strong earthquake today struck the Japanese coast devastated by last year's massive quake and tsunami, generated small waves . No immediate reports of heavy damage. Several people along the northeastern coast were reportedly injured and buildings in Tokyo and elsewhere swayed for several minutes.

The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 and struck in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Miyagi prefecture at 5:18pm, the Japan meteorological agency said. The epicenter was 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) beneath the seabed and 240 kilometers (150 miles) offshore.

The area was shaken by repeated, smaller aftershocks, the agency said.
Ishinomaki, a city in Miyagi, reported a tsunami of one meter height high . About two hours after the quake struck, the tsunami warning was cancelled. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center earlier said there was no risk of a widespread tsunami.

The governor of China's central bank has pulled out of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings being held in Japan. The move comes amid an ongoing territorial dispute between the two countries. 

Relations between the two soured after Japan said it has purchased disputed islands in the East China Sea claimed by both Tokyo and Beijing. China's four state-owned banks have also skipped the meetings.

Zhou Xiaochuan, the Governor of the People's Bank of China, was scheduled to attend the meetings and deliver a speech at the event. His deputy Yi Gang will now represent him at the IMF-World Bank annual meetings.

China's official news agency Xinhua has confirmed the make-up of the Chinese central bank delegation.

Asian markets rose, today, after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly boosted its asset-purchase program. The Bank of Japan expanded its asset-purchase fund to 55 trillion yen, or 695 billion dollrs, from 45 trillion yen. The Bank of Japan’s move follows measures announced by the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank to spur growth and contain the debt crisis

he US and Japan have agreed to set up a second missile defence system on Japanese soil in an effort to counter the ballistic missile threat from North Korea. US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta made the announcement in Tokyo today with Japan's defence minister. But the exact location of the system has not yet been determined. 

Japan and the US have worked on a joint missile defence system over the years. Officials say this new system would enable Japanese ships to cover other parts of the region. Mr Panetta also discussed with Japanese Defence Minister Satoshi Morimoto the deployment of US Osprey aircraft to Okinawa, which has angered local residents concerned about safety. Mr Panetta is on a week-long tour of Asia that includes China and New Zealand.

 A report released by the Swiss bank UBS covering 72 cities in 58 countries says, Tokyo is the world's most expensive city for food, followed by Zurichswetzerland largest city and Geneva.

The food basket composed of 39 different representative products, used as the measurement unit, costs 928 dollars in Tokyo, 715 dollar in Geneva and 704 in Zurich.

The two cheapest cities of the world are Mumbai and Delhi, where the same baskets of foods cost 186 dollar and 208 dollar. The average global cost of the food basket is 424 dollar. The report also showed that Tokyo is among the three most expensive cities in general, for goods and services while Delhi and Mumbai are again the two cheapest.

 Japan on Saturday said it would go ahead with planned work to complete three new nuclear power reactors, despite saying a day earlier it would phase out atomic power generation by 2040. The construction of the reactors at three different plants was suspended after a massive earthquake and tsunami sparked the Fukushima nuclear crisis on March 11 last year. The minister of economy, trade and industry, Yukio Edano said permission has already been given by the ministry for the construction of the reactors at plants located in Aomori and in the western district of Shimane. Edano added, however, that the start-up of the reactors would be subject to approval by a newly created government commission to regulate nuclear power. On Friday , Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's government adopted a new energy policy, including the nuclear phase-out, in what was widely seen as bowing to public pressure after the Fukushima disaster. The new policy calls for reactors more than 40 years old to be shut down, plans to build more nuclear reactors to be shelved and existing reactors only to be restarted if they pass standards issued by the new regulatory agency.

South Korea today formally rejected Japan's proposal that the two countries ask an international court to settle a bitter row over disputed islands, labelling Tokyo's stance wrong. A foreign ministry spokesman said, South Korea last week received a "note verbale" - an unsigned diplomatic missivea written message addressed to a person or organization -- from Japan suggesting that both sides jointly refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for settlement. He said, South Korea's reply was delivered today through a Japanese diplomat in Seoul. 

It clarified Seoul's stance that no territorial disputes exist about the South Korean-controlled islands in the Sea of Japan, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japan. The spokesman said, we have made it clear that Dokdo is our own territory in terms of history, geography and international laws and we are not going to the ICJ. 

