Cyclonic storm 'Fani' to intensify into 'severe cyclonic storm': IMD
New Delhi/Chennai: Cyclone 'Fani' is very likely to intensify into a "severe cyclonic storm" in the next 12 hours and further soar into a "very severe cyclonic storm" in the next 24 hours, the Cyclone Warning Division of the MeT department said on Sunday.
In its 1 pm bulletin, the Cyclone Warning Division said 'Fani' currently lays over 745 kilometres east-southeast of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka), 1,050 kilometres southeast of Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and 1,230 kilometres south-southeast of Machilipatnam (Andhra Pradesh).
"It is very likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm during next 12 hours and into a very severe cyclonic storm during subsequent 24 hours," the IMD said.
Heavy falls at isolated places are very likely over Kerala on April 29 and 30. The system will not make landfall in Tamil Nadu, but may bring light rain in some northern parts, it said.
Earlier, it was expected to cause heavy rains in northern Tamil Nadu, including Chennai.
The Regional Meteorological Centre in Chennai said cyclone threat to Tamil Nadu has abated. "There is no chance of Fani crossing the Tamil Nadu coast," Director of Area Cyclone Warning Centre S Balachandran told reporters in Chennai.
Light to moderate rainfall are very likely at a few places over north coastal Andhra Pradesh and south coastal Odisha on May 2. It is likely to increase in intensity with heavy rainfall over coastal Odisha from May 3.
Strong winds with speed reaching 30-40 kmph gusting to 50 kmph are likely to commence along and off the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coast, Comorin area and Gulf of Mannar from Sunday. It will intensify a day later, the bulletin said.
"It is very likely to become squally with wind speed reaching 50-60 kmph and gusting to 70 kmph from morning of April 30 along north Tamilnadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh coasts. Strong wind with speed reaching 30-40 kmph and gusting to 50 kmph are likely to commence along and off Kerala coast from evening of April 28, it said.
Sea conditions are expected to be rough to very rough along and off Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh coasts from April 29 to May 1.
The sea conditions will be very rough along and off the north Andhra Pradesh coast from May 1-3 and along off Odisha coast from May 2 onwards.
The IMD has also advised fishermen along the coasts of Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry not to venture into the sea. Those in the deep sea were advised to return to the coast, the IMD added.
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Indian-origin translator Padma Viswanathan shortlisted for International Booker Prize 2026
New Delhi (PTI): Padma Viswanathan, a Canadian-American writer of Indian-origin, has made it to the 2026 International Booker Prize shortlist as the English translator of a Portuguese language novella.
"On Earth As It Is Beneath" by Brazilian author Ana Paula Maia, described by judges as a "brutal, haunting and hypnotic novella set in a remote Brazilian penal colony, where the boundaries between justice and cruelty collapse", is among the six worldwide contenders for the coveted literary honour.
The annual prize worth GBP 50,000, divided equally between the author and translator, was won last year by Kannada writer-activist Banu Mushtaq and translator Deepa Bhasthi for the short story collection "Heart Lamp". Each shortlisted title guarantees a prize of GBP 5,000 -- also split 50-50 between the book’s author and English translator.
"What struck us most is how spare, unflinching, uncompromising and relentless it is. Maia builds an entire moral universe out of very little: a remote prison, a handful of men, and the rituals of punishment that govern their lives.
"The novel reads almost like a dark fable about power, where brutality is ordinary and civilisation feels frighteningly thin," the judging panel, which also include award-winning Indian novelist and columnist Nilanjana S. Roy, said of the work translated by US-based Viswanathan.
The 58-year-old professor of creative writing at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville is an accomplished playwright and author, whose novels have been published in eight countries.
The list, announced on Tuesday, is dominated by women, with five of the six authors and four of the six translators being female. The authors and translators represent eight countries -- Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Taiwan, the UK and the United States.
"With narratives that capture moments from across the past century, these books reverberate with history. While there’s heartbreak, brutality and isolation among these stories, their lasting effect is energising," said author Natasha Brown, chair of this year’s judging panel.
The other books include "The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran" by Shida Bazyar and translated from German by Ruth Martin; "She Who Remains" by Rene Karabash and translated from Bulgarian by Izidora Angel; "The Director" by Daniel Kehlmann and translated from German by Ross Benjamin; "Taiwan Travelogue" by Yáng Shuāng-zi and translated from Taiwanese by Lin King; and "The Witch" by Marie Ndiaye and translated from French by Jordan Stump.
The announcement of the winning book will take place on May 19 at a ceremony at Tate Modern in London.
The International Booker Prize is awarded annually for a single work of fiction -- either a novel or a collection of short stories -- written in another language, translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland.
According to the organisers, the 2025 winner "Heart Lamp" –- the first collection of short stories to win the prize and the first translated from Kannada –- rapidly sold out in the UK in the subsequent days, with the UK publisher, And Other Stories, immediately reprinting 40,000 copies.
