Indian Sub-continent

ISLAMABAD, Jul 21 (NNN-APP) – The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of Pakistan, approved a request by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), to allocate funds of 42.528 billion rupees (over 149 million U.S. dollars), for the forthcoming general elections, the finance ministry said in a statement.

The committee allocated 10 billion rupees yesterday, while the remaining money will be allocated in phases, according to the requirement of the ECP, the statement added.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Sri Lanka and India signed a series of energy, development and trade agreements on Friday, signaling growing economic ties between the neighboring countries.

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived in New Delhi a day earlier for the official visit, his first since taking up the top job last year after an economic meltdown forced his predecessor to flee.

Washington, Jul 20 (PTI) The US is working with India on proposals to co-produce extended-range artillery and infantry vehicles to meet its operational requirements along its border with China and address its "coercion and harassment", a top Pentagon official said on Thursday.

The Indian and Chinese troops are locked in an over-three-year confrontation in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh.

Peshawar, Jul 20 (PTI) A policeman was killed and 10 others injured in twin blasts at a tehsil building compound in a restive tribal district of northwest Pakistan on Thursday, police said.

Rescue officials said the blasts occurred when the police were checking people entering the Bara Tehsil building in the Khyber tribal district bordering Peshawar, the capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

New Delhi/Imphal, Jul 20 (PTI) The assault and humiliation of two women paraded naked in a Manipur village in May sparked nationwide outrage on Thursday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the incident had shamed 140 crore Indians and the Supreme Court terming it “simply unacceptable”.

Bengaluru, Jul 20 (PTI) Karnataka Assembly Speaker U T Khader along with Deputy Speaker Rudrappa Lamani and Assembly secretary M K Vishalakshi on Thursday called on Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot and reportedly appraised him about the circumstances that led to the suspension of 10 BJP MLAs till the end of the session.

The Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution suspending 10 MLAs including four former ministers -- R Ashoka, Dr C N Ashwath Narayana, V Sunil Kumar and Araga Jnanendra.

Kanpur: As many as 61 cases of conjunctivitis were reported in Kanpur Dehat district while three patients were admitted to the LLR Hospital in Kanpur Nagar.

The infection deeply affected the eyes, resulting in heavily swollen and not smoothly opening.

Doctors are seeing such severity in conjunctivitis cases for the first time.

Such is the contagiousness that the entire family is getting infected quickly.

Dr Mohan said that people must consult the doctors first before using an eye drop.

NEW DELHI, Jul 19 (NNN-PTI) – At least 15 people, including a police official and three home guards personnel, were killed and six others suffered critical injuries today, after an electricity transformer exploded, in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, police said.

The transformer, placed at a project site, exploded, electrifying a bridge spanning across Alaknanda river, in Chamoli district, about 266 km east of Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand.

NEW DELHI, July 19 (Reuters) - India has an opportunity to cash in on global companies' efforts to build factories outside China, the new World Bank president said on Wednesday, as firms seek to diversify their supply chains.

His comments follow recent investment announcements by U.S. firms, including chipmaker Micron Technology, in India and come as the United States looks for a strong counterweight to China in Asia amid growing tensions in ties.

KABUL, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's central bank Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) sold 14 million U.S. dollars via auction on Wednesday, in an effort to keep the country's national currency the afghani stable against foreign currencies, a statement of the bank said.

The afghani was tumbling against foreign currencies, especially the U.S. dollar, over the past couple of weeks, as the exchange rate of 1 U.S. dollar stands currently at 86.5 afghanis, compared to 85.5 afghanis last week.