Relations between the two sides have deteriorated since South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak paid a surprise visit on August 10 to the islands.Note verbale (pronounced [nôt ver-bal']) is a diplomatic communication prepared in the third person and unsigned: less formal than a note but more formal than an aide-mémoire
In international relations, an aide-mémoire is a proposed agreement or negotiating text circulated informally among delegations for discussion without committing the originating delegation's country to the contents. It has no identified source, title, or attribution and no standing in the relationship involved.

 n China, protests broke out in at least six cities today after Japanese nationalists raised Japan's flag on an island claimed by both countries. The state media reported that a number of Chinese cities witnessed protest demonstrations denouncing Japanese landing on the Diaoyu islands, called Senkaku islands by the Japanese.

People in Chinese cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Hangzhou, Harbin, Jinan, Qingdao and Taiyuan, took to the streets to voice their opposition to Japanese activists' landing on the Islands.

The protest followed reports from Tokyo that 10 Japanese nationalist activists landed on the islands with their national flags. China has officially lodged protest with Japan for Japanese groups landing on the island asserting that it is a violation of its territory.

 Dozens of South Koreans held a protest across the Japanese embassy in central Seoul today to condemn Japan's distortion of history and sovereignty claims over a set of islets at the center of a long-running territorial dispute between the two neighbors. Amid police presence, protesters chanted anti-Japan slogans and demanded Japan abandon its ownership claims to the disputed islets called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan. The demonstrators strongly criticized Japan's proposal to take the issue of the Seoul-controlled islands to an international court. The news came out earlier in the day that Japan wanted South Korea to go to the International Court of Justice for a ruling on the disputed islets. South Korea dismissed the proposal.

The rocky islets lying about halfway between the two countries have long been a source of diplomatic tensions between Seoul and Tokyo. The tensions have flared recently after South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak last week visited the islets, becoming the first South Korean leader to set foot there.

A grandson of former US President Harry Truman, who ordered the atomic bombings of Japan during World War II, is visiting Hiroshima to attend a memorial service for the victims.

Clifton Truman Daniel visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park today and laid a wreath for the 1,40,000 people killed in the bombing on August 6, 1945. Another atomic blast in Nagasaki three days later killed70,000 more.

Daniel is in Japan to attend ceremonies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki marking the 67th anniversary of the bombings. His visit is the first by a member of the Truman family. It is sponsored by a peace group named after Sadako Sasaki, an Atomic bomb victim.

A US military fighter jet today crashed into the sea off northern Japan and its solo pilot is waiting for rescue at sea after ejecting. A spokesman at the Japan Coast Guard said the F-16 jet crashed off Nemuro, about 1,000 kilometers north of Tokyo. He said the pilot ejected and is now waiting for rescue at sea. The spokesman said the crash happened around 11:30am local time, and coast guard ships and plane are now heading to the accident site. The US military was not immediately available for comment.

In Japan, the ruling Democratic Party 's former leader Ichiro Ozawa on Wednesday launched a new party with 49 lawmakers. The powerful politician named the party as "putting people's life first." He vowed to revoke a tax hike bill supported by the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's cabinet. The ruling party and the major opposition parties voted for a bill at the lower house in late June to double the nation's sales tax rate by October 2015. But Ozawa and those democrats close to him rebelled in the vote. Ozawa submitted resignation along with 49 other lawmakers earlier in July in a move to oppose the tax hike bill.

A Japanese parliamentary panel has said in a report that the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant was a profoundly man-made disaster. It said the disaster could and should have been foreseen and prevented and its effects mitigated by a more effective human response. The Chairman of the panel also said it was a disaster 'made in Japan'. The report catalogued serious deficiencies in both the government and plant operator Tepco's response. The 600-page report is highly critical of the then Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his government. The report also blamed cultural conventions and a reluctance to question authority. The six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was badly damaged after the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems to reactors, leading to meltdowns and the release of radioactivity.

Japan will soon give 400 crore rupees financial assistance to the West Bengal Government for social forestry in the state. Replying to the Budget discussions in the state Assembly today the Forest Minister Mr. Hiten Barman said that the Government has increased the quantum of compensation to 2 lakh rupees for the families who died in tusker attacks.

Mr. Barman also informed the House that the government has also hiked compensation for damage of crops due to elephant menace.

