Indian Sub-continent

New Delhi, Aug 19 (PTI) Remembering his father, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday drew attention to his achievement in bringing an information technology and telecom revolution in the country.

He said to celebrate his father's 75th birth anniversary, the Congress party will organise memorial events across the country.

The former prime minister's birth anniversary falls on August 20.

Srinagar, Aug 19 (PTI) Teachers reported to work in many schools in Kashmir as restrictions were eased further on Monday but not many students were seen

Officials said the government has made necessary arrangements for opening of 190 primary schools in Srinagar city as security forces remained deployed in most of the Valley

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bombing at a wedding party in Kabul claimed by a local Islamic State affiliate has renewed fears about the growing threat posed by its thousands of fighters, as well as their ability to plot global attacks from a stronghold in the forbidding mountains of northeastern Afghanistan.

The attack came as the Taliban appear to be nearing a deal with the U.S. to end nearly 18 years of fighting. Now Washington hopes the Taliban can help rein in IS fighters, even as some worry that Taliban fighters, disenchanted by a peace deal, could join IS.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s president on Monday vowed to “eliminate” all safe havens of the Islamic State group as the country marked a subdued 100th Independence Day after a horrific wedding attack claimed by the local IS affiliate.

President Ashraf Ghani’s comments came as Afghanistan mourns at least 63 people, including children, killed in the Kabul bombing at a wedding hall late Saturday night. Close to 200 others were wounded.

Kanpur: A strange scene erupted the people moving by the side of the road in Bitthoor on Sunday. Two policemen along with the Head constable were found to be quarrelling along the road. The people on the road did not fathom the exact cause behind their quarrel. When it was known to the department the oddity increased in several folds. All the policemen were on patrol duty in Bitthoor.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the terror outfit Bajrang Dal held a bike rally in Jammu on Sunday, while the mobile internet services were disconnected to avert any counter protest and violence.

According to NDTV, mobile internet snapped in Jammu on Sunday, barely days after it was fully restored. While the administration blamed a mechanical glitch, local sources said it was disconnected to keep the peace during a rally by right wing groups.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 18 (APP): Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi Sunday said the Indian defence minister’s comments were reflective of the predicament in which his country found itself after its illegal and unilateral actions, imperiling peace and security in the region and beyond.

The foreign minister, in a press statement, responded to the comments made by the Indian defence minister in which he had hinted at a possible change in his country’s position on ‘no first use’ of nuclear weapons.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 18 (APP): Pakistan on Sunday strongly condemned the heinous bomb attack targeting civilians during a marriage function in Kabul on Saturday.

More than 60 innocent people had reportedly lost their lives in the dastardly inhuman act. “Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Terrorism is a common threat for the entire region and must be defeated together,” the Foreign office in a press release said.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 18 (APP): Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan Sunday urged both the print and electronic media to collectively project the national narrative on the Kashmir issue for countering Indian propaganda.

Addressing the one-year performance ceremony of the PTI government here at the Prime Minister Secretariat, Dr Firdous said raising the voice for the oppressed people of Indian occupied Kashmir ((IoK) was the government’s priority and the same was expected from the newspapers and news channels.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 18 (APP): Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday urged the world to seriously consider the safety and security of India’s nuclear arsenal which was in the control of the fascist, racist Hindu supremacist Modi’s government.

“This is an issue that impacts not just the region but the world,” the prime minister said in series of tweets.

He further said the Hindu supremacist Modi’s government posed a threat to Pakistan as well as to the minorities in India and in fact to the very fabric of Nehru and Gandhi’s India.