Govt. issues advisories to 8 coastal states and UTs over cyclone...

New Delhi: The Government on Wednesday issued advisories to eight coastal States and Union Territories over cyclone Phyan and put the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) batallions in Gujarat and Maharashtra on alert.
The movement of a depression in the central Arabian sea region since early Tuesday morning has been watched very closely by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Assessing the impact of its movement, in consultation with the IMD, Ministry of Home Affairs has sent advisories to the concerned State Governments of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Union Territories of Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep, every few hours.
Eight such advisories had been sent till Wednesday evening.
"Following the movement of this cyclonic depression and the consequential heavy rainfall caused by it, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Bns. in Maharashtra and Gujarat have been put on the alert," said an MHA release.
"Simultaneously, to meet any emergent requirement of rescue and relief, the NDRF teams comprising about 400 trained personnel with boats and other equipments, have been pre-positioned in Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Another 200 have been kept in readiness for Mumbai. Ministry of Defence has also alerted the Air Force," the release added.
The cyclonic system has, however, moved north-eastwards due to which the IMD has withdrawn the warning from the States of Gujarat and Goa. The IMD has alerted Maharashtra on the possibility of heavy rainfall in Maharashtra region, the MHA release stated.
However, the Ministries of Home Affairs and Defence have kept themselves in readiness to assist in any rescue and relief operations, if required.

Asteroid almost smacked into Earth...

London: Astronomers have revealed that the Earth had a narrow escape from a cataclysm on when an asteroid came within 8,700 miles of hitting the planet.
According to a report in The Courier-Mail, astronomers spotted the object only 15 hours before its closest approach to our planet.
Its orbit brought it 30 times nearer than the Moon, which is 463,000 kilometres (250,000 miles) away.
Although the asteroid passed within 14,484 kilometres (9,000 miles) of Earth, it measured just (7 metres) 23 ft across and wouldn't have dented the surface.
Even had it been on collision course with us, the 7 metre (23ft wide) asteroid, known as 2009 VA, is unlikely to have made much of an impact because it would probably have all but burnt up in the atmosphere.
It was picked up by the Catalina Sky Survey at the University of Arizona, then identified by the Minor Planet Centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts as a near Earth object and plotted by experts at NASA.
It was the third-closest approach on record for any asteroid that has failed to make it through our atmosphere.
Earlier, NASA scientists monitored a 30.5 metre (100ft) asteroid that passed 72,420 kilometres (45,000 miles) above our planet's surface on March 2.
An object of similar size hit Siberia in 1908, levelling 1931 kilometres (1,200 square miles) of forest.
By 2020, NASA aims to have detected most large asteroids and comets that approach the Earth.