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Sun, 03 June 2018
Shillong clash not communal, says CM; curfew relaxed for 7 hrs

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21:04   Shillong clash not communal, says CM; curfew relaxed for 7 hrs
Curfew in pockets of Shillong was relaxed for seven hours today, even as Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said the violence that broke out on Thursday was a local issue and not communal in nature.

A team of Shiromani Akali Dal leaders from Delhi visited the Meghalaya capital in view of the clashes between two communities leaving at least 10 people injured.

The East Khasi Hills district authorities relaxed the curfew from 8 am to 3 pm to allow churchgoers to attend Sunday services, officials said.

"The problem is very much in a particular locality, on a particular issue. It just happened that two particular communities were involved, but it's not a communal thing," Sangma told a press conference in Shillong.

The clashes in parts of Shillong were given a communal colour by vested groups and a section of the media outside the state, he said.

A number of those arrested in connection with the violence are from outside East Khasi Hills district, in which Shillong falls, and they were given alcohol and cash by some people, he said.

The administration exercised restraint in the first 48 hours and met leaders of civil society organisations to ascertain if their members were involved.

"We came to know there is a large number of people who have come here from West Khasi Hills district and many of those nabbed by the police were from outside Shillong," he said.

The administration and the police are on the job to protect every individual, said Sangma, who chaired a meeting of officials of the home department and Director General of Police S B Singh earlier in the day.

Earlier, a SAD team, including MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa and the party's Delhi unit president Manjit Singh, met the residents of the violence-affected area.

The SAD team also called on the chief minister.

"I am happy to inform you that the delegation was very happy with the response of the state government to ensure that all citizens are given protection," he said.

Officials told PTI that the curfew was promulgated in 14 localities under the jurisdictions of the Lumdiengjri police station and the Cantonment police beat house resumed at 3 pm.

Night curfew will continue in the entire city from 10 pm till 5 am, and Internet and messaging services continue to remain suspended, the official said.  -- PTI
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20:34   1 killed, another hurt as sports car turns turtle near Kolkata
A man was today killed and his friend seriously injured when the sports car they were travelling in hit a divider and turned turtle at Domjur area of Howrah district.

The vehicle, which was coming at a high speed from Dankuni, hit the divider while approaching a bridge on National Highway 6 at Domjur, an hour's drive from Kolkata, and landed upside down on the ground with a thud, a senior police officer said.

"Prima facie it seems that Shibaji Roy, a man in his early 30s, was driving the car. His friend Ashna Surana, 21, was seated next to him," he said.

Both of them were pulled out of the mangled vehicle by local people with the help of police officers.

"While Roy was declared dead on his arrival at a private hospital in Kolkata, Surana was admitted with serious injuries," the officer said.

A forensic test will be conducted on the mangled parts of the car, which was towed away to Domjur police station, he said, adding that the accident led to disruption in trafficmovement along the arterial road for around 30 minutes.  -- PTI
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20:10   Navy evacuates 38 stranded Indians from cyclone-hit island in Yemen
In a swift operation, the Indian Navy today rescued 38 Indians from Socotra island in Yemen where they were stranded for nearly 10 days after a severe cyclonic storm hit the area.

The Navy yesterday had diverted its ship INS Sunayna from the Gulf of Aden to Socotra as part of the operation 'NISTAR' to rescue the Indians, Navy spokesperson Captain D K Sharma said.

He said the stranded Indians were rescued off the coast of Socotra early this morning and are now onboard INS Sunayna, adding all of them were safe.

The ship is bringing the Indians back home.

"The operation, code-named 'NISTAR', was carried out on the morning of June 3 off the coast of Socotra. The evacuated Indians were embarked on board and immediately provided with medical care, food, water and telephone facilities to call and reassure their families at home," Sharma said.

He said the ship is proceeding towards Porbandar in Gujarat.

Cyclonic strom Mekenu had hit Socotra on May 24 leaving a trail of devastation.

"Three Indian dhows (vessel) at Socotra suffered damages/sank alongside in the harbour and another Dhow, MSV Safina Al Khijar with 12 Indians onboard is reported to be missing," said the Navy spokesperson.

INS Sunayna was deployed for the humanitarian and disaster relief operation after the Navy received a distress call from the Directorate General of Shipping and the Indian Sailing Vessels Association.

