Srinagar, July 6 (IANS) An Army soldier has died in an encounter between the security forces and the terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Saturday.

Officials said that an Army soldier, injured during the encounter between the security forces and the hiding terrorists in a village of Kulgam district, succumbed to critical injuries in the hospital.

Security forces started a cordon and search operation in Modergam village of Kulgam early on Saturday, following reports about the presence of terrorists in the village.

“As the security forces came close to the hiding terrorists, they fired at the security forces triggering an encounter,” officials said.

The exchange of fire between the security forces and terrorists is continuing in the area.

–IANS

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Jaipur, July 6 (IANS) Heavy rain disrupted normal life in Rajasthan on Saturday causing waterlogging, traffic jams, and the Tonk district administration announcing the closure of schools.

Incessant rain in Kota for the past two days increased Parvati River’s water levels, leading to the closure of the road connecting Sheopur and Gwalior in MP.

The Meteorological Department said that the Baran district recorded the highest rainfall (195 mm) while Parbatsar and Nagaur, registered 71 mm.

In the past 24 hours, Deoli in Tonk 155 mm rain, Malpura (144 mm), Peeplu (144 mm), Tonk tehsil (137 mm), Aligarh (130 mm), 126 mm in Todaraisingh and Nagarfort (115 mm).

Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department officials have warned of heavy to very heavy rain in the state till July 8.

Further on July 9 and 10, heavy rainfall has been forecast for eastern Rajasthan.

–IANS

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Srinagar, July 6, (IANS) An encounter has started between terrorists and security forces at Hadipora area at Modergam in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district, officials said on Saturday.

“Encounter started at Modergam village of Kulgam District. Police and security forces are on job,” police said.

The operation started after a joint team of police and security forces got an input about the presence of terrorists in that area.

There have been a series of encounters between terrorists and security forces across Kashmir in the recent past in which many terrorists have been eliminated.

–IANS

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Thiruvananthapuram, July 6 (IANS) With the Election Commission all set to announce the dates for bypolls to two Assembly constituencies and for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, the BJP launched its campaign at Palakkad on Saturday.

The Assembly bye-elections at Palakkad and Chelakkara were necessitated after sitting legislators Shafi Paramabil (Congress at Palakkad) and K Radhakrishnan (CPI-M at Chelakkara) vacated their seats after winning the Lok Sabha polls.

The Palakkad unit of the BJP launched its campaign after a function to felicitate the two party Cabinet members from Kerala.

Suresh Gopi won from the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat while George Kurian a senior party leader will soon be brought into the Rajya Sabha from another state.

Gopi said that just like the people at Thrissur gave BJP the seat, he was confident that the people at Palakkad would also give the seat to the party.

The BJP has now started its search for a suitable candidate for Palakkad and the name of Kerala BJP President, K Surendran, is doing the rounds.

A popular leader, he came a distant third in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat which has now been vacated by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.

Apart from K Surendran, the names of Sobha Surendran who contested the Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat and Krishnakumar who contested the Palakkad Lok Sabha seat are also doing the rounds.

The BJP is also seriously looking at apolitical candidates like legendary railway engineer E Sreedharan, as the party is confident that such people can help it open its account in the 140-member Kerala Assembly.

This is especially true at Palakkad as the BJP candidates at the previous two Assembly elections, finished second, pushing the CPI(M) candidates to third place.

Meanwhile at Chelakkara which is a reserved constituency for Scheduled Caste candidates, where the BJP doesn’t hold much of a chance, the party is not going to sit idle and might bring in TN Sarassu, a retired principal of a state-run college.

TN Sarassu had been harassed by the student wing of the CPI(M) on the day she retired from service a few years ago.

Incidentally, TN Sarassu was the BJP’s candidate in the Alathur Lok Sabha constituency, in which the Chelakkara Assembly constituency is located.

Even though she lost the Lok Sabha polls, she was able to increase the BJP’s votes in a major way, as compared to the 2019 General Elections.

Incidentally with the bye-election to the Wayanad Lok Sabha polls also being held and the Congress announcing Priyanka Gandhi as its candidate, there will be a galaxy of leaders from the Congress and BJP arriving for campaigning for the seat.

These leaders are also expected to campaign at Palakkad and Chelakkara, thereby giving these constituencies a feel of high-voltage campaigns.

–IANS

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Kolkata, July 6 (IANS) Two of the four assembly constituencies, Bagdah in North 24 Parganas district and Ranaghat Dakshin in Nadia, which will be going to by-polls on July 10, are under the scanner of the Election Commission (EC) from security perspectives.

In terms of central armed police forces (CAPF) deployment, insiders from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal said, the Commission is stressing higher mobilisation of forces in terms of polling booth deployment and quick response team (QRT) formation as both the seats are sensitive.

Bagdah will have maximum deployment, with 960 personnel for the polling booths and 192 personnel for the QRTs. Ranaghat Dakshin will follow with 900 personnel for the polling booths and 180 for the QRTs.

The deployment will be comparatively lesser for the two other assembly constituencies namely Maniktala in Kolkata and Raiganj in North Dinajpur district.

In the case of Raiganj, 672 personnel will be deployed at polling booths and 192 for QRTs. For Maniktala, 720 personnel will be deployed for polling booths and 144 for the QRTs.

Insiders from the CEO’s office said that in the by-polls, special focus had been given to the effective utilisation of QRTs in the backdrop of flooