Indian Sub-continent

GWADAR, Pakistan, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The China-donated seawater desalination plant will resolve the water shortage in Gwadar district of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, which has been the biggest problem in the area for many years, Pakistani Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has said.

The water shortage has been the largest hurdle in the development of Gwadar district, the prime minister said on Monday while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the China-aided desalination project and upgrade of the Pak-China Friendship Hospital in Gwadar.

KATHMANDU, Dec 2 (NNN-XINHUA) – Himalaya Airlines today launched its inaugural flight from the Nepali capital, Kathmandu to Shanghai, China’s economic hub.

The H9780 flight, took off in the morning with 141 passengers aboard, and the H9781 flight is scheduled to return to Kathmandu with 95 passengers onboard, this evening.

The airlines is operating a round trip from Kathmandu to Shanghai on an A320 plane every Saturday, while two flights have been scheduled per week from Dec 20, to Jan 27, 2024.

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and 26 others injured in shooting at a passenger bus on Saturday evening in the Diamir district of Gilgit-Baltistan region in northern Pakistan, an official said.

Deputy Commissioner of Diamir Arif Ahmed said in a video statement that some unknown gunmen opened fire at a passenger bus in the Hudar Pari point of the Chilas area in Diamir, leaving eight people dead on the spot.

Two soldiers are also among the killed, who were going to their hometowns on vacations, said the official.

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- A policeman and a terrorist were killed in an attack on a polio-eradication team in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, police said.

The incident happened in the Khyber district of the province, where the terrorists targeted the team when it was on its way back after taking part in a door-to-door campaign to administer polio drops to kids, the district's police said in a statement.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Ties between India and the U.S. had never looked better than they did in June, when President Joe Biden honored Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a pomp-filled state visit. The relationship was among the most consequential in the world and “more dynamic than at any time in history,” Biden declared as he stood next to Modi at a press conference.

Those ties could now face their biggest test in recent years, after U.S. prosecutors this week accused an Indian official of directing a plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.

CHINYALISAUR, India, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Hope that they would be rescued soon kept workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in India strong through their 17-day ordeal, some of the men said on Wednesday after their rescue.

All 41 men, low-wage workers from some of India's poorest states, were rescued. They were taken to a specialist hospital in Rishikesh city after spending the night at a makeshift medical facility in this small Himalayan town.

Doctors said they were all doing well but would need long-term support, including monitoring for post-traumatic stress.

COLOMBO, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia's national carrier would recommence flights to Sri Lanka very soon, said the Sri Lankan foreign ministry here on Wednesday.

Minister of Economy and Planning of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Alibrahim made the announcement during his visit to Sri Lanka, and the move will contribute to capturing a sizable market of Saudi travelers to Sri Lanka, said the foreign ministry in a press release.

NEW DELHI, Nov 28 (NNN-PTI) – At least four people were killed and another one was injured critically, after lightning struck them in the central India state of Madhya Pradesh, officials said.

The deaths took place on Sunday.

According to officials, heavy rains and thunderstorms, accompanied by lightning strikes lashed several parts of the state on Sunday evening.

UTTARKASHI, India (AP) — Rescuers in India on Tuesday reached 41 construction workers who were trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel for over two weeks in the country’s north and started pulling them out, a local news agency reported.

One worker has been rescued so far, the report by the Press Trust of India said. The laborers are being pulled out through a passageway made of welded pipes which rescuers previously pushed through dirt and rocks.

SILKYARA, India, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Rescuers on Monday brought in "rat miners" to drill through a narrow pipe and help pull out 41 construction workers trapped in a tunnel in the Indian Himalayas for more than two weeks after high-powered machines failed, officials said.

The men, low-wage workers from India's poorest states, have been stuck in the 4.5km (3 miles) tunnel in Uttarakhand state since it collapsed on Nov. 12.