The Navy had undertaken two aerial sorties on May 28 and 29 to search for the missing Indians.  -- PTI
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19:30   Police recovers body of JD-U students' wing leader
Police today recovered the body of ruling Janata Dal-United students' wing state general secretary, Rakesh Kumar from Alipur Pachuara village in Bihar's Nalanda district.

Acting on the information furnished by some local people that a body was found half buried, a police team reached the site and exhumed the body -- whose upper portion was buried while the leg was peeping outside -- which was identified as that of Rakesh Kumar's, a police officer said.

The body was sent to Bihar Sharif Sadar hospital for post-mortem, Sub-Divisional Police Officer Nishit Priya said.

The dog squad found the slippers of Rakesh Kumar and also blood stains, police said.

Kumar's father-in-law Avinash Kumar, had earlier lodged a police complaint stating that Kumar was kidnapped from his house on May 29 when four people had come to meet him (Rakesh Kumar) and took him along with them but Kumar did not return home after that day.

Superintendent of Police Sudhir Kuma Porika said that all those involved in the kidnapping-cum-murder case will soon be arrested.

The SDPO said Kumar was most probably killed on May 29by the abductors.

President of JD-U's student wing of Nalanda district, Dhananjay Dev and JD-U's youth cell city president, Shashikant Tony demanded the immediate arrest of those involved in the incident.  -- PTI
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18:56   MeT dept warns another round of storm in 13 districts of UP
Thunderstorm and dust storm accompanied with gusty winds are 'very likely' at isolated places in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh over the next two days, the MeT department warned today.

According to the meteorological department, the districts that might be hit by thunderstorm or dust storm are Banda, Chitrakoot, Fatehpur, Hardoi, Shahjahanpur, Pilibhit, Bareilly, Rampur, Moradabad, Meerut, Bijnore, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur.

The weather office has also forecast 'very likely' rain in certain parts of the state.

The latest bout of deadly dust storm over the weekend claimed 17 lives and left 11 persons injured.

Most of the deaths were caused due to falling of trees and house collapse, a UP government spokesperson said.

Moradabad bore the maximum brunt of the storm, with as many as seven deaths reported from the district, followed by three deaths from Sambhal.

Two deaths each were reported from Badaun, Muzaffarnagar and Meerut, while one death was reported from Amroha.

Five persons were injured in Amroha, three in Moradabad, two in Muzaffarnagar and one in Badaun. The state government directed all district magistrates to distribute relief within 24 hours.

Dust storms have become a regular phenomenon in the state that left over 130 people dead last month.

On May 13, 39 people died in various districts including Bareilly, Barabanki, Bulandshahr and Lakhimpur Khiri districts.

On May 9, a severe storm left 18 dead and 27 others injured.

Five people died in Etawah district, three each in Mathura, Aligarh and Agra, two in Firozabad and one each in Hathras and Kanpur Dehat.

Thunderstorms and lightning on May 2-3 left 80 dead in the state, most of them in Agra district in the western part of the state.  -- PTI
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18:26   Centre to bring bill to do away with homework for Class 1, 2: Javadekar
The Centre will bring a bill in Parliament to ensure that schools do not assign homework to students of classes 1 and 2, Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has said.

His remarks came in the wake of an interim order of the Madras high court on May 30 asking the Centre to instruct state governments to reduce the weight of children's school bags and do away with homework for Classes 1 and 2.

Javadekar said he believed there cannot be learning without fun.

"I welcome the decision (of the court). We are studying the order and will definitely do whatever is required," he told a press conference in Kolkata.

The Union minister said the Centre will bring a no homework bill in the Monsoon Session of Parliament in compliance with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, and hoped it will be passed.

"I believe there has to be a 'learn with fun'. Children should not be put under any pressure. We will do whatever is required to lessen the pressure on children in compliance with the court order," Javadekar said.

Noting that children are neither weightlifters nor school bags loaded containers, the high court had asked the state government to ensure that the weight of the satchels should not be more than 10 per cent of the weight of the child.

Justice N Kirubakaran had also directed the Centre to instruct the state governments not to prescribe any other subjects except language and mathematics for Classes 1 and 2 students.  -- PTI
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17:57   Karunanidhi turns 95
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President M Karunanidhi turned 95  today with a host of leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi extending their greetings.

The veteran politician's Gopalapuram residence was decked with flowers as scores of party cadres began to converge since last night and cut a cake to mark the occasion.

Sweets were distributed among party workers and a host of events including blood donation camp were held by the party in various places.

DMK Working President and his son M K Stalin and former Union Minister A Raja were among those who met Karunanidhi early in the day.

