<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/44853010.cms" /><br /> India today successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable cruise missile <keyword id="275196" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nirbhay">Nirbhay</keyword>, which means fearless, from the <keyword id="2561552" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Integrated-Missile-Test-Range">Integrated Missile Test Range</keyword> located in <keyword id="58580" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandipur">Chandipur</keyword>, Odisha. <br />

	<br /> The state-of-the-art missile, which has been developed by the <keyword id="152819" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Defence-Research-and-Development-Organisation">Defence Research and Development Organisation</keyword> (<keyword id="6355142" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="DRDO">DRDO</keyword>), is India's answer to America's Tomahawk and Pakistan's Babur. The launch comes days after <keyword id="2548117" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cyclone-Hudhud">Cyclone Hudhud</keyword> hit the state's coastal region. <br /><br />

	The Nirbhay is very manoeuvrable and can fly at tree-top level, making it difficult to detect on radar. Notably, the missile strikes targets located more than 700 km away, making India the capable to strike deep into enemy territory.
<br /><br />

	It is worth noting that once India's own satellite navigation fleet is fully deployed, cruise missiles will start using signals from the country's space system.
<br /><br /> The Nirbhay has a wing and pronounced tail fins unlike other ballistic missiles like the <keyword id="6472480" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Agni">Agni</keyword>. It launches like a missile and in early flight the small wings get deployed. The sub-sonic missile then flies like an aircraft and can even hover near the target. <br /><br />

	During its first flight on March 12, 2013, the Nirbhay had to be terminated because as it deviated from its course after launch. As the missile went off its flight trajectory, its engine was cut off to bring it down to ensure coastal safety. Then, the Nirbhay fell near the coast and the DRDO said no one was injured.
<br /><br />

	This missile also gives India the capacity to launch different kinds of payloads at different ranges from various platforms at a very low cost.<br />
	(Image: DRDO)


India Successfully Test-fires N-capable Cruise Missile Nirbhay

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/44846187.cms" /><br /> <keyword id="36530" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="vishakhapatnam">Vishakhapatnam</keyword> airport, which was battered by <keyword id="2548117" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cyclone-Hudhud">cyclone Hudhud</keyword> on Sunday, will resume commercial operations today, Union Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju said. This testifies that life in the city is now limping back to normalcy with essential supplies and public transportation services getting restored.<br />
<br />
Restoring airport operations in the city seems to be of prime importance. The civil aviation minister said,  “Our immediate focus is on restoration of the airport. However, there will be some minor inconveniences to the passengers during this process.”<br />
<br />
The civil aviation minister has announced several other steps for airport restoration such as: VIP lounge to be temporarily allocated to the physically-challenged and senior citizens, and 19 more flights from various carriers to be facilitated in a month to handle international flights from November.<br />
<br />
People can expect the Vishakhaptnam airport to be fully-functional in three months.<br />
<br />
We hope that life of people affected from the cyclone will get back on track soon. However, for this interim relief assistance of Rs 1,000 crore, which was announced  Prime Minister Modi two-days back, should reach the affected people. <br />


Vishakhapatnam Airport To Resume Commercial Operations Today

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/44821677.cms" /><br />
Cyclone-hit Visakhapatnam is now limping back to normalcy as essential supplies and public transportation services get restored.<br /> Electricity and communication network had collapsed due to the devastation caused by <keyword id="2548117" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cyclone-Hudhud">cyclone Hudhud</keyword> that struck on Sunday.<br />
<br /> The <keyword id="37102" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Andhra-Pradesh">Andhra Pradesh</keyword> government is making efforts to restore electricity supply. Chief Minister N <keyword id="6354350" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Chandrababu-Naidu">Chandrababu Naidu</keyword>, who is in the city to monitor relief operations, has asked officials to supply a package of food items like rice, dal, edible oil and vegetables to the cyclone-hit people.<br />
<br />
Following reports that some traders are trying to take advantage of the situation by selling various essential items at inflated prices, Naidu has assured that vegetables would be provided at a low price.<br />
<br /> Vegetables and milk are now being sent to <keyword id="36530" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="vishakhapatnam">Vishakhapatnam</keyword> uprooted trees and other debris from the roads have been removed, officials said.<br />
The state-run Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), a crucial mode of public transportation in the state, have resumed.<br />
<br />
Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced an interim relief of Rs 1,000 crore to Andhra Pradesh.<br />


