Rains return to Kerala after brief lull, toll rises to 102, 37 still missing
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 14: After a brief respite, rains lashed several parts of Kerala on Wednesday under the influence of the 'vigorous' South West Monsoon as the death toll in its second spell rose to 102 with 37 people missing.
Rains, which abated on Monday, battered various parts since Tuesday night with the Met office in its latest update forecasting more showers, including heavy rains in isolated places, in the next few days and warning fishermen not to venture into sea.
Chalakudy in Thrissur received 17 cm rains on Wednesday, followed by Peermade in Idukki (15), Cherthala in Alappuzha (13), Agathi (Lakshadweep) and Enamackel, Thrissur (12 each), the Met department said.
A government update at 5 PM said a total of102 people lost their lives across the state in floods and landslides, triggered by the second spell of monsoon, since August 8.
Though people have started shifting to their homes in many places, there are still 1,89,649 sheltered in 1,119 relief camps.
The Met department in its update for the next 24 hours from 6 pm on Wednesday said the monsoon has been vigorous in most places in the state.
Warning fishermen not to venture into sea, it said strong wind from southwesterly direction with speed reaching 45-55 kmph was likely along and off Kerala coast.
A red alert (extremely heavy rains) had been issued for three northern districts of Malappuram, Kannur and Kozhikode, which bore the brunt of the flood fury and landslides last week, and central district Pathanamthitta was put on high vigil due to torrential rains since last night.
A holiday was declared for educational institutions in 11 of the 14 districts in the state on Wednesday.
The state government announced a package of flood compensation with an immediate financial aid of up to Rs 10,000 each to all calamity-hit families, who had suffered loss in the flash floods and unprecedented landslides triggered in the second spell of monsoon.
After chairing a cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said a total of Rs 4 lakh compensation would be given to those whose houses had been fully damaged or had become inhabitable and Rs 10 lakh to those who had lost their house as well as land.
Compensation would also be given for the crop loss, repair and rebuild of damaged roads and buildings and for the maintenance of drinking water and irrigation projects, he said adding that flood-hit families and fishermen would be given 35 kg free rice.
On Wednesday, a fisherman drowned and three others were rescued when their fishing craft capsized in nearby Vizhinjam.
Despite inclement weather, search operations continued at Kavalappara in Malappuram and Puthumala in Wayanad, where a series of landslides had wiped out two villages last week, to trace those who were suspected to have gone missing.
Malappuram district accounted for most deaths with toll there rising to 42 on Wednesday and 29 people still missing, followed by Kozhikode (17), Wayanad (12 deaths, 7 missing), Kannur 9 and Thrissur 8. One person was missing in Kottayam district.
As per the government update, a total of 11,286 houses have been partially damaged and 1,060 fully damaged.
Chief Minister Vijayan and Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi had toured the worst affected districts of Malappuram and Wayanad.
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Allahabad HC judge recuses from hearing Rahul Gandhi dual citizenship plea
Lucknow (PTI): A judge of the Allahabad High Court on Monday recused himself from hearing a plea related to the alleged dual citizenship controversy involving Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and requested the Chief Justice to assign the matter to another bench.
Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, while passing the order, acknowledged that a notice should have been issued to Gandhi, the proposed accused, before dictating his earlier order in open court on April 17.
Hearing the plea earlier, the judge had dictated an order directing the Uttar Pradesh Police to register an FIR against Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, in connection with the alleged dual citizenship issue.
However, when the order was uploaded on the court's website on April 18, it noted that before the order could be finalised and signed, the judge became aware of a binding precedent of the high court mandating the issuance of notice to the proposed accused before passing any such order.
Subsequently, instead of signing the order, the judge posted the matter for further hearing on April 20 to consider the question of issuing notice to Gandhi.
In his order on Monday, Justice Vidyarthi clarified that it was mandatory to hear the proposed accused before passing any order in the case.
During the hearing, the judge also took exception to certain social media posts made by the petitioner, S Shishir Vignesh, a BJP worker from Karnataka.
"The messages posted by the petitioner on social media after passing of the order on April 17 amount to casting aspersions on this Court and, keeping those in consideration, I find it appropriate to recuse from hearing this case," he said.
Expressing displeasure over the lack of proper legal assistance, Justice Vidyarthi observed, "I am pained to note that the lawyers appearing in this case have failed to perform their duty of providing assistance to the Court in a fair manner."
The petitioner has sought registration of an FIR and a detailed probe, levelling allegations under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Official Secrets Act, the Foreigners Act and the Passport Act.
During earlier hearings, the bench had asked the Centre about action taken on a complaint alleging Gandhi's British citizenship and had summoned records from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Although the records were produced, the court chose not to examine them.
The complaint was initially filed before a special MP/MLA court in Rae Bareli. On December 17, 2025, the high court transferred the case to Lucknow.
