India

Kanpur: Despite selling catering at reasonable rates, the railways has been inviting tenders to bid its stalls in the private hands. Stalls coming in north-central railway zone may be operated by the private caterers after the month of August, this year. As many as five stalls on Central platforms will go into the private parties. Only one stall will continue to run by the railways.

According to the reports, the privatisation move will influence 27 stalls spread over 11 railway stations.

Srinagar, Jul 30 (PTI) Seeking to put to rest speculations about a possible "major development" in Jammu and Kashmir, Governor Satya Pal Malik said on Tuesday that "everything is fine, everything is normal" and rejected as "invalid" government orders that had generated panic in recent days.

Bengaluru, July 30 (PTI) The BJP government in Karnataka on Tuesday scrapped the birth anniversary celebrations of the controversial 18th century ruler of the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom, Tipu Sultan, an annual event the party had been opposing since 2015 when it was launched during the Congress rule.

Within three days after coming to power, the Yediyurappa government issued an order cancelling the "Tipu Jayanti" celebrations, initiated by the Siddaramaiah led Congress ministry as an annual affair on November 10, 2015 amid opposition from the BJP and right wing organisations then.

Mumbai, Jul 30 (PTI) Four opposition Congress-NCP legislators in Maharashtra resigned from the State Assembly on Tuesday, amid talk of their joining the ruling BJP.

NCP MLAs Shivendrasinhraje Bhosale (Satara), Vaibhav Pichad (Akole) and Sandeep Naik (Airoli) and Congress MLA Kalidas Kolambkar (Naigaon) handed over their resignation letters separately to Speaker Haribhau Bagade at the state legislature building Vidhan Bhawan in south Mumbai.

Kolkata, Jul 30 (PTI) Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) supremo Raj Thackeray will arrive in the city on Tuesday evening.

He will meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at state Secretariat Nabanna on Wednesday.

"They are likely to discuss electoral reforms, demand for return to ballot papers and the political situation in the country," a source close to the MNS chief told PTI.

Nagpur, Jul 29 (PTI) A woman naxal was killed on Monday in an encounter with elite C-60 commandos in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, police said, adding that the number of Maoist fatalities might rise.

As per preliminary information, the gun-battle broke out around 12 noon when a commando team was on an anti-naxal operation in the Kothami forest in Ettapalli taluka of the district, around 170 km from Nagpur.

New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) Lok Sabha on Monday passed the National Medical Commission Bill for replacing the corruption-plagued MCI with a new body, in what has been described by the government as one of the biggest reforms that will end 'inspector raj' in the medical education sector.

The bill also has a provision for making national standards in medical education uniform by proposing that the final year MBBS exam be treated as an entrance test for PG and a screening test for students who graduate in medicine from foreign countries.

Chandigarh, Jul 29 (PTI) At least 28 cattle have died after consuming stale, leftover food of hotels and restaurants in Punjab's Mohali, officials said on Monday.

Though dairy farmers have claimed that more than 90 buffaloes and cows have died in the past four days at Mohali's Kandala and Shafipur villages, the district authorities have pegged the death count to 28.

Mohali Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan has marked an inquiry into the incident to his Additional Deputy Commissioner and sought a report within three days.

Amaravati, Jul 29 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy will undertake two trips abroad in August, one on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the other on a personal visit to Dallas in the US.

These will be his maiden foreign tours after becoming Chief Minister on May 30.

While government orders related to his Jerusalem trip from August 1 to 4 have been issued, those related to the US visit are awaited.

New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) India and Myanmar on Monday signed a defence co-operation agreement providing for boosting bilateral military engagement, weeks after the two countries carried out a coordinated operation targeting several militant groups operating in the Northeast.

The pact was inked after Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar's Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing held extensive talks with Minister of State for Defence Shripad Yesso Naik.