of washing it will not lose its properties”, says Mr. Kumar.

What’s more it is non-sticky and non-absorbing. Even if a glass of water is poured into it, it doesn’t percolate.

At the same time it offers better air permeability for two-wheeler riders and others. If infected persons wear, the mask gives good protection against secondary infections, it is said.

The masks come in white, light and dark blue colours. They can be had from Plus Ventilation office in S.R. Nagar. Mr. Kumar can be reached on phone 9849025807

.Computer Courses

The Literacy House, Andhra Mahila Sabha is conducting courses in MS Office, 2D animation, DTP, C programming, web designing, 3D animation – Maya from Wednesday at its premises in Osmania University. There is a specially designed course for senior citizens too.

Recruitment drive

GUNTUR: Infosys, in collaboration with the Commissionerate of Collegiate Education, will organise a recruitment drive for finance and accounts executive posts. Students, who passed B.Com or M.Com with a minimum of 50 per cent marks in 2009 and underwent JKC Tally (AE) training programme were eligible to register their names at their District Nodal JKC between October 3 and 6. Details can be had from JKC Coordinator over Phone No: 9989334985.

.Thekkady is biggest such accident yet

 

 

The last major accident occurred at Kumarakom in Kottayam district in 2002 in which 29 travellers of a passenger boat died. This was followed by the accident in Thattekad near Kothamangalam in which 18students and teachers, who were on a picnic from their school, died.

The tragedy at Thekkady is the biggest boat accident seen by Kerala.

The last major accident occurred at Kumarakom in Kottayam district in 2002 in which 29 travellers of a passenger boat died. This was followed by the accident in Thattekad near Kothamangalam in which 18students and teachers, who were on a picnic from their school, died.

In both cases, overloading was one of the factors that led to the accident.

The first recorded boat accident in Kerala occurred in 1924 in the Pallana River of Alappuzha district in which one of the triumvirates of Malayalam poetry Kumaranasan died. The accident had claimed 24lives including that of the poet.

As many as 29 died in an accident that occurred near Kumbalangi in Ernakulam district in 1980. Another accident at Vallarpadam in the same district claimed 18 lives in 1983.

The other accidents that occurred in Kerala during the last two decades were the following with the deaths in brackets: Peppara dam, Thiruvananthapuram (7), Iritti River, Kannur (4), Punnamadakayal, Alappuzha (3), Kallar, Thiruvananthapuram (8), Munambam, Ernakulam (3), Kochi backwaters, Ernakulam (5), Vellayikode, Kozhikode (6), Kappad beach, Kozhikode (4), Aluwa, Ernakulam (4).

.32 tourists drown in Thekkady reservoir

 

 

 

THEKKADY: More than 32 tourists on board a double-decker boat owned and operated by the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation were killed when it capsized in one of the deepest zones of the Mullaperiyar dam reservoir in Kerala’s Idukki district around 5 p.m. on Wednesday. The toll would possibly be higher, according to informed sources.

A rescue team had recovered 26 bodies till 8 p.m. Two persons were rescued alive.

The rescue operation was continuing late into the night. Four tourists who were rescued in a critical condition died later. There were five foreign tourists, of whom two died.

A total of 82 persons were travelling in the boat, named ‘Jala Kanyaka’; 60 of them belonged to one group from Karnataka. The boat left the jetty around 4 p.m. and capsized some 7 km away.

All the 60 persons from Karnataka had come in a tourist bus to Thekkady as part of their tour of Kerala. Preliminary investigation revealed that the accident took place when a large group of tourists on the upper deck rushed to one side of the boat to see animals spotted on the forest fringes. In the sudden movement, the boat overturned. All the 82 tourists in the boat were thrown into the water. Twenty persons, who were mostly on the upper deck of the boat were rescued by boats sent in by the KTDC, the Forest Department and the Tamil Nadu PWD.

The rescue operations were hampered by the spreading darkness and the distance of the accident spot from the boat landing centre. The area where the boat capsized was about 100 feet deep and the shore had wild animals such as elephants.

The helpline numbers are: Thiruvananthapuram Control Room – 0471-2331403; 0471-1331639 and 0471-2333198. Control Room, Kerala House, Delhi: 011-23342320; 011-30411500.

