Earthquake off Indonesia topples buildings, kills 1, sets off small tsunami
Manado (Indonesia) (AP): An undersea earthquake of 7.4 magnitude toppled buildings in parts of northern Indonesia, sent people fleeing from their homes, killed at least one person and generated a small tsunami Thursday.
Waves up to 75 cm (30 inches) above normal tides were recorded at several monitoring stations about a half-hour after the earthquake, which was centred in the Molucca Sea.
Indonesia's meteorological agency lifted its tsunami warning hours after the quake, and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said there was no destructive threat to the country, which is north of the quake's epicentre.
Strong shaking lasting 10 to 20 seconds was felt in Bitung in North Sulawesi province as well as in Ternate city in neighbouring North Maluku province, according to Indonesia's Disaster Management Agency.
Initial assessments showed light to severe damage in parts of Ternate, including a church and two houses. In Bitung, damage assessments were still underway, the agency said.
Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency reported a 70-year-old woman died in a building collapse in North Sulawesi's Manado city and another resident was injured. At least three injured people were hospitalised in Ternate.
Videos released by the rescue agency showed damaged structures and flattened houses, while television stations broadcast scenes of people rushing outside and gathering in streets to avoid the risk of collapsing buildings.
Nearly 50 aftershocks were felt in nearby areas.
“We had just woken up and suddenly the earthquake hit... we all ran out of the house,” Bitung resident Marten Mandagi said. “The shaking was very strong.”
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 280 million people, sits on major seismic faults and is frequently hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
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Need to continuously update public services to achieve goal of 'Viksit Bharat': PM Modi
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday stressed the need for continuously updating civil services with the changing times to achieve the goal of 'Viksit Bharat'.
In a video message at the launch of 'Sadhana Saptah', he said that the governance of the country should improve the ease of living and the quality of life for citizens on a daily basis.
Modi stated that the principle of governance in the country is based on the mantra "Nagrik Devo Bhavah" (citizens are like gods). This mantra, with a collective spirit, aims to make public services more capable and sensitive to the needs of citizens, he said.
"When we talk about reforms and changes in administrative services, then one meaning of that is a change in the behaviour of public servants. We all know that in the old system, the emphasis was more on being an officer, but today it is on the sense of duty," the prime minister said.
Modi noted that present efforts should be seen in the larger canvas of 'Viksit Bharat' of 2047.
"What will be the impact of the work being done by us (civil servants) on the development journey of the country? How many citizens' lives can be changed by one of our decisions? How can our individual transformation become an institutional transformation? This question should be a part of our every effort," he said.
Modi stated that understanding technology and using it properly has become an essential part of public service.
"You will be a better administrator, a better public servant, only if you understand technology and data. This will become the basis of your decision-making, hence work is being done to facilitate capacity building and continuous learning in the field of AI," the prime minister said.
Sadhana (Strengthening Adaptive Development and Humane Aptitude for National Advancement) Saptah, one of the largest collaborative capacity-building efforts across India's civil services ecosystem, is being organised by the Capacity Building Commission (CBC) from April 2 to 8.
The commission designs frameworks, sets standards and encourages collaboration to make governance more transparent, accountable, citizen-centric and future-ready. It is the custodian of the Mission Karmayogi framework to drive civil service reforms through capacity-building and competency-based learning.
