India

Kolkata, Aug 16 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said the informal sector and small businesses will be worst hit by the depreciating rupee and lead to increase in the oil import bill.

"After demonetisation disaster and now Rupee slide, Rupee crashes to its lowest ever. We are very concerned," the chief minister tweeted.

New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi today and requested him to increase the deployment of Army and Navy in flood-hit Kerala and give special financial assistance to the state.

Gandhi spoke to the prime minister over phone and announced it on Twitter. He noted that the tragedy is unparalleled in Kerala's history and the state is in "great pain".

Pakur, Aug 13; PTI: Seven minor children belonging to the primitive Pahariya tribe have been rescued and a human trafficker arrested in Jharkhand's Pakur district, a senior police officer said today.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team conducted a raid at Amrapara bus stand and rescued the children and arrested the human trafficker while they were about to board a bus to Uttar Pradesh yesterday, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Ashok Kumar Singh said.

Mumbai; 11 Aug 2018: Three Hindutva terrorists have been arrested by ATS for plotting bomb blasts to disturb communal harmony. 20 Bombs and bomb-making material were recovered from a bungalow in Mumbai.

Vaibhav Raut 40, Sharad Kalaskar 25 of Gau Raksha Samiti, and Sudhanav Ghondalekar 39 were detained by law enforcement agencies.

Srinagar, Aug 14 (PTI) Two Pakistani troopers were killed by the Indian Army in response to ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Tangdhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesman said here today.

Indian troops carried out operations last night after the ceasefire violations.

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 14 (PTI) Heavy rains pounded various parts of Kerala, especially the northern regions this morning, compounding the miseries of the people of the state where thousands are lodged in relief camps.

In view of the situation, educational institutions in most places have declared a holiday today.

Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kannur, Kasaragod and Palakkad are being lashed by heavy rains, disaster control room sources said.

In most of these places landslides had been reported yesterday.

Mumbai, Aug 14 (PTI) Rerversing all its early gains, the rupee today collapsed to a life-time low of 70.09 against the US dollar, falling 16 paise amid fears that Turkish economic crisis could lead to a global financial meltdown.

The ongoing currency turmoil in Turkey has dampened investors' sentiments globally. Investors are turning to dollar as safe haven with Turkeys currency lira crisis continuing since the last week.

Yesterday, the rupee had plunged by Rs 1.08, or 1.57 per cent, to a record low of 69.93 against the US currency.

Jammu, Aug 13 (PTI) Two persons have been arrested for allegedly raping a girl in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said today.

On August 9, three men from Salalpur Marheen village raped a girl in Chabe Chak area of Rajbagh. The survivor's family registered a police complaint.

The police arrested two of the accused yesterday and a search is going on for the third suspect, said an official from Rajbagh police station.

Bidar (Karnataka), Aug 13 (PTI) Congress President Rahul Gandhi today challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a debate on the Rafale aircraft deal issue.

The Congress has raised several questions on the Rafale deal, accusing the government of compromising with national interests.

"...let a debate happen between me and Narendra Modi on Rafael deal... I will speak at length for hours," Gandhi said at "Jana Dwani" (people's voice) rally organised by the state Congress here in north Karnataka.

New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI) JNU student leader Umar Khalid was allegedly shot at by a man just at the Constitution Club here today, but he escaped unhurt, police said.

Khalid was at the venue to attend an event titled 'Khauff Se Azaadi', organised by an organisation named 'United Against Hate'.

Later Khalid said, "There is an atmosphere of fear in the country, and anybody who speaks against the government is threatened.