February 2023 - Page 38 of 50 - Lokmarg

Sidharth, Kiara Are Now Married

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

Putting an end to months of speculation, Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani finally tied the knot on Tuesday in Jaisalmer.

The wedding ceremony took place at Suryagarh Palace in the presence of close friends and family members.
The couple got married as per Hindu traditions with band baaja and baraat. Famous ‘Jea’ wedding band from Delhi had arrived at the venue on Tuesday. Sidharth made his royal entry at the wedding on the traditional ‘ghodi’.

Earlier in the day, several visuals from the wedding venue went viral in which some men in traditional pink outfits were seen holding floral ‘chhatris’ (umbrellas decorated with flowers).

Karan Johar, Manish Malhotra, Shahid Kapoor, Juhi Chawla and Mira Rajput Kapoor were among the celebrities present at Sid-Kiara’s wedding. The couple wanted a private wedding and made sure no photos or videos leaked from the venue. Their wedding festivities started with haldi and mehendi ceremonies last weekend. A sangeet ceremony was held on Monday.

Kiara and Sidharth have always been tight-lipped about their relationship. They neither accepted nor denied the dating rumours.

Sidharth and Kiara apparently fell in love while shooting for ‘Shershaah’, which was released 2021. The duo was often seen hanging out together which added extra fuel to their relationship rumours.

In an episode of Koffee with Karan Season 7, Kiara revealed that she first met Sidharth at the wrap-up party of Lust Stories. She also confessed that she and Sidharth Malhotra are definitely more than “close friends.”

As Sidharth and Kiara embarked on a new chapter in life, fans across the country greeted them and conveyed their best wishes. (ANI)

Turkey Quake: Govt Calls Urgent Meeting, Indigo Offers Free Cargo

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

The government of India has called an urgent meeting with Indian carriers that operate flights to Turkey, in the aftermath of earthquakes in the western Asian country.
During the meeting, India’s low-cost airline IndiGo offered free cargo movement to Istanbul on its scheduled flights.

The Indian aviation regulator has held a meeting with Indian carriers over operating flights to Turkey for cargo movements in commercial scheduled flights. IndiGo has offered free cargo movement on its scheduled commercial flights using Boeing 777 aircraft to Istanbul.” an aviation industry source told ANI.

Recently Indigo started its wide-body flight operation to Turkey in Istanbul by Boeing-777.

“The Indian carrier colony is with Turkey in the disaster and we are ready to provide free cargo movement for humanitarian aid,” sources quoted the airline company as saying in the meeting.

Other ministries are also part of the meeting and a final decision is yet to be taken in this regard.

The first Indian Air Force plane carrying disaster relief material and rescue team to carry out search and rescue efforts in Turkey has reached Adana in the earthquake-hit country, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday.

The C17 flight with over 50 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and a specially trained dog squad along with necessary equipment, including medical supplies, drilling machines and other equipment required for the aid efforts departed for Turkey early this morning.

Turkish Embassy in New Delhi tweeted, “First batch of earthquake relief material along with NDRF’s special search and rescue teams and trained dog squads just arrived in Turkiye. Thank you India for your support and solidarity.”

Meanwhile, nearly 4,900 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, according to officials, reported CNN.

Turkey’s death toll rose to at least 3,381 as of around 9:45 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Orhan Tatar, an official with the country’s disaster management agency, said in a televised briefing.

At least 20,426 injuries have also been reported, according to Tatar.

Meanwhile in Syria, the death toll has risen to 1,509 across areas controlled by the government and by the opposition, officials said, reported CNN. (ANI)

Earthquake Death Toll Rises To 4,900 In Turkey, Syria

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

Nearly 4,900 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, according to officials, reported CNN.

Turkey’s death toll rose to at least 3,381 as of around 9:45 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Orhan Tatar, an official with the country’s disaster management agency, said in a televised briefing.
At least 20,426 injuries have also been reported, according to Tatar.

Meanwhile in Syria, the death toll has risen to 1,509 across areas controlled by the government and by the opposition, officials said, reported CNN.

At least 3,548 people have also been reported injured in Syria, according to officials.

So far, 11,000 buildings have been reported damaged in Turkey, said Tatar. Nearly 25,000 emergency responders are working at scenes impacted, he added, reported CNN.

Rescuers are using at least 10 ships and 54 aircraft to transport the wounded and help with search operations, he said.

The international community has been quick to offer assistance to Turkey and Syria as the full scale of the disaster becomes clear, reported CNN.