Life Returns To Normal In Visakhapatnam

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/44813879.cms" /><br /> After <keyword id="2548117" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cyclone-Hudhud">cyclone Hudhud</keyword> whipped the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, <keyword id="71" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Prime-Minister">Prime Minister</keyword> <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> today aerially reviewed the devastation along with Chief Minister <keyword id="6354350" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrababu-Naidu">Chandrababu Naidu</keyword>. <br />
	The Prime Minister announced an interim relief assistance of Rs 1,000 crore to Andhra Pradesh. “I want to announce an interim assistance of Rs 1,000 crore to Andhra Pradesh. After a detailed survey, we will give whatever further assistance is required,” he said. 
<br /><br />

	However, Modi has not yet made any relief announcement for Odisha, where the cyclone impact was less severe as compared to Andhra Pradesh.
<br /><br />

	Modi also assured the state governments of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh that the central government will extend all possible help to them. To quickly restore the life to normal, the Prime Minister has asked restoration of electricity supply, water connection and communication to be done on priority.
<br /><br />

	Praising the efforts taken by the Indian Meterological Department, Narendra Modi said that the technology used by them was helpful in tackling the crisis.
<br /><br />

	In order to get the real picture of the damage done by cyclone Hudhud, the Prime Minsiter also announced: “A detailed survey will soon be done to assess the loss of property. A survey to gauge the extent of damage to the agricultural property will also be done.” 

	(Image: Press Information Bureau)


PM Narendra Modi Announces Rs 1,000 crore Relief For Hudhud-affected Areas in Andhra Pradesh

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/543c39e16bb3f72868e99b23-1200-858/rtr49twb.jpg" border="0" alt="Hudhud_1"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>At least 22 people are dead in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Hudhud, which ripped through India's eastern coast Sunday and Monday with wind speeds over 100 miles per hour. The <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cyclone-Hudhuds-toll-mounts-to-22-Visakhaptanam-is-a-city-in-ruins/articleshow/44807185.cms">Times of India reports</a> that 15 people were killed in the city of Visakhapatnam, six in Vizianagaram, and one in Srikakulam, with at least 6,600 houses destroyed.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/543c3ed5eab8ea25106f384a-1200-924/rtr49ylr.jpg" border="0" alt="Hudhud_2"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/R Narendra</span></p><p class="caption">These people are standing in line for petrol after Hudhud passed through Visakhapatnam.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left" style="width:401px"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/543c49ebeab8eaa33d6f3846-900-1175/hudhud5.jpg" border="0" alt="Hudhud_5" width="401" height="524"><p class="source"><span>NASA</span></p><p class="caption">Cyclone HudHud makes landfall Oct. 12, 2014.</p></img></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>At least 400,000 people are reported to have evacuated their homes before the storm struck, according to Indian media. <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cyclone-Hudhuds-toll-mounts-to-22-Visakhaptanam-is-a-city-in-ruins/articleshow/44807185.cms">Local reports</a> from Visakhapatnam describe hospitals packed with displaced people, in addition to widespread power outages and skyrocketing prices for things like food and gasoline.</p>
<p>At its peak, Hudhud reached the equivalent of a category 4 hurricane, with wind speeds up to <a href="http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/tropical-cyclone-hudhud-india-bay-bengal-20141008">130 miles per hour.</a> At landfall, the cyclone was visible from space as a massive, swirling storm, seen on the left.</p>
<p>North India's cyclone season tends to fall between April and December. A handful of storms had already formed earlier in this year's season, including several depressions and a cyclone dubbed Nanauk, which formed in early June. However, even Nanauk's wind speeds never exceeded <a href="http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/na201402.html">65 miles per hour</a>, making Hudhud the worst of the bunch by far.</p>
<p>The weakening storm has moved inland now, as cleanup efforts get under way in the affected areas.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/543c47af69bedd585d9ac6d7-1200-858/rtr49ym2.jpg" border="0" alt="Hudhud_4"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/R Narendra</span></p><p class="caption"> People stand on boats damaged by strong winds caused by Cyclone Hudhud in the southern Indian city of Visakhapatnam October 13, 2014.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Reports from social media further expand on the damage, with Twitter users posting images of the <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Vizag-airport-badly-hit-by-Hudhud-wont-be-operational-soon/articleshow/44799820.cms">badly damaged</a> Visakhapatnam airport, shown below:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Waiting lounge of Vizag Airport, looks like it has been hit by a bomb <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HudHud?src=hash">#HudHud</a> <a href="http://t.co/FeegXOeqbS">pic.twitter.com/FeegXOeqbS</a></p>
- Ratnakar Sadasyula (@ScorpiusMaximus) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScorpiusMaximus/status/521523080313589760">October 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
<p>The disaster comes almost exactly a year after last October's Tropical Cyclone Phailin made landfall in the Indian state of Odisha, killing at least 44 people and forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/543c4432ecad0412767e37cb-1200-800/ap652528411441.jpg" border="0" alt="Hudhud_3"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Biswaranjan Rout</span></p><p class="caption">People run for cover as Cyclone Hudhud hits Gopalpur, Odisha.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p>

