India news: 275 Indians still missing in Nepal floods

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In a week from now, leaders and representatives of BRICS nations will descend upon New Delhi to attend the 18th summit of the international group which India is hosting as part of its 2026 presidency.

The summit will be held from September 12 to 13 at the Bharat Mandapam convention center in the Indian capital. 

Preparations are entering their final stage ahead of the meet and Delhi is set to be a fortress with a heavy security blanket.

On Saturday, a motorcade rehearsal had been scheduled with the traffic authorities in Delhi issuing an advisory for diversions and regulated movement on key routes. 

The Indian Express has reported that drones would be deployed to track the movement of traffic and spot chokepoints during the summit. 

Meanwhile, media reports earlier this week said that hotel prices in the capital were soaring around the dates of the summit.

Indian news outlets said that luxury hotels in the city were either fully sold out or were giving rooms at a significantly higher tariff. 

For one luxury hotel in central Delhi, a room that costs 23,000 Indian Rupees (€210, $243 approx) a night this weekend was listed at 280,000 Indian Rupees (€2,550, $2,963 approx) per night from September 10 to 13, with the rates going back to normal from September 14th, a search on a travel app showed.

India's fourth round of BRICS chairship

BRICS is an 11-member bloc which brings together major emerging markets and developing countries of the world. 

India said the upcoming meet will also be joined by partner countries and outreach invitees. 

The group's presidency rotates annually among the member states. 

India, which is also a founding member of BRICS, has previously held the presidency thrice —  in 2012, 2016 and 2021. 

India's BRICS chairship is guided by the theme of "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability," according to a statement by the foreign ministry in New Delhi. 

India's athletes are gearing up for this month's Asian Games being hosted by Japan and their preparations involve living temporarily in shipping container-style units to acclimate to their official lodgings during the continental sporting event. 

The Japanese prefecture of Aichi will stage the Games from September 19 to October 4, with over 17,000 athletes and ​officials in attendance. 

The number of participants is higher than the Olympics and in a cost-cutting move, they will not stay in a traditional athletes' village but in hotels, a cruise ship and temporary units mostly made of wood. 

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has constructed similar wooden container-style accommodations at its athlete headquarters in Patiala and Bengaluru to replicate the arrangement in Japan.

In the SAI's southern Indian campus in Bengaluru, two fully air-conditioned container-style units have been built, measuring 40-foot-long (12 meters) ​and 10-foot-wide. 

Each unit two small twin bedrooms, two bathrooms, a ​kitchen and ⁠a living area with a TV and music ⁠system.

Up north in Punjab's Patiala, SAI gave journalists a tour of the two cabins built there.

"These containers are like a simulator," Vineet Kumar, deputy director general of the SAI, told news agency AFP in Patiala.

"It is a unique concept as never in an Asian Games or Olympics this kind of accommodation was used," he said.

Kumar told AFP that the replicas were made to ensure that Indian athletes "don't feel the shock and get claustrophobic when they are given such accommodation in Japan."

The SAI told the media that a roster has been made for the athletes to stay for a night, turn-by-turn, before they fly out for Japan.

India is celebrating its national Teachers' Day on Saturday.

Every year on September 5, educational institutions across the country hold cultural events and programs honoring teachers for their contributions to the society.

Teachers' Day in India is celebrated on the birth anniversary of renowned scholar and philosopher Dr.  Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan who was born on September 5, 1888 and served as the second president of the nation. 

The commemoration dates back to 1962, a few months after he became president. 

According to a popular anecdote, some of Radhakrishnan's students wanted to celebrate his birthday but the academic-turned-statesman is believed to have told them that it would be his "proud privilege" if the day was observed as Teachers' Day instead. 

On Saturday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended Teachers’ Day greetings.

"#TeachersDay is about appreciating the strong contribution of teachers to our society. It is also a day to pay homage to Dr. S. Radhakrishnan," he wrote on X as he shared visuals of his meeting with the recipients of the annual National Teachers' Awards that were presented on Friday. 

India has said that 275 of its nationals remain missing, ten days after flash floods ravaged areas along the Nepal-Tibet border.

A total of 169 Indians have been rescued so far from the flood-affected areas in Nepal, India's foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday evening. 

Jaiswal said that in the latest rescue three Indians, including a five-year-old, were pulled to safety from Trishuli Bazaar in Nepal.

"Our Embassy in Nepal is assisting in their return to India by air," he said on X.

The spokesperson told a press conference in New Delhi that 1,907 Indian nationals have safely crossed over to Nepal from China.

No Indian travelers are now stranded in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Jaiswal announced, citing official Chinese sources.

Nepal's official death toll from the deluge now stands at 1,294, with 5,053 still missing. 

A frantic rescue effort has gone on for days to search for survivors, especially at mud-filled hydropower tunnels, where hundreds of workers are believed to be trapped.

Indian team assists in Rasuwa tunnel rescue

On Saturday, New Delhi's envoy to Kathmandu said that an Indian tunnel rescue team, working with Nepal's defense forces at the Chilime hydropower plant in Rasuwa, had stepped up operations.

"The Indian tunnel rescue team working alongside with Nepali Army dug deeper into Chilime tunnel yesterday draining out water. A temporary track is also being made to allow more heavy equipment to reach tunnel," Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava said.

He added that doctors accompanying the Indian rescuers had also held a health camp for the local community. 

India has also supplied nearly 95 tonnes of relief material to Nepal since the floods hit the country on August 26, Jaiswal said on Friday. 

This is Dharvi from DW's studio in Delhi, bringing you the weekend edition of our India blog where we break down all the biggest headlines that are making a splash in the world's most populous nation. 

A total of 275 Indians are still missing in the devastating Nepal-Tibet floods as deaths in the disaster cross the 1,200 mark.

In diplomatic news, a countdown has begun in New Delhi for next week's BRICS summit. India is set to host leaders of member nations as the economic bloc's chair. 

Meanwhile in the world of sports, Indian athletes are prepping for the Asian Games in a rather unconventional manner — by sleeping in shipping container-style units.

Stay tuned for all this and more.