Nepal PM Koirala to Visit India Soon to Discuss Re-Building Plans for Post-Quake Nepal

Prime Minister of Nepal Sushil Koirala is expected to visit India soon to discuss plans for rehabilitation and reconstruction following the most ravaging  earthquake in Nepal's history that shook the country and took more than 9000 lives.



"Prime Minister Koirala will soon visit India to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss matters relating to rehabilitation and reconstruction works in the country on long-term basis," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Development Prakash Man Singh told the media.

He further said that the Nepal PM has already received the invitation from India. Sing told the media that Koirala will visit India at an opportune time in the foreseeable future; he did not give an eact dat for the visit.



Sushil Koirala has been in constant contact with the Indian givernment in the wake of April 25 earthquake. The quake engulfed more than 5.00,000 houses and damaged around 8,00,000 houses.

Sushil Koirala has earlier said that the Himalayan country will need around 2 billion US dollars to reconstruct the country, which is facing the aftermats od the most grim natural calamity  its history.  

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Modi Begins his China Tour With a Visit to Terracotta Warriors Museum in Xi'an

Following his arrival in China, PM Modi went on to visit the famous Terracotta Warriors Museum in Xi'an, the home town of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Modi, who is on his three-nation-visit to China, Mongolia, and South Korea, received a warm welcome on his arrival in Xi'an earlier.

Here in Xi'an, the PM will hold talks with president XI. After that, he will go on to visit the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda and other tourist attractions in the city.  He will also receive a traditional Tang Dynasty welcome ceremony, and then he will leave for Beijing. 

After getting an official welcome ceremony in Beijing on Friday, PM Modi will hold talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Both the leaders are expected to sign a number of agreements before releasing a joint statement to the media. Modi will leave for Shanghai, the leg of his China visit, the same day.

PM Modi will hold a meeting with Chinese CEOs on Saturday, before attending an India-China business forum. Modi will then participate in a function hosted by the Indian community in China; he will thenleave for Mongolia, the second destination of his three-nation tour. 

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PM Modi will Start His Three-Nation Tour to China, Mongolia, and Korea From 14 May

India will Resolve All Its Issues with China: Rajnath Singh

India will Resolve All Its Issues with China: Rajnath Singh

Home minister of India RajnathSingh has said today that all the contentious issues with China will be resolved in a peaceful manner during PM Modi's visit to the communist nation. He quoted former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and said that friends can be changed but the neighbors cannot.

"India is one nation that believes that the whole world is family. I will try my best that the tension between China and India is lessened and I am sure that even China wants peace and hence will make efforts to achieve the same. We have not forgotten Atal ji's statement that friends can be changed but not neighbors," said the Home Minister.

Prime Minister Modi will arrive in China for his six-day, three-nation tour on 14 May. In China, he will be visiting Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an, and then leave for Mongolia.

India is expected to raise the issues like greater market access; removal of non-tariff barriers; investments in sectors such as defense; and of course, the border conflicts.  

The dragon country has already signed MoUs to set up industrial parks in India.

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PM Modi will Start His Three-Nation Tour to China, Mongolia, and Korea From 14 May

Massive Earthquake of 7.4 magnitude Hits Nepal with Epicenter Near Kathmandu

A massive earthquake of 7.4 magnitude hit Nepal today at about 12.35 pm. Tremors were  felt all across North India at around 12:40 pm.

The epicenter of today's quake is said to be near Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, which witnessed an even stronger quake of 7.9 magnitude on April 25 that decimated the hill city to pieces.

Around 8000 people were killed, while several thousands were injured and rendered homeless by the incident.  Around 50 people had died in Bihar.

Like April's earthquake, today's was also very shallow, just 10 km deep. Shallow quakes are considered  more dangerous because the amount of energy released is focused over a smaller area.

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Nepal Earthquake: Death Toll Reaches 4500, Over Eight Million Affected

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K.V. Kamath of ICICI Bank Named BRICS Bank President

ICICI bank's non-executive chairman K V Kamath has been appointed the New Development Bank president. The New Development Bank, which is worth 100 billion USD venture, is being set up by  five BRICS nations:  Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

It has been reported that the presidency of the bank for the first six years will lie with India, and after that Russia and Brazil will get a five-year term each.  

The name 'New Development Bank' is the brain child of Indian PM Narender Modi. He suggested it at the BRICS meeting in Brazil in November 2014.

The bank will basically focus at funding infrastructure projects in developing countries and is being seen as a step away from West-dominated international financial systems.

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250 Villagers Taken Captive in Chhattisgarh By the Maoist Rebels

Around 250 villagers were taken hostage in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh state yesterday night by the Maoist rebels. The hostage situation has occured on the eve of PM Modi's visit to neighboring Dantewada district.

Chief Minister Raman Singh has told the media that around 250 villagers have been taken captive by the Maoist from a few villages of Sukma district; the local administration is trying hard to get them released.

"There is no confusion...the local administration is making efforts for their release," the CM said after some conflicting claims were made by police officials on the number of villagers abducted by the left extremists.

PM Modi who visited the neighboring Dantewada district said that there is no place for violence in democracy.

"Only plough on the shoulders and not guns can bring development. And this will bring everyone to the mainstream of the country. There is no future for violence. The future is only of peaceful means."

"The birth place of Naxal movement Naxalbari has already given up this violent means. Don't get disheartened," PM said.

 

"The macabre drama of death will end," he said, referring to Maoist violence in the state, and added "a lot of people have been killed by "mad men on the path of violence".

Yesterday night, an unspecified number of Maoist guerrillas ambushed Marenga and some adjoining villages within the Tongpal police stations limits and took the poor villagers to the nearby forest.

