Cyclone 'Phethai' makes landfall, normal life hit in coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh
Amaravati(AP), Dec 17 : Cyclone 'Phethai' made landfall in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh Monday afternoon bringing moderate to heavy rains even as normal life remained hit in the coastal districts of the state.
The Real-Time Governance Centre at the state Secretariat here announced that 'Phethai' weakened into a cyclone as it made landfall near Katrenikona around 12.25 pm with a wind speed of 80 kmph.
One person was killed in a landslide caused by heavy rains in Vijayawada city but no other casualties have been reported from elsewhere so far, according to sources in the State Disaster Management Authority.
The South Central Railway has cancelled several trains and rescheduled some others because of the cyclone.
Air traffic to the port city of Visakhapatnam has been hampered due to turbulent weather conditions, following which some flights were diverted to Hyderabad.
A holiday has been declared for educational institutions in the coastal districts of the state as a precautionary measure.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
On Eid, Shia Muslims in MP denounce killing of Khamenei; chant slogans against US, Israel
Bhopal (PTI): Most members of the Shia Muslim community refrained from celebrating Eid on Saturday as they denounced the killing of Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israel strikes, and chanted slogans against the two countries in protest.
However, members of the Sunni Muslim community celebrated the festival with fervour by flooding Eidgahs across the state to offer prayers.
Eid is being celebrated across the country on Saturday.
After offering namaz, Shias raised slogans against the United States and Israel for their attack on Iran.
To register their protest against Khamenei's killing, some of them arrived at the prayer grounds in Bhopal and elsewhere in the state wearing black armbands and dressed in simple and old clothes, reflecting a sombre mood.
Children from the Shia community were also seen wearing black armbands.
A photograph of Khamenei was placed at the Imambara in the state capital.
Khamenei was killed in the last week of February. He belonged to the Shia community.
During the address, Maulana Razi-ul-Hasan spoke about standing up against oppression.
Talking to PTI over phone from Burhanpur, All India Shia Samaj state president Iftikhar Ali, popularly known as Jaani Pahalwan, said, "After offering namaz at Sidhipura Imamiya Masjid and thereafter raising slogans against US- Israel, I returned home. My community and I are not celebrating Eid."
He said he was not celebrating the joyous festival due to the Israel-US excesses in Iran.
Around 4,000 Shia families in the state are largely concentrated in Bhopal, Jabalpur, Indore, Vidisha, Ujjain, Burhanpur, Itarsi in Narmadapuram district and Jaora in Ratlam district, he added.
Sunnis celebrated the festival across Madhya Pradesh by offering namaz in Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Ujjain, and other places.
In Bhopal, their city Qazi Syed Mushtaq Ali Nadvi announced the celebration of Eid after the moon was not sighted on Thursday.
The first namaz was offered at the Eidgah at 7.30 am on Saturday, followed by prayers at Jama Masjid and Moti Masjid.
A special prayer was held at Taj-ul-Masajid under the supervision of Maulana Hassan Sahib where a large number of people were present.