On Tuesday morning, planes carrying aid from Iraq and Iran, including food, medicines and blankets, arrived at Damascus International Airport in Syria, Syrian state media SANA reported.

Japan announced it would send the country’s Disaster Relief Rescue team to Turkey, and on Monday night, the first of two disaster relief teams left India for Turkey with dog squads and medical supplies.

Pakistan has also dispatched two search and rescue teams to the ravaged country, while Australia and New Zealand committed funds for humanitarian assistance.

The European Union activated its crisis response mechanism, while the United States said it would send two search and rescue units to Turkey.

Palestinian civil defense and medical teams will also be sent to Turkey and Syria to help in rescue operations, reported CNN.

Meanwhile, 10 units of the Russian army with more than 300 soldiers are clearing debris and helping in search and rescue operations in Syria, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. Russia is the strongest foreign power operating in Syria, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has long allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said emergency response teams from the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC), the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) and WHO’s Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) are being mobilized to Turkey to assist in the humanitarian response.

However, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Syria, El-Mostafa Benlamlih, told CNN the search and rescue mission was being hampered by a lack of heavy equipment and machinery.

He said the UN’s supply of stock has been distributed and more medicine and medical equipment are needed, and especially freshwater or tools to repair damaged water tanks.

“Around 4 million people in northern Syria were already displaced and relying on humanitarian support as a result of war. Everyone is overstretched in that part of the world … there is an enormous amount do. People have fled their homes often standing around in bitterly cold conditions really without access to safe water. So water is key. Blankets, food, psychological support,” according to James Elder, spokesman for UNICEF.

Hospitals in the country are overwhelmed as victims seek help, with some facilities damaged by the quake. And there is particular concern about the spread of illness, especially among children, who were already living in extreme hardship, reported CNN.

“This winter had been particularly tough due to the freezing conditions and a cholera outbreak, Elder said.

The United Nations said the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck southern Turkey early Monday was the county’s most powerful quake in more than 80 years.

“This is Turkiye’s most powerful earthquake recorded since 1939,” a situational report released Monday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said.

At least 100 aftershocks measuring 4.0 or greater have occurred since the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey on Monday morning local time, according to the United States Geological Survey.

On Monday, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 centered in the Pazarcik district jolted Kahramanmaras and hit several provinces, including Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay, and Kilis, as per the Anadolu Agency report.

Later in the day, an earthquake of 7.6 magnitude centred in Kahramanmaras’s Elbistan district jolted the region. The earthquake was also felt in several neighbouring countries, including Lebanon and Syria.

The third earthquake of magnitude 6.0 on the Richter scale hit Goksun, Turkey on Monday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. (ANI)

A Tribute To The Fearless, Faceless Foot Soldier

By Mahendra Ved 7th February 2023

I write about P. Sainath not because we were colleagues at two news organisations, or to recall his winning many awards including the Magsaysay Award in 2007 for his outstanding reportage of rural India. Not even because I admire his approach to journalism, something I have not had the courage to do.

I write of him as he records something of great urgency in his latest book on the “foot soldiers” of India’s freedom struggle. They are those who have remained unsung, unrecognised and hence, unrewarded even as India celebrates 75 years of its independence from colonial rule.

The urgency lies in the fact that most if not all of these freedom fighters who gave their sweat and blood when young, may not be around by, say, the end of this decade. Six of those who feature in his book have died since May 2021. Bhagat Singh Jhuggian from Punjab, when assured that his role would finally appear in print, “let himself go” in satisfaction.

This came after long years of touring rural India to study rural conditions, especially the drought, and “extraordinary stories from the ordinary” about freedom fighters poured out from the larger exercise.

His book, Last Heroes: Foot Soldiers of Indian Freedom talks of those who did not fulfill the “seven laws of bureaucratic suffering” – the criteria for recognition for the freedom fighter’s pension. They may or may not have cared when young, but in the evening of their lives, they feel deprived of recognition, if not for garlands and funds, then for what they did, expecting nothing.

By a broad yardstick, freedom fighters recognised are those that are too well-known to be overlooked or those who have claimed. Those who do not fall in either category get ignored. Sainath records cases that are all from the rural areas – too isolated, too poor and perhaps, too shy and self-effacing to make claims.

Who and where have these freedom fighters been? Ironically, they have all along been amidst us. As Gopalakrishna Gandhi notes: “They come from across India and speak many languages. That diversity is mirrored in their individual struggles. With lathis, type-writers and tiffin carriers, they took on the might of the Raj. Some made bombs, others stopped and looted trains, and a young woman used a slingshot with great precision.” By interviewing over the years and writing about them, Sainath, he says, has “redefined biography.”