Hyderabad Events Today – Eating Out – Shopping- Exhibitions

Art
Artists’ Collection Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 11 a.m. to  4 p.m. Mystic Inspirations, Plot No.33, Banjara Hills. An exhibition of paintings by various artists like Suman Roy, Arif, Jaya Baheti, Deeeraj Chodhary, Kishan and other will be on display.
Journey Through Colors Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 11 a.m. to  5 p.m. Gallery Space, Plot No.1177, Road No.12, Near Lotus Pond, Banjara Hills. Gallery Space presents a solo painting show by Maruthi Paila.
Paintings on Mahatma Gandhi Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 11 a.m. to  6 p.m. Kalakriti, 468, Road No.12, Banjara Hills. An exhibition of sketches by artist Siva Kesava Rao, on Mahatma Gandhi will be on display. This is in tribute to his 140th Birthday.
Eating Out
Steam and Roast Festival Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 7 p.m. to  11:15 p.m. Mainland China, City Center Mall, Road No.1, Banjara Hills. The restaurant is offering authentic Chinese cuisine. All the dishes are cooked on steam and are roasted, keeping in mind people who are health conscious.
Sharad Sadhya Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 7:30 p.m. to  11 p.m. Once Upon A Time, Hotel Greenpark, Greenlands, Begumpet. Enjoy the delicious and authentic Bengali Cuisine accompanied with snacks and desserts.
Lectures and Seminars
Would Gandhi Have Succeeded Today? Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 6:15 p.m. to  8 p.m. plot#21, Banjara Hills An interactive session of Manthan on ‘Would Gandhi Have Succeeded Today?’, by Christian Bartolf, Chair, Gandhi Information Centre, Berlin.
Dance
Anniversary Celebrations Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 7 p.m. Ravindra Bharathi Natya Tarangini presents a Kuchipudi dance recital by the disciples by Padmabushan awardees Raja Radha Reddy and Kaushalya.
Exhibitions
Special Sale Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 11 a.m. to  5 p.m. Taj Krishna Near City Centre Mall , Banjara Hills TOD’s and Ermenegildo Zegna presents a special sale at the Golden Room.
Shopping
Diwali Delight Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 11 a.m. to  9 p.m. Westside, Khan Lateef Khan Estates, fateh Maidan Road Westside is displaying gift vouchers on purchase of Apparel and accessories. Get a Cygnus diamond pendant free on shopping of worth Rs.10,000/-.
I Anniversary Celebrations Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 11 a.m. to  8 p.m. Sri Krishna Silks, 3-2-102, General Bazar Avail up to 100% cash back, gold and silver coins and assured gifts on every purchase, on the eve of the anniversary celebrations.
Kurta Festival – Eid Special Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 11 a.m. to  9 p.m. New Meena Bazar, Abids. The store is has an exclusive range of reviting kurtas, pyjamas and sherwanis, featuring Lucknowi, Chikandari, Kashmiri works, Brocades and thread embroidery in exotic range of colors and designs. The fabrics used to create these masterpieces include plain cotton, crushed cotton, cotton silk, linen tissue silk and ploy silk.
Shopping Carnival Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 11 a.m. to  9 p.m. Novotel Hyderabad Airport, Shamshabad. With the advent of the festive season, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd., will be organizing the ‘Airport Festive Shopping Carnival’ at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. A host of special offers from the retailers and food and beverage outlets in the airport will be made available. Guests flying Jet Airways will be entitled to additional discounts at all these outlets, except the Landmark, on showing their boarding passes during the shopping festival.
Feel Gifted! Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 11 a.m. to  9 p.m. Lifestyle, Near White House, Kundanbagh. Lifestyle celebrates its tenth anniversary. Get offers on apparel, children’s wear, cosmetics, footwear and home furnishings during this festive season.
Diwali Utsav Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 11 a.m. to  8 p.m. Home Centre, Begumpet. Get up to 25% off on purchase of furniture, furnishings and decorative items during this festive season.
Festive Deals Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 11 a.m. to  8 p.m. Inner Space 686, Lane adj. to Aamoda Kitchen , Banjara Hills Get up to 15% to 30% off on furniture, furnishings and home accessories.
Workshops
Music Notation Reading Thursday, October 1st, 2009. 6:45 p.m. to  9 p.m. Alliance Francaise, Desk Edufrance, West Marredpally. Hyderabad Western Music Forum presents the second Music Notation Reading training course. The workshop is conducted by Joe Koster and Laure Menegoz. It is the second in the series by the Hyderabad Western Music Forum. The participants will learn the art of reading Western music notation.