By BETWA SHARMA

NEW DELHI —After an earthquake in Jammu and Kashmir state on May 1 left thousands of people homeless and caused 6 billion rupees in infrastructure damage, state officials said Tuesday that they are petitioning the central government for a special relief package.

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SRINAGAR, May 18 2013 (IPS) - Aadil Khan and his two siblings had been playing as usual behind their house in the village of Diver, 110 kilometres north of Kashmir’s capital, Srinagar, when they came across what they thought was a “plaything” laying on the ground. But no sooner had they picked the object up than it literally shattered their innocent lives into pieces.

TNN | May 15, 2013, 04.45 AM IST

JORHAT: The flood situation in Golaghat district worsened on Tuesday as the swelling waters of the Kakodunga, Ghiladhari and Mokrong rivers submerged many new areas.

According to reports received from the district administration, the floodwaters of these three rivers have affected 22 new villages, taking the total number of affected villages in the district to 37 in the past 24 hours.

05/14/2013 14:01 GMT

by Pratap Chakravarty

NEW DELHI, May 14, 2013 (AFP) - Indian scientists Tuesday announced a low-cost vaccine against a deadly diarrhoea-causing virus that kills some 100,000 children in the country every year.

Rotavirus, which causes severe diarrhoea, is globally responsible for some 453,000 deaths annually and is particularly dangerous in the developing world where swift health care is often out of reach.

CHF 258,670 has been allocated from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ (IFRC) Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) in delivering immediate assistance to some 10,000 beneficiaries (approximately 1,000 families). Unearmarked funds to repay DREF are encouraged.

TNN | May 11, 2013, 07.22 AM IST

PANAJI/MARGAO: At the peak of summer and as some parts of the state suffer from irregular water supply, PWD claims the situation is under control.

The current total availability of water is 546 million litres daily (MLD), which the department claims is sufficient to meet the water (domestic) requirement of the state. "We are comfortably placed except for a few places having water problems," a PWD official told TOI.

TNN | May 9, 2013, 05.40 AM IST

ITANAGAR: Disruption of surface communication in flood-hit Kurung Kumey district bordering China has severely affected rescue operations.

The rescue team has been unable to reach Sarli, a remote village in the district, even after several attempts for two days. The village has been cut off from the rest of the country due to disruption of surface communication for the last few days, DC Rajiv Tatuk said on Wednesday.

Manjiri Damle, TNN | May 7, 2013, 02.39 PM IST

PUNE: The state government has increased the spending limit of members of legislative assembly on measures to help the scarcity hit areas. Now the people's representatives can spend upto Rs 25 lakh on relief measures. Each MLA receives Rs 2 crore to be spent on development of his or her constituency. There has been a growing demand from the MLAs to release these funds for some development works in their constituencies.

TNN | May 7, 2013, 11.43 AM IST

ITANAGAR: At least six persons, including three women, died in a flashfloods triggered by incessant rain at Waru village under Sarli circle in Kurung Kumey district. The flashfloods on Saturday last also washed away several dwellings, an official report said on Monday.

The deceased have been identified as Baru Maming (11), Baru Yapi (18), Chulla Yapak (36), Sipi Tagriu (14), Chulla Lale (12) and Vataling Tatak (22).