The nonagenarian leader had undergone tracheotomy procedure last year to improve breathing.

A smiling Karunanidhi made a brief appearance on the threshold of his house and waved to the waiting crowd.

DMK supporters who had gathered outside the residence raised slogans hailing him.

Prime Minister Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee were among those who greeted the Dravidian leader.

Modi, who called on Karunanidhi in November last year athis residence here, extended his greetings on social networking site Twitter and shared an image of his meeting with the DMK veteran.

"Best wishes to Kalaignar M Karunanidhi Ji on is birthday. A prolific writer, poet, thinker and orator, Karunanidhi Ji is one of the India's senior most political leaders."

"May he be blessed with a long and healthy life@kalaignar89," Modi tweeted.

The Congress President also extended his birthday greetings in Twitter saying, "I would like to wish Shri Karunanidhi ji a very happy birthday! I pray for his good health and happiness, always."

On her Twitter handle, Mamata Banerjee said, "Warmest birthday greetings to M Karunanidhi @kalaignar89 Ji. I pray for your good health and happiness."

The DMK supremo was first elected to the state assembly from Kulithalai in then undivided Tiruchirappalli in 1957.

He has not lost a single election he contested in his six-decade long career.  -- PTI
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16:33   Govt can't give security to everyone: Goa BJP leader on 20-yr-old's rape
Days after a 20-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped on a South Goa beach, state Bharatiya Janata Party women's wing president Sulakshana Sawant has said the government cannot provide security to every individual.

The opposition Congress has criticised Sawant for her 'disgusting' statement and said she should resign from her post on moral grounds.

"The government cannot provide security to every individual. We need to change the mentality of the people. An individual can act as a protector of the other," Sawant told a press conference in Panaji, while responding to a question on the alleged gang rape of the woman on a South Goa beach on May 25.

The 20-year-old victim was allegedly sexually assaulted by three men from Indore in front of her boyfriend, the police had said.

Sawant said there was an increase in the number of rape cases being reported to the police because more women were coming forward to report such crimes these days.

"The women believe that something may change if they take a step forward (and report such cases)," she added.

Sawant said the BJP women's wing would request the state tourism department to install CCTV cameras on the crime-prone beaches of Goa, which attract lakhs of travellers every year.

Meanwhile, the Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee said it was the responsibility of the government to provide security to every individual.

"It is disgusting that Sawant is making such a statement. She should immediately resign on moral grounds," GPMCC chief Pratima Coutinho said, adding that it was the government's responsibility to provide security to every individual, especially women.  -- PTI
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15:42   Prez rejects his first mercy plea of convict who killed 7 of a family
President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected his first mercy petition of a death-row convict who had burned alive seven members of a family, including five children, over a case of buffalo theft.

The case pertains to gruesome killing of Vijendra Mahto and six of his family members by Jagat Rai in Raghopur block of Bihar's Vaishali district in 2006.

Mahto had lodged a case of theft of his buffalo in September 2005 in which Rai, Wazir Rai and Ajay Rai were named as accused.

The accused (now convicts) were pressuring Mahto to withdraw the case.

Rai had set on fire Mahto's house that resulted in the death of latter's wife and five children.

Mahto, who had sustained serious burn injuries then, died after few months.

After being convicted for the crime and being awarded the death penalty by the local court, the high court and the Supreme Court in 2013 too gave their nod for the hanging. Rai's mercy plea was then sent to the president's secretariat.

The office of the president had sought the Home Ministry's views which gave its recommendation on July 12 last year.

"The mercy petition (of Mahto) was rejected by the president on April 23, 2018', according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique.

This is the first mercy plea decided by Kovind after he became the president in July last year.

There is no other mercy petition pending with the president's secretariat. -- PTI
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14:24   Govt to seal deal by Oct to procure 200 Kamov military choppers
The government is all set to conclude a multi-billion dollar deal by October to procure 200 Kamov Ka-226T attack helicopters through a joint venture between Russian Helicopters and state-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

Official sources said almost all the ground work to finalise the mega project has been completed as the government is eyeing to seal it within the next four months.

An inter-governmental agreement between India and Russia was signed for the project during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow in December 2015.

In October 2016, India and Russia had finalised a broad agreement to set up the joint venture (JV) between HAL and Russian Helicopters which will co-produce the choppers. India is procuring the choppers to replace its ageing Cheetah and Chetak helicopters.

Last month, the defence ministry issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to the Indo-Russian venture for the project.

