The Evening Wrap: Over 150 dead in Nepal earthquake

Rescue workers in Nepal began digging through the rubble of collapsed houses with their bare hands on November 4, searching for survivors after the country’s worst earthquake in eight years killed 157 people and shook buildings as far away as New Delhi. The death toll included 105 people killed in Jajarkot and 52 in neighbouring Rukum West district, both in Karnali province, Rama Acharya, an official in the country’s disaster department, told Reuters. Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha said India and China have offered to help in search and rescue operations. “We have told them that we are carrying out preliminary search, rescue and relief operation now. We will request you for any help if required later,” he said. Rescue work was expected to be slow as emergency teams must first clear roads blocked by landslides in many places, they said, adding that helicopters and small planes have been asked to be ready to join the effort. Jajarkot district official Harish Chandra Sharma said: “Many houses have collapsed, many others have developed cracks. Thousands of residents spent the entire night in cold, open grounds because they were too scared to go in into the cracked houses as aftershocks struck.” Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal flew to the area early in the day with a 16-member Army medical team to oversee search, rescue and relief, his office said. His office appealed to political parties, social workers and the public to donate funds to help arrange food, water, clothes and tents for the survivors. A small aeroplane carrying medical supplies and health workers was diverted to nearby Surkhet after it failed to land in Chaurjahari in nearby Rukum district due to bad weather, said Army spokesman Krishna Bhandari. The earthquake is the latest in a series of strong quakes that have jolted Nepal over the past month. Four earthquakes, the strongest being of magnitude 6.2, jolted Nepal in quick succession on October 3. Then, on October 22, a powerful earthquake of 6.1 magnitude jolted Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and damaged 20 houses. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, said, “Deeply saddened by loss of lives and damage due to the earthquake in Nepal. India stands in solidarity with the people of Nepal and is ready to extend all possible assistance. Our thoughts are with the bereaved families and we wish the injured a quick recovery.” PM Modi attacks Chhattisgarh CM, Cong over betting app row Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 4 attacked Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel over the alleged ‘Mahadev’ betting app scam and said the Congress leader should tell what links he has with the accused in the case. Modi addressed a rally in Durg, Chhattisgarh, a day after the ED claimed that a forensic analysis and a statement made by a ‘cash courier’ have led to “startling allegations” that Mahadev betting app promoters paid about ₹508 crore to Chhattisgarh CM Baghel so far. Modi also announced that his government’s Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) scheme to provide food grains to 80 crore poor will be extended for the next five years. “Congress government in Chhattisgarh has not spared any chance to loot you. They have not even spared the name of ‘Mahadev’. Just two days ago, a major action was taken (by the Enforcement Directorate) in Raipur and a huge pile of cash was recovered. People are saying that this is the money belonging to ‘sattebaj’ (those involved in betting) and they have collected it by looting the poor and youth of Chhattisgarh. Congress leaders have been filling their houses with the same money,” Modi said. The PM said the Congress does not want the welfare of the poor and does not want their condition to improve. In another rally at Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, Modi reiterated that the PMGKAY scheme would be extended for another five years. Taking another jibe, Modi said the Congress leaders, their “dialogues” and their announcements were all “filmy”. “A competition of tearing clothes is going on between two Congress leaders,” Modi said, in veiled reference to former Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath’s statement referring to veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. Meanwhile, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that raids by the central agencies in Chhattisgarh can’t demoralise their workers, asserting that the party will win the Assembly elections there and in Madhya Pradesh. He was addressing a rally in Katangi, Madhya Pradesh. The Congress party also dismissed the ED’s allegations against Bhupesh Baghel as part of a “conspiracy” hatched by the BJP to tarnish the Chhattisgarh CM’s image and asserted that the people of the state would give a befitting reply to such tactics in the upcoming Assembly poll. Hamas leader’s home hit in airstrike as Israel presses its attacks; U.S. envoy seeks aid route Israel’s military hit the family home of the exiled leader of Hamas on the outskirts of Gaza City with an airstrike on November 4 and pressed ahead with attacks across in the besieged enclave where a humanitarian crisis is rapidly worsening. The family home of Hamas’ exiled leader Ismail Haniyeh, in the Shati refugee camp on the northern edge of Gaza City, was hit on November 4 morning by an airstrike, according to the Hamas-run media office in Gaza. It had no immediate details on damage or casualties and there was no immediate comment. Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad said that the house was being used by Haniyeh’s two sons. Overnight strikes also hit the western outskirts of the city and near Al-Quds Hospital. With food, water and the fuel needed for generators that power hospitals and other facilities running out, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate cease-fire to allow aid in. Guterres said he had not forgotten the slaughter of civilians at the hands of Hamas militants when they launched their attack on Israel almost a month ago, but said civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected. He also said civilians must not be used as human shields, and called upon Hamas to release all of the roughly 240 hostages it has. