Indian Sub-continent

FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least 74 children died following an outbreak of measles in Afghanistan's northern province of Badakhshan, a provincial official said Sunday.

"There had been pockets of measles cases across several Badakhshan districts, including Kuf Ab, Darwaz, Kohistan as well as provincial capital Faizabad city and its outskirts in the past two months. At least 74 children died after being infected with the disease in Kuf Ab and Kohistan districts," Maazudin Ahmadi, head of the provincial Information and Culture Directorate, told Xinhua.

JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Fifty affiliated militants of the Islamic State (IS) terror group surrendered in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, a provincial official said on Sunday.

"A total of 50 members of the IS group give up fighting and surrendered to intelligence authorities in Nangarhar on Sunday," Mohammad Bashir, head of the provincial intelligence office, told reporters.

He said the surrendered militants were active in Khogiani, Chaparhar, Shiwa, Rodat, Mumand Dara and Kot districts of Nangarhar, a known IS militants' stronghold.

DHAKA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has brushed aside the claim that his country is falling into a Chinese "debt trap".

China's loans to Bangladesh only comprise a small fraction of the country's external debt, said the minister while speaking to reporters after attending a program in the capital Dhaka Saturday.

He said the "debt trap concern" was an apparent bid to smear China's Belt and Road Initiative and deter the cooperation between China and Bangladesh or other countries in the region and beyond.

Hyderabad, Feb 5 (PTI) Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao was conspicuously absent during the reception of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the airport here on Saturday.

The absence of the CM at the airport irked the saffron party, which said Rao failed to follow the protocol and insulted the prime Minister .

Modi is here to dedicate to the nation the 'Statue of Equality' commemorating the 11th century Bhakti saint Sri Ramanujacharya and also to kickstart the 50th anniversary celebrations of ICRISAT.

Bengaluru, Feb 5 (PTI) The 'hijab' row has taken political colour in Karnataka, as the ruling BJP stood strongly in support of uniform related rules followed by educational institutions, calling the headscarf, a religious symbol, while the opposition Congress has come out in support of Muslim girls.

There have been several instances in coastal Karnataka, where Muslim girl students, turning up at colleges in hijab, not being allowed into classes, and Hindu boys responding with saffron shawls as a counter to it.

Mangaluru, Feb 5 (PTI) The hijab' controversy in Udupi district of Karnataka on Saturday spilled into the streets with a group of students of two junior colleges at Kundapur taking out a procession in the town wearing saffron shawls demanding ban on headscarves on the campuses.

Hindu boy students of Kundapur junior college and R N Shetty college who staged the protest, said they will continue to wear the shawls if Muslim girl students are allowed to wear hijabs.

Prayagraj, Feb 5 (PTI) Braving the cold and the coronavirus pandemic, around 15.5 lakh devotees bathed in the icy waters of the Ganga river and at Sangam here till 8 pm on Saturday on the occasion of Basant Panchami, the fourth major bathing festival of the ongoing Magh Mela.

Officials said devotees started thronging the river banks in the early hours of the day and they continued to arrive in huge numbers for a holy dip.

Dhanbad, Feb 6 (PTI) Two powerful IEDs, weighing 10 kg each, were recovered by security forces in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district, police said on Sunday.

Acting on a tip-off, a search operation was launched by a team of police and 154 batallion CRPF, following which the recovery was made from the remote Ganeshpur village in Topchanchi police station area on Saturday, they said.

The improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were planted at a road, targetting the security forces, they added.

Mumbai, Feb 6 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that singing legend Lata Mangeshkar, who died at a hospital here in the morning, will be accorded a state funeral.

Lata Mangeshkar (92), the voice of generations of Indians and one of the biggest music icons of the country, died due to multiple organ failure, her sister Usha Mangeshkar and doctors treating her said.

The last rites will be held in the evening.

Thackeray in a statement said Lata Mangeshkar's death was an end of a glorious era.

Lucknow, Feb 6 (PTI) The BJP on Sunday postponed the release of its manifesto for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in view of death of legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, state party president Swatantra Dev Singh said.

The manifesto release programme was scheduled at the BJP office here at 10.15 am, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and state party president had gathered for it.