India

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — An unusual silence cloaks the center of the city. Its streets, once teeming with traffic, are dotted with spools of concertina wire, blocking movement. Every road is sealed off. The population has been forced indoors while thousands of Indian soldiers in camouflage are on patrol, carrying guns at their waists.

Srinagar, the administrative summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, is a city under siege.

NEW DELHI, Aug 8 (NNN-BERNAMA) — India expressing regret over Pakistan’s move to downgrade its diplomatic relations with the former over the Kashmir dispute has called on the country to review its decision.

Islamabad on Wednesday announced a series of steps following New Delhi’s repeal of Article 370, a special provision in the Indian constitution that allowed a degree of autonomy to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan asked India to withdraw its high commissioner in Islamabad and said it will not send its own high commissioner-designate to India.

Srinagar, Aug 8 :  Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has been stopped at the Srinagar airport and is being sent back by a flight, party leaders said on Thursday.

Azad arrived here to assess the situation in the Kashmir Valley in the wake of the Centre revoking Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 of the Constitution and dividing it into two union territories.

He was stopped by the administration and will be sent back by a flight later in the afternoon, the Congress leaders said.

NEW DELHI, August 8. /TASS/: Around 130,000 people have been evacuated from the flooded areas in the western Indian state of Maharashtra following powerful monsoon rains. The NDTV channel reported on Thursday that at least 16 people had died there last week due to water-logging incidents.

According to the channel, certain areas of Maharashtra saw the four months' amount of precipitation over the past 15 days. Kolhapur and Sangli Districts are affected the most. The local authorities called on the military to help with the evacuation of residents.

Pratapgarh (UP), Aug 8 (PTI) A 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a teenager in a village here, police said on Thursday.

The incident took place on July 29 and the FIR was lodged on Wednesday evening, they said.

The girl was at her house along with her grandmother when the 16-year-old accused forcibly took her to a secluded place, where he allegedly raped her, they said.

The matter came to light on August 5 when the accused reached her home and the girl started shouting at him after which he fled away.

08 August 2019; AFP: India on Thursday hit back at nuclear rival Pakistan's downgrading of diplomatic ties over its clampdown on Kashmir, saying its decision to strip the restive region of its autonomy was an "internal affair".

India stripped Kashmir of its special status in the constitution on Monday and brought the region under its direct rule, angering Pakistan which has a competing claim to the Muslim-majority state.

Chandigarh, Aug 7 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's wife Preneet Kaur fell prey to a cyber fraud, losing Rs 23 lakh to a scamster who duped her through a mobile phone call, posing as a bank manager, said police.

Also a Congress MP from Patiala, Kaur was duped a few days back, said police on Wednesday, adding the scamster, however, has been arrested.

A team of Punjab police arrested the fraudster after tracing his phone call to Ranchi in Jharkhand, said officials .

Jammu, Aug 7 (PTI) National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Wednesday undertook a whirlwind visit to the militancy-infested south Kashmir and assured the locals that their security is the government's responsibility.

Doval arrived in Kashmir on Tuesday, a day after the Centre revoked the provisions of Article 370, which gave special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir. He is reaching out to the local population in the Valley as a confidence building measure (CMB).

Lucknow, Aug 7 (PTI) Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday alleged that the vehicle of administration had derailed in Uttar Pradesh.

In a statement issued here, Yadav said, "The vehicle of adminstration has been derailed in Uttar Pradesh. The chief minister may make tall claims, but his control over officials cannot be seen. The law and order situation is poor and health services have crumbled in the state."

Pauri (UKD), Aug 8 (PTI) A ten-year-old girl from Nepal was raped and killed allegedly by two Nepalese nationals at Kotdwar in the district sparking tension in the area, police said on Thursday.

The partially mutilated body of the girl, who had been missing since Monday evening, was recovered from railway station premises after the perpetrators were arrested and confessed to the crime on Wednesday, Additional Superintendent of Police Pradip Rai said.