Kathmandu, Apr 27 (PTI) Rescue teams today deployed specially trained dogs from India, France and Spain for locating victims buried under tonnes of debris following the devastating earthquake in Nepal.

A team of 15 personnel and six dogs were brought in Nepal from France and Spain to assist in the rescue operations.

“These dogs have a vital role in identifying victims buried under the debris,” said Jose Castello, a volunteer with Intervention Ayuda Emergencical (IAE).

Christophe Sira, Central Seismological Bureau member of Pompiers d’urgence, said that the breeds of dogs who arrived for the rescue operations are Golden Retriever and German Shepherd.

Prominent organisations like Red Cross International is among other groups assisting in the rescue operations.

Dogs were flown in well built cages so that they don’t feel cramped during the journey.

India has sent a team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Dogs are also part of the entourage to help locate victims buried under the debris.

A state of emergency has been declared in Nepal after a powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck the country on Saturday followed by numerous aftershocks. Over 3,600 people have been killed and nearly 7,000 others injured in the tragedy.

New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI) The delay in the procurement process has adversely “impacted” operational preparedness of armed forces and has proved “disadvantageous” to the interest of the forces, a Parliamentary panel report stated today.

“The committee notes that some of the critical shortages and vintage of equipment include artillery guns, infantry weapons, sights and fire control and engineering equipment, air defence equipment and armoured recovery vehicles.

“The reasons given by the Ministry (of Defence) for the shortage are inadequate production capacities of ordinance factories, defence public sector undertakings as well as procurement process delays,” the Standing Committee on Defence said in its report.

“The committee are of the view that delay in the procurement process has adversely impacted Operational Preparedness of the services, and has also proved disadvantageous to the interest of the forces, which ultimately lead to the obsolescence of equipment in the Army,” the report said.

Noting that the Committee failed to understand the reasons of holding vintage equipment with the forces for such a long time as with each passing year vintage equipment degenerates, the Committee said, “this makes availability of ammunition as well as spares difficult to find from the original equipment maker (OEM) sources.”

“Thus non-accessibility to ammunition and spares may some times lead to dangerous situation at the time of urgent necessity like war,” the report stated.

The committee recommended that the critical shortages should be made up at the earliest and the proclivity of passing the buck to Ordinance Factories/Defence Public Sector Undertakings should be “stopped”.

“An action plan for capital acquisition should also be drawn to make the army a fighting fit force,” the panel said.

New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI) Tihar inmates were today treated to melodious classical ragas played on flute by Grammy nominee Pt Ronu Majumdar in an inaugural session of monthly “Morning Ragas”.

Almost two thousand inmates attended over an hour-long recital by Majumdar that started with Rag Ahir Bhairav, followed by a Pahari dhun and two popular compositions including Gadhiji’s favorite “Vaishnav Jan” and Tagore’s “Ekla Chalo”.

He was accompanied by Kalpesh Sachala on the flute and Ustad Akram Khan on the tabla.

Morning Ragas initiative by Director General (Prison) Alok Kumar Verma is aimed at augmenting rehabilitation process of the inmates through music, in collaboration with Legends of India, a registered society promoting Indian art forms, said Tihar PRO Mukesh Prasad.

The musical jugalbandi of flute and tabla mesmerized and inspired the inmates and some of them later expressed their desire to learn music, he said.

Verma has asked the prison officials to find out ways and means to introduce music classes in the prison. The Legends of India has also promised to send back an instructor to give music lessons to interested inmates.

Announcing that ‘Morning Ragas’ will be a monthly feature, Verma said “Our efforts will help inmates guide themselves bringing in positivity into their lives and to rejuvenate them.”

The musical concert, a new chapter in the history of Tihar, is intended to release the inmates from the tyranny of conscious thought and heal them. Music directly deals with the root causes of crime, violence, and addiction and offers a practical approach to emotional growth, Prasad said.

PTI

Nepal

New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI) The death toll in India from Saturday’s monster earthquake today shot up to 72 even as New Delhi ramped up relief and rescue efforts in Nepal to provide succour to the nation devastated by the temblor.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh informed the Lok Sabha that the toll in the country has climbed up to 72 with 56 deaths reported in Bihar, 12 in UP, three in West Bengal and one in Rajasthan.