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been in the region since November 3 trying to find ways to ease the plight of the civilians caught in the fighting and was meeting with Arab foreign ministers on November 4. His mission is complicated by Israel’s insistence there can be no temporary cease-fire until all hostages held by Hamas are released. Israel says Hamas has extensive military infrastructure in the city, including a network of underground tunnels, bunkers and command centres. It says its strikes target Hamas, and the militants endanger civilians by operating among them. The city is now encircled by Israeli forces, who have been urging civilians to head south to avoid getting caught up in the fighting. Blinken held meetings in Amman with diplomats from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian Authority. In addition to aid distribution, allowing foreigners out and the release of hostages, Blinken is looking to get Jordan and other Arab states to begin to think about the future of Gaza if and when Israel succeeds in wresting control from Hamas. Delhi air pollution | Marginal dip in pollution levels overnight as haze persists, health concerns rise Pollution levels in Delhi and its surrounding areas dipped marginally overnight due to a relatively better wind speed, though the concentration of poisonous PM2.5 was still more than 80 times the healthy limit prescribed by the World Health Organization. A thick toxic haze lingers over the city for the fifth consecutive day on November 4, with doctors expressing concerns that air pollution is causing an increase in respiratory and eye problems among children and the elderly. The air quality in Delhi-NCR declined over the past week due to a gradual drop in temperatures, calm winds that trap pollution, and a surge in post-harvest paddy straw burning across Punjab and Haryana. Data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) shows that Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) increased by more than 200 points between October 27 and November 3, culminating in a descent into the “severe plus” category (above 450) on Friday. However, the AQI marginally improved from 468 at 4 pm on Friday to 413 at 6 am on Saturday. The hazardous pollution levels compelled many to forgo their morning walks, sports, and other outdoor activities. Parents were a worried lot as health experts say children breathe faster, taking in more pollutants. Meanwhile, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, seeking the suspension of Delhi Pollution Control Committee chairman Ashwani Kumar for “arbitrarily halting” the operation of a large smog tower installed at Connaught Place two years ago to mitigate air pollution. Rai also sought disciplinary action against the project in-charge, Anwar Ali, whom the Minister accused of changing his stance on the smog tower’s effectiveness under pressure from Ashwani Kumar. Haryana Agriculture Minister Jai Prakash Dalal criticised the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab over the stubble-burning incidents in the State, prompting a sharp reaction from the Aam Aadmi Party. In his post on X, Dalal shared statistics of farm fires in Punjab and Haryana over the last three days. According to the data shared by the Minister, Punjab witnessed 1,921, 1,668 and 1,551 farm fire incidents on November 1, 2 and 3 while stubble burning incidents in Haryana were 99, 48 and 28 on the three days. Reacting to Dalal’s statement, the AAP accused him of “spreading lies”. “Twenty out of the 52 most polluted districts in the country are in Haryana and even then the Khattar government is playing politics and blaming Punjab,” Punjab AAP unit spokesperson Neel Garg said. The Mann government in Punjab provided machinery to farmers to check stubble-burning incidents, he said. Electoral bond sales to open again on November 6 With five State Assemblies going to polls, the Finance Ministry on November 4 announced a fresh tranche of electoral bond sales over the fortnight from November 6 to November 20, the second window for these bonds’ sales within a month. With the latest notification, electoral bonds are effectively likely to be on sale for at 75 days between October 2023 and May 2024, when the Lok Sabha polls are expected. Coming soon after the Supreme Court’s decision to reserve its verdict on the electoral bond scheme, the upcoming sale of these bonds at all authorised branches of the State Bank of India stems from amendments made to the scheme by the Centre in November 2022. The upcoming 29th tranche of electoral bond sales since the scheme’s launch in January 2018 to “cleanse the system of political funding” in the country, follows a 10-day window for selling these bonds that closed on October 13. The original scheme envisaged sales of electoral bonds for 10 days each in January, April, July and October every year, and a thirty-day period during the year of the Lok Sabha polls. In Brief: ISRO Chairman S. Somnath said that he’s withdrawing the publication of his memoir, Nilavu Kudicha Simhangal, penned in Malayalam. The decision followed a report in the Malayala Manorama on November 4 that quoted excerpts from the book suggesting K. Sivan, former ISRO chairman and Somnath’s immediate predecessor, may have hindered key promotions that Somnath thought were due. Excerpts from the book, that The Hindu has viewed, do bring out Mr. Somnath’s discomfort with the “Chairman (Dr. Sivan’s)” decision to not be explicit about the reasons for the failure of the Chandrayaan 2 mission (which was expected to land a rover). Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 04 November 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Nepal Earthquake | Rescuers struggle to find Nepal quake survivors as deaths reach 157 [Rescue workers in Nepal began digging through the rubble of collapsed houses with their bare hands on November 4, searching for survivors after the country’s worst earthquake in eight years killed 157 people]( and shook buildings as far away as New Delhi. The death toll included 105 people killed in Jajarkot and 52 in neighbouring Rukum West district, both in Karnali province, Rama Acharya, an official in the country’s disaster department, told Reuters. Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha said India and China have offered to help in search and rescue operations. “We have told them that we are carrying out preliminary search, rescue and relief operation now. We will request you for any help if required later,” he said. Rescue work was expected to be slow as emergency teams must first clear roads blocked by landslides in many places, they said, adding that helicopters and small planes have been asked to be ready to join the effort. Jajarkot district official Harish Chandra Sharma said: “Many houses have collapsed, many others have developed cracks. Thousands of residents spent the entire night in cold, open grounds because they were too scared to go in into the cracked houses as aftershocks struck.” Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal flew to the area early in the day with a 16-member Army medical team to oversee search, rescue and relief, his office said. His office appealed to political parties, social workers and the public to donate funds to help arrange food, water, clothes and tents for the survivors. A small aeroplane carrying medical supplies and health workers was diverted to nearby Surkhet after it failed to land in Chaurjahari in nearby Rukum district due to bad weather, said Army spokesman Krishna Bhandari. The earthquake is the latest in a series of strong quakes that have jolted Nepal over the past month. Four earthquakes, the strongest being of magnitude 6.2, jolted Nepal in quick succession on October 3. Then, on October 22, a powerful earthquake of 6.1 magnitude jolted Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and damaged 20 houses. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, said, “Deeply saddened by loss of lives and damage due to the earthquake in Nepal. India stands in solidarity with the people of Nepal and is ready to extend all possible assistance. Our thoughts are with the bereaved families and we wish the injured a quick recovery.” PM Modi attacks Chhattisgarh CM, Cong over betting app row [Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 4 attacked Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel]( over the alleged ‘Mahadev’ betting app scam and said the Congress leader should tell what links he has with the accused in the case. Modi addressed a rally in Durg, Chhattisgarh, a day after the ED claimed that a forensic analysis and a statement made by a ‘cash courier’ have led to “startling allegations” that Mahadev betting app promoters paid about ₹508 crore to Chhattisgarh CM Baghel so far. Modi also announced that his government’s Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) scheme to provide food grains to 80 crore poor will be extended for the next five years. “Congress government in Chhattisgarh has not spared any chance to loot you. They have not even spared the name of ‘Mahadev’. Just two days ago, a major action was taken (by the Enforcement Directorate) in Raipur and a huge pile of cash was recovered. People are saying that this is the money belonging to ‘sattebaj’ (those involved in betting) and they have collected it by looting the poor and youth of Chhattisgarh. Congress leaders have been filling their houses with the same money,” Modi said. The PM said the Congress does not want the welfare of the poor and does not want their condition to improve. In another rally at Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, Modi reiterated that the PMGKAY scheme would be extended for another five years. Taking another jibe, [Modi said the Congress leaders, their “dialogues” and their announcements were all “filmy”](. “A competition of tearing clothes is going on between two Congress leaders,” Modi said, in veiled reference to former Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath’s statement referring to veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. Meanwhile, [Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that raids by the central agencies in Chhattisgarh can’t demoralise their workers]( asserting that the party will win the Assembly elections there and in Madhya Pradesh. He was addressing a rally in Katangi, Madhya Pradesh. The [Congress party also dismissed the ED’s allegations against Bhupesh Baghel as part of a “conspiracy”]( hatched by the BJP to tarnish the Chhattisgarh CM’s image and asserted that the people of the state would give a befitting reply to such tactics in the upcoming Assembly poll. Hamas leader’s home hit in airstrike as Israel presses its attacks; U.S. envoy seeks aid route [Israel’s military hit the family home of the exiled leader of Hamas on the outskirts of Gaza City with an airstrike]( on November 4 and pressed ahead with attacks across in the besieged enclave where a humanitarian crisis is rapidly worsening. The family home of Hamas’ exiled leader Ismail Haniyeh, in the Shati refugee camp on the northern edge of Gaza City, was hit on November 4 morning by an airstrike, according to the Hamas-run media office in Gaza. It had no immediate details on damage or casualties and there was no immediate comment. Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad said that the house was being used by Haniyeh’s two sons. Overnight strikes also hit the western outskirts of the city and near Al-Quds Hospital. With food, water and the fuel needed for generators that power hospitals and other facilities running out, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate cease-fire to allow aid in. Guterres said he had not forgotten the slaughter of civilians at the hands of Hamas militants when they [launched their attack on Israel almost a month ago]( but said civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected. He also said civilians must not be used as human shields, and called upon Hamas to release all of the roughly 240 hostages it has. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been in the region since November 3 trying to find ways to ease the plight of the civilians caught in the fighting and was meeting with Arab foreign ministers on November 4. His mission is complicated by Israel’s insistence there can be no temporary cease-fire until all hostages held by Hamas are released. Israel says Hamas has extensive military infrastructure in the city, including a network of underground tunnels, bunkers and command centres. It says its strikes target Hamas, and the militants endanger civilians by operating among them. The city is now encircled by Israeli forces, who have been urging civilians to head south to avoid getting caught up in the fighting. Blinken held meetings in Amman with diplomats from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian Authority. In addition to aid distribution, allowing foreigners out and the release of hostages, Blinken is looking to get Jordan and other Arab states to begin to think about the future of Gaza if and when Israel succeeds in wresting control from Hamas. Delhi air pollution | Marginal dip in pollution levels overnight as haze persists, health concerns rise [Pollution levels in Delhi and its surrounding areas dipped marginally overnight]( due to a relatively better wind speed, though the concentration of poisonous PM2.5 was still more than 80 times the healthy limit prescribed by the World Health Organization. A thick toxic haze lingers over the city for the fifth consecutive day on November 4, with doctors expressing concerns that air pollution is causing an increase in respiratory and eye problems among children and the elderly. The air quality in Delhi-NCR declined over the past week due to a gradual drop in temperatures, calm winds that trap pollution, and a surge in post-harvest paddy straw burning across Punjab and Haryana. Data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) shows that Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) increased by more than 200 points between October 27 and November 3, culminating in a descent into the “severe plus” category (above 450) on Friday. However, the AQI marginally improved from 468 at 4 pm on Friday to 413 at 6 am on Saturday. The hazardous pollution levels compelled many to forgo their morning walks, sports, and other outdoor activities. Parents were a worried lot as health experts say children breathe faster, taking in more pollutants. Meanwhile, [Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, seeking the suspension of Delhi Pollution Control Committee chairman Ashwani Kumar for “arbitrarily halting” the operation of a large smog tower installed at Connaught Place]( two years ago to mitigate air pollution. Rai also sought disciplinary action against the project in-charge, Anwar Ali, whom the Minister accused of changing his stance on the smog tower’s effectiveness under pressure from Ashwani Kumar. [Haryana Agriculture Minister Jai Prakash Dalal criticised the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab over the stubble-burning incidents in the State]( prompting a sharp reaction from the Aam Aadmi Party. In his post on X, Dalal shared statistics of farm fires in Punjab and Haryana over the last three days. According to the data shared by the Minister, Punjab witnessed 1,921, 1,668 and 1,551 farm fire incidents on November 1, 2 and 3 while stubble burning incidents in Haryana were 99, 48 and 28 on the three days. Reacting to Dalal’s statement, the AAP accused him of “spreading lies”. “Twenty out of the 52 most polluted districts in the country are in Haryana and even then the Khattar government is playing politics and blaming Punjab,” Punjab AAP unit spokesperson Neel Garg said. The Mann government in Punjab provided machinery to farmers to check stubble-burning incidents, he said. Electoral bond sales to open again on November 6 With five State Assemblies going to polls, the [Finance Ministry on November 4 announced a fresh tranche of electoral bond sales over the fortnight from November 6 to November 20]( the second window for these bonds’ sales within a month. With the latest notification, electoral bonds are effectively likely to be on sale for at 75 days between October 2023 and May 2024, when the Lok Sabha polls are expected. Coming soon after the Supreme Court’s decision to reserve its verdict on the electoral bond scheme, the upcoming sale of these bonds at all authorised branches of the State Bank of India stems from amendments made to the scheme by the Centre in November 2022. The upcoming 29th tranche of electoral bond sales since the scheme’s launch in January 2018 to “cleanse the system of political funding” in the country, follows a 10-day window for selling these bonds that closed on October 13. The original scheme envisaged sales of electoral bonds for 10 days each in January, April, July and October every year, and a thirty-day period during the year of the Lok Sabha polls. In Brief: [ISRO Chairman S. Somnath said that he’s withdrawing the publication of his memoir]( Nilavu Kudicha Simhangal, penned in Malayalam. The decision followed a report in the Malayala Manorama on November 4 that quoted excerpts from the book suggesting K. Sivan, former ISRO chairman and Somnath’s immediate predecessor, may have hindered key promotions that Somnath thought were due. Excerpts from the book, that The Hindu has viewed, do bring out Mr. Somnath’s discomfort with the “Chairman (Dr. Sivan’s)” decision to not be explicit about the reasons for the failure of the Chandrayaan 2 mission (which was expected to land a rover). Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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