India

Srinagar, Jun 18 (PTI) Two soldiers, who were injured in the IED blast in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, have succumbed to injuries, a defence spokesman said Tuesday.

Nine soldiers and two civilians were injured as militants targeted an Army patrol with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Arihal in Pulwama district on Monday.

"Two soldiers, brought to hospital with severe contusions and concussions, have succumbed to their injuries at 92 Base Hospital," the spokesman said.

Kolkata, Jun 17 (PTI) The protesting doctors in West Bengal on Monday agreed to withdraw their week-long stir after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced steps to scale up security at hospitals

An assurance to call off the strike came at a meeting Banerjee held with representatives of the striking doctors at the state secretariat

New Delhi, Jun 16; PTI/GANASHAKTI: A day before the budget session, an all-party meeting convened by the government was held Sunday in which the opposition demanded that issues such as farm distress, unemployment and drought should be debated upon in Parliament.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the meeting, attended by representatives of all parties, including Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and TMC leader Derek O'Brien.

Muzaffarpur, Jun 16 (PTI) Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday visited the families of the children suffering from suspected acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) even as the death toll rose to 93 in the district.

Vardhan, his deputy Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey visited the SKMCH.

"I assure the people of the area, especially the affected families, that the government will extend all possible help and measures to the state government," the Union health minister told reporters here.

New Delhi, Jun 17 (PTI) President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday sworn in seven-term member of Parliament Virendra Kumar as the protem speaker of Lok Sabha.

Kumar will oversee the oath-taking of newly elected LS members on Monday and Tuesday.

On Wednesday, as soon as a new speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha is elected, his role will cease to exist

Kumar, 65, won the Lok Sabha election from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh on a BJP ticket.

He was a minister of state in the previous Modi government.

Raipur, Jun 16 (PTI) A man was shot dead by Naxals in Chattisgarh's Sukma district, around 500 kilometres from here, police said Sunday.

Madkam Nanda (28) was sleeping in his house in Bonkamadgu village late Saturday night when a group of Naxals raided the house and shot him multiple times, a Maraiguda police station official said.

The village is on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border and police teams have rushed to the site to apprehend the killers, he added.

Srinagar, Jun 16 (PTI) As the revered Amarnath Yatra commences on July 1, Kashmiri separatists Sunday asserted there was no threat to the annual pilgrimage and urged the pilgrims and tourists visiting the state not to pay heed to any "false propaganda".

They said people of the Valley will continue to retain and nourish the tradition of brotherhood and communal amity.

Hyderabad, June 16 (PTI): A self-styled godman was taken into custody for allegedly raping a 19-year-old girl at her house here under the pretext of ridding her house of evil spirits, police said Sunday.

The accused (25), claiming to have supernatural powers, had told the teenager's parents there were evil spirits in her house and that he would help in getting rid of them, and then took them to a shrine in Bidar district of Karnataka a week ago, police said based on a complaint.

Mumbai, Jun 16 (PTI) Actor Ayushmann Khurrana says the country is unique because it has people of all kinds, but one should not be "blindly proud" of it.

The Bollywood actor, who is gearing up for the release of "Article 15" that tackles the issues of caste-based discrimination, says people of the country are sensitive towards each other.

Mumbai, Jun 17 (PTI) More than 40,000 doctors in Maharashtra are boycotting work on Monday as part of a strike call given by their apex body IMA in support of their agitating colleagues in West Bengal, an official said.

Doctors, from various government and private hospitals in the state, are mainly boycotting the OPD (Out-Patient Department) and other non-essential health services, he said.