Breaking News, August 11 | HIGHLIGHTS

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday laid wreaths and paid homage to Havildar Dipak Kumar Yadav and Lance Naik Parveen Sharma here, a day after they lost their lives during an anti-terror operation in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir.

A 30-year-old school van driver has been arrested for allegedly raping a nursery student here in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum district, a senior police officer said on Sunday. The incident happened in the city's Mango area on Friday.

The Amarnath Yatra was suspended on the Baltal route following heavy rains on Sunday, officials said. With this, the yatra stands suspended on both routes. The Pahalgam route was closed for maintenance work on Wednesday.

A bridge connecting Mandi tehsil with the National Highway was partially washed away by heavy rains in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, forcing authorities to suspend traffic, officials said on Sunday. The repair work on the damaged portion of the Drungali Nala bridge has begun and every effort will be made to complete the repairs before the upcoming Chhadi Yatra festival, Additional Deputy Commissioner Tahir Mustafa Malik said.

Three flights were diverted at the Delhi airport on Sunday due to bad weather, according to an official. Various parts of the national capital witnessed heavy rains on Sunday.

The contractor of a school hostel mess where one student died and around 80 children fell ill due to food poisoning last week was arrested, police said on Sunday.

Two wagons of a goods train derailed here in the Shaktinagar area on Sunday, police said. No one was injured in the incident, which took place at around 11.30 am, they added.

Twelve people got injured after a private bus overturned on Delhi-Mumbai Express in Rajasthan's Dausa district on Sunday, police said. The incident happened when the bus, with 70 passengers onboard, going from Jaipur to Delhi on the expressway lost control and overturned, Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police Giriraj Prasad said.

WCD Minister Annapurna Devi on Saturday met her counterparts from states and union territories and other administrators, urging them to focus on three missions of the ministry i.e on children's protection, women's safety and their nutrition.

Two people were injured and 12 others were rescued from a building after a fire broke out in the parking area in the Asola village of south Delhi on Sunday, officials said.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday the bail plea of former Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate last year in connection with a money laundering case. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih is scheduled to hear Balaji's plea challenging the February 28 order of the Madras High Court dismissing his second bail petition in the case.

Kerala Forest Minister A K Saseendran broke down while consoling people looking for their missing family members days after the devastating landslides in Wayanad district. The minister, who visited the landslide-hit areas, spoke to a father and son who were seen searching at the spot where their house once stood.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday announced that her party will field candidates in all the 10 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh where bypolls are going to be held. The Election Commission is yet to declare the schedule for the by-elections to Karhal, Milkipur, Katehari, Kundarki, Ghaziabad, Khair, Meerapur, Phulpur, Majhawan and Sisamau assembly seats.

Seeking to make changes in the process of granting recognition to madrassas, Uttar Pradesh Minority Welfare Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar has said that two universities will be opened in the state and all madrassas will be affiliated with them.

"Our effort is to open two universities. We want to attach the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrasa Education with the university and all madrassas should be recognised (by the university) so that there is no dispute in the future," he said.

A former MLA's wife was killed in a bomb blast in Manipur's Kangpokpi district, officials said on Sunday. The bomb blast was triggered at a house adjacent to that of former Saikul MLA Yamthong Haokip on Saturday evening, they said.

Sapam Charubala, the second wife of Haokip, was injured in the blast and was taken to a health facility in Saikul but later succumbed to her injuries, the officials said. Haokip was also in his house when the blast took place but he was not injured in the incident. Police are investigating the matter. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient and biofortified varieties of crops at India Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi earlier today. He also interacted with the farmers and scientists on the occasion. Discussing the importance of these new crop varieties, Prime Minister stressed on the significance of value addition in agriculture. The farmers said that these new varieties will be highly beneficial as they will help reduce their expenditure and also have a positive impact on the environment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed President Droupadi Murmu on being honoured with the Grand-Collar of the Order of Timor-Leste and said that it reflects the strong ties and mutual respect between the two countries.

Murmu arrived in Dili (Timor-Leste) on Saturday on the first-ever presidential visit from India to Timor-Leste.

The civilian, who got injured during an encounter between the Indian Army and terrorists in Anantnag, succumbed to his injuries. Earlier on Saturday, two soldiers also lost their lives in the encounter.

An encounter took place between security forces and terrorists in a remote forest in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir early Sunday, officials said. The gunfight took place for a brief period when police assisted by army and paramilitary forces launched a search operation in Nownatta, Naageni Peyaas and adjoining areas following information about movement of terrorists, they said.

Reinforcements have been rushed to the area and an operation is underway to hunt down the terrorists.

Former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh passed away on Saturday night after a prolonged illness, family sources said. He was 93. He breathed his last at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram near Delhi, where he had been admitted for the past couple of weeks, they said.