83 NDRF teams dispatched for flood relief, rescue in 4 states: MHA
New Delhi: As many as 83 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been dispatched to four flood-hit states of Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Gujarat for rescue and relief operations, the Home Ministry said on Friday.
The current flood situation in different parts of the country and the preparedness of central ministries and agencies to deal with it was reviewed at a high-level meeting chaired by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai.
The Director General of the NDRF apprised the meeting that 83 NDRF teams have been positioned with all necessary equipment in vulnerable areas of the four flood-affected states, a home ministry statement said.
These teams are in addition to the 173 teams of Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. An NDRF team comprises around 45 personnel.
During the last two days, Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka received extremely heavy downpour, the India Metrological Department (IMD) said.
In addition, Gujarat, West Madhya Pradesh and East Rajasthan are also expected to receive heavy rainfall till Saturday. The control rooms in the MHA, NDRF, IMD and Central Water Commission are keeping a close watch on the situation round the clock.
They have, thus far, evacuated over 82,000 people to safer places and rescued 2,325 people, the statement said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is continuously monitoring the situation and instructing officials concerned to take necessary actions, it said.
After the review, MoS Rai directed the senior officers to take every possible measure to deal with the situation arising out of the South-West Monsoon and to extend all necessary assistance to the flood-affected states.
The NDRF, Ministry of Defence and other agencies involved in the rescue and relief operations have assured that requests from concerned states are being fulfilled on a real-time basis, the statement said.
Some parts of the country are facing battering flood conditions.
Torrential rains pelted various parts of Kerala on Friday as the toll in rain-related incidents, including landslides, in the last three days mounted to 22 with over 22,000 people being shifted to relief centres, officials said.
In Maharashtra, over two lakh people have been evacuated to safer places due to the floods that have wreaked havoc in five districts - Sangli, Pune, Kolhapur, Solapur and Satara, officials have said.
On Thursday, at least nine people drowned after a boat engaged in rescue work overturned near the flooded Brahmanal village in Palus tehsil of Sangli.
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Divya Deshmukh beats Humpy to win Women's World Cup, becomes Grandmaster
Batumi (Georgia) (PTI): Teenaged Indian chess player Divya Deshmukh earned the biggest success of her career by clinching the FIDE Women's World Cup with a tie-break win over compatriot and more experienced Koneru Humpy here on Monday.
The victory not just earned the 19-year-old the prestigious title, but also made her a Grandmaster, something which looked improbable when she started the tournament.
The victory for the Nagpur player came after the two classical games played on Saturday and Sunday ended in draws.
Having drawn the two classical games, it was the first set of tiebreakers that proved decisive as Humpy lost her nerves. Except the World Cup and the Women's World Championship, Humpy has won everything under the sun but, as fate or nerves would have it, the World Cup title eluded her.
Divya showed steely resolve on Monday, and the bonus for the determination was the Grandmaster title, reserved for the champion of this event.
For the record, Divya became the 88th Grandmaster of the country and if she continues to remain resolute in her endeavour she has the ability to achieve great success.
Divya is now the fourth Indian woman player to achieve the GM feat after Humpy, Dronavalli Harika and R Vaishali.
Humpy, 38, became a Grandmaster in 2002 and Divya was only born in 2005. Divya was a bundle of energy as she kept piling pressure on Humpy in the opening tiebreaker, tiring out her illustrious opponent and then going for the kill in the second tiebreaker.
Out of a Petroff defense, Divya got an isolated Queen pawn middle game and sacrificed a pawn to give Humpy better prospects in the opening tiebeaker. However, Humpy returned the favour with her clock ticking away, and soon enough she was staring at a position where she had a rook, bishop and a pawn against Divya's Queen.
The position, however, remained close to being equal and Humpy drew quite easily in the end.
In the return game, Humpy employed the Catalan opening and again Divya was well prepared as she equalised without much ado. Humpy had sacrificed a pawn early but the ensuing queen-and-rook endgame was just a draw.
It was on the 40th move that Humpy lost her cool and tried to invade the opposition through a pawn sacrifice. Divya could have done better but the rook-and-pawns endgame she reached was still a draw.
This was Divya's day as Humpy again ran a bit short of time and blundered in the endgame again, leading to a theoretically won position for Divya.
The fortunes in this game fluctuated between a draw and a win for Divya for a long time, till the Nagpur girl prevailed.
