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Nearly 150,000 people were moved from their homes in the Indian state of Gujarat to safety on Monday and authorities closed ports and a main airport as the most intense cyclone in more than two decades roared up India s west coast.
Cyclone Tauktae has killed at least 12 people and left a trail of destruction as it brushed past the coastal states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, authorities said.
It is set to make landfall in Gujarat late on Monday. This will be the most severe cyclone to hit Gujarat in at least 20 years. This can be compared with the 1998 cyclone that hit Kandla and inflicted heavy damage, state revenue secretary Pankaj Kumar told Reuters.
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Within the world’s worst coronavirus outbreak, few treasures are more coveted than an empty oxygen canister. India’s hospitals desperately need the metal cylinders to store and transport the lifesaving gas as patients across the country gasp for breath.
So a local charity reacted with outrage when one supplier more than doubled the price, to nearly $US200 ($A258) each. The charity called the police, who discovered what could be one of the most brazen, dangerous scams in a country awash with coronavirus-related fraud and black-market profiteering.
The police say the supplier a business called Varsha Engineering, essentially a scrapyard had been repainting fire extinguishers and selling them as oxygen canisters. The consequences could be deadly: The less-sturdy fire extinguishers might explode if filled with high-pressure oxygen.
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Australians stranded in India prevented from boarding a repatriation flight say they re frustrated with the government s screening process, as it emerges some passengers barred from the flight have since tested negative for coronavirus.
The flight - the first since the government’s controversial India travel ban lapsed - was supposed to bring back 150 Australians but returned home half-empty on Saturday after dozens of people tested positive to COVID-19.
Satinder Sarna and her husband Mohinder Pal Singh were supposed to back home in Australia by now, but are instead in home quarantine in New Delhi.
Satinder tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the Qantas flight and was unable to board. Mohinder was deemed a close contact and was also unable to board.
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Australians stranded in India prevented from boarding a repatriation flight say they re frustrated with the government s screening process, as it emerges some passengers barred from the flight have since tested negative for coronavirus.
The flight - the first since the government’s controversial India travel ban lapsed - was supposed to bring back 150 Australians but returned home half-empty on Saturday after dozens of people tested positive to COVID-19.
Satinder Sarna and her husband Mohinder Pal Singh were supposed to back in Australia by now, but are instead in home quarantine in New Delhi.
Satinder tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the Qantas flight and was not allowed to board. Mohinder was deemed a close contact and was also unable to board.