India

Several killed as earthquake strikes India, Nepal Fourteen deaths were reported in India with seven others in Nepal, according to each nation's Home Ministry. More than 90 have been injured in India. The quake struck the northern Indian state of Sikkim, where seven people died, causing damage in West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. Five deaths were reported in West Bengal and two others in Bihar. The dead include three in Nepal's capital of Kathmandu, who died when a wall of the British embassy collapsed, according to Kedar Rijal, Kathmandu police chief. They included an 8-year-old girl, her father and a third person. The British Foreign Office confirmed a "compound perimeter wall" of the embassy collapsed, adding that its ambassador has met with the community and offered condolences. Police said in a statement that two more people died in the Nepalese town of Dhara, about 217 miles east of Kathmandu. About a dozen people were injured when they jumped … [Read more...] about Deaths from quake rise in India and Nepal

Thirty-six people in northern India are dead and another 28 are injured following a collision between a bus and a vehicle carrying mourners from a funeral, an official news agency reported on December 26. The crash occurred late on December 25 outside Badaun, in Uttar Pradesh state, District Magistrate Amit Gupta said. The state government bus collided with a vehicle, known as a matador that was transporting people back from a ceremony marking the last rites of a relative, Badaun police Superintendent D.K. Chaudhary said. Thirty-four people were pronounced dead soon after the crash, while five of the 30 hurt were seriously wounded, officials said. Two people died of their injuries early on Sunday. Details of the accident were not available. CNN … [Read more...] about 36 dead after bus collides with vehicle carrying mourners in India

A passenger train has hit a stationary train in southern India, killing at least seven people, police say. They say the collision happened at Arrakkonam station, near Madras (Chennai). Some 50 people were injured in the incident, India's TV channels say. It was not immediately known how many people were on board the two trains. Emergency teams have been sent to the accident site. The official said that five bodies had already been recovered. Some people are still believed to be trapped in the carriages, and the authorities warn the death toll may rise further. Accidents are common on the state-owned Indian railway, an immense network connecting every corner of the vast country. It operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries some 18 million passengers every day. BBC … [Read more...] about India trains in deadly collision near Madras

Source: VOVNEWS The leaders of Afghanistan and India have signed a strategic partnership agreement during a visit by President Hamid Karzai to Delhi. Mr Karzai on October 4 met Indian PM Manmohan Singh, who said violence in Afghanistan was undermining security in South Asia. He also said that India would "stand by Afghanistan" when foreign troops withdraw from the country in 2014. Mr Karzai's visit follows a series of attacks which have damaged ties between Kabul and India's rival, Pakistan. India is a major player in Afghanistan and has already pledged US$2 billion in assistance. At a press conference in Delhi, Mr Singh said that the strategic partnership between the two countries will create an "institutional framework" so that India can help in Afghan "capacity building" in the areas of education, development and people-to-people contacts. President Karzai said that he was "grateful" for India's help as his country strives to overcome "violence and extremist activities". In his … [Read more...] about Afghanistan and India sign ‘strategic partnership’