India

Pune, Aug 9 (PTI) Over 2.85 lakh people have been evacuated due to the devastating floods in Western Maharashtra's five districts including the worst-hit Kolhapur and Sangli, with the death toll reaching 29 on Friday.

The region is being pummeled by rain over the last few days, and major rivers including the Krishna and Panchaganga are in spate.

Divisional commissioner Dr Deepak Mhaisekar said flood waters had begun to recede in Kolhapur and Sangli. "In Kolhapur, the water level has decreased by two feet and in Sangli it has decreased by 3 inches," he said.

Srinagar/Jammu, Aug 9 (PTI) After being confined to their homes for days, people in Kashmir offered Friday prayers in their local mosques as restrictions were eased for the purpose, officials said, adding the Valley was largely peaceful barring minor incidents of stone pelting in the apple-town of Sopore in north Kashmir.

Srinagar, Aug 9 (PTI) As the authorities eased restrictions in Kashmir on Friday, some cattle traders appeared on the roads here to sell their sheep and goat for Eid, but there were few takers.

Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assurance that the government is making all sincere efforts to ensure that the people in the region have no difficulties in celebrating Eid-ul-Azha, which is on Monday, sale of sacrificial animals is unimpressive in view of heavy security deployment.

New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) Senior Congress leaders on Friday met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at her residence here ahead of the crucial Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting to decide on the new party chief.

Sources said senior leaders Ahmed Patel, A K Antony and K C Venugopal are learnt to have discussed with Sonia Gandhi some names of probables who could be made provisional president of the party, after Rahul Gandhi resigned and decided to not take back his decision despite pleas by many partymen.

New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) With banking giant SBI and about a dozen lenders reducing their interest rates, the remaining PSU banks are likely to follow suit and slash interest rates in the next few days to pass on the benefit of rate cut by the Reserve Bank and boost the economy, sources said.

Even private sector banks are expected to follow the market trend in order to protect their business, sources said adding they too are expected to lower the rate in the next few days.

Jaipur, Aug 9 (PTI) A five-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a minor boy in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan on Friday, police said.

The accused, who lives in the girl's neighbourhood, has been detained, they said.

"The accused took the girl to his shop on the pretext of teaching her English alphabet. After sometime, he took her to a deserted place nearby and allegedly raped her," the police said.

The girl has been admitted to a local hospital, they said.

Kolkata, Aug 9 (PTI) In a bid to stop the march of BJP and TMC in Bengal, the beleaguered Congress and CPI(M) have come together for a seat adjustment for upcoming bypolls in three assembly segments of the state

During a late-evening meeting, the state leadership of the two parties decided that the Congress would contest Kaliaganj seat in North Dinajpur district and Kharagpur in West Midnapore district

The CPI(M)-led Left Front would contest Karimpur assembly seat in Nadia district.

New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) Former finance minister Arun Jaitley was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of All India Institute of Medical Sciences here on Friday after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness but doctors said he is "haemodynamically stable".

A multidisciplinary team of doctors is supervising Jaitley's treatment, AIIMS said.

He was admitted to the hospital this morning and "at present, he is haemodynamically stable," it said in a statement.

A hemodynamically stable patient has a stable heart pump and good blood circulation.

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 10 (PTI) As Kerala continues to battle the torrential downpour lashing its shores, death toll has risen to 42 in rain related incidents, including flooding and landslides, with over one lakh people moved to relief camps, officials said on Saturday.

Twenty people have been killed in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts, and nine have died in Wayanad in rain related incidents since August 8, officials said quoting reports received till 7 am

KANPUR: The frequent jam at the railways' crossings from Anwarganj to Mandhna remains a big nuisance for the denizens. To deal with this situation a proposal to divert the track from Mandhna and connect it with Panki railway station has been suggested. In this regard, the divisional commissioner has sent a letter to the North Central Railways and Eastern Railways General Managers respectively.