Nepal's Hindu groups have sought an all-party discussion on restoring Hindu-nation status within three months.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) has confirmed that the recent deadly flash floods in Nepal were caused by a glacial collapse and subsequent debris flow, not an earthquake as initially reported. The event, which originated in Tibet, led to 162 deaths and 750 missing persons, including 133 Indian nationals, in Nepal's Rasuwa and Dhading districts. The seismic event's magnitude was also upgraded to 5.2.
'There needs to be a monitoring of glaciers in high altitude areas and one needs to check regularly how geological changes are taking place.' 'We can mitigate that by regular monitoring but unfortunately, hardly any monitoring is happening.' 'And without monitoring those higher altitudes of Himalayas, people are suffering.'
'It appears to be a combination: A glacier breaking away, and a dam-like formation downstream reaching capacity and releasing water suddenly.'
In flood-ravaged Nepal, drones are playing an unprecedented role in disaster response, from airlifting bodies from inaccessible areas to delivering essential supplies and searching for trapped workers. This innovative use of UAVs is transforming humanitarian aid and rescue operations in the challenging Himalayan terrain.
Nepal's former Forest and Environment Minister Madhav Prasad Chaulagain has expressed concern over the lack of timely information exchange with China ahead of the devastating floods, stating that the disaster's scale could lead to an 'unbelievable' rise in the death toll.
Scientists are examining how a possible glacial collapse and ice-rock avalanche may have triggered the devastating flash floods along Nepal's Bhote Koshi River, with preliminary assessments indicating that debris may have temporarily blocked the Lhende River and created a landslide dam that subsequently gave way.
'This is no longer a single-hazard problem; it is a cascading, multi-hazard problem. A landslide never occurs in isolation. This entire chain is the cascading effect of what looks, at first, like a single disaster.'
A senior Geological Survey of India official warns that the Himalayas are vulnerable to cascading disasters, where one high-altitude event can trigger a chain of destructive events downstream, as evidenced by Nepal's recent floods. He stresses the need for integrated monitoring using satellite data and ground investigations to identify high-risk areas and improve preparedness in the Indian Himalayas.
China on Monday dismissed claims linking its massive hydropower projects in Tibet to the August 26 flash flood disaster in Nepal, calling them "malicious speculation".
Devastating flash floods in Nepal, triggered by an ice and rock collapse, have led to over 900 deaths and 4,000 missing. Rescue operations by security personnel are severely hampered by critical shortages of specialised equipment, including thermal cameras, body bags, ropes, and helicopters. International assistance from India and China is aiding the search for missing workers, highlighting Nepal's long-standing disaster management capacity issues and inadequate funding.
Nepal is grappling with one of its worst disasters in recent years as massive flash floods, triggered by an ice avalanche, have claimed 270 lives and left thousands missing across multiple districts, prompting urgent rescue and relief operations.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor faced significant backlash on social media for describing the Nepal flash floods as "drama." Despite expressing concern and detailing the devastation, his choice of words was widely criticised as insensitive, leading to questions about his vocabulary usage.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor clarified his use of the word 'drama' in a social media post about the Nepal flash floods, stating he intended it to mean 'a state, situation or series of events involving intensely clashing forces' and regretting the misinterpretation.
'The valley is around 16 km from the Nepal border, and it took just 8-10 minutes for the ice and rocks to reach the Nepal border. You can imagine how fast it must have travelled!'
A massive flash flood originating in Tibet has devastated central Nepal, killing 17 people and leaving nearly 500 missing, including 105 Indians. The deluge, caused by a rock slide near the Nepal-Tibet border, swept through districts, washing away bridges and severely damaging at least a dozen hydropower projects.
Extraordinary accounts of survival are emerging from Nepal's devastating flash floods, including a 97-year-old woman rescued from rubble and individuals who fled collapsing settlements, spending nights stranded in forests before rescue.
Valencia paid tributes to the victims of Nepal earthquake in their match against Celta Vigo during La Liga on Sunday.
Massive flash floods in Nepal, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche, have devastated the border town of Timure and other central districts, leaving a rising death toll and hundreds missing. The disaster, described by witnesses as feeling like an earthquake, has claimed entire families and caused widespread destruction to infrastructure. Rescue efforts are underway, with a significant number of missing individuals identified as tourists, including nearly 300 Indian nationals.
'When a glacier collapse or a major flood event does occur, the water will simply reclaim its original path, and anything built in that path will be swept away.'
'Hydro-seismicity is a phenomenon that typically shows up during and just after the monsoon.' 'Heavy rain causes water to percolate deep into the rock, and where there are fractures, that water fills the pores and builds up what we call pore water pressure.' 'That pressure can widen existing cracks, and eventually the rock gives way -- which surfaces as tremors.'
Sikkim has identified 40 high-hazard glacial lakes, with 16 at the highest risk of catastrophic outbursts. Following a devastating GLOF in 2023, the state is developing India's first dedicated GLOF Risk Mitigation Protocol, using advanced monitoring and interdisciplinary approaches to protect downstream settlements and serve as a model for other Himalayan regions.
'I know China will implode. It is scientifically impossible for China to control a nation through the barrel of a gun.'
Two Indians, including the daughter of an Indian embassy employee, were killed in the powerful earthquake that struck Nepal.
India has actively engaged in cultural diplomacy over the past 12 years, providing grant assistance and expertise for the restoration and conservation of significant heritage sites, including temples and archaeological complexes, across multiple Asian countries, reinforcing shared civilisational ties.
On April 25 2015, a massive earthquake in Ghorka, Nepal, followed by another devastating one on May 12, killed nearly 9,000 people and injured over 21,000. More than 600,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. Two years later, the paved alleys are still lined by the skeletons of homes once filled with families. Children carefully side-step piles of broken brick on their way to school. According to data available, barely 5 per cent of the destroyed houses have been rebuilt, according to the National Reconstruction Authority. That 800,000 families still do not have their houses rebuilt is simply a disaster.
A year after the worst earthquake in Nepal's history struck at four minutes to midday on April 25 last year, its residents still live in fear.
Several places in Bihar were jolted by a 5.5-magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal early on Friday, with tremors felt in Muzaffarpur, Samastipur and other bordering districts, officials said.
The devastating quake of 8.3-magnitude on Richter scale that fateful day of January 15 had its epicentre at some 10 kms south of Mt Everest.
The first good view of the aftermath of Nepal's deadly earthquake from a satellite showed that a broad swath of ground near Kathmandu lifted vertically
The cover will pay only for the construction cost of the building.
Real Madrid football star Cristiano Ronaldo has donated a whopping 7 million euros ($7.78m) to the Save the Children foundation's efforts in Nepal following the deadly earthquake last month.
Bollywood expresses grief and shock following the Nepal earthquake.
According to the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre, the earthquake with an epicentre in Jajarkot district was recorded at 11.47 pm.
Local officials said no casualties have been reported due to Wednesday's quake that hit the Madoi County in Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province of northwest China at 3:44 pm (Beijing time), tremors for which were also felt in north-eastern Nepal.
Having control over both digital media and NGOs, it was easy for the US to topple the government and destabilise Nepal -- to undercut Chinese influence and pressure India, argues Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
'They mean business, but business as usual is unacceptable to them'
Th epicentre of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake, which struck at 1.57 am, was in Nepal, about 90 km east-southeast of Pithoragarh
