More than 600 people still stranded in Taiwan, 3 days after earthquake that killed at least 12
Taipei (AP/PTI): Rescuers were planning to bring in heavy equipment on Saturday to try to recover two bodies buried under boulders on a hiking trail, three days after Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years.
Four more people remain missing on the same Shakadang Trail in Taroko National Park, famed for its rugged mountainous terrain. Search and recovery work was set to resume, after being called off Friday afternoon because of aftershocks.
At least 12 people were killed by the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck Wednesday morning off Taiwan's east coast, and 10 others were still missing.
More than 600 people, including about 450 at a hotel in the Taroko park, remained stranded in various locations cut off by rockslides and other damage.
Survivors have told harrowing tales of rocks tumbling onto roadways, trapping them in tunnels until rescuers arrived to free them. In the city of Hualien, a building left tilting over a street at a precarious angle was being carefully torn down.
The relatively low number of deaths from such a powerful quake has been attributed to strict construction standards and widespread public education campaigns on the earthquake-prone island.
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck in 1999 killed 2,400 people.
The two dead and four missing on Shakadang Trail include a family of five. The trapped bodies found on Friday were a man and a woman, but they have not been identified, according to Taiwanese media reports.
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Telangana govt rejects Adani's Rs 100 cr donation for skills university
Hyderabad, Nov 25: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday announced that the state government will not accept the Rs 100 crore CSR donation committed by industrialist Gautam Adani for the Young India Skills University being set up in the state.
The CM's announcement came days after the indictment of the Adani Group chairman in a US court.
In a letter to Priti Adani, Chairperson of the Adani Foundation, the state government's Special Chief Secretary (Industries) Jayesh Ranjan said he has been "instructed by the chief minister not to seek the transfer of funds in view of the present circumstances and arising controversies".
While thanking Priti Adani for committing Rs 100 crore to the skills university, the official said the state government has so far not asked any of the donors for physical transfer of funds since the university had not received the IT exemption under Section 80 G. However, the IT exemption order has now been received recently.
Addressing a press conference here, Revanth Reddy said the decision was taken as the Congress government does not want to find itself in any unwarranted controversy amid the allegations against the Adani Group.
He said so far the Telangana government has not accepted a single rupee into its account from any organisation, including Adani Group, for the skills university being established to promote employment avenues for youth.
"I and my Cabinet colleagues do not want to be involved in unnecessary discussions and situations that would dent Telangana's image or my own," Reddy said.
Gautam Adani met the chief minister here on Octrober 18 and symbolically handed over a cheque for Rs 100 crore towards donation to the skills university.
Asked about the comments of BRS that the government should cancel the Adani Group's investment proposals in the state, Reddy said the government will have to take legal opinion for cancellation of any agreements as the other party can go to courts against unilateral termination of pacts.
On BRS working president K T Rama Rao's comments that the previous BRS regime did not allow Adani Group into the state, Reddy displayed photographs of former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and Rama Rao with Gautam Adani to the mediapersons.
He also read out a list of Adani Group's investment proposals reportedly approved by the BRS government.
"Is he (Rama Rao) ready for a probe on these," Reddy asked.
When pointed out that the state government discussed investment proposals with the Adani Group though Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been raising questions on Adani for several years now, he said Congress is not against any investment proposal or corporate house but crony capitalism and violation of rules.
It is his responsibility to follow his leader when the latter is raising his voice on an issue, Reddy said.