Cyclone Hudhud Flattens Buildings And Kills At Least 22 People In India

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/48810185.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /><br />
<br />
The 2015 edition of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=united+nations">United Nations</a> <keyword id="6361617" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Climate-Change">Climate Change</keyword> Conference (COP 21) is scheduled to be held in Paris, France. The conference which starts on 30<sup>th</sup> November, becomes all the more significant considering the objective is to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, from all nations of the world.<br />
<br /> The importance of this conference is not lost on <keyword id="1941434" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Yeb-Sano">Yeb Sano</keyword>, who is walking from his hometown to Paris to attend the conference.<br />
<br /> Sano, the <keyword id="3750" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Philippines">Philippines</keyword> <keyword id="297497" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="climate-commissioner">Climate Commissioner</keyword> made headlines in 2013 during the Warsaw Climate meeting when he was moved to tears due to the lethargy in the negotiating hall.<br />
<br />
His breakdown came at the heels of his country experiencing the horrors of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Heres-What-Typhoon-Haiyan-Means-For-The-Philippine-Economy/articleshow/25687732.cms">Typhoon Haiyan</a>, which had left a trail of devastation across his hometown Tacloban, and had affected everyone he knew. He himself wasn’t aware if his family was still alive.<br />
<br />
As a demonstration of his personal anguish, he fasted until the end of that meeting, triggering a worldwide movement #FastForTheClimate, inspiring thousands to follow his example.<br />
<br />
Sano started his journey from Philippines to Paris in May as a part of the 'People's Pilgrimage'. He travelled to Australia, and to hurricane-ravaged Vanuatu in the Pacific, meeting and walking in pilgrimage with holy men and women, all determined to remind us to do all we can to protect this precious planet.<br />
<br />
His pilgrimage also brought him to India last month due to the efforts of the Clean Kumbh Initiative by the Bhumi Project. While here, he visited the survivors of Cyclone HudHud, met holy leaders in Varanasi and Kumbh and also made his way to one of India’s flagship solar farms.<br />
<br />
At Nashik, he offered prayers along millions of worshippers, interacted with religious heads, addressed the media, all with the aim of raising awareness for climate change and quick action in the near future<br />
<br />
Sano’s two-week stay in India also saw him making mini-pilgrimages to various locations while meeting religious and environmental leaders who’re doing their bit to ensure issues regarding climate change are addressed.<br />
<br />
This month, he is set to participate in a bicycle pilgrimage in Africa, continue his pilgrimage in North America and then depart from the Vatican City on 30 September to walk through Italy, Switzerland and France to Paris with a group of 26 fellow pilgrims, arriving just in time for the first day of the UN conference.<br />
<br />
Sano is of the belief that as we, humans are the ones who were behind the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Climatechange-World-looks-at-India-but-wheres-India-looking/articleshow/47082272.cms">climate change</a>, hence we should also be the very ones solving the crisis.<br />
<br />
To know more about his pilgrimage log on to www.peoplespilgrimage.org<br />
<br />
Image credit: @YebSano<br />
<br />
<br />