ALSO READ: Forgotten Fearless Women Of Freedom

Sainath cites historical evidence to assert that the freedom struggle was begun and fought in India’s countryside by farmers. Even the East India Company soldiers who revolted in 1857 were farmers-turned-soldiers. The early beneficiaries of Macaulay’s education were happy serving the British. Sadly, official history – British and now Indian – records only the kings and feudal chieftains and later, those who returned from England with an Oxbridge education. It has remained essentially urban and elitist.

Sainath’s heroes and heroines are men and women who made sacrifices when in their teens and twenties, during the 1930s and 1940s. He finds that women’s role has been ignored and discovers Demati Dei ‘Salihan’ of Odisha. Many like Hausabai Patil in Maharashtra who escaped jail or imprisonment lacked the proof required for formal recognition by the government; official recognition came only in 1992.

Captain Bhau of Maharashtra’s Satara and Sangli ran a “Toofani Sena”, probably parallel to Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army (INA). At just 13, Laxmi Panda had cooked and fed INA soldiers in Netaji’s forest camp. She is not officially recognised. She asks: ‘simply because I never went to jail, nor fired a bullet but only worked in the forest camp, I was not a freedom fighter’.

He said in a recent interview: “Ketaki Parida, Hausabai Patil, Salihan – they all summoned up great courage. I keep asking myself – and I want readers to ask themselves – what would we have done in their situation? Yet, they are not going to be recognized as freedom fighters.”

There is a remarkable fast-forward to Baji Mohammad. A Muslim and a Gandhian freedom fighter wedded to non-violence, his skull was cracked in violence from Kar Sevaks at Ayodhya in 1992.

In another fast-forward, he disputes the claims whereby India’s freedom struggle is being dated back by 800 years. “We have had ministers dating back the struggle for freedom to the Delhi Sultanate and the so-called Muslim invasions.”

As a reporter for 42 years, he covered rural India full-time for thirty of those years. A series of 84 reports on drought published over 18 months published by the Times of India in 1993, were eye-openers that prompted some changes. They were later published as a book, Everyone Loves a Good Drought (1996). That fetched the well-earned Magsaysay and many other awards.

He headed the rural affairs section of The Hindu newspaper from 2004 to 2014.

Media in those days had not become what it is today. Sainath laments the media’s loss of perspective today. He contrasts its current role, with so many resources and technology, but serving only a small section of the people, with that of freedom fighters sending their message while publishing in adversity to the British rulers, their journals’ circulation barely touching from 500 to 2,000 copies. He has founded and edited the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a digital channel of far-reaching significance in rural India.

He has shown a mirror to the Indian media that has unhinged itself totally from the ethos created by the freedom struggle. This would necessarily cover much of the so-called national media, from the big metros and the TV channels.

Echoing those he has interviewed, he said the country received ‘freedom’ from the British, but not ‘independence’ since the bureaucracy it earlier fought remained the same, enforcing British-enacted law with greater force. “I have learned from this book the great lesson of the difference between Freedom and Independence and the essential need to work towards coalescing the two,” Sainath says.

As time takes its toll on the little-known freedom fighters, Sainath says his book is written for “a generation that will never ever see, speak to, engage with, hear or listen to a genuine bona fide freedom fighter who gave them the country they now have. And that breaks my heart.”

The writer can be reached at mahendraved07@gmail.com

‘Business Slowly Back On Track, But Credit Line Not Revived’

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

Shashank Shekhar Shukla, a home décor professional in Uttar Pradesh, says small businessmen are still suffering from the impact of Covid waves

Covid and the hardships it caused are by and large gone from public memory. However, in much the same way as post-Covid health complications still persist, its impact on small and medium businesses is still felt bitterly. The pre-Covid practice of getting goods and products on generous credit lines among business houses is over and now we need to take all the products on cash. This causes a lot of stress on supply chain and liquidity.

I started my outlet in Lucknow about one year before the Covid pandemic broke out (and the concurrent lockdown). Our business supply chain enjoyed a long rope of credit facilities. For example, we used to pay them ₹50,000 as advance and used to get products and goods worth about ₹5 lakh on credit. The payments would be made in accordance to our sales. This was a routine practice in most of the businesses that I was familiar with.