Enumerating the mammoth task undertaken by India to mitigate the sufferings of the Nepalese people under ‘Operation Maitri’, Singh said 10 NDRF teams are already in that country and six more on their way. An engineering task force and 18 medical units have also been rushed. An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle has also been dispatched to assess the gigantic losses suffered by the landlocked nation.

Over 2500 Indians have been evacuated from quake-hit Nepal so far and free visas are being given to foreigners stranded there who want to come to India.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, comprising about 450 trained personnel, have fanned across areas like Seetapaila, Maharajganj, Maheshwari and Gangabhajat, about 10-15 kms from the Kathmandu valley.

The force, till now, has rescued 10 people and retrieved 46 bodies from under the rubble of buildings brought down by the quake on Saturday and a string of aftershocks thereafter.

NDRF Director General (DG) O P Singh, who is camping in the capital city of Kathmandu since yesterday, said a team of his men has also been deployed at the Tribhuvan international airport to assist Indian Embassy officials in the air evacuation of stranded Indians.

“Our main priority is to go for as many rescue operations as we can. Last night our operations got hit as there were incessant rains and aftershocks of the quake. But, today morning we have started full-fledged operations as the day is sunny and there are no rains,” Singh said.
PTI

The death toll till Monday is 3,700. This figure is only for areas that are within contact. Remote areas which are out of reach for rescue operations are not accounted for.

The injured so far is about 6500. Due to fear people have been living outside their homes in open areas where possible. Due to rain last night people were found sleeping in their cars also.

People living in high altitudes of the mountain areas are totally devastated with difficulties to cope with disasters.The government authorities in these areas have relayed desperate need of help.

Rescue operations and medical services have been so outstretched that it is almost reaching breaking point. Messages for rescue operations have been coming from all over Nepal with teams not knowing where and which to attend.

Unicef said that nearly one million children have been “severely affected” by the disaster and warned of an increased risk of waterborne and infectious diseases.

“What we know that at this point is there are nearly a million children who are severely affected. Our biggest concern for them right now is going to be access to clean water and sanitation, we know that water and food is running out,” Unicef’s Christopher Tidey said.

Hospital beds in the capital, Kathmandu, are already full, forcing other sick and injured people to seek makeshift treatment in the street alongside thousands of displaced survivors whose homes were destroyed or are in imminent danger of collapse after being weakened by the M7.8 quake.

On Mount Everest, the evacuation began on Monday of hundreds of climbers trapped after a huge avalanche flattened the base camp, killing 17 and injuring 61 in the worst disaster to hit the mountain. The death toll on the mountain is likely to rise as no one knows how many people were at base camp and in the vicinity.

Many of the dead are locals, making this the second year running that the sherpa and other communities have been hit hard on Everest. Only one of the major expeditions has its camp intact and it seems very unlikely anyone will be continuing any climb on the peak.

While survivors wait for aid, rescue teams are continuing the frantic search for survivors, despite being exhausted by two nights of ceaseless work.

Rescuers used their bare hands, with no protective gear or heat detectors, in their optimistic search for survivors in remains of the Dharahara tower.

The narrow alleys would stop cranes, earthmovers or diggers reaching most of the houses that have collapsed, even if the aftershocks hadn’t scared workers out of even trying, said Shyam Adhikari, the local police chief.

With so many people sleeping in the open with no power or water and downpours forecast, there were mounting fears of major food and water shortages.

“There is no electricity, no water. Our main challenge and priority is to restore electricity and water,” Dhakal at the home ministry said. “The next big challenge is the supply of food. Shopkeepers are unable to go in and open their shops. So people are facing difficulty buying food.”

New Delhi, Apr 26 (PTI) Actress Sayani Gupta, who is acting alongside Ranbir Kapoor in upcoming film “Jagga Jasoos”, says he is an effortless actor and an involved co-star.

Sayani, a relatively new actress has been appreciated for her role of a blind girl in Kalki Koechlin-starrer “Margarita, With A Straw”. She said she had an amazing experience shooting with Ranbir for the Anurag Basu-directed film, which also stars the actor’s rumoured girlfriend Katrina Kaif.

“Ranbir is outstanding. I love him as an actor. I think he is the most brilliant actor in the current generation. He is very effortless. He has a lot of method but you can never see his method. He is constantly thinking bout what he is doing, he is sitting in a corner and completely focused,” Sayani told PTI.

