Indian Sub-continent

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Tens of thousands of government forces in riot gear patrol Indian-controlled Kashmir. Streets lined with shuttered shops are deserted, steel barricades and razor wire cutting off neighborhoods. An eerie silence is broken by an occasional security vehicle whizzing past or the cawing of crows.

An unprecedented security lockdown amid a near-total communications blackout entered a fourth day Thursday, forcing some news organizations to hand-carry dispatches out of the region.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the nation Thursday night that he stripped the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir of its statehood and special constitutional status to free the disputed region of “terrorism and separatism.”

Modi’s Hindu-led nationalist government imposed an unprecedented security lockdown and a near-total communications blackout in the Muslim-majority region since Sunday night, arresting more than 500 people.

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — An unusual silence cloaks the center of the city. Its streets, once teeming with traffic, are dotted with spools of concertina wire, blocking movement. Every road is sealed off. The population has been forced indoors while thousands of Indian soldiers in camouflage are on patrol, carrying guns at their waists.

Srinagar, the administrative summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, is a city under siege.

NEW DELHI, Aug 8 (NNN-BERNAMA) — India expressing regret over Pakistan’s move to downgrade its diplomatic relations with the former over the Kashmir dispute has called on the country to review its decision.

Islamabad on Wednesday announced a series of steps following New Delhi’s repeal of Article 370, a special provision in the Indian constitution that allowed a degree of autonomy to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan asked India to withdraw its high commissioner in Islamabad and said it will not send its own high commissioner-designate to India.

Srinagar, Aug 8 :  Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has been stopped at the Srinagar airport and is being sent back by a flight, party leaders said on Thursday.

Azad arrived here to assess the situation in the Kashmir Valley in the wake of the Centre revoking Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 of the Constitution and dividing it into two union territories.

He was stopped by the administration and will be sent back by a flight later in the afternoon, the Congress leaders said.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 08 (APP): Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Thursday that Pakistan’s leadership has shown complete solidarity with the hapless people of Kashmir facing worst human rights violations at the hands of Indian occupation forces.

Talking to media persons here the SAPM said that entire civil and military leadership was united on Kashmir issue and raised voice for them.

NEW DELHI, August 8. /TASS/: Around 130,000 people have been evacuated from the flooded areas in the western Indian state of Maharashtra following powerful monsoon rains. The NDTV channel reported on Thursday that at least 16 people had died there last week due to water-logging incidents.

According to the channel, certain areas of Maharashtra saw the four months' amount of precipitation over the past 15 days. Kolhapur and Sangli Districts are affected the most. The local authorities called on the military to help with the evacuation of residents.

Pratapgarh (UP), Aug 8 (PTI) A 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a teenager in a village here, police said on Thursday.

The incident took place on July 29 and the FIR was lodged on Wednesday evening, they said.

The girl was at her house along with her grandmother when the 16-year-old accused forcibly took her to a secluded place, where he allegedly raped her, they said.

The matter came to light on August 5 when the accused reached her home and the girl started shouting at him after which he fled away.

New Delhi, Aug 8 (PTI) Indian crew members and guard escorted the Samjhauta Express from Wagah border to Attari after Pakistan authorities stopped the train on their side, sources said.

They said that Pakistan had stopped the train at Wagah border claiming security concerns, and passengers were stranded briefly.

08 August 2019; AFP: India on Thursday hit back at nuclear rival Pakistan's downgrading of diplomatic ties over its clampdown on Kashmir, saying its decision to strip the restive region of its autonomy was an "internal affair".

India stripped Kashmir of its special status in the constitution on Monday and brought the region under its direct rule, angering Pakistan which has a competing claim to the Muslim-majority state.