Central team to visit Kerala for assessing rain damage
Thiruvananthapuram, July 19: Even as the death toll in Kerala due to rains climbed to 17 with the recovery of one more body, the Centre on Thursday assured that a central team will soon visit the state to assess the damage caused in at least eight districts.
The assurance was held out when Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and an all-party delegation called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi in the morning and urged for immediate help in the matter.
The Prime Minister's Office issued directions that a central team led by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiran Rijiju be deputed to Kerala to assess the situation.
The body was recovered in Palakkad district on Thursday, taking the death toll due to heavy rains in the past 11 days to 17. Two persons in Ernakulam district are reported missing.
More than 10,000 persons have been put up in relief camps in four central districts.
A dairy owner in Muttukadu in Ernakulam district complained that no official help was forthcoming to rescue his 23 cows marooned in a waterlogged area.
"Of these, 15 cows are expecting and thus it is risky to transport them. I could manage to take out only two cows. I am very upset because no one from the Animal Husbandry Department turned up to provide some medical relief to the animals. If rains stop for a day, I could move these cows to a safe area," Shyam said.
Though rain intensity subsided on Thursday after one week, Alappuzha and Kottayam continued to reel under heavy rains, with normal life thrown out of gear.
The worst affected is Kuttanad, which covers both Alappuzha and Kottayam districts, with vast tracts of paddy fully under water. Area residents said it will take a week for normalcy to return.
The Alappuzha District Collector announced a holiday in all educational institutions on Friday.
The Alappuzha authorities have made arrangements to send medical teams to affected areas as outbreak of water-borne diseases looms large in several waterlogged areas as rain intensity wanes.
Several parts of Kottayam received good rains on Thursday, causing inconvenience to residents living in low-lying areas of the district.
The Meteorological office predicted more rains in the central districts of Kerala in the next 18 hours.
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Women journalists face doubling of online abuse since 2020, AI intensifies harassment: report
New Delhi: Incidents of online violence against women journalists have doubled since 2020, with growing use of artificial intelligence intensifying the scale and impact of abuse, according to a new report released ahead of World Press Freedom Day.
The study is titled “Tipping point: Online violence impacts, manifestations and redress in the AI age.” It is published by UN Women and its partners and highlights how digital harassment has become more invasive and technologically sophisticated.
The study is based on a 2025 global survey covering 641 respondents across 119 countries. The report found that women journalists and media workers are increasingly resorting to self-censorship due to online abuse. Around 45 per cent said they avoid expressing themselves on social media, which is a sharp rise from 2020. Nearly 22 per cent reported limiting their professional work for similar reasons.
The findings also indicate that 12 per cent of respondents have experienced non-consensual sharing of personal images, including intimate content, and six per cent reported being targeted by AI-generated “deepfakes.” One in three said they had received unsolicited sexual advances online.
The report highlights the psychological toll of such harassment, noting that nearly a quarter of women journalists surveyed had been diagnosed with anxiety or depression, while about 13 per cent reported post-traumatic stress disorder.
An environmental journalist from India, quoted in the report, described how coordinated online attacks and misinformation campaigns had led to fear and withdrawal from investigative reporting, and the repercussions extending to family members.
However, as the abuse has increased, so too has the number of women journalists reporting such incidents. The percentage of women journalists approaching law enforcement agencies has doubled from 11 per cent to 22 per cent in 2025 compared with 2020. The report also shows an increase in legal action against perpetrators, technology platforms, and employers.
However, the report points to significant gaps in legal protection. It presents data that fewer than 40 per cent of countries have laws addressing cyber harassment or stalking. Kalliopi Mingerou, who leads efforts to end violence against women at UN Women, said emerging technologies are amplifying existing threats. “AI is making abuse easier and more damaging,” she said, warning that the trend risks undermining democratic participation and hard-won rights.
The report can be accessed at https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2026/04/tipping-point-online-violence-impacts-manifestations-and-redress-in-the-ai-age