The actress said working with the “Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani” star was like a party.

“He was the first actor I met, who knew not only his continuity but his co-actor and the whole scene’s continuity as well. He would even remember which filter was used in the last day’s scene. He is a lot of fun. He is cracking jokes and it is like a party with him,” she said.

Though Sayani has shot only two scenes with Katrina, the actress said she gelled with the “Bang Bang!” star.

“Katrina is very sweet. Although I have shot for only two scenes with her, she was nice to me. In the middle of the shoot, we would discuss funny things and she carries herself really well, with a lot of dignity which I really liked. She is completely gorgeous to look at,” she said.

When asked about her role in the movie, Sayani said, “I am the third wheel in the story. I am not playing Ranbir’s love interest in the film, unfortunately. Eventually if Anurag feels that it could be love, he might write it like that but not yet.

New Delhi, Apr 26 (PTI) Days after government cleared a proposal to lower to 16 years the age to try juveniles as adults in heinous crimes, the move has received kudos from some quarters but child rights activists and others are of the view that it is an undesirable and a poorly conceived idea.

Those who support the idea do so with a caution that it will succeed if several safeguards, including juveniles’ rehabilitation by providing them proper education, food and shelter, are taken care of.

However, C Raj Kumar, vice chancellor of O P Jindal Global University in Haryana, and child rights activist and lawyer Ananth Kumar Asthana took a diametrically opposite view saying tough provisions for juveniles in conflict with law have already failed in several countries and the real problem is not being addressed.

“Tough law (for juveniles) has already failed in several countries and is being amended,” Asthana said.

His view was echoed by Raj Kumar, also a rights activist, who said, “By not addressing the real problem in the society and only by lowering the age, we are shifting blame on the children.”

Differing with them were noted senior criminal lawyer K T S Tulsi and another senior counsel H S Phoolka who said with change in law, juveniles in conflict with law will come to know that they cannot be let off easily.

“Criminal gangs take the advantage of this age criteria and it is the child who gets exploited by these gangs. Since the inception of this law, involvement of the children in crime has increased by around 300 per cent,” Tulsi said.

The caution in welcoming the new proposal was vivid when Phoolka said government should take care that juveniles in the age group of 16 to 18 years involved in heinous crimes like rape and murder should be kept away from the death penalty.

“The blanket implementation of IPC for the heinous crimes will not be a welcome idea. There needs to be certain safeguards, like no death penalty will be awarded to such children. But above all, JJB Act first needs to be implemented properly,” he said. .

New Delhi, April 26 (PTI) Government detected a whopping over Rs 7,800 crore of illegal monies within the country and abroad during 2013-14 as the elite Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) found all-time high cases of suspicious transactions in the country’s economic channels.

As per a latest report prepared by the Finance Ministry, the FIU’s action led to the “detection of unaccounted income of Rs 7,078 crore by the Income Tax department while the Customs and Service Tax departments detected evasion of Rs 750 crore” during the said period.

After the premier technical snoop wing under the Finance Ministry processed country-wide Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) it obtained from various financial institutions, the report said, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also “detected proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 20 crore and seized assets to the tune of Rs 17 crore.”

The report, accessed by PTI, said as a result of this electronic intelligence generated by FIU, the “I-T department seized assets worth Rs 163 crore and the Service Tax department sealed assets worth Rs 17 crore during the same period.”

Also, as part of the same action the ED registered as many as 105 fresh criminal FIRs under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) apart from its regular operations against money launderers and hawala operatives in the said time period.

The total black money detected by FIU stands at Rs 7,848 crore during the last year, a senior Finmin official said who did not wish to be quoted.

The huge amount of black money could be detected during 2013-14, the official said, as the FIU witnessed an about 100 per cent jump in receiving the STRs at 61,953 dossiers as compared to a mere 31,731 STRs received by it during 2012-13.

The agency also received a total of 87,79,082 Cash Transaction Reports (CTRs), 3,01,804 Counterfeit Currency Reports (CCRs) and 80,616 Non-Profit Organisation Transaction Reports (NTRs), the latest updated report also submitted to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money, said.

STR is defined as a transaction which gives rise to a reasonable suspicion that it may involve proceeds of a crime or appears to be made in circumstances of unjustified complexity or gives reasonable grounds to suspect that it may be linked to terrorist activities.