However, once the Covid stuck, the cash flow in the market was severely impacted. Several businesses shot shops; several others diversified; trust deficit followed and everyone demanded on-spot cash transaction as a pre-condition for trading. Today, more than two years after the outbreak, even though business is limping back to normalcy, the credit lines no longer exist.

***Shukla is appreciative of Govt measures for revival of economy***

We have changed the practice of stocking products and showcasing them to our regular or potential clients. Instead, we only take procure the material as per the demand; this does affect the spontaneity and delivery speed but there is no solution. In a way, marketing has become more aggressive as first we have to create a demand for a specific product, make it look necessary for the customer, sell it, and then buy from the producer to deliver farther.

ALSO READ: ‘A Teacher’s Work Has Increased Twice As Much’

However, profits are reviving, in some cases have risen too, but not to the tune of the pre-Covid era. Although the hesitance of the buyer to invest in something new has slowly waded off, there is still a shortfall of about 20% in business profitability. Covid also brought a change in consumer mentality. Overspending has been reduced by the middle class; the consumer has become tight-fist; luxury spending has come down drastically.

From my own perspective, modular kitchens fitted with state-of-the-art appliances had become an inseparable part of urban housing. Every middle-class house demanded it. Now, even double-income households are spending cautiously over such facilities. Builders, understandably, are also cutting corners to bring down costs.

Having said that it is commendable how our economy has overall recovered in such a short time when several countries in the world are still struggling. The markets have started beating on its regular pulse thanks to the policies of the Union government and the RBI. Various sectors have fully revived and, in some cases, have bounced back. I take pride in such resilience of Indian businesses and state support.

I would like to request the government and its economic arms to kindly take steps to instigate confidence down the line (to small vendors and producers) so that small and medium buisnesses return back to the old practice (of getting credit). If the benefits of state measures reach to the last man in the assembly, it would be development in its truest form.

As told to Rajat Rai

Punjab: Firing Outside Ludhiana Court

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

Multiple rounds of bullet shots were fired outside the Ludhiana Court in the Kochar Market on Tuesday, creating havoc among the public in the area.

The police reached the spot and started investigating the matter. But, the accused who fired the shots was able to flee and the police are searching for him.
ACP Sumit Sood told the reporters that the shots were fired outside the court premises, and the police have started an investigation into the case.

One of the eyewitnesses, Sukhdeep alleged that one person has been injured in the firing. He also said that he was passing by the place when the bullet was fired.

Further details are awaited in the case. (ANI)

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India To Send Two More IAF Planes With Rescue Material To Turkey

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

India will send two more C-17 Indian Air Force planes to Turkey later this evening with 60 Para Field Hospital and personnel to assist in rescue and relief operations.

According to defence officials, the Agra-based Army Field Hospital has despatched an 89-member medical team.
The medical team comprises critical care specialist teams including Orthopaedic Surgical Team, General Surgical Specialist Team, Medical Specialist Teams apart from other medical teams. The teams are equipped with X-ray machines, ventilators, Oxygen generation plant, Cardiac monitors and associated equipment to establish a 30 bedded medical facility.

Meanwhile, the first batch of aid from India, which took off from the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad early this morning reached Adana in Turkey.

The Indian Air Force tweeted on Tuesday that a C-17, a strategic transport aircraft, left for Turkey “bearing search and rescue teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).”

According to Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi earlier said India’s Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) capabilities were put into action.” The 1st batch of earthquake relief material leaves for Turkiye, along with NDRF Search & Rescue Teams, specially trained dog squads, medical supplies, drilling machines & other necessary equipment,” he tweeted.

Under HADR operations for Turkey and Syria, India dispatched the first C17 airborne for Turkey at 03:09 am today while the second C17 took off around 10:00 hrs with National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team.

The aircraft is part of a larger relief effort that will be undertaken by the IAF along with other Indian organisations, said the Indian Air Force.

The aid to Syrian has been meanwhile delayed with, a C130 flight for Damascus with medicines only and no personnel, delayed to this afternoon.

As per latest estimates over 4,372 people have been killed and thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria early Monday, according to officials and agencies.

Turkey and Syria were hit by three consecutive devastating earthquakes of magnitude 7.8, 7.6 and 6.0 on Monday, reported Washington Post.

Rescuers in both countries are digging with their bare hands through the freezing night hunting for survivors among the rubble of thousands of buildings.

The quake, one of the strongest to hit the region in more than 100 years, struck 23 kilometres (14.2 miles) east of Nurdagi, in Turkey’s Gaziantep province, at a depth of 24.1 kilometres (14.9 miles), the US Geological Survey said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences with the Prime Minister’s Office saying that a meeting was held on Monday in which it was decided that “relief material would be dispatched immediately” in coordination with the Turkish government.

