Mumbai: Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) said one of the two vessels of the financially distressed Pratibha Shipping is drifting towards the city coast and an emergency towing vessel (ETV) has been requisitioned to take care of any situation. Without giving out specifics of locations, DGS said Pratibha Tapi, one of the two vessels, is dragging anchor at a "very slow rate" while Pratibha Indrayani, the second one, is "is maintaining its position", it said in a statement.
It said state-run Shipping Corporation of India has been requested to deploy an ETV with adequate manpower and salvage equipment immediately off the coast of the city. The statement comes after a city tabloid reported that the two vessels, carrying up to 200 tonnes of fuel, are within six nautical miles off the city coast and may run aground on the city coast in six days.
According to the report, the state government is wasting precious time in towing the vessels to safety by not invoking the provisions of the Disaster Management Act. "The Directorate being aware of the drift of Pratibha Tapi through the intelligence information from Coast Guard/Mumbai port has sensitised all concerned agencies of the Government," the statement said, adding that all the agencies, including the state government, have been requested to activate their respective contingency plan.
The authorities want to avoid a repeat of the MV Wisdom incident two years ago, wherein the ship ran aground on city coast in monsoon while being taken to
11:50 PM, Jun 16, 2013
Mumbai: A Saudi Airlines flight with 321 passengers on board, made an emergency landing at the Mumbai international airport after the pilot noticed a fire alarm in rear cargo hold of the aircraft, authorities said. The aircraft was taken to primary isolation bay, Mumbai airport authorities said, adding that it occupied the runway for some time. "Full emergency was declared for Saudi flight SV748, a Boeing 772 aircraft from Riyadh...
10:36 PM, Jun 16, 2013
New York: The Obama administration will scrap age restrictions on the sale of emergency contraception pills, making the morning-after pill available to women and girls without a prescription. The US Department of Justice said in a letter on Monday that it would comply with a court's ruling to allow unrestricted sales of Plan B One-Step, withdrawing its appeal on the matter. The move closes a battle over the pill that...
08:05 PM, Jun 11, 2013
New Delhi: In an effort to regulate plying of autorickshaws, Delhi Government on Monday decided to introduce colour coding for vehicles based on the zones in which they operate and install an "emergency button" so that passengers can report any incident of overcharging and refusal to ply. The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting presided by Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami. He said the meeting decided to put different colored...
02:15 AM, Jun 11, 2013
Kolkata: A Kuala Lumpur-bound Emirates aircraft with 144 passengers on board on Sunday landed in emergency conditions in Kolkata after it was forced to return about an hour after take off due to suspected engine problem. The aircraft landed safely at NSC Bose International Airport, airport sources said. The flight took off at 5:45 pm for Kuala Lumpur. After one hour of take off, the flight returned and asked for...
11:23 PM, Jun 09, 2013
Islamabad: A Pakistani court on Thursday allowed the trial of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for sacking and detaining dozens of judges in 2007 to be conducted at his farmhouse that has been declared a "sub-jail". The Islamabad High Court said anti-terrorism court Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi could conduct 69-year-old Musharraf's trial at his sprawling farmhouse in the suburb of Chak Shahzad. The court gave its ruling after its Registrar...
12:40 PM, Jun 06, 2013
Abuja: India has issued a travel warning to its nationals in Nigeria urging them to be cautious while visiting the oil-rich nation's troubled northeastern region, where a state of emergency had been declared in May. The High Commission of India in Nigeria, on its website, urged its nationals living in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states "to weigh their options and consider relocation until the security situation settles down." The emergency...
08:30 AM, Jun 06, 2013
Nagpur: A Delhi-bound Air India flight from Visakhapatnam, with 177 passengers onboard made an unscheduled landing on Monday at Nagpur airport due to a technical snag, an airport official said. The incident took place around 10:40 AM and Air India is dispatching an aircraft from New Delhi to ferry stranded passengers to their destination. "Air India flight AI 425 from Visakhapatnam made an unscheduled landing here after the aircraft developed...
06:13 PM, May 27, 2013
London: Reports of smoke coming out the rear of a plane caused chaos at London's Heathrow Airport and forced the authorities to shut down two runways on Friday. A British Airways flight, on way to Oslo, was forced to make an emergency landing and all passengers were safely evacuated. One of the two runways was opened later on and the aircraft took off from London safely. Authorities ruled out any...
