作者： bharat.cn

At least 84 people have died and several more injured in India and Bangladesh as Cyclone Amphan made landfall last evening and battered West Bengal and Bangladesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Kolkata at 10 am on May 22 and will travel to Basirhat by chopper before visiting Bhubaneswar in Odisha.

Widespread damage to property has been reported in several coastal villages, towns and cities, including Kolkata and Howrah. Amphan, the most powerful cyclone to hit West Bengal in over a decade, left a trail of destruction with devastated villages, uprooted trees and bridges washed away.

Most deaths were caused by trees uprooted by winds that gusted up to 185 km per hour (115 mph), and a storm surge of around five metres that inundated low-lying coastal areas when the cyclone barrelled in from the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday assured that his government will do everything possible to help the affected people. “(I) have been seeing visuals from West Bengal on the devastation caused by Cyclone Amphan. In this challenging hour, the entire nation stands in solidarity with West Bengal. Praying for the well-being of the people of the state. Efforts are on to ensure normalcy…No stone will be left unturned in helping the affected,” Modi said.

Covid-19 cases continued to rise across India at a very high rate as the nationwide tally reached beyond 1.12 lakh. However, the highest spike has been registered by Maharashtra, which alone accounts for nearly 35 per cent of Covid-19 cases and over 41 per cent deaths due to the virus.

In its most recent update, the Union health ministry placed the total number of cases at 1,12,359 and the death toll at 3,435. The ministry said that 45,300 people have so far recovered from the infection.

Mumbai, the financial capital of India, has over 25,000 cases of coronavirus. The city has registered nearly 900 deaths alone.

However, the Centre has claimed that India has it under control. The Union health ministry has said that India’s mortality rate from the virus is half than that of the world. The ICMR has also claimed that the testing, as well as health care facilities, have been significantly ramped up in India.

Despite the preparedness, there remains a danger of a fresh spike in cases due to Cyclone Amphan, which forced over 7 lakh people to abandon their homes and seek shelter in relief camps.

Meanwhile, the civil aviation ministry has announced the SOP for airlines, setting fresh rules for passengers and capping prices of air routes.

India on Wednesday protested Nepal’s revision of its political map that has incorporated areas that are part of Indian territory.

Calling it a “unilateral” act, India urged Kathmandu to reconsider its decision. In a statement, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “Nepal is well aware of India’s consistent position on this matter and we urge the Government of Nepal to refrain from such unjustified cartographic assertion and respect India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We hope that the Nepalese leadership will create a positive atmosphere for diplomatic dialogue to resolve the outstanding boundary issues.”

Nepal Prime Minister KP Oli on Tuesday had announced in the Nepalese parliament that his government would be incorporating the areas of Lipulekh, Lympiyadhura and Kalapani into an updated political map.

The decision came days after India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched a road link from India to China border that, according to Kathmandu, ran through disputed, unresolved territories between India and Nepal.

The Lipulekh pass is a far western point near Kalapani, a disputed border area between Nepal and India. Both India and Nepal claim Kalapani as an integral part of their territory – India as part of Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district and Nepal as part of Dharchula district.

Nepal officially launched its new political map on Wednesday. The announcement was made by Padma Kumari Aryal, Minister for Land Management, Cooperative & Poverty Alleviation endorsing the decision of the Nepal cabinet.

During the virtual launch of the map, she said, “It is a historic moment of happiness for the people of Nepal. The government will not allow the erosion of self-esteem of our people, won’t compromise on the self-respect of Nepal. Nepal will publish the new map and make it part of the school textbooks,”

Speaking to India Today TV, former Indian envoy to Nepal Ambassador Ranjit Rae said, “The launch of a new map showing new external boundaries of Nepal has complicated bilateral discussions and made the issue more intractable.”

Hoping that the Nepalese leadership will create a “positive” atmosphere for “diplomatic dialogue” to resolve the outstanding boundary question, MEA spokesperson said, “The Government of Nepal has released a revised official map of Nepal today that includes parts of Indian territory. This unilateral action is not based on historical facts and evidence. It is contrary to the bilateral understanding to resolve the outstanding boundary issues through diplomatic dialogue. Such artificial enlargement of territorial claims will not be accepted by India.”

The politics over this within Nepal is deep-seated in the fight for power between Prachanda and Prime Minister KP Oli. With Prachanda raising the issue in parliament, Oli’s government had to show assertiveness.

“PM Oli has also been under a lot of pressure domestically from within his party. There are reports that China played an important role in saving his government. At times like this it is always convenient to divert attention from domestic problems by whipping up anti-India nationalism,” said Ambassador Ranjit Rae.