South Korea, Japan and the United States today began a joint naval exercise denounced by North Korea as a reckless provocation. Seoul's defence ministry said the two-day drill involving destroyers, supply ships and helicopters would practise humanitarian operations such as search and rescue missions. A defence ministry spokesman said the exercise is being held in international waters south of South Korea's Jeju island. North Korea has said the three-nation exercise threatened to bring a new cloud of war to Northeast Asia.

In Japan, about 2,000 people in the western Wakayama Prefecture have been advised to evacuate due to threats of landslide and flooding caused by an approaching typhoon. Typhoon Guchol was located around 100 kilometres southwest of Shionomisaki in Wakayama Prefecture, moving northeast at a speed of 65 km per hour. 

Japan's Meteorological Agency said the powerful typhoon, the season's fourth, is expected to land in Japan's western region of Kinki this evening and then move northeast across Honshu Island.

Japan has started work to put nuclear reactors back online, despite public distrust of the technology after last year's meltdowns at Fukushima. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told Kansai Electric Power to put into operation two idled reactors at its Oi plant, which serves the industrial heartland of western Japan.

An official of the firm said the utility, which supplies Osaka and the surrounding areas, began preparatory work this afternoon to reactivate one of the reactors. Work on the other reactor will begin on June 21. He said the first reactor is expected to start generating power as soon as July 4. The controversial move comes amid fears that Japan's electricity demand will outstrip supply as summer temperatures soar, further crimping the country's wobbly economic recovery.

But it has angered many Japanese wary of nuclear energy after the crisis sparked by the huge quake-tsunami disaster in March last year. About 500 people rallied outside Noda's official residence in central Tokyo raising slogans and carrying placards reading not to activate dangerous nuclear reactors.

Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi today said it is necessary for developed countries to exchange visions on global economy. Speaking to media after a cabinet meeting this morning, the Japanese Minister mentioned about a possible G-7 teleconference of the finance ministers and central bank governors of G-7 group.

Japanese media yesterday reported that as a member of G-7 group, Japan is preparing for an urgent teleconference of the finance ministers and central bank governors of G-7 countries tonight. The G-7 countries comprise Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

India and Japan have agreed to intensify talks on civil nuclear cooperation to move forward towards signing a civil pact. The two countries have decided to launch two new dialogue mechanisms on cyber and maritime security. The dialogue between the nations will be held at the level of foreign Ministry officials. 

Addressing a joint perss conference along with his Japanes counterpart Koichiro Gemba, External Affairs Minister Mr S M Krishna expressed satisfaction over the strategic and global partnership between the two countries. He said, during the 6th India - Japan Strategic Dialogue today ,both sides reviewed political and security cooperation between the two nations.

Mr. Krishna said that in the 1st Ministerial-level Economic Dialogue between the two countries, both the sides also discussed the possibility of civil nuclear cooperation. He also anounced that the first naval exercise between the two countries will be held later this year . In reply to a question, he said that Indian Navy will decide the time and place of the naval exercise.

Both foreign Minister discussed important international and regional issues, including situation in Afghanistan, Myanmar and North Korea's nuclear programme

On the economic front, Mr Krishna said, India and Japan have agreed to accelerate cooperation in the flagship DMIC or Delhi - Mumbai Industrial Corridor project. Cooperation in the railways sector including the ongoing Dedicated Freight Corridor project as well as the possibility of India obtaining High Speed Rail technology from Japan were also discussed. Prelimnary talks were also held on chalking out a Comprehensive Master Plan for the Chennai - Bengaluru Corridor project.

AIR correspondent reports that Last year, Japan has expressed intention to invest 4.5 billion dollars in the DMIC project over the next five years. The bilateral trade target of 25 billion dollars is expected to be achieved by 2014 .

Japan has agreed to extend a grant assistance of 259 million Nepali rupees to Nepal . 

Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, Kunio Takahashi and Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Krishna, Hari Baskota, signed and exchanged notes on Sunday on behalf of their governments, in the presence of visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha in Kathmandu. 

The Government of Japan has been extending Grant Assistance for the Increase of Food Production to Nepal since 1977.

The Japanese Foreign Minister had arrived with a eleven member delegation Saturday evening on day’s visit to Nepal. He also called on Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and is to meet the President and meet with other leaders before his departure later Sunday. 

The visit of the Japanese foreign Minister has taken place after 35 years