“Two teams of NDRF comprising 100 personnel with specially trained dog squads and necessary equipment are ready to be flown to the earthquake-hit area for search and rescue operations,” the statement said.

“Medical teams are also being readied with trained doctors and paramedics with essential medicines. Relief material will be dispatched in coordination with the Government of Turkiye and Indian Embassy in Ankara and Consulate General office in Istanbul,” it added.

India’s Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar also extended his condolences, tweeting Monday night that he had contacted his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad.

“Expressed solidarity and conveyed our support including through supply of medicines,” he tweeted.

Initially, a magnitude 7.8 quake struck early Monday at 04:17 local time (01:17 GMT) 23 kilometers (14.2 miles) east of Nurdagi, in Turkey’s Gaziantep province near the Syrian border, at a depth of 24.1 kilometers (14.9 miles), the US Geological Survey said.

This was followed by a 7.5-magnitude quake around 130 kilometres north of Gaziantep, and with epicentre was in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras province in Turkey according to the US Geological Survey. Tremors were also felt in several neighboring countries, including Lebanon and Syria.

The third earthquake of magnitude 6.0 on the Richter scale hit Goksun, Turkey on Monday. The earthquake — felt as far away as Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Egypt — occurred in Kahramanmaras province, north of Gaziantep, near the Syrian border.

At least 100 aftershocks measuring 4.0 or greater have occurred since the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey on Monday morning local time.

As the time from the original earthquake extends, the frequency and magnitude of the aftershocks tend to decrease. However, 5.0 to 6.0-plus aftershocks are still likely to occur and bring a risk of additional damage to structures that are compromised from the original earthquake. This brings a continued threat to rescue teams and survivors, reported CNN.

The aftershocks stretch for more than 300 kilometres (186 miles) along the fault zone that ruptured in southern Turkey, oriented from southwest to northeast and stretching from the border with Syria up through the province of Malatya. (ANI)

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101 NDRF Rescuers, Canine Squad To Help Quake-Hit Turkey

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

A 101-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescuers, including five women personnel and a four-member canine squad, will help earthquake-hit Turkey from Tuesday, with a 51-member team landing earlier today at Adana Airport of quake-battered country and the second team of another 50-members on way, said NDRF Director General Atul Karwal.

Led by Commanding Officer Gurminder Singh of NDRF’s 2nd Battalion in Kolkata, the whole contingent of 101 rescuers will start their operations in a coordinated way as per directions of the Indian Embassy in Turkey and local authorities.
A massive earthquake, 7.8 magnitudes on Richter Scale, ripped through Turkey and Syria on February 6, followed by a series of high magnitute tremors causing houses and high rises reducing to rubble, leaving over 4,000 people dead and rendering scores of men, women and children homeless.

Speaking to ANI, NDRF Director General Atul Karwal said soon after the earthquake, “Government of India decided to render all possible help (to Turkey) in this time of crisis.”

The 1988-batch Gujarat cadre officer said the NDRF was asked to deploy two teams.

“One team with 51 rescuers, including five lady personnel, and a canine squad left for Turkey at 3 am today morning in an Indian Air Force aircraft. So, after a flight of seven and a half hours, they landed at about 10.30 am at Adana airport in Turkey close to the site of the disaster,” Karwal said.

“The second team will depart at 11 am again by an Indian Air Force aircraft.”

Karwal said “the NDRF is also sending some vehicles with both the teams because we are told that vehicle providing of transportation by the local authorities might be an issue. So we are sending them with vehicles.”

Asked if the 101-member crew has any paramedics or health experts, the NDRF chief said, “There is a doctor who is accompanying for the care of the team and the rescuers, and the victims we are going to assist.”

“Aside from that, all rescuers of NDRF have the medical first responder training to provide first aid to all the victims that we rescued before they are sent to the hospital.”

In anticipation of such deployment, Karwal further said, the NDRF had kept two teams ready in two Battalions, the 8th battalion in Ghaziabad and 2nd Battalion in Kolkata”.

“The Commanding Officer of 2nd Battalion Kolkata Gurminder Singh is leading the whole contingent. So, these two Battalions were ready with two teams and the equipment so that we could mobilise them at a very short notice. And yesterday, when this tragedy struck, then it was put in motion and by early morning the first team had left,” the NDRF DG said.

