Rescue efforts in Japan following heavy rains, floods
Tokyo, July 8 : Rescue and search operations continued in Japan on Sunday to locate over 40 people who were reported missing after floods and landslides caused by torrential rains hit the country which have also left at least 65 people dead.
Authorities said in addition to the confirmed deaths, four other people remained unconscious, while at least 45 were missing, reports Efe news.
Emergency services have received over a 100 calls reporting cars being swept away or other accidents although it is not clear exactly how many people are missing, government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga said.
Several areas have registered record levels of precipitation since torrential rainfall began lashing the country on Thursday, and 20 prefectures are on alert - three of them on the highest possible alert -- Gifu, Ehime, Kochi -- for overflowing rivers and disasters related to landslides and mudslides.
A 54,000-member team, including soldiers, police officers and firefighters were involved in the rescue efforts, for which 41 helicopters have also been deployed, Suga added.
Authorities have ordered the evacuation of over four million people in southwestern Japan.
The rains are the deadliest to hit Japan since August 2014, when 77 people died in Hiroshima.
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.
BJP names 9 candidates for RS polls, party chief Nitin Nabin to contest from Bihar
New Delhi (PTI): BJP national president Nitin Nabin was on Tuesday nominated as the party's candidate from Bihar for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released a list of nine candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls, fielding its former West Bengal unit chief Rahul Sinha and Chhattisgarh unit vice-president Laxmi Verma from the respective states.
ALSO READ: Does PM Modi support head of state's assassination as way to define world order: Rahul
Assam PWD Minister Jogen Mohan and MLA Terash Gowalla will be the saffron party's candidates for the elections to the Upper House of Parliament from the state.
The BJP has also nominated its Odisha unit president, Manmoham Samal, and leader Sujit Kumar, an incumbent Rajya Sabha MP, as candidates from the state for the upcoming polls.
BJP leader Shivesh Kumar will join the fray from Bihar and Sanjay Bhatia, a former Lok Sabha MP of the party, will be its candidate from Haryana. Kumar is Bihar BJP's general secretary.
The names of the candidates have been approved by the party's central election committee, BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said.
