NEWS

New Delhi: Two persons including a chowkidar and a member of explosive disposal team were killed and three others injured in a bomb blast, which took place in the premises of the Sariya police station of Giridih district in Jharkhand today afternoon.

The Officer in-Charge, SonuChowdhury, however, had a narrow escape. The deceased were identified as the disposal wing member, Ashfaq Qureshi and the Chowkidar, Mahendra Turi, police said.

The incident took place at around 1 pm, when the members of the Giridih based disposal team, along with a chowkidar was trying to collect all the explosive materials including gelatins and other seizures from the strong room, situated within the same PS building. Meanwhile, one of the bombs exploded killing two of them team members on the spot.

New Delhi: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah has accused BJP and RSS of playing communal politics and claimed that they want to "fragment India".

He also accused the RSS of colluding with the British during India's freedom struggle.

"By promoting and playing communal politics, the RSS and its off-shoots, including the BJP, are hell bent to fragment India into bits and pieces," Abdullah said in his address to the office bearers and prominent leaders of NC Students Union at the Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawanin Jammu.

New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has described Indira Gandhi as a Prime Minister for whom there was only one religion - that all Indians were equal children of the motherland.

The Congress president said Indira Gandhi was "one of the greatest" as she fought for secularism and against all those forces seeking to divide the people on the lines of religion and caste.

"For her, as the prime minister, there was one religion, a sacred creed passionately held - that all Indians were equal children of the motherland," Sonia Gandhi said at a function at 1, Safdarjung Road, the official residence of the former prime minister to mark her birth anniversary.

The former prime minister fought not for her personal ascendancy but for her principles and against vested interests, the Congress president said.

"She fought for secularism, against all those forces seeking to divide the Indian people on lines of religion and caste. She gloried in the rich diversity of India, its profound democratic and secular values," Sonia Gandhi said.

The Congress chief said Indira Gandhi fought for the poor and the weak wherever they were being oppressed and denied their rights and toiled for their material well-being.

"I have heard Indiraji being referred to as the 'Iron Lady'. But iron was only one of the elements in her character; generosity and humanity were just as prominent traits," Sonia Gandhi said.

"She fought, yes - but not for personal ascendancy. She fought for her principles, against vested interests and agendas. She could not tolerate any form of bullying, coercion and unfairness. That was fundamental to her character. That is what inspired her in all her battles -- those she took on and those that she faced," the Congress president said.

New Delhi: Security forces have asserted that the year-long counter-insurgency operation has resulted in a remarkable change in the security situation in the region.

Addressing the media in a joint press conference, 15 Corps Commander Lt Gen JS Sandhu said, "We have killed about 190 terrorists as on date, in 2017. Out of these 190, 80 are local terrorists and 110 foreign. Out of these 110, 66 terrorists were killed near the LoC while infiltrating."

"Approximately 125-130 terrorists killed this year belonged to the hinterland of Kashmir Valley, resulting in a remarkable change in the situation in the region," he added.