The People's Pilgrimage: Meet the man who’s walking
from Philippines to Paris

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/543bf4e3ecad041c39a743ec-1200-2400/moon_mars.jpg" border="0" alt="NASA earth and mars from moon"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84539&amp;src=eorss-iotd">NASA / Goddard / Arizona State University</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Normally, the <a href="http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/">Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter</a> (LRO) has its cameras fixed on the surface of the Moon. But on May 24, 2014, flight engineers directed the spacecraft to turn back for a quick look at Earth and one of our closest planetary neighbors - Mars.</p>
<p>When the spacecraft's <a href="http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/about">LROC camera</a> captured this image, Earth was about 376,687 kilometers (234,062 miles) away from LRO and Mars was 112.5 million kilometers away. In other words, Mars was about 300 times farther from the Moon than the Earth. (Note: Mars has been <a href="http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/rbf/HIPR2/stretch.htm">contrast-stretched</a> in order to improve its visibility.)</p>
<p>This view of Earth includes several cloud patterns that satellites observe frequently. A line of rain and thunderstorms are visible in a band near the equator, an area known as the <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=703">Intertropical Convergence Zone.</a> To the north, off the west coast of North Africa, notice the banks of <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=43795">closed-cell clouds</a> over the Atlantic Ocean. Moving into the high latitudes, we see <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80581">comma-shaped cloud patterns</a> caused by extra-tropical cyclones.</p>
<p>LROC actually consists of two narrow-angle cameras. Images taken by these cameras are built from rows of <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Glossary/?xref=pixel">pixels</a> acquired one after another, and then the left and right images are mosaicked together to make a complete pair. If the spacecraft was not moving, the rows of pixels would image the same area over and over; so it is the spacecraft motion, combined with fine-tuning of the camera exposure time, that enabled the final image.</p>
<p>Capturing this image required some advance planning. LRO's team took <a href="http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/815">practice images</a> of Mars on May 8, 2014, to refine their timing and camera settings. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/543bf8e4eab8eacc76bc8219-1200-1143/moon_mars-1-1.jpg" border="0" alt="moon_mars 1"><p class="source"><span>NASA/Goddard/Arizona State/Jennifer Welsh</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><strong><em>References</em></strong></p>
<p><em>Arizona State University (2014, October 2) <a href="http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/814">Two-Planet Perspective from Lunar Orbit.</a> Accessed October 10, 2014.</em></p>
<p><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (2014, October 2) <a href="http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/">Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.</a> Accessed October 10, 2014.</em></p>
<p class="credit"><em><a href="http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/814">Image</a> courtesy NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University. Caption by Adam Voiland.</em></p>
<dl><dt><em>Instrument(s): </em><em>LRO - NAC</em></dt></dl><div class="feed-footer-wrapper"><div class="feed-footer">

  <h3>More from NASA Earth Observatory:</h3>

  <ul>
       <li>
     <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84536&amp;src=eorss-iotd">Egmont National Park, New Zealand</a>
    </li>
       <li>
     <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=84542&amp;src=eorss-nh">The Legacy of Nimbus</a>
    </li>
       <li>
     <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=84533&amp;src=eorss-nh">Cyclone Hudhud</a>
    </li>
       <li>
     <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=84530&amp;src=eorss-nh">Haze over Eastern China</a>
    </li>
       <li>
     <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=84510&amp;src=eorss-nh">Typhoon Phanfone Nears Japan</a>
    </li>
     </ul>
 </div></div>

