Cyclone Vayu: Gujarat on alert, people from coast to be evacuated
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat administration is on high alert to deal with cyclone 'Vayu', which is likely to hit the state coast near Veraval on Thursday, officials said.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday said people living in the coastal belt would be shifted to safer places.
As per the latest weather report, the cyclonic storm Vayu is located around 650 km south of Veraval coast and is "very likely to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm" in next 12 hours and hit the state coast on June 13.
Rupani told reporters in Gandhinagar that the entire coastline, starting from Kutch to south Gujarat, has been put on "high alert".
The officials concerned are in touch with the Odisha government to learn and implement the disaster management techniques adopted by them when cyclone Fani hit the eastern coastal state recently, he said.
"We have cancelled leaves of all the employees concerned and asked them to join the duty. After the Cabinet meet tomorrow, all the ministers will go to various districts to oversee relief and rescue operations," he said.
"June 13 and 14 are crucial for us. We have roped-in the Army, NDRF, Coast Guard and other agencies for rescue and relief work. To minimise human casualty, we will start shifting people living in coastal areas to safer locations from tomorrow," he said.
Gujarat ports and transport department's principal secretary Sunaina Tomar said a disaster management plan has been put in place at all ports of the state.
"We have installed power generators at all the ports.
Cargo and Ro Ro ferry operations have been halted. Leaves of port and transport employees have been cancelled," said Tomar.
State meteorological centre director Dr Jayanta Sarkar said the cyclonic storm is very likely to move northwards and cross the Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva, that is near Veraval, as a severe cyclonic storm with wind speed of around 120 kmph.
"This may go up to 135 kmph during early morning of June 13," he said. Fishermen who ventured into the sea have been called back, he said.
A distant warning number 2 (DW-2) signal has been hoisted at the major ports of Gujarat to alert locals as well as fishermen, Sarkar said.
The cyclone would leave its impact on the coastal districts, including Kutch, Bhavnagar, Gir-Somnath, Porbandar, Amreli and Junagadh, he said.
"It would also bring heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the region. Rain would also occur in some pockets of south Gujarat. The cyclone's effect will prevail over Gujarat on June 12, 13 and 14," he added.
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Centre spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print media ads for RSS centenary, reveals RTI
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.
The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.
Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.
“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.
RTI reply shows Min of Culture Govt of India spent a Whopping Rs 76L,13K,129 on Advertisement in Print Media on occasion of 100 yrs of #RSS
— AJAY Basudev Bose (@AjayBos93388306) April 16, 2026
When Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??@RSSorg… pic.twitter.com/dW4IUtdNCg
Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”
Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.
In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”
"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added.
Why is public money being used to serve a private ideological project?
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) April 16, 2026
Modi Sarkar spent ₹76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS.
Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to… pic.twitter.com/EoZ6Pim3IM
According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.
Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.
