A joint team of the State Crime Branch and Commissionerate Police rescued the six children, who were working as child labourers at Khandagiri Square. They were later sent to an open shelter home at Jatni.
The drive that kicked off today to rescue missing children will end in August. It may be mentioned here that eight special teams have been formed to trace, rescue and rehabilitate missing children under the operation which would continue for a period of one month.
Earlier on Friday, a high level meeting was held at the Crime Branch headquarters in Cuttack, where it was decided to carry out the first phase of the Operation Muskan within Odisha. The second phase of the special programme will extensively focus on rescuing and tracing missing children from Odisha in other parts of the country. The second phase will be launched from July 31.
“The campaign shall be personally monitored by Dist SsP/DCsP and one senior officer in the district shall be the Nodal Officer,” said special director general of police (crime branch) BK Sharma.
Sharma further said that assistance from various government departments like Women and Child Development & Labour and active involvement of district magistrate would also be sought.
Odisha police had traced and rescued nearly 1,620 missing children within State and 193 children were either reunited with respective families or rehabilitated in the Operation Muskan 2 last year.
The Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Sucheta Kriplani rescued all the stranded fishermen and their fishing boat Nirman-5 after spotting them at around 53 nautical miles deep in the sea. The ICGS used the help of a Dornier aircraft to spot the fishermen.
Official sources said seven fishermen went on astray after losing control of their trawler due to engine malfunction on July 2, a day after going into the waters. They continued to float for four days without any sign of rescue.
But somehow they managed to make contact with their owner through a satellite phone on July 5 after which the ICGS began its search operation.
After rescue all of them have been treated and are stated to be normal.
“With the daybreak on July 5, our Dornier began its search operation and as per our designation of search area it managed to spot the boat and vectored its location to our ship. Thereafter our ship coordinated went to rescue the stranded fishermen,” Rajesh Makwana, DIG, ICG said.
According to sources, the bus was travelling from Visakhapatnam to Malkangiri, when suddenly the driver lost control of the bus and it overturned at Patraput village under Jeypore Sadar police station. As a result a passenger lost his life on the spot.
The accident had occurred at around 3.30 am following which fire brigade reached the spot to undertake rescue operations. The injured were rushed to the hospital in ambulances with help of locals.
The money released included Rs 500 crore announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rs 100 crore by Home Minister Rajnath Singh during their visits to the state, said a Union Home Ministry statement.
The money was released after the sixth consecutive meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) chaired by Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha here.
The NCMC has been meeting since August 16 to review the rescue and relief operations in Kerala which faced the worst floods in nearly 100 years, leaving around 370 persons dead and lakhs homeless.
The meeting was attended by Kerala Chief Secretary Tom Jose via video conferencing in which he said that "the situation (in Kerala) is now improving by and large though there are some isolated pockets: still under water. But the "water levels are receding fast".
The Finance Ministry informed the NCMC that it had decided to "waive the Customs Duty and GST on the relief materials being imported to aid the people in the flood-affected areas in Kerala".
The Department of Food and Public Distribution said it had made additional allocation of 89,540 tonnes of rice as per the state government's request while the Consumer Affairs Department said it was sending additional quantities of green gram and Tur dal, in addition to 100 tonnes of pulses supplied earlier.
Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies have contributed Rs 25 crore to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund in Kerala, the NCMC said.
The Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has opened special points in the flood affected areas for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) distribution and permission had been granted, in coordination with the state government, for non-certified vehicles to carry LPG cylinders.
The Ministry said it had also made available 3.2 lakh LPG cylinders and 2.2 lakh regulators.
Indian Railways said it had so far supplied 24 lakh litres of drinking water in addition to 2.7 lakh water bottles. Another 14 lakh litres water was available at Ernakulam district.
The Railway Ministry said it had also made arrangements for supply of bed sheets and blankets and that trains on all sections had resumed.
"Railways is also transporting relief materials from various states to Kerala free of cost," the NCMC was told.
The NCMC was apprised that an action plan had been prepared for restoration of power supply in all the affected areas. "About 94 percent of telecom towers have been made functional. Power supply to telephone exchanges is being restored on priority."
The Health Ministry said it would supply three crore chlorine tablets in addition to one crore tablets supplied earlier and that 30 tonnes of bleaching powder and 1.76 lakh sanitary pads had also been sent.
"Additional quantities will be sent in the next few days."
The Ministry declared that no major outbreak of disease had been reported so far. The Ministry of Food Processing Industries said essential spices, salt, tea and coffee were being supplied as per the state government's requirement.
"As the rescue operations wind down, the state administration has started de-requisitioning the teams of Defence Forces and NDRF," the NCMC told.
The NCMC meeting was attended by secretaries of Central ministries including Health, Telecom, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Power, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Commerce and Textiles and senior officers of Defence Forces, Ministry of Home Affairs and National Disaster Management Authority.
The weather looked promising with no major rainfall expected in the state. Many people though continued to wait for rescue to arrive in several parts of Ernakulam district and interior Chengannur in Alappuzha district.
The death toll stands at 370, from May 29 when Kerala got the first of the monsoon rains, with the bulk of the fatalities being reported after August 9.
A tragedy of unprecedented proportion gripped the state after sluice gates of several rain-filled dams had to be opened.
