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Huff Post By Steven Hopkins 31/10/2017 Experts suggest the test site may have become 'fatigued and unstable' following nuclear tests. As many as 200 workers could have been killed after a tunnel under construction at North Korea’s nuclear test site collapsed, Japanese news reports said on Tuesday. The Yohap News Agency said about 100 people were trapped inside the unfinished tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site when the incident happened on October 10.  Japan’s TV Asahi’s said an additional 100 people could have been killed while trying to rescue those trapped south of the Mantapsan mountain. The death toll has not been confirmed.  The Yohap report suggested experts had warned the test site must have become “fatigued and unstable” following six nuclear tests including the most recent one in September, which featured a 100-kiloton hydrogen bomb. A series of small-scale earthquakes followed the test and it is has been claimed the tunnel may ha...

Economic Times ANI | Updated: Oct 31, 2017 India should have water sharing agreement with China, said Indian defence experts on Tuesday.  The experts opine that China is eyeing to divert water from River Brahmaputra to its Xinjiang region since both the countries don't have any water sharing agreement.  Reportedly, China is testing techniques that could be used to build a 1,000km long tunnel-the world's longest-to divert water from the Brahmaputra in Tibet to the parched Xinjiang region in China.  Defence expert Uday Bhaskar said that Chinese efforts clearly violate international norms.  Talking to ANI, defence expert Uday Bhaskar said, "It's a very disturbing report that now China wants to embark on world's so called longest tunnel and divert water from Brahmaputra. India, China and Bangladesh don't have a joint treaty for the management of Brahmaputra, except the international norms that say if you are an upper riparian ...

Huff Post By Alexender C. Kaufman 31/10/2017 Climate change is already taking a major toll on public health and threatening to reverse progress made over the past century in combatting infectious diseases, according to one of the world’s oldest and most respected medical journals. In a landmark new report released Monday evening, The Lancet found that heatwaves over the past two decades were hotter and lasted longer, vector-borne diseases increased as warmer temperatures spread insects, and allergies worsened as unseasonable weather prolonged exposure to pollen. The journal discussed the potential health effects of climate change in an earlier version of the report, called the Lancet Countdown, but this year’s 107-page paper is the first to chronicle the existing impacts. As another new feature, the study included a 10-page companion report focused on the United States. “When you go to the doctor and have high blood pressure or a fever, what the doctor does is take ...

Economic Times Times Now Oct 31, 2017 In another major UPA era scam that has come to light now, corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar is under the Income Tax Department's lens for receiving kickbacks worth around Rs 1,000 crores.  A Times Now investigation has found that Talwar, who is active in the aviation sector and is known for brokering telecom and aviation deals, had bribed officials during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime to secure various favours for his clients.  According to tax sleuths, Talwar was also instrumental in securing approvals for foreign airlines.  Sources said the lobbyist, who was raided by the I-T department in June 2016, maintained close relations with senior UPA functionaries. Talwar reportedly received the kickbacks during 2008-09.  The corporate lobbyist had hit the headlines when it was revealed that he had visited the official residence of former CBI director Ranjit Sinha at...

CNBC By Yen Nee Lee 31 Oct 2017 The U.S. Treasury said in an October report that it will closely monitor India's currency practices after noticing an increase in the "scale and persistence" of the country's net foreign exchange purchases India has been buying the U.S. dollar in exchange for the rupee to keep its domestic currency from surging to economically harmful levels Analysts said being singled out in the report may limit India's options in managing the rupee                        India's persistent buying of the U.S. dollar to keep its local currency cheap has caught the attention of the U.S. Treasury, increasing the risk that Asia's third-largest economy could soon face the ill effects of a "currency manipulator" branding.India came under the spotlight after an increase in the "scale and persistence" of its buying up other nations' money, the Treasury said in an October report outlining the foreign exchange...

