More than 200 killed as strong quake rocks Iran-Iraq border

Agencies
November 13, 2017

Tehran, Nov 13: More than 200 people were killed and hundreds more injured when a 7.3-magnitude earthquake shook the mountainous Iran-Iraq border triggering landslides that hindered rescue efforts, officials said Monday.

The quake hit 30 kilometres (19 miles) southwest of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan at around 9.20 pm (1820 GMT) on Sunday, when many people would have been at home, the US Geological Survey said.

On Monday morning, Iran gave an provisional toll of more than 200 dead, while only six others were reported killed on the Iraq side of the border.

"There are 207 dead and around 1,700 injured", all in Iran's province of Kermanshah, Behnam Saidi, the deputy head of the Iranian government's crisis unit set up to handle the response to the quake, told state television.

Mojtaba Nikkerdar, the deputy governor of Kermanshah, said authorities there were "in the process of setting up three emergency relief camps".

Iran's emergency services chief Pir Hossein Koolivand said it was "difficult to send rescue teams to the villages because the roads have been cut off... there have been landslides".

The official IRNA news agency said 30 Red Cross teams had been sent to the quake zone, parts of which had experienced power cuts.

In Iraq, officials said the quake had killed six people in the northern province of Sulaimaniyah and injured around 150.

Footage posted on Twitter showed panicked people fleeing a building in Sulaimaniyah, as windows shattered at the moment the quake struck, while images from the nearby town of Darbandikhan showed major walls and concrete structures had collapsed.

In Sulaimaniyah, residents ran out onto the streets and some damage to property was reported.

"Four people were killed by the earthquake" in Darbandikhan, the town's mayor Nasseh Moulla Hassan said.

A child and an elderly person were killed in Kalar, according to the director of the hospital in the town about 70 kilometres (40 miles) south of Darbandikhan, and 105 people injured.

The quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of 25 kilometres, was felt for about 20 seconds in Baghdad, and for longer in other provinces of Iraq, AFP journalists said.

On the Iranian side of the border, the tremor shook several cities in the west of the country including Tabriz.

It was also felt in southeastern Turkey, "from Malatya to Van", an AFP correspondent said. In the town of Diyarbakir, residents were reported to have fled their homes.

The quake struck along a 1,500 kilometre fault line between the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates, a belt extending through western Iran and into northeastern Iraq.

The area sees frequent seismic activity. In 1990, a 7.4-magnitude quake near the Caspian sea in northern Iran killed 40,000 people and left 300,000 more injured and half a million homeless. Within seconds the quake reduced dozens of towns and nearly 2,000 villages to rubble.

Thirteen years later, a catastrophic quake struck the ancient southeast Iranian city of Bam, famed for its mud brick buildings, killing at least 31,000 people and flattening swathes of the city.

Since then, Iran has experienced at least two major quake disasters, one in 2005 that killed more than 600 and another in 2012 that left some 300 dead.

More recently, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake near Iran's border with Turkmenistan in May killed two people, injured hundreds and caused widespread damage.

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News Network
May 9,2020

New Delhi, May 9: Three promoters of Ram Dev International, recently booked by the CBI for allegedly cheating a consortium of six banks to the tune of Rs 411 crore, have already fled the country before the State Bank of India reached the agency with the complaint, officials said on Saturday.

The CBI had recently booked the company engaged in export of Basmati rice to the West Asian and European countries and its directors Naresh Kumar, Suresh Kumar and Sangita on the basis of complaint from the State Bank of India (SBI), which suffered the loss of more than Rs 173 crore, they said.

The company had three rice milling plants, besides eight sorting and grading units in Karnal district with offices in Saudi Arabia and Dubai for trading purposes, the SBI complaint said.

Besides SBI, other members of consortium are Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, IDBI, Central Bank of India and Corporation Bank, they said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) did not carry out any searches in the matter because of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the officials said.

The agency will start the process of summoning the accused, incase they do not join the investigation, appropriate legal action will be initiated, they said.

According to the complaint filed by SBI, the account had become non-performing asset (NPA) on January 27, 2016.

The banks conducted a joint inspection of properties in August and October, nearly 7-9 months later only to find Haryana Police security guards deployed there, they said.

"On inquiry, it has been come to notice that borrowers are absconding and have left the country," the complaint filed on February 25, 2020, after over a year of account becoming NPA, the officials said.

The complaint alleged that borrowers had removed entire machinery from old plant and fudged the balance sheets in order to unlawfully gain at the cost of banks'' funds, it said.

