India

Srinagar, Aug 21 (PTI) As many as 774 middle schools out of 3,000 reopened on Wednesday in Kashmir for the first time since August 5 when the restrictions were imposed in the valley in the wake of Centre's decision to revoke the special status to Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Primary schools across the valley were reopened from Monday. However, the attendance remained thin as parents were still apprehensive about sending their children to schools.

Hyderabad, Aug 21 (PTI) Flaying Donald Trump for his fresh reported offer to mediate between India and Pakistan, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday said the government should have a clear-cut policy and inform the US President that it does not need his role.

...he (Trump) says I will mediate (between India and Pakistan). Again, the same thing. This is, Begaani Shadi mein Trump Diwana ho rahe hain (an unrelated person getting too much excited in somebodys elses marriage). He (Trump) has no connection. Why would he mediate?, he told reporters here.

Chennai, Aug 21 (PTI) Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's son Karti on Wednesday lashed out at the CBI for arresting his father in the INX media case, saying it was a "totally politically motivated witch-hunt".

Minutes after Chidambaram, a former union minister, was taken to the CBI headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday night amid high drama from his house, Karti said the case was apparently about events that happened in 2008.

Mumbai, Aug 22 (PTI) The rupee opened on a weak note and fell 17 paise to 71.71 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday amid foreign fund outflows and cautious opening in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened weak at 71.65 then fell to 71.72 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 17 paise over its previous closing.

The Indian rupee on Wednesday had closed at 71.55 against the US dollar.

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad has been arrested on charges of rioting and unlawful assembly and will be produced before a court on Thursday, a police official said.

The Dalit leader and around 96 others were detained on Wednesday night from Tughlaqabad area after protest by Dalits against the demolition of a Ravidas temple turned violent, prompting police to resort to "mild lathicharge" and use tear gas to disperse the crowd.

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) Former Union finance minister P Chidambaram spent a quiet night in the CBI guest house on the ground floor of the agency headquarters after his dramatic arrest from his posh residence in the INX media corruption case, officials said on Thursday.

Chidambaram, 73, was kept in the suite 5 of the guest house, they said.

It is normal for the agency to keep high security arrested accused in the guest house to ensure proper security and monitoring, the officials said.

NEW DELHI (AP) — The music videos began appearing on social media within hours of the announcement by India’s Hindu-led nationalist government that it was stripping statehood from the disputed region of Kashmir that had been in place for decades.

The songs delivered a message to India’s 250 million YouTube users about moving to the Muslim-majority region, buying land there and marrying Kashmiri women.

KANPUR: Wife demanded a set of mobile from her husband. Being a labourer he was unable to buy that costly item. He remained satisfied with his scant income in daily vocation. But the wife was not able to understand this point and remainec adamant. She made it a daily routine to ask for bringing one smartphone for her use.

Such kind of a matter has come to light at Shahpur Jogidera under Mangalpur police station.

Hyderabad, Aug 21 (PTI) A suspected Maoist was killed in an exchange of fire with police in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district on Wednesday, District Superintendent of Police Sunil Dutt said.

He said the incident occurred during search operations conducted this morning in a forest area based on a tip-off.

"We are suspecting the deceased to be a member belonging to Manuguru Area Committee. However, we cannot confirm the identity of the deceased until the kin confirm," Dutt told PTI.

21 August 2019; AFP: Rafiq Shagu's wife died shortly after Friday prayers in India's Muslim-majority Kashmir when tear gas smashed through a window in their home and filled the room.

Now, with Indian authorities denying their troops have caused any civilian deaths while enforcing a lockdown of more than two weeks in the Himalayan region, he is facing what may be a futile quest to hold those responsible to account.