International - The Purbottar

24 Oct

Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes Taiwan

editor0 CommentsInternationalearthquake

A strong earthquake struck northeastern Taiwan on Sunday, with residents reporting violent shaking in the capital Taipei but there were no immediate reports of widespread damage.Taiwan's central weather bureau said the quake was of magnitude 6.5 while the US Geological Survey gave a lower figure of 6.2. It hit northeastern Yilan county at 1:11 pm (0511 GMT) at a depth of 67 kilometres (42 miles). The Taipei metro was briefly closed for checks, but re-opened shortly afterwards. The state-run power operator said the grid was operating as normal, while the railway administration said it was carrying out track inspections. Taiwan…

24 Oct

Hours away from 30th birthday, Indian-origin techie dies in Mexico gang shootout

editor0 CommentsIndia, Internationalmexico

California-based Himachal Pradesh’s Anjali Ryot was only a few hours away from her 30th birthday when her life was snuffed out on Wednesday, October 20, in a shootout between two gangs in Mexico’s Tulum. In fact, she was there with her husband to celebrate her birthday. Anjali’s family in Himachal Pradesh was shattered when they were informed about her death. Her brother Ashish is now desperately trying to go to Mexico and coordinate with the authorities to bring her body to India for the last rites. He has urged the mayor of Tulum to speed up the procedure for his…

23 Oct

Hidden In Lehengas, Drugs Worth Crores Seized In Bengaluru

editor0 CommentsIndia, International

The NCB on Saturday busted yet another international narcotic smuggling racket, seizing a drugs consignment bound for Australia. Following a tipoff, the Narcotic Control Bureau team led by Amit Ghawate, seized around 3 kg of white-colored crystalline substance worth crores in Bengaluru. The white coloured substance seized is believed to be pseudoephedrine, the sale of which is banned in India. Speaking to reporters, officials said that the Australia-bound consignment was hidden in three lehengas. As per the reports of NDTV, the parcel was booked from Andhra Pradesh's Narasapuram. During the investigation, officials found that the accused, a Chennai resident used…

18 Oct

20 Hindu Homes Set On Fire In Bangladesh Days After Puja Violence: Report

editor0 CommentsInternationalbangladesh

Sixty six houses were vandalised and at least 20 homes of Hindus set on fire in Bangladesh over an alleged blasphemous social media post amid protests by the minority community against incidents of temple vandalism during the Durga Puja last week, media reports said today. The arson attack happened late on Sunday at a village about 255 km from capital city Dhaka, the bdnews24.com reported. The police rushed to a colony of fishermen as tension mounted over a rumour that a young Hindu man from the village had "dishonoured religion" in a Facebook post, the report quoted district's superintendent of…

18 Oct

Colin Powell, First Black US Secretary Of State, Dies Of Covid

editor0 CommentsCovid-19, International

Colin Powell, the first black United States’ Secretary of State and top military officer, died on Monday at the age of 84 from COVID-19 complications, his family said in a statement. "He was fully vaccinated. We want to thank the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center for their caring treatment. We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American," Mr. Powell's family said in a post on his Facebook page. As a four-star Army general, he was chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush during the 1991…

07 Oct

India to grant tourist visas to foreigners from Oct 15, foreign tourists to be allowed to visit from Nov 15

editor0 CommentsIndia, Internationalflight

India will begin granting fresh tourist visas to foreigners who enter the country via chartered flights starting from October 15, the government said on Thursday. It will also allow foreign tourists to enter the country by flights other than chartered aircraft from November 15 onwards. “MHA has decided to begin granting fresh tourist visas for foreigners coming to India through chartered flights with effect from October 15. Foreign tourists entering into India by flights other than chartered aircraft would be able to do so from November 15 on fresh tourist visas,” the government said in a statement. The government said…

03 Oct

‘I got Covishield from India’: President of the 76th UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid

editor0 CommentsInternationalCovishield

President of the 76th session of the UNGA, Abdulla Shahid, on Friday, 1 October, said that he had received the two doses of the Covishield vaccine manufactured in India. The Covishield vaccine has been developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and it is manufactured in India by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII). While speaking at his first press conference, Shahid informed that he has been inoculated with the India-manufactured Covishield vaccine, adding as have a 'large portion' of other countries across the globe. "On vaccines, that's a very technical question you have asked me. I got Covishield from India,…

30 Sep

Piyush Goyal urges U.S. firms to push for trade agreement

editor0 CommentsBusiness, India, InternationalECONOMY

India and the US should engage in a much bigger way and New Delhi is ready and willing to expand the economic partnership with America, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday. He also called for setting an ambitious bilateral trade target of $1 trillion in the next 10 years. Addressing the 4th Annual Leadership Summit of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Piyush Goyal said though a lot of effort had gone into negotiating a trade agreement between the two countries during the previous US administration, unfortunately it did not work out. The minister said India is…

30 Sep

Border incidents with China will continue till boundary agreement is reached: Army chief

editor0 CommentsIndia, InternationalArmy, chinaborder

Developments along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh have added to the ongoing legacy challenges on India’s active and disputed borders on the western and eastern front, Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Naravane said on Thursday. According to him, such incidents will continue till such time a long-term solution is reached, which is to have a boundary agreement. He also said that the unprecedented developments at the Northern Borders necessitated large scale resource mobilisation, orchestration of forces and immediate response, and all this in a Covid infested environment. Recent developments in Afghanistan “have definitely been…

26 Sep

Meet Sneha Dubey, the young diplomat hailed for her fiery response to Pakistan’s Imran Khan at UN

editor0 CommentsIndia, InternationalPAKISTAN

India again castigated Pakistan as it gave blistering retort to Prime Minister Imran Khan raking up the issue of Kashmir in his address to the UN General Assembly. India said in its response that Pakistan, where terrorists enjoy free pass, is an "arsonist" disguising itself as a "fire-fighter". Khan in his address spoke about the 2019 decision of India to abrogate Article 370 as well as the death of pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. "The worst and most pervasive form of Islamophobia now rules India," Khan said in an address, delivered by video due to Covid precautions. In…