Tremors felt in Indian cities, buildings develop cracks

April 11, 2012

quake

Kolkata/Chennai, April 11: The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has issued Tsunami warnings for Indira Point, Great and Little Nicobar, Komatra and Katchal and Car Nicobar in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. An alert has been issued for Little Andaman, North Sentinel Island, Flat Island and Port Blair and several places in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Following the massive earth quake in Indonesia, tremors felt across West Bengal including the capital Kolkata in the afternoon around 2.14pm. Till now no major damage has been reported from any part of the state and the city but the tremor scared people who chose to rush out on the streets soon after feeling the quake.

In Kolkata, people working and staying in highrise buildings were the first to feel the tremor who ran down on the roads stricken by fear. The disaster management group of Kolkata Police was deployed in different parts of the city as a preventive measure. They mainly evacuated all the multi-storied buildings. People working in sector-V, the IT town of Kolkata were among the people who felt the tremor better than other citizens. Most of the IT majors asked the employees to vacate the building.

The huge rush on the roads caused traffic chaos and in several places cracks have been spotted in different buildings. APJ House, a known office building located on Park Street, developed major cracks. Members of disaster management group and fire brigade officials are taking stock of the damage to prevent further accident. "I was working on the 9th floor of the building. Suddenly for a few seconds I felt everything in front of me is shaking. Even my chair was also shaking. We took a couple of minutes to realise it as an earth quake and then rushed down," said Samik Banarjee, an IT employee at Salt Lake sector five.

Two high rises in central and south Kolkata reportedly leaned after the quake and experts rushed to the spot for inspection. Metro train services were also suspended for security. "After inspection of the tracks and system we will resume the service," said a Metro official.

Tremors have been felt in the hills of Bengal where little damage have been reported. However, no casualties have been reported so far. Officers of disaster management group are in touch with the officials of all the districts for update.

Two powerful after shocks following the first quake have created a Tsunami fear among the people in the coastal Bengal. District administrations in East Midnapore and South 24 Paraganas have asked people to move out from coastline for safety. Tsunami alert has been announced at Sagardwip and Kakdwip areas of Bengal coast.

Strong tremors in Chennai

Strong tremors were felt in several places in Tamil Nadu Wednesday following the massive earthquake in Indonesia, with people coming out of their homes and some schools moving students into open grounds.

According to reports, tremors were felt in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Nagapattinam and other areas. Coastal regions in the state have been put on high alert.

“I was lying on the floor reading a paper when I felt the shake. I immediately came out of the apartment and saw several others doing the same,” said W. Shobha, who lives in Chennai's Adyar area.

“We brought the children to the grounds once we felt the tremors,” a teacher at a leading school in South Chennai told IANS. The earthquake had its epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra and occurred at 2.08 p.m., the IMD said.

It led to a tsunami warning in 28 countries, including India, and brought back memories of the 2004 tsunami that saw more than 7,000 people being killed in Tamil Nadu's coastal areas.

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News Network
March 27,2024

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The Enforcement Directorate has filed a money laundering case against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena Vijayan, her IT company and some others to probe a case of alleged illegal payments made by a private mineral firm to her and the company, official sources said Wednesday.

The agency has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is expected to summon the people involved, the sources said.

The ED case has been booked after taking cognisance of a complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), an investigative arm of the Union corporate affairs ministry, they said.

The case stems from an Income Tax Department investigation that alleged that a private company called Cochin Minerals And Rutile Ltd (CMRL), made an illegal payment of Rs 1.72 crore to Veena's company-- Exalogic Solutions-- during 2018 to 2019, even though the IT firm had not provided any service to the company.

The Karnataka High Court had last month dismissed a plea filed by Exalogic Solutions against the probe initiated by the SFIO.

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News Network
March 22,2024

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday produced Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal before the Rouse Avenue court and sought a 10-day custody in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. "Kejriwal was the kingpin of the scam," the ED reportedly told the court after the AAP chief was produced before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja around 2 pm amid tight security. 

ASG S V Raju was appearing for the agency, while Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi is representing Kejriwal. 

Raju in his argument said Kejriwal was "directly involved in formulation of the (liquor) policy... he was involved in handling of proceeds of crime as well in the Goa election campaign."

"The expert committee was constituted but it was a sham committee. The policy was made in such a manner that it would enable the taking of bribes and recoupment of people who gave the bribes," the ED counsel said. 

Kejriwal was produced in the trial court shortly after he withdrew from the Supreme Court his plea against arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. Kejriwal's counsel said he would contest the remand proceedings before the trial court and then come back to the apex court with another petition.

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News Network
March 14,2024

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The high-level committee on simultaneous elections, chaired by Ram Nath Kovind, on Thursday met President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan and submitted its report on 'One Nation, One Election'. The report comprises 18,626 pages.

Home Minister Amit Shah was also present at Rashtrapati Bhawan when Kovind led panel submitted the report.

"Simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and state assemblies can be held in first step, followed by local body polls within 100 days in second step," reported PTI quoting the panel.

"Synchronised polls for all three tiers of government to improve governance architecture, in line with quest of aspirational India," it added.

The report has been submitted 191 days after the constitution of the panel on September 2, 2023.

It's further reported that the proposal also puts focus on having a singular electoral roll for holding Lok Sabha, state assembly and local body polls.

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