UPA renominates Ansari for vice president

Jan 1: Two army personnel were killed in a gunfight with heavily-armed Pakistani infiltrators along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Wednesday, officials said.

The infiltrators were intercepted in the Khari Thrayat forest when they were trying to sneak into India from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), they said.

"Two army soldiers martyred during cordon and search operation in Nowshera sector. The operation is still in progress and further details are awaited," Jammu-based Indian Army Public Relations Officer (PRO) Lt Col Devender Anand said in a statement.

The search operation was launched following information about the movement of suspected terrorists, the officials said.

The infiltrators opened fire on the troops and during a fierce gunfight, the two soldiers were killed, they said.

The officials said a massive operation is on in the area.

Mumbai, Jan 15: A relative of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was killed and three others injured when their car met with an accident on Mumbai-Nashik highway, police said on Wednesday.

The mishap took place at Sinnar in Nashik on Tuesday night when the CM's sister-in-law Vina Karande and six other relatives were returning from Shirdi in a sports utility vehicle (SUV), Nashik (Rural) Superintendent of Police Aarti Singh said.

The car driver apparently lost control over the wheels, following which the vehicle overturned on a roadside while passing through a narrow bridge, located around 190 km from here, the official said.

They were rushed to a hospital in Nashik where Ajay Karande, husband of Vina Karande, died during treatment, the official said.

The three others were undergoing treatment at the hospital, the police said, adding that their condition was reported to be out of danger.

New Delhi, Jul 11: Poll strategist Prashant Kishor took a swipe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday, saying this is time to fight the coronavirus not elections and that he should not endanger people's lives in a "hurry" to hold the assembly polls.

"The coronavirus situation in Bihar is worsening like it is in many other states of the country. But a big part of government machinery and resources are busy making preparation for the polls.

"Nitish Kumar ji, this isn't time to fight elections but the coronavirus. Don't endanger people's lives in this hurry to hold the polls," he tweeted.

Kishor, once a confidant of the JD(U) president before he turned a critic and was expelled from the party, joins leaders like LJP chief Chirag Paswan and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav in suggesting that the Bihar assembly polls should be deferred due to the pandemic.

Polls in Bihar are due in October-November but the Election Commission has so far not made any official announcement about its schedule.

The BJP and the JD(U) have been holding organisational meetings and said that they are ready for the elections.