Indian Sub-continent

New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) Senior Congress leaders on Friday met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at her residence here ahead of the crucial Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting to decide on the new party chief.

Sources said senior leaders Ahmed Patel, A K Antony and K C Venugopal are learnt to have discussed with Sonia Gandhi some names of probables who could be made provisional president of the party, after Rahul Gandhi resigned and decided to not take back his decision despite pleas by many partymen.

New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) With banking giant SBI and about a dozen lenders reducing their interest rates, the remaining PSU banks are likely to follow suit and slash interest rates in the next few days to pass on the benefit of rate cut by the Reserve Bank and boost the economy, sources said.

Even private sector banks are expected to follow the market trend in order to protect their business, sources said adding they too are expected to lower the rate in the next few days.

Jaipur, Aug 9 (PTI) A five-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a minor boy in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan on Friday, police said.

The accused, who lives in the girl's neighbourhood, has been detained, they said.

"The accused took the girl to his shop on the pretext of teaching her English alphabet. After sometime, he took her to a deserted place nearby and allegedly raped her," the police said.

The girl has been admitted to a local hospital, they said.

Kolkata, Aug 9 (PTI) In a bid to stop the march of BJP and TMC in Bengal, the beleaguered Congress and CPI(M) have come together for a seat adjustment for upcoming bypolls in three assembly segments of the state

During a late-evening meeting, the state leadership of the two parties decided that the Congress would contest Kaliaganj seat in North Dinajpur district and Kharagpur in West Midnapore district

The CPI(M)-led Left Front would contest Karimpur assembly seat in Nadia district.

New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) Former finance minister Arun Jaitley was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of All India Institute of Medical Sciences here on Friday after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness but doctors said he is "haemodynamically stable".

A multidisciplinary team of doctors is supervising Jaitley's treatment, AIIMS said.

He was admitted to the hospital this morning and "at present, he is haemodynamically stable," it said in a statement.

A hemodynamically stable patient has a stable heart pump and good blood circulation.

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 10 (PTI) As Kerala continues to battle the torrential downpour lashing its shores, death toll has risen to 42 in rain related incidents, including flooding and landslides, with over one lakh people moved to relief camps, officials said on Saturday.

Twenty people have been killed in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts, and nine have died in Wayanad in rain related incidents since August 8, officials said quoting reports received till 7 am

KANPUR: The frequent jam at the railways' crossings from Anwarganj to Mandhna remains a big nuisance for the denizens. To deal with this situation a proposal to divert the track from Mandhna and connect it with Panki railway station has been suggested. In this regard, the divisional commissioner has sent a letter to the North Central Railways and Eastern Railways General Managers respectively.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 9 (APP): New German Ambassador to Pakistan Bernhard Schlagheck believes that Pakistan is a wonderful place to live.

The ambassador, who has recently taken charge of his office, in a video message posted on social media said: “I am honoured to represent the Federal Republic of Germany here in Pakistan- a fascinating, multi-layered, vibrant, complex and unique country in a region of great importance and relevance.”

KANPUR: A mobile can also be the cause of the separation between the husband and the wife. Though they were blessed with one son and one daughter, they were not living together. Irritated with wife's chat on WhatsApp and Facebook the husband warned her to leave excessive love for chatting. But the wife's habit did not change. This caused them to stay separately for eight months. 

New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) A Delhi court on Friday framed charges against expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar for allegedly raping a minor in Unnao in 2017. 

District Judge Dharmesh Sharma also framed charges against Sengar's accomplice Shashi Singh for allegedly kidnapping the minor girl, who is presently admitted in AIIMS, Delhi.