Economic Times IANS:  By Jai K. Verma  Oct 31, 2017, 11.29  The 2017 report of the Fragile States Index places Pakistan among the first 20 failed countries, which should be worrisome for Islamabad. Instead of continuing with the low intensity war against its neighbours, Pakistan should make efforts to implement reforms in diverse fields.  Pakistan was carved out of India on the basis of the two-nation theory broadly intended to foster separation and hatred. This philosophy persists today, with greater vengeance.  With its vicious policies, Pakistan has antagonised another neighbour, Afghanistan, on its Western front while Shia Iran can never trust Sunni Pakistan, helping terrorist outfits on behalf of Wahabi Saudi Arabia. Iran recently threatened Pakistan with stringent action if it did not control non-state actors who were fomenting terror.  Pakistan earlier had cordial relations with Afghanistan and Iran. In the India-Pakistan w...

Rediff.com October 31, 2017 08:50 'In a complex conflict like Kashmir, you can't just ignore the militants when you talk of a permanent solution.' Two decades after she held office as the first United States assistant secretary of state for South Asia and Central Asia affairs, Robin Raphel perhaps remains the most disliked American diplomat at India's ministry of external affairs. Indian diplomats thought Raphel meddled excessively in Kashmir and believed she was pro-Pakistan. Raphel -- who also served as an advisor to then secretary of state Hillary Clinton -- spoke to Pervez Majeed in Washington, DC in an exclusive and rare interview. The final section of a three-part interview. Part 1 of the Robin Raphel interview: 'India and Pakistan need to get along' Part 2 of the Robin Raphel interview: 'Delhi must take the first step for a solution in Kashmir' Do you think the Government of India, besides having a dialogue with political dis...

Rediff.com Reuters October 31, 2017 10:26 Indoor air pollution caused 1.24 lakh premature deaths in India in 2015, more than the emissions from coal power plants or other industrial sources, a report published in Lancet (external link), a noted medical journal, has said. The findings establish what experts have been saying for long -- that air quality in Indian households, especially in the rural areas, is lethal due to use of wood or cow dung as cooking fuel coupled with poor ventilation. The report states that while the country recorded 524,680 premature deaths in 2015 due to air pollution caused by the presence of ultrafine particulate matter PM2.5, “the biggest contributor was household air pollution, which was responsible for 124,207 premature deaths per million people.” 5,24,680 Premature deaths in 2015 due to air pollution In May last year, the Indian government had embarked on a drive to provide free cooking gas connections to five crore women from...

Indian Express By Deepak Patel   October 31, 2017 While the government has set the divestment target of Rs 72, 500 crore for fiscal 2017-18, it has been able to earn only Rs 19,759 crore through proceeds by October 4. At a time when the Centre seems far from reaching its divestment target for 2017-18, three central public sector units (CPSUs) operating in hydro sector — THDC India Limited, North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) Limited and SJVN Limited — listed their divestment issues before Union Power Minister R K Singh last month. In two of these three companies, certain matters are pending with the state governments that are stakeholders in the respective companies. In the third company, merchant bankers have not shown any interest in conducting the divestment process as yet. While the government has set the divestment target of Rs 72, 500 crore for fiscal 2017-18, it has been able to earn only Rs 19,759 crore through proceeds by October 4. Singh took char...

Financial Express, FE Bureau, October 31, 2017 A panel of ministers under finance minister Arun Jaitley will monitor consolidation in the public-sector banking space. he government on Monday formed a panel of ministers under finance minister  Arun Jaitley to monitor consolidation in the public-sector banking space. In a tweet, financial services secretary Rajeev Kumar said: “Govt walks the talk on banking reforms; constitutes Alternative Mechanism for PSBs consolidation; Finance Minister to head.” The panel also includes defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and railway and coal minister Piyush Goyal. The Cabinet had in August approved the “alternative mechanism” to oversee the merger of public-sector banks (PSBs). Jaitley had said the proposals for amalgamation would come from the boards of the relevant PSBs and any merger would be based on commercial considerations. Last week, the government announced the ambitious `2.11-lakh crore recapitalisation plan for the PSBs ...