Officials said the HAL-RH joint venture will send a detailed response to the RFP by end of August and the final deal is set to be signed in October.

They said the government has already approved the technical configuration for the twin-engine multi-role helicopter which is known for its superior manoeuvring capabilities in mountainous areas.

The defence ministry has already approved the payment for setting up of the JV. A site in the vicinity of Tumkur near Bengaluru has been identified for setting up the facility to produce the choppers.

The Kamov helicopters will be supplied to the Indian Air Force and the Army. Both these forces have been pressing for early conclusion of the deal so that they could replace their ageing fleet of existing choppers within next three to four years.

According to the 2015 agreement, 60 Kamov-226T helicopters will be supplied to India in fly-away condition, while 140 will be manufactured in India.

Russia had agreed to ensure transfer of technologies to India as part of the pact. Russia has been one of India's key suppliers of arms and ammunition for decades.  -- PTI

Photograph: Wikimedia Commons
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13:46   158 Jet Airways passenger stranded at Mumbai Airport
Around 158 passengers of Jet Airways 9W-2314 Mumbai-Ahmedabad are stranded at Mumbai Airport on Sunday.

According to the passengers waiting at the airport, the on board staff had informed them that Ahmedabad Airport is closed; however, later a Jet Airways official told ANI that the aircraft is facing a technical fault.

"It is true that a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) has been issued for runway maintenance work from 10 am to 3 pm but Jet Airways had been permitted for landing however later it was found that the aircraft has a technical fault," he said.  -- ANI

Photograph: ANI
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13:20   Karnataka Congress working president S R Patil resigns
Karnataka North Congress working President S R Patil on Sunday tendered his resignation on moral grounds owing to party's performance in recent assembly elections in the state.

Patil has sent his resignation letter to Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

The party high command Gandhi is yet to respond to Patil's resignation.

Patil, 69, had been the minister in the previous Siddaramiah government.

He served as the Minister for Infrastructure, information technology, biotechnology, science and technology, planning and statistics in the state government.  -- ANI
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12:30   Autopsy says 'BJP worker' found hanging in WB committed suicide: Cop
The West Bengal police suggests that 35-year-old Dulal Kumar, who was found hanging in Purulia on Saturday, and whom the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed to be its worker, had allegedly committed suicide.

"We received post mortem reports, which state 'death due to asphyxia, hanging ante mortem and suicidal ingestion,' Purulia Superintendent of Police Akash Magharia said.

"We're taking formal action," he said.

Dulal's body was found two days after the body of another man, Trilochon Mahato, 20, who the BJP said was a member of its youth wing, was found hanging from a tree in Balarampur village of Purulia district.

A note was recovered from his body which said he 'was killed because he worked for the BJP'.

"The other case (of Trilochan Mahato) is heading in right direction too. The state government has handed it over to the CID," Magharia said. 

Magharia replaced Joy Biswas as Purulia SP, who was transferred by the government in wake of the two incidents.

The BJP alleged the deaths were 'political murders' and demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the two incidents.  -- With inputs from ANI and PTI

IMAGE: BJP Mahila Morcha president Locket Chatterjee , centre, participated in a rally with party's Yuva Morcha activists against alleged killing of BJP's Trilochan Mahato and Dulal Kumar in Purulia. Photograph: PTI Photo
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11:19  
JUST IN: India successfully test-fires indigenously developed, nuclear capable long-range ballistic missile Agni-5
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10:40   Agriculture minister panned for insensitive comment on farmers' protest
Farmers across several states have launched a 10-day agitation to demand better prices and loan waivers to pull them out of debt traps. They have refused to send their produce to urban centres, at places throwing vegetables and milk on roads as a mark of protest. Union farm minister Radha Mohan Singh spoke his mind on the protests on Saturday. Singh suggested that the protests were an exercise to get media attention.

Singh, the minister for agriculture and farmers' welfare, was sharply criticised by the opposition for what the Congress says are "insensitive remarks".

But he isn't the only senior BJP leader to attempt to run down the protests.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has called the farmers' protests "pointless".

"There is no issue," Khattar said.

"By saying they won't sell farmers' produce they'll only cause losses to the farmers," he said, according to ANI.

The union minister, who was asked about these statements, seemed to agree.

"The country has about 12-14 crore farmers. There will always be organisations with a following of 1,000, 500, 2,000, 40,000, 50,000 farmers. And it requires some unusual deeds to appear in the media. This is natural," Singh said at a media interaction where he highlighted that the production and productivity of the farm sector had improved during the NDA government's four years.

