TOP NEWS

Two non-local labourers were killed as terrorists lobbed grenade in Hermain village of Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian in the early hours of Tuesday, two days after a Kashmiri Pandit was shot dead by militants in the same district.

Terror outfits TRF, which is a frontal of Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has taken the responsibility of the latest incident in the series of targeted killings.

The deceased have been identified as Manish Kumar and Ram Sagar, both residents of Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj.

Soon after the incident, the entire area was cordoned off and a massive manhunt was launched, leading to the arrest of a hybrid terrorist from the same village, Harmein.

The United States said Monday that it had confidence in Pakistan's ability to control its nuclear arsenal after President Joe Biden expressed alarm, leading Islamabad to summon the US ambassador.

"The United States is confident of Pakistan's commitment and its ability to secure its nuclear assets," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

"The US has always viewed a secure and prosperous Pakistan as critical to US interests and, more broadly, the US values our long-standing cooperation with Pakistan," he said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came out to bat for Sourav Ganguly, saying that the former India skipper was “deprived” from being renominated for a second term as the head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The chief minister, who has often clashed with the central government, also urged the prime minister to send Ganguly to the International Cricket Council (ICC).

“I want to know why Sourav was axed. The way he was removed [from BCCI] in an unfair manner can only be compensated by sending him to ICC. My humble request to the honourable PM, is to allow him to contest for ICC [chairman post]. He’s been deprived,” Mamata told the media Monday at Kolkata airport.

Citing the Supreme Court order to protect the spot where a purported 'shivling' had been found in the ablution pond of the Gyanvapi compound during the survey of the court commissioner, the Varanasi district judge on Friday rejected the plea of four Hindu women plaintiffs seeking carbon dating and scientific investigation of the structure.

After district and sessions judge Ajay Krishna Vishvesha pronounced his order, the plaintiffs' lawyer, Vishnu Jain, said that he would challenge it in the Supreme Court as the Varanasi court had cited the apex court while rejecting the plea.

Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's estranged family members appear to be coming closer to each other after the death of the party patriarch. SP patriarch's younger brother and PSPL chief Shivpal Yadav has dropped a big hint for his nephew Akhilesh Yadav - the current party chief - saying he wants to take everyone along now and follow the path shown to them by his late elder brother Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Speaking to reporters in Safai, Shivpal Yadav said, "Netaji had written a new saga of socialism. His ideology will be immortal. He used to take everyone along, I will also follow the same path."