A piece of floral decoration of one of the minarets of Charminar broke and fell off on Sunday night during heavy downpour.

The historic 418-year-old monument is soaked due to spells of heavy rains every night since last Sunday, and parts of the minarets that are carved in lime-mortar paste broke loose.

Heavy rain today caused traffic jams and water logging in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar and Narsinghpur districts where rivers were in spate.

Rain water entered several low-lying areas in Sagar and Narsinghpur towns. Affected people were shifted to schools and choultries. A large number of 'kutcha' houses reportedly collapsed in the two towns. Several trees were uprooted in rural areas.

Thermal Power Plants Bear Extra Load As Hydel Plants Run At About 40% Capacity

Subhash Narayan NEW DELHI

AFTER ravaging the farm sector, poor rainfall now threatens to bring hydel power plants to a complete halt as most of them are running at about 40% capacity, or plant load factor, and are perilously close to a complete shutdown for want of adequate water in their reservoirs.

Surface communication at several places in Arunachal Pradesh has been disrupted following landslides triggered by torrential rain for the last couple of days.

Contrary to the preliminary estimates which indicated that the crops worth Rs 100 crore were damaged in the district due to the recent rains, the official estimates are only showing a loss of around R

The State government has decided to give Rs.7,500 as compensation for loss of each hectare of paddy crop, Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin informed the Assembly on Wednesday.