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Air base at Car Nicobar to stay: Air Chief

     New Delhi: Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi has said that India would not move its Air Force base from the isolated but strategically important Andaman and Nicobar islands, inspite of the massive devastation in last month's tsunami attacks. The IAF base at the Car Nicobar landmass in the islands chain, near the epicentre of the massive earthquake, was completely destroyed by the torrential waves. Dozens of air force personnel and their families were killed and hundreds of homes and apartment blocks razed to the ground. Car Nicobar is operational. Within an hour of the tsunami hitting Car Nicobar the boys were air borne in their pyjamas, he said. The tidal waves have left nearly 16,000 people dead or feared dead in India. More than 6,000 people are missing and presumed dead on the Andaman and Nicobar islands although only 900 bodies have been found.

Powell, Annan tour tsunami-hit areas (Go To Top)

     Colombo: US Secretary of State Colin Powell toured Sri Lanka's tsunami-ravaged south today, surveying a crippled tourism hub and relief efforts just hours ahead of a visit by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He flew to the historic southern town of Galle by helicopter, swooping over rubble and debris lining the coast all that remains of beach houses and hotels crushed by giant waves in Sri Lanka's worst natural disaster on Dec.26. At one point, Powell flew over a dozen boats washed up on the shore, some of them turned on their sides. A tug boat sat on top of mound of debris on the shore. According to The News, the entire town of Galle was flooded by the tsunami, killing hundreds. Shops and homes were trashed and the town's cricket pitch was ruined. Only the ramparts of the town's 17th-century Dutch fort, a UNESCO world heritage site, were unscathed.

Disaster must be turned into opportunity: PM (Go To Top)

     Chennai: Assuring Tamil Nadu that the Centre would provide all effective and necessary measures to help post-tidal wave rehabilitation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the disaster must be converted into an opportunity to rebuild coastal economies in the affected areas. "We must convert this disaster into an opportunity to reuild and modernise the fishing and coastal economies in the affeced areas", the Prime Minister told Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa during an hour-long meeting here. Welcoming induction of new technology for better boats and safer housing along with coastline, Singh said the Tsunami Early Warning System would be put in place, PMO spokesman Sanjaya Baru told newsmen.

Tsunami may prove to be a boon for fishing industry (Go To Top)

     Tuticorin: Despite causing unimaginable destruction, especially to the fishermen ,the tsunami could become a boon for the fishing industry,an Indian fisheries expert has said. R Santhanam, Dean of Fisheries College and Research Centre in southern Tuticorin, said that the tremors and the high waves would have churned the sea,supplementing the nutrients fish feed upon in the ocean waters. "Theoretically speaking we use that because of naturally there is a churning of water due to the tsunami waves. Because of this the internal nutrients present in the water, it is likely to come up to the surface, thereby the sea productivity will increase and subsequently the fish productivity will also increase," said Santhanam. Santhaman added that the break in the kind of intensive fishing being carried out by the fishermen would result in fish rejuvenation leading to a good harvest of sea food subsequently. Experts, however, say that saline sea water which swamped large farm land and fresh water bodies inland would hit agriculture and also kill fresh water fishes besides leading to scarcity of drinking water.

Punjab farmers send 1500 tonnes of relief materials to Tamil Nadu (Go To Top)

    Patiala: The people of Punjab who have acquired considerable wealth through their family members staying abroad, have contributed with an open heart towards tsunami relief. In Patiala dozens of such rich farmers came together to arrange the relief and send it to Tamil Nadu, the worst hit of all the states in South India. Former State Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, who is amongst the donors, hailed the people's effort.