Death toll crosses 450 mark in cyclone-hit Sri Lanka
Colombo (PTI): The death toll in cyclone-hit Sri Lanka rose to 465 on Tuesday, with the island nation bracing for worsening conditions as increased rainfall is forecast in several regions in the coming days.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and infrastructure collapse triggered by Cyclone Ditwah, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country’s disaster-response capacity.
A report by the Disaster Management Centre on Tuesday at 6 pm showed that 465 people have been killed, with 366 missing, in catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.
Meanwhile, a special weather bulletin issued by the Department of Meteorology predicted "enhanced" rainy conditions in certain parts of the nation from Thursday.
"The Northeast monsoon condition is expected to gradually establish over the island during the next few days. Due to this, rainy condition over the island, particularly in the Northern, North-Central, Eastern, Uva and Central provinces is expected to be enhanced from 04th of December," it said.
The department requested the general public's attention to future forecasts and bulletins.
Relief and recovery operations are ongoing in Sri Lanka, with several countries sending humanitarian aid and relief material.
India launched Operation Sagar Bandhu on November 28 to help Sri Lanka recover from the devastation caused by the cyclone.
The operation was launched to provide urgent search, rescue and HADR (humanitarian assistance and disaster relief) support to “our closest maritime neighbour”, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Monday.
India has delivered 53 tonnes of relief material to Sri Lanka via air and sea since November 28, the MEA had said.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