02:27 PM, May 24, 2013
London: The British government's emergency committee is set to meet on Thursday after two attackers butchered a man in a brutal daylight attack in London that raised fears terrorism had returned to the capital. Prime Minister David Cameron says there are strong indications it was an act of terrorism, and his top advisers will be examining the potential security implications of the attack, which took place near a London military...
03:15 PM, May 23, 2013
Bhubaneswar: Chaos broke out at Bhubaneswar's Biju Patnaik airport on Sunday night after three flights had to make emergency landings following inclement weather. Heavy showers and rough skies led to the flights landing at Bhubaneswar. The aircraft that made emergency landings due to gutsy winds included two Indigo flights from Raipur to Kolkata and Bangalore to Kolkata, Airport Director Sharad Kumar said said. The Air India flight from Agartala to...
08:41 AM, May 13, 2013
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police V Dinesh Reddy on Monday warned of initiating action against those making fake calls to the recently launched 'Dial 100 system', an emergency response number. Of the 50,000 calls made to the 'Dial 100 system', about 20,000 have turned out to be fake, Reddy told reporters in Hyderabad adding, "...So far, it is due to ignorance. Henceforth, we will have to come down...
01:37 AM, Apr 30, 2013
Mumbai: India's nuclear regulator ordered replacement of four defective valves of the system that cools the reactor of Kudankulam nuclear power plant after the problem was detected during ongoing pre-commissioning tests. The defect in the components of the four valves--there are thousands of such devices in a nuclear reactor--was found during pre-commissioning tests early this year, officials said. "During testing of thousands of valves installed in the plant, the performances...
02:14 AM, Apr 20, 2013
Islamabad: A police team on Friday visited former President Pervez Musharraf's farmhouse, declared a "sub-jail" by authorities, and questioned him about the detention of more than 60 judges during the emergency of 2007. The five-member police team led by SP Sardar Sadaqat Ali Khan visited Musharraf's farmhouse at Chak Shahzad on the outskirts of Islamabad at 11 am. The team recorded Musharraf's statement and his response to charges levelled against...
03:50 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Islamabad: Pakistan former President Pervez Musharraf was slapped with terror charges on Friday by a court and placed under house arrest at his famrhouse. The court directed the police to produce Musharraf before anti-terror court in two days. Musharraf was earlier in the day arrested in a case relating to the imposition of emergency rule in 2007 and was presented before a magistrate, becoming the first former army chief to...
10:14 AM, Apr 19, 2013
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf fled from the Islamabad High Court after the court cancelled his bail and directed police to immediately arrest him. Musharraf had appeared in the court this morning to seek extension of his interim bail in a case related to the sacking of over 60 judges during the 2007 emergency. Though his spokesperson Reza Bukhari has denied this and said Musharraf didn't flee from the court. ...
08:15 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Srinagar: A helicopter carrying Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah made an emergency landing in Kishtwar district of the state on Thursday afternoon. The helicopter made the landing shortly after take off due to a technical problem, but no one was injured. "The chopper carrying Omar Abdullah landed shortly after taking off from Kishtwar for Srinagar today. It had developed some technical problem," a senior police officer told PTI....
04:36 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Kanpur: At least 16 persons, including a teenage boy, have been arrested, for allegedly making crank calls to police control room meant for emergency response for locals. According to SSP Yashashvi Yadav, control room was receiving various fraud calls from quite some time from pranksters, who were giving false information about accidents and fire incidents and some even demanded that officials sing a song for them. "Following these repeated calls...
03:45 AM, Apr 15, 2013
Islamabad: Former Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf on Tuesday will be appearing before the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Musharraf has been summoned for his trial amounting to treason and subverting the constitution and declaring emergency in 2007. The court on Monday has also ordered the Pakistan government to prevent Musharraf from travelling abroad and list him name under the 'Exit Control list'. The court issued notices to the government, Musharraf and...
07:50 AM, Apr 09, 2013
Islamabad: Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday began hearing several petitions seeking former military ruler Pervez Musharraf's trial for treason for subverting the constitution and declaring an emergency in 2007. Hours before the hearing began this morning, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary withdrew himself from the three-judge bench that was formed last week to take up the petitions seeking the prosecution of Musharraf under the High Treason (Punishment) Act of 1973. Chaudhry...
01:10 PM, Apr 08, 2013
