As rains intensified in Keralam, triggering mudslides, landslides and flash floods that claimed five lives and left two persons missing, Chief Minister V D Satheesan ordered an hourly assessment of the situation. (Photo/PTI)The India Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert for six Kerala districts — Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam and Thrissur — valid from 7 am on Monday, with heavy to very heavy rainfall and thunderstorms with surface winds of up to 40 kmph likely at isolated places. Chief Minister VD Satheesan has directed the state’s rain situation to be assessed hourly, and SMS alerts have been issued in Idukki and Kottayam districts. Collectors in both districts have been directed to assess conditions and initiate evacuation if needed. On Sunday, four people were killed in separate landslip incidents in Idukki and Kottayam, while heavy rain triggered a flash flood on the Kottapuzha River in Nilambur, Malappuram, sweeping away six people. (PTI)If you are just joining us, this is The Indian Express Realtime breaking news blog – where we bring you the latest news updates of the day in real time. Scan the top headlines of the day here, or keep scrolling to see the latest updates stream in.Express exclusive: Chinese bank in Mumbai flagged after Doklam — then cleared a $500mn Vedanta loanAn Indian Express investigation has found that the Indian branch of ICBC, China’s largest state-owned bank, was placed on a watchlist by financial regulators in the aftermath of the 2017 Doklam standoff — a surveillance step triggered by the geopolitical crisis 2,000 km away. Despite being on the watchlist, the bank subsequently cleared a $500 million loan to Vedanta, a transaction that regulators later flagged — raising questions about how geopolitical risk assessments translate into financial oversight at foreign-owned institutions operating in India.Story continues below this adIndia’s new sulphur crisis: Import prices treble as Russia and West Asia energy sites are hitSulphur import prices have more than trebled over the past year as attacks on energy infrastructure in Russia and West Asia disrupt global supply chains — a supply shock with direct consequences for India’s fertiliser sector and food prices, since sulphur is a critical input for superphosphate and other agricultural inputs.Tata Trusts challenge Chandrasekaran’s ‘casting vote’ reappointmentTata Trusts have challenged N Chandrasekaran’s use of a casting vote to reappoint himself as chairman of Tata Sons — a governance dispute that has brought the boardroom feud between the Tata group’s founding trusts and its professional leadership into open confrontation, with significant implications for the group’s long-term succession structure.Bihar floods: ‘Whatever we earn, the Ganga takes it away’Survivors in Bhagalpur’s flood relief camps describe a cycle of loss so relentless it has become the rhythm of their lives — planting, earning, flooding, losing — a ground report from Bihar’s most flood-battered districts where the Ganga’s annual inundation is no longer a disaster but a condition of existence.India-origin woman elected to Swedish ParliamentNila Vikhe Patil, niece of Maharashtra minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, has been elected to the Swedish Parliament — a first for the family and a rare instance of the Indian diaspora’s second generation making an entry into European national legislatures.Live UpdatesSep 21, 2026 09:31 AM ISTOrange alert for six Kerala districts; four dead in rain incidentsThe India Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert for six Kerala districts — Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam and Thrissur — valid from 7 am on Monday, with heavy to very heavy rainfall and thunderstorms with surface winds of up to 40 kmph likely at isolated places. Chief Minister VD Satheesan has directed the state’s rain situation to be assessed hourly, and SMS alerts have been issued in Idukki and Kottayam districts. Collectors in both districts have been directed to assess conditions and initiate evacuation if needed. On Sunday, four people were killed in separate landslip incidents in Idukki and Kottayam, while heavy rain triggered a flash flood on the Kottapuzha River in Nilambur, Malappuram, sweeping away six people.© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd