India

New Delhi, Jul 7 (PTI) Five part-time members have been appointed to the Prasar Bharati Board, including veteran journalist Ashok Kumar Tandon, music composer Salim Merchant and BJP's Shaina NC, according to an official order on Tuesday.

The government is in the process of reconstituting the Prasar Bharati Board as certain positions have been lying vacant, including that of the chairman.

Baghpat (UP), Jul 7 (PTI) A 52-year-old Rashtriya Lok Dal leader was shot dead in Badarkha village in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district on Tuesday evening, police said.

The RLD leader, Deshpal Khokar, was sitting near the brick kiln he owns when three bike-borne assailants shot at him and fled the spot, they said.

Badarkha village falls under the Chhaprauli police station limits.

The body has been sent for post-mortem and investigations are on, police added.

Lucknow, Jul 8 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) on Wednesday killed an aide of gangster Vikas Dubey who was involved in an ambush in Kanpur last week in which eight policemen died, a senior officer said.

He is the third member of Vikas Dubey's gang to be killed in an encounter with the police.

Muzaffarnagar, Jul 8 (PTI) Eight children from Tripura and Mizoram who were forced into bonded labour at an ashram in Shukratal here were rescued, police said on Wednesday.

Aged between 7 and 10 years, the children were allegedly made to wash utensils, prepare food and lay bricks at the Gaudiya math.

A team of child care helpline along with the police raided the ashram on Tuesday evening and rescued the minors, senior superintendent of police Abhishek Yadav said.

Mumbai, Jul 8 (PTI) Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday inaugurated a Plasma Therapy Unit for treating COVID-19 patients at the Seven Hills Hospital in suburban Andheri and urged those who have recovered from the deadly infection to help save lives by donating blood plasma.

The unit is an initiative of initiative of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). It will offer convalescent plasma therapy to COVID-19 patients using donated blood plasma from those who have recovered.

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, July 8 (Xinhua) -- A civilian was killed and another wounded Wednesday after troops of India and Pakistan exchanged heavy fire and targeted each other's positions on Line of Control (LoC), dividing Kashmir, Indian army officials said.

The two sides exchanged fire early Wednesday on LoC in Balakote and Mendhar sectors of frontier Poonch district, about 185 km southwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

New Delhi, Jul 6 (PTI) The Supreme Court Monday sets aside the Delhi High Court order asking the NIA to produce the judicial records with regard to transfer of civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha from Delhi to Mumbai in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case saying it is the courts at Bombay alone having the jurisdiction, which can entertain the application .

New Delhi, Jul 7 (PTI) India's Global Real Estate Transparency Index ranking has improved by one notch to 34 on the back of regulatory reforms, better market data and green initiatives, according to property consultant JLL.

India was ranked 35th in the index during 2018 bi-annual survey, while the country was at 36th position in 2016 and 39th in 2014.

The country's real estate market is currently placed in the 'semi-transparent' zone.

Neyveli (TN), Jul 6 (PTI) The death toll in the boiler explosion at NLC India has risen to 12 to with six more men succumbing to burn injuries at a hospital, an official said here on Monday.

While six men died when a fire broke out in the boiler area subsequent to an explosion at the fifth unit of the Thermal Power Station-II on July 1, three men-- a worker, a junior engineer and a foreman-- died of injuries today at a hospital in Chennai.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A lobby group representing U.S. technology giants has said its members are not yet ready to make the first payment of the country’s digital tax due this week, urging New Delhi to defer the move.

India in March said all foreign billings for digital services provided in the country would be taxed at 2% from April 1, a move that caught U.S. technology firms off guard as they were battling the coronavirus pandemic.

The tax applies on e-commerce transactions on websites such as Amazon.com. (AMZN.O)