On Monday, helicopters started their rescue operations in places where people still remained marooned. Several of the other helicopters transported food and relief materials from here.
Chengannur legislator Saji Cherian said: "We have despatched 70 rescue teams in boats who have reached 60 places where people are still trapped. We are confident that by Monday evening all will be rescued."
In Ernakulam, Paravur legislator V.D. Sateeshan said while a huge majority of those stranded have been rescued, at least 1,500 are still trapped in very remote areas. Accessibility is the biggest problem.
"We are sending individual rescue teams to these places and hopefully we will be able to save them," said Sateeshan.
Some people trapped in water-logged Kuttanadu in Alappuzha had refused to board the rescue boats. A lot of persuasion was required from the police teams to bring them to relief camps.
Congress leader P.C. Vishnunath told the media in Chengannur: "Bio-toilets have to be set up. In many camps they are overflowing. Engaging in basic needs has become a problem."
Waters at the Cochin International Airport also receded on Monday. The airport was shut since August 15, after water entered the operational area. Authorities have started the cleaning up process.
On Monday, small aircrafts started operating from the Cochin Naval Airbase.
Rains in the catchment areas of the big dams in Idukki district have also subsided. The outflow of water from both the Mullaperiyar and Idukki dams have been reduced.
As a result, the water flow into the Periyar and its tributaries that flow through Ernakulam and Thrissur has come down considerably.
The railways started operations in the Kottayam sector and also to other sectors to Shornur.
The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation also began operations from many depots and it was expected to be fully functional in a day or two.
Kerala faced the heaviest rains and consequent floods and destruction since 1924, and the state government estimates the loss to be around Rs 19,500 crore.
Another 70 were rescued throughout Wednesday afternoon after the only cable-car on the 3,718-meter (12,000-foot) volcano, the highest peak in Spain, had an electrical failure that left two cabins stuck in midair, each with 35 passengers on board.
Alongside the 70 people trapped in the cable car were 200 people, primarily tourists, who were already near or on the summit, Efe news reported.
Many on the mountain spent the night camping with some 50 emergency workers, who brought supplies, and some were able to hike down on their own throughout Wednesday and Thursday.
Others were not physically capable of walking down themselves and had to wait for helicopters to arrive.
The people stuck in the cable-car midair were helped down on Wednesday thanks to an elaborate rope system created by fire-fighters.
The company that made the cable-car said they thought a security lock had activated itself, though they were not aware of the cause.
The sniffing and digging of the dog named Ping Pong attracted the attention of farmers to a spot in Ban Nong Kham village in Cham Phuang district earlier this week.
According to Ping Pong's owner, the dog's digging exposed the child's legs, prompting locals to take out the infant to safety, the Guardian reported.
A 15-year-old girl confessed to burying her baby and was charged with attempted murder. She said she had been scared of retribution from her father for getting pregnant.
The girl's family said they will look after the child, who was declared healthy after his rescue.
"The girl is now in the care of a psychologist and her parents because she is in great fear. She regrets what she did and said she acted on impulse without thinking it through. She feared her parents would find out she had been pregnant," said Lieutenant Colonel Panuwat Puttakam of Cham Phuang police.
In the video, the stray dog can be seen whining near a particular area. Following which, the rescuer reaches the spot and starts removing the stone and rubble. The worried mother, too, gives her best to help the rescuer in removing the rubble till the time the shrill cries of the puppies could be heard.
Subsequently, all the puppies are rescued and taken to a safer place. After the video was shared online, many appreciated the effort of the rescue team.
“My heart was breaking when I saw how stressed mamma was and was trying to remove rubble with her mouth! Well done to you for helping save the babies,” read one of the many comments.
Another user wrote: "May this man be blessed with good fortune and almighty may give him all good thing which he wants for serving the humanity"
While the place, location and time of the incident has not been mentioned, the video surely has left many netizens emotional.
Watch the video here:
The place
As per reports, Kujur will be assisted by an official of Puri administration till Kolkata from where a representative of Andaman will take him to Port Blair. While leaving the local shelter home in Puri, some inmates and NGO members wished Kujur good luck and presented him a flower bouquet on Wednesday.
Kujur was rescued by locals of Khirisahi village in Krushnaprasad block on October 25 after he reached Puri coast on his boat following nearly 21 days of survival without adequate food and water in Bay of Bengal.
Speaking about Kujur's return to Andaman, Additional Collector Pradeep Sahu said, "He will be assisted by an official to Kolkata and from there he will be handed over to a representative of Andaman before flying to Port Blair. All arrangements have been made to ensure a hassle-free return of Kujur."
Expressing satisfaction over the arrangements made for his return, Kujur said, "With the help of district collector and other officials I am able to return back to my home."
Travelling from Port Blair to Neil Island in Bay of Bengal in a fishing boat, Amit and his friend Dibya Ranjan lost their direction due to a cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal on September 28.
Despite help from a Burmese ship a few days later, the two lost their way again while returning to their home after encountering another storm. While Amit kept ticking with very little amount of water to keep him alive, his companion however succumbed after days of starvation.
After floating in the sea for days, Amit’s ship had drifted towards Odisha coast and touched Puri shores.