Hours after several regions in the country experienced major tremors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday chaired a high-level meeting to review the situation. The Prime Minister directed immediate despatch of relief and rescue teams, including medical teams, to Nepal, as well as to affected areas in India, the PMO said. [related-post] He also directed that proper arrangements be made for rendering assistance in evacuation of stranded tourists. The PM had earlier spoken to the President and Prime Minister of Nepal, and the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim and Madhya Pradesh. He has assured Nepal of all assistance in dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake. The meeting was attended by Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra, Additional Principal Secretary P K Mishra, and senior officials from the government, IMD, and NDRF. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that “Indians in Nepal may please contact our mission in Kathmandu. Our mission will provide you all help.” She also tweeted numbers of helplines in Kathmandu. The minister responded to Twitter user @anu_nikumbh who tweeted to her seeking help to locate her father in Nepal. Swaraj tweeted back, “Pl give your father’s details. We will try to reach him”, and then, “Where should we contact him in Nepal?” Subsequently, she tweeted a picture of the missing man, with the message, “Pl help locate Wasudeosingh Nikumbh,63 of Nagpur in Kathmandu and reach Indian Embassy”. Mission staffer loses daughter An Indian embassy employee’s daughter died and wife suffered serious injuries after a house in the mission complex in Kathmandu collapsed during the earthquake. The nationality of the contract-based mission staff was not immediately known. — PTI