Karwal said, “We are in regular contact with the Indian Embassy in Turkey, and they have deployed a liaison officer with English-speaking abilities to us to live with the local authorities”.

“So, now it will be up to the local authorities to decide where they will deploy us. Depending on the crisis and they will be most useful,” the NDRF DG said, adding “as I am informed the first deployment site is close to the Adana airport and they will tell us where to start operating as soon as we reach there.”

Karwal also said, “we are taking some information regarding the kinds of buildings which are there in that area”.

“They are mostly masonry with some reinforced concrete structures. So, we are carrying or chipping hammers or cutting tools, everything that we need to cut into concrete as well so that we are able to do the best job that is possible in such a situation.”

Karwal also said that this is a great gesture of humanitarian assistance that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made immediately after the tragic incident struck into Turkey.

He said the NDRF feels proud in rendering help in such a crisis with the hope to save many lives.

At least 100 aftershocks measuring 4.0 or greater have hit Turkey since the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the southern parts of the country in the Eurasian plateau on Monday morning local time.

The 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey’s Golbasi town located in the Central Anatolia region of Ankara Province, reported the United States Geological Survey. (ANI)

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Nora Shares Glimpse Of 31st B’day Bash

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

Actor and dancer Nora Fatehi on Monday shared a fun video from her 31st birthday celebration.

Taking to Instagram, Nora shared a video which she captioned, “I tried to pay attention but attention paid me #birthdaybehavior”

In the video, Nora could be seen doing belly dance and enjoying with her friends on a white Yacht.

The ‘Street Dancer 3D’ actor donned a floral top with a matching skirt.

Soon after she shared the video, fans flooded the comment section with red hearts and fire emoticons.

“Happy Birthday Noraaaaa! Wish you the absolute best,” a fan commented.

Another fan wrote, “Happy Birthday Nora!!”

“Happy Birthday cuteee,” another fan commented.

Nora rang in her 31st birthday in Dubai.

Sharing her idea of celebration, the birthday girl said, “I don’t shy away from the idea of a celebration. I think with life, we’re all moving so fast doing a million and one things and it’s all so fleeting. To be able to take out a day to celebrate someone’s presence in this world is special. Especially if you are fortunate enough to celebrate in the company of your loved ones. If a celebration isn’t feasible for whatever reason, it’s the sentiment of acknowledging someone and their uniqueness to the world and what they mean to you that matters most.”

Meanwhile, on the work front, Nora will be seen in ‘100 percent’, which is directed by Sajid Khan. The film will also feature John Abraham, Shehnaaz Gill and Riteish Deshmukh. (ANI)

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Turkey Quakes: Seven Days Of National Mourning

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

Turkey has declared seven days of national mourning after earthquakes jolted southern provinces of the country. At least 1,541 people were killed and 9733 others were injured when two earthquakes hit southern provinces of Turkey on Monday, Anadolu Agency reported citing Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.7, centered in the Pazarcik district, jolted Kahramanmaras and hit several provinces, including Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay, and Kilis, as per the Anadolu Agency report.
Later, an earthquake of magnitude 7.6 centered in Kahramanmaras’s Elbistan district jolted the region. Fuat Oktay said that earthquakes had a total of 145 aftershocks and 3,741 buildings collapsed, as per the news report. The earthquake was also felt in several neighboring countries, including Lebanon and Syria.

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said that nearly 9700 search and rescue personnel have been working in the region, as per the news report. According to AFAD, there is no tsunami threat to the Eastern Mediterranean coasts in Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey was shaken by the “biggest disaster” since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake. Erdogan spoke to the mayors of Adana, Osmaniye, Hatay, and Kilis on the phone and was informed about search and rescue efforts, according to the Turkish presidency, as per the Anadolu Agency report.

Turkey’s National Education Minister Mahmut Ozer said education in Turkey is suspended until February 13. Meanwhile, Turkey’s Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Kasapoglu said all national sports events in the country have been suspended until further notice, according to an Anadolu Agency report.

AFAD in a statement said that Turkey issued a level 4 alarm, which includes a call for international aid. AFAD said that international assistance was called for through the Emergency Response Coordination Center (ERCC) after a discussion with the Turkish Foreign Ministry, as per the news report.

The death toll in Syria due to the earthquake has reached 237 deaths and 639 injured, mostly in Lattakia, Aleppo, Hama, and Tartous, SANA reported. As per the news report, Syria has called on United Nations member states and other international organizations to help support the efforts made by the Syrian government to face the effects of the earthquake that jolted the nation. (ANI)

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