Any news of the release of the villagers or the demand for their release has still not surfaced.

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We Know Where is Dawood Ibrahim: Rajnath Singh

We Know Where is Dawood Ibrahim: Rajnath Singh

After getting  embarrassed on the issue of the absconding terrorist and 1992 Mumbai bomb blast accused Dawood Ibrahim, the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh yesterday said that there is no confusion about his whereabouts. He said that he would soon speak about it in the Parliament.

He spoke to the media persons on the sidelines of a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) program, he said, 'There is no confusion about the man. We know where he is." He said that he wanted to give an official statement in the Parliament. He further said, "Let’s see, I might give about it on Monday at the floor of Rajya Sabha."

On Tuesday, the government had to face huge embarrassment when the Home Minister for State Hribai Prthybai Chowdhury in a written statement said that the government is not aware of the whereabouts of India's most wanted terrorist. As soon as the government finds that out, the process of extradition would be initiated.    

The Parliament saw much hullabaloo on the issue on Wednesday. The leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad accused the BJP led government at the center of tarnishing the country's image by saying that it does not know the whereabouts of Dawood.

Azad further said, "Our intelligence agencies, working all quarters of the world, are aware of his residence and whereabouts. Pakistan has been told to hand him over to India so that the legal actions can be taken against Ritabrt Banerjee, Tapan Kumar Sen, Sitaram Yechury all of CPM, and Pawan Kumar Verma of JD-U and several other members of the House urged the Home Minister to give a response on the subject. Union Home Minister for State Kiran Rijiju told the opposition that the government is keeping a close watch on the subject.

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The BJP Lambasts Hafiz Saeed for Calling Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi Innocent

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has today severely censured the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed for his statement in which Saeed said that Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi is innocent and hence remain free. The saffron party says that this confirms that the Lashkar-e-Taiba ( LeT ) chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi is the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

GVL Narasimha Rao, spokesperson of the BJP said that the innocence certificate given by one terrorist to another is quite amateurish and strange.  

He told the media, "Hafiz Saeed is himself among the dreaded terrorist that the world has already notified. And his clean certificate to Lakhvi, who was the real mastermind behind the 26/11 terror attacks, I think shows the connection and the extensive network of terrorist that pervades Pakistan as a country." "I think Hafiz Saeed has absolutely no locus standi, his certificate only goes confirms that Lakhvi is the mastermind of 26/11. If anybody had any doubt in mind, here is the proof," he added further.

The JuD supremo yesterday said that the Indian government is trying to put pressure on Pakistan through United Nations and the US to get Lakhvi behind bars. He stated that Lakhvi was entirely innocent and there is no concrete evidence to prove his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

India has raised the issue of Lakhvi's release with the UN and said that his release is the violation of the norms of the global body.

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BJP Calls for UN Intervention to Ensure LeT Commander Lakhvi's Arrest

PM Modi will Start His Three-Nation Tour to China, Mongolia, and Korea From 14 May

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on his three nation official visit to China, Mongolia, and Korea form 14 to 19 of this month. The PM will be China from 14th to 16th of this month. He will visit Xian, Beijing and Shanghai. Modi will be holding bilateral talks with China's top leadership and will also take part in cultural and business events.

Modi will also participate in an event organized by the Indian community living in China.

He will leave for Mongolia on 17 May. This is going to be the first ever visit of an Indian PM to Mongolia.  

After his Mongolia visit, the Prime Minister will leave for South Korea where he will hold talks with the top business folks of the country and try to bring business home.

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Nepal Earthquake: Death Toll Reaches 4500, Over Eight Million Affected

A government official of Nepal has said that the death toll of the quake victims has risen to cross 4500. The spokesperson of the home ministry Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said that around 8000 people have been reported injured.

The United Nations says that the massive earthquake affects around Eight million Nepalese, and 1.4 million are in serious need of food aid. 

Though, international aid has started to arrive in Nepal but there is is still a stark shortage of medical equipment, food and body bags.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook the mountain state on Saturday demolishing buildings in the capital region of Kathmandu and severely affecting the rural areas across the region.

                                

"According to initial estimations and based on the latest earthquake intensity mapping, eight million people in 39 districts have been affected, of which over two million people live in the 11 severely affected districts," a UN report states.

Water, food, medicines, and electricity are in short supply. Moreover, there is an eminent danger of outbreak of diseases.    

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Nepal Earthquake: Death Toll Reaches 3300, Heavy Rain Hampers the Rescue Operations

Nepal Earthquake: Death Toll Reaches 3300, Heavy Rain Hampers the Rescue Operations

The list of causalities in Nepal's devastating earthquake has crossed the 3300 mark today and is growing longer by every passing moment. The list of injured has crossed 6000 as fresh after-shocks and heavy rainfall has somewhat dimmed the speed of rescue operations. A number of people are supposed to be trapped under the debris of flattened buildings and structures.  

Officials are saying that five Indians, including the daughter of an Indian embassy employee, have lost their lives.  

There is no power supply in the capital city of Kathmandu at the present moment. The heavy rainfall has forced the authorities to close the airport where stranded foreign tourists are desperately waiting to go home.

Thousands of people spent the last night under the makeshift plastic tents that could hardly protect them from the pouring rain.

The fresh aftershocks yesterday triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest which had taken a toll of 22 lives. The aftershock measured 6.7 on the Richter scale was followed by another that measured 6.5.

Around 1100 people died in Kathmandu Valley alone. Mass cremations were held here with the toll rising throughout the day.

International rescue teams, including one from India, have arrived in Nepal as the country has announced a state of emergency after the quake that is the worst natural calamity in 80 years.