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Agencies
February 23,2020

Washington, Feb 23: U.S. president Donald Trump on Saturday said he was looking forward to being with his "great friends" in India next week as he retweeted a short video in which his face was superimposed on the hit movie-character Bahubali, showing the president as a great saviour bringing peace to his kingdom.

Trump will pay a state visit to India on February 24 and 25, accompanied by a high-level delegation including first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and a galaxy of top American officials.

"Look so forward to being with my great friends India!" Trump said in the tweet.

Along with the tweet, Trump retweeted an 81-second video by a Twitter account identified as "Sol" with the handle Solmemes1.

"To celebrate Trump's visit to India I wanted to make a video to show how in my warped mind it will go... USA and India united!" the handle Solmemes1 tweeted in the original post with the video.

Trump appears as a great saviour, in the short animated clip, riding on a chariot with Melania. A few stills later, Trump is seen riding a horse carrying on his shoulders his son Donald Jr and daughter Ivanka.

Later, he is welcomed by Narendra Modi in a village setting. Hundreds and thousands of people are seen welcoming Trump in the video.

"This week Trump will visit India and in celebration I have created a new meme for the occasion... You few, who are my patrons, get to see it first!" Sol told viewers on subscription content service Patreon on Saturday. A few hours later, Trump retweeted the video.

In the Twitter description, Sol describes herself as "award winning master memetician, professor of memology at University of GFY, my views are my own and not associated with real life."

The Trump-Bahubali video, which ends with "USA and India United", went viral after Trump retweeted it. In a few hours, it was seen by nearly 6 lakh people.

Sol in one of her previous posts, dated January 23, writes she was inspired by a video of Bahubali sent to her by a friend, which is the story of 'good defeating evil.'

This inspired Sol to create her first Bahubali-theme meme. The video, lasting 93 seconds, is titled "Jiyo Re Baahu Trump", in which the first lady is seen wearing a saree. "Jiyo Re Bahubali," is the theme song of the video.

"I just loved this video when I saw it! A friend sent it to me and he told me that it is the story of good defeating evil... it was so fitting I had to make it (meme)..." Sol wrote in her post.

Sol's posts show that she is an admirer of Trump. Sol's January 23 video was released at the peak of Trump's impeachment proceedings.

Trump is seen being greeted by an elephant, which bears the logo of the Republican Party.

Towards the end of the video, Trump is seen riding the elephant, and putting on fire the effigy of "Raavan" marked as "D" in a big circle representing the opposition Democratic Party.

An arrow is given by warrior Narendra Modi to the First Lady, who then passes it on to Trump, before he lights the effigy.

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News Network
May 13,2020

Riyadh, May 13: Saudi Arabia’s cabinet on Tuesday urged oil-producing nations not only to adhere to agreed cuts to production, but further reduce output to help restore balance in global oil markets, state news agency SPA reported.

In issuing the call to OPEC+, which includes members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia and other nations, ministers said the Kingdom is committed to supporting the stability of global oil markets.

After the meeting, acting Minister of Media Majed Al-Qasabi said that in addition to its commitment to the OPEC+ agreement, the Kingdom will voluntarily reduce output by an additional 1 million barrels a day in June. It will also try to implement additional cuts this month, with the consent of its customers, he added.

The cabinet said the Saudi initiatives aim to encourage other countries, whether they have signed up to the OPEC+ agreement or not, to adhere to its reduced rates and to cut output even further to help stabilize global oil markets.

During the cabinet meeting, which was conducted using video conferencing, King Salman also briefed ministers on his recent telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump. He said they affirmed the historical and strategic relationship between the two countries and their commitment to the continuation of joint efforts to enhance security and stability in the region.

Ministers were then updated on the latest developments in the corona virus crisis, including the steps being taken locally and internationally to control it and safeguard public health, the number of cases in the Kingdom and the care being provided to those who are infected. They also reviewed details of the active screening and testing programs in all parts of the country, which have helped to keep the number of deaths relatively low compared to global rates.

The cabinet praised the efforts being made by government officials to combat the pandemic, and stressed that citizens and expatriates must abide by the precautionary and preventive measures introduced to prevent the spread of the virus.

Ministers described the decision by Saudi Arabia to host the Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen 2020 on June 2 as an extension of the Kingdom’s humanitarian and development contribution, which reflects its pioneering role in supporting its neighbor.

The cabinet also welcomed the formation of the new government in Iraq and reiterated Saudi Arabia’s support for the nation and its readiness to work with the new administration to strengthen relations and enhance security and stability in the region.

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