This Fantastic Picture Shows What The Earth And Mars Look Like From The Moon

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/543f8381eab8ea5240f582cd-1200-924/typhone-hayan.jpg?maxX=800" border="0" alt="Typhone Hayan" width="800"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Bullit Marquez</span></p><p class="caption">Typhoon Haiyan, in the Philippines, took the deadliest toll: almost 8,000 people died.</p></img></div><p></p></div>Geneva (AFP) - Natural disasters claimed over 22,000 lives last year, with Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines the deadliest of all, the Red Cross said Thursday.</p>
<p>In its annual report on disasters, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned that the outlook was bleak.</p>
<p>"Climate change is leading to damaged livelihoods and increased vulnerabilities. Natural hazards are also becoming more frequent and extreme," said IFRC head Elhadj As Sy.</p>
<p>"The resulting stresses on social, physical and economic systems are shifting the world into a new era of risk," he added.</p>
<p>Haiyan, which struck in November 2013, slammed a massive storm surge into the city of Tacloban and surrounding communities in the eastern province of Leyte.</p>
<p>At least 7,986 perished, the IFRC said.</p>
<p>The next-deadliest disaster was the June 2013 monsoon flooding in India, which killed 6,054 people.</p>
<p>Last year's overall natural disaster death toll was 22,452, the IFRC said.</p>
<p>That was well under the 2004-2013 average of 97,954 per year.</p>
<p>It was also far below the decade's peak year, 2004, when 242,829 people perished, mostly in the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.</p>
<p>The number of people affected by disasters in 2013 -- almost 100 million, overwhelmingly in Asia -- was also the lowest in a decade.</p>
<p>But the report's lead editor Terry Cannon said tolls were only part of the story.</p>
<p>"Major hazards and disasters are distributed randomly. So comparing year-on-year in a data set like this is not very useful," he said.</p>
<p>What tolls can reveal, however, is a country's ability to head off catastrophe.</p>
<p>For example, 36 people died when Cyclone Phailin hit India in October 2013.</p>
<p>Thousands of lives were saved thanks to a widely-praised risk reduction programme which included pre-planned evacuation, repeated this week when Cyclone Hudhud struck.</p>
<p><strong>More people in harm's way</strong></p>
<p>Rapid economic shifts, population growth and urbanization in developing nations are putting more people in harm's way, while experts warn that climate change driven by emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases is causing more frequent extreme weather events.</p>
<p>Besides thinking up risk reduction plans, governments and aid agencies need to make more effort to understand the lives of people in danger zones, said Cannon.</p>
<p>"The vast majority of people do not die or suffer in disasters. They suffer because of the problems of everyday life, whether it's bad water, poor nutrition, or bad health," he said.</p>
<p>"People don't give priority to severe hazards. They will highlight their day-to-day problems, health, malaria, water supply, not enough food, not enough jobs," he added.</p>
<p>The report said that estimated economic damage in 2013, at $119 billion, was the fourth-lowest in a decade.</p>
<p>However, financial totals do not show the full picture either.</p>
<p>Developed countries traditionally see the most expensive single disasters in terms of losses and insurance claims, given their wealthier economies and extensive insurance penetration.</p>
<p>In 2011, for example, when Japan was battered by a massive earthquake and tsunami, estimated global disaster losses rocketed to $391 billion.</p>
<p>The situation in poorer countries is less clear, notably if a disaster does not strike industrial areas, and because insurance coverage is far less widespread.</p>
<p>"The damage to things that are valued in dollars can be very small. What you have to measure is the loss of livelihoods, of millions of people's livelihoods, fishing boats, their nets, their villages, their houses," said Cannon.</p>
<p>"They are not measured in dollar terms, they're not insured, they're not even counted in the international statistics," he said. </p>

You Searched For "Cyclone Hudhud" and got 8 results

India Successfully Test-fires N-capable Cruise Missile Nirbhay

BI India Bureau

Vishakhapatnam Airport To Resume Commercial Operations Today

Manish Kumar

Life Returns To Normal In Visakhapatnam

BI India Bureau

PM Narendra Modi Announces Rs 1,000 crore Relief For Hudhud-affected Areas in Andhra Pradesh

BI India Bureau

Cyclone Hudhud Flattens Buildings And Kills At Least 22 People In India

Chelsea Harvey

The People's Pilgrimage: Meet the man who’s walking from Philippines to Paris

Poulomi Das

This Fantastic Picture Shows What The Earth And Mars Look Like From The Moon

NASA Earth Observatory

There Were 22,000 People Killed By Natural Disasters In 2013, The Lowest In A Decade

AFP