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Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday went to Beichuan County of Mianyang City to visit people affected by the southwest China earthquake, encouraging them to be confident in overcoming hardships caused by the disaster. The death toll from the 7.8 magnitude quake in the Sichuan Province rose to 22,069 while 1,68,669 people were injured.

Myanmar said Friday more than 133,000 people were dead or missing in the cyclone disaster, nearly doubling the toll from the worst disaster in the country's history, which hit two weeks ago. Even as the regime again rejected calls for international aid workers to help direct the massive relief effort, state media acknowledged that the scope of the disaster had prevented confirmation of the figures. State television said 77,738 were dead and 55,917 missing

The criticism of the government of Tamil Nadu's tsunami relief and rehabilitation programme (April 19, 2008) does not accurately reflect the situation on the ground and the progress made.

China is on precautionary alert against possible radiation leaks from the deadliest earthquake to hit the country in three decades, according to a government website. The disaster area is home to China's chief nuclear weapons research lab in Mianyang, as well as several secretive atomic sites, but no nuclear power stations. Minister of environmental protection Zhou Shengxian convened an emergency meeting late on Monday, hours after the 7.9 magnitude tremor rocked the southwestern province of

Defence Ministry denies permission for low-flying photos, necessary for contour mapping of city The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's grand plans to arm itself with a mathematical model that will help predict a deluge like the 944-mm deluge of July 26, 2005, just received a huge setback. Looking to prepare a flood modelling system, the BMC had sought permissions to shoot a series of low-flying photographs of the city's surfaces for a contour mapping exercise, but were rebuffed. Last week, the Ministry of Defence rejected the plans for

BEIJING: At least three dozen villages and towns in southwest China remained cut off from the outside world Thursday as tens of thousands of soldiers and emergency workers struggled against impassable roads and mountains of concrete and brick to reach the 40,000 people that officials say are still buried in the rubble or missing after a massive earthquake Monday.

The last child was out. She was alive. There were 16 young survivors. No more than that. Rescuers sighed, partly sad, partly relieved, as they stood on the debris of the Yinghua Middle School amid the half-light of early Thursday after 60 hours of toil. On the suddenly silent school campus, the heartbroken cry of a father went up, "There are no more! [My child] was not found!" The small town of Yinghua, surrounded by high mountains, is 20 km from Wenchuan County in southwesten Sichuan Province, the epicentre of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that has claimed about 15,000 lives.

The Union Agriculture Ministry has worked out a package for revival of the farm sector in the drought-hit Bundelkhand region in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on the lines of the Rehabilitation Package for Vidarbha and other drought-prone districts where farmers' suicides were high. Among other measures for relief, the Bundelkhand package suggests a debt relief for farmers in the region. It calls for contingency cropping, diversification and cross-breeding for local cattle that had lost fertility due to lack of minerals and green fodder.

The May 12 earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, in China's south-western Sichuan province has taken a confirmed toll of over 19,500 lives. It is feared that the number of dead could be above 50,000. The toll would have been higher but for the quick and efficient response by the government and the diligence shown by the rescue machinery. Amidst the gloom of many people buried under debris, beyond all help, there are moving accounts of children, women, and t he elderly being rescued. Even rare giant pandas have survived in reserves.

Most victims of Myanmar's cyclone remain without emergency food supplies two weeks after the catastrophe, experts said yesterday, with one calling it the worst disaster response in recent memory. Critical supplies are slowly making their way to survivors, but not nearly enough for the up to 2.5 million people who the United Nations says were severely affected by the storm.

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