The Congress's RPN Singh said the BJP had promised farmers the moon when they were in the opposition. Once in power, the party only exploited them.

Madhya Pradesh agriculture minister Balkrishna Patidar claimed that farmers in his state were "happy with the schemes that chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched for them".

"It is 2nd June today. Where is the strike the protests had had no impact," he claimed.
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10:21  
JUST IN: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh writes to Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore over International Weightlifting Federation provisionally suspending Sanjita Chanu after a failed dope test. CM appeals to Rathore to intervene in the matter, calls test report 'dubious'.
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10:07   In swipe at Nitish, Shatrughan warns 'NDA Friends' to start performing
Disgruntled BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha on Saturday rubbished the fresh demands for special status to Bihar raised by JD-U and seconded by his own party besides ally like LJP as crocodile tears shed ahead of the general elections.

In a series of scathing tweets, Sinha, who represents Patna Sahib in the Lok Sabha and has been critical of the BJP leadership for quite some time, alleged "performance has given way to only propaganda" in Bihar where the NDA has been in power for nearly a year.

He cautioned NDA "friends" to start performing or else there are "Arjuns" willing to take over as Tejashwi Yadav's challenge was knocking on the doors.

"With the general elections knocking at our doors, the crocodile tears are back...and the drama starts unfolding once again. The ruling coalition in Bihar (NDA) is demanding special status for Bihar, yet again.. .that too from their own central NDA govt and publicly", Sinha tweeted.

The remarks came in the backdrop of a recent statement by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD-U, wherein he had made a fresh pitch for grant of special category status to Bihar and indicated that the demand would be put before the 15th Finance Commission.
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09:49   Nadda reviews Kerala situation after Nipah virus outbreak
Union Health Minister J P Nadda today reviewed the ground situation with his Kerala counterpart and took stock of the public health measures in the affected areas of Kozhikode and Malappuram where the Nipah virus has claimed 17 lives so far.
  
The multi-disciplinary central team led by Director of National Centre for Disease Control and comprising experts from NCDC, AIIMS, Safdarjung hospital, EMR division, NIV Pune is constantly monitoring the situation of the Nipah Virus disease and supporting the State Health Authorities in managing the outbreak.

After reviewing the situation, the central team suggested triage of Nipah cases and establishment of dedicated isolation facilities in district and strict infection control practices, a health ministry statement said.

The government has also issued advisories for general public and healthcare personnel along with guidelines for sample collection for Nipah virus,  hospital infection control and laboratory biosafety guidelines.

In addition, contact tracing and treatment and clinical management protocol has been provided to the state authorities, it said.

National Centre for Disease Control is monitoring the situation in various States through the Integrated Disease Control Surveillance Programme network. 

Advisories have been sent to all the states, video conferencing has been conducted with states for training and clarifying their doubts.

Further samples sent from various states such as Goa, Telangana, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh have come out negative. Out of 19 reported cases of the disease, 17 have died .

-- PTI
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09:12   Hafiz Saeed's JuD to contest general elections on AAT platform
Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud-Dawa will contest the July 25 general elections on the platform of Allaha-u-Akbar Tehreek as the group's Milli Muslim League is yet to be registered as a political party, a senior member of the outfit said today.
JuD, a front for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant group that carried out the deadly 2008 Mumbai attack, launched its political front Milli Muslim League, but it has not been yet registered by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

With general elections approaching, the group has decided to contest on the platform of the "dormant" political entity Allaha-u-Akbar Tehreek, which was registered in the ECP.

"It was a kind of dormant party registered by a citizen Ehsan. There are several such parties registered with the ECP and such an arrangement is made ahead of the general elections if any mainstream party or organisation faces any issue or complication," a member of the JuD told PTI.

"Since the  Milli Muslim League fails to get registered with the ECP it is going for this arrangement (contesting the upcoming polls on AAT platform)," he said.

MML president Saifullah Khalid will make a formal announcement regarding this shortly, he added.

The AAT's election symbol is 'chair'.

"Now the JuD/MML candidates will contest on the 'chair' symbol across the country," the member said.

He said since the MML has hardly any chance to get registered with the ECP as it had announced the election schedule and issued election symbols, it had no other option but to contest the election on any 'dormant' entity like AAT or support the Mutahidda Majlis Amal, an alliance of mainstream religious parties of the country.

"But Saeed chose to contest independently," he said.

The MML has also confirmed contesting the July 25 election on the 'chair' symbol.

"We have decided to support the candidates of AAT in July 25 elections," MML President Saifullah Khalid told PTI.

"We will play a role in the victory of those contesting on the symbol of chair. To save Pakistan, patriotic people should be supported in the elections," he said.

Khalid said the MML had been denied registration in the ECP for the last 11 months but will take part in the polls by supporting the candidates of AAT.

-- PTI
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08:41   Two BSF personnel killed as Pak violates ceasefire in J-K
Nearly a week after the Director General of Military Operations of India and Pakistan agreed to implement the ceasefire pact of 2003 in "letter and spirit", Pakistani rangers resorted to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing along the IB this morning killing two BSF personnel.
  
The firing from across the International Border in the Pragwal area of Akhnoor sector started in the wee hours, resulting in critical injuries to two BSF personnel manning a forward post, a senior officer of the border guarding force told PTI.

He said both the personnel, including an Assistant Sub-Inspector, later succumbed to injuries at a hospital while undergoing treatment.

The firing from across the border in violation of the ceasefire agreement prompted a strong and effective retaliation by the BSF, the officer said.

Cross-border firing was going on when last reports came in, he added.

On May 29, the DGMOs of India and Pakistan agreed to "fully implement" the ceasefire pact of 2003 in "letter and spirit" forthwith to stop border skirmishes in J-K.

The two military commanders reviewed the prevailing situation along the LoC and the IB in J-K during a conversation over the special hotline.

The hotline contact was initiated by the Pakistani DGMO.

The latest deaths in the Pakistani firing raised the casualty figure during ceasefire violations along the IB and the Line of Control in the state to 46. The dead includes 20 security personnel.

Last month, thousands of people residing along the IB in Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts had to flee their homes following intense shelling from Pakistan between May 15 and May 23 which left 12 people dead, including two BSF jawans and an infant, and scores of others injured.

-- PTI
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08:08   4 CRPF personnel, 2 civilians injured in 3 separate grenade attacks
Four CRPF personnel and two civilians, including a woman, were injured in three separate grenade attacks on security forces, police said.
  
In the first attack, terrorists lobbed a grenade towards a security forces patrol party in Fatehkadal area of Srinagar, they said.
Three CRPF personnel and a woman were injured in the explosion, they said.
The injured were taken to a nearby hospital, where their condition is stated to be stable.
In the second attack, terorists targeted a CRPF vehicle in Budshah Chowk area near the city centre, injuring a jawan and a civilian, the police said.
The third grenade attack took place in Magarmal Bagh area of the city, they said.
However, there was no damage due to the explosion there.
There have been at least six grenade attacks in Kashmir valley, including one at the residence of ruling PDP MLA Mushtaq Shah, since yesterday.
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00:22   Woman arrested for abusing TN CM, BJP chief
A 24-year-old woman was arrested today for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami and BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan in a video posted on social networking sites, the police said. 

Following a complaint, officials of the central crime branch booked Surya Devi under relevant sections of the IPC for making comments against Palaniswami and Soundararajan, an official release said. 

She was arrested from her hometown Manapparai near Tiruchirapalli, about 315 km from Chennai, it said. Devi was produced before a local court which later sent her to judicial custody, it said. The phone that was used to make the video was also seized, the release added.
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00:19   3 electrocuted to death as pre-monsoon showers lash Mumbai
Three persons including two children died due to electrocution as pre-monsoon showers lashed some parts of Mumbai city on Saturday evening. 

A release from the Brihanmumbai municipal corporation's disaster control room identified the deceased as Anil Yadav (32), Sara Khan (9) and Omkar Phadtare (10). 

Yadav and Khan died after coming in contact with a live electric wire while walking down a road in Khindipada area in Bhandup West arond 8.30 pm. Omkar Phadtare and his friend received electric shock in Shivkripa Nagar area near Bhandup railway station. While Omkar died in hospital, his friend was seriously injured and was being treated. 

Bishwombhar Singh, director in-charge, Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, Mumbai, said pre-monsoon showers hit the the city and other parts of Maharashtra as well. 

"Monsoon is yet to arrive in the state. Pre-monsoon activities are currently seen in entire Maharashtra including Mumbai and Thane," he said. 

The showers caused water-logging in the city, slowing down the evening traffic. Lightning and heavy winds accompanied the rains. People took to social media to welcome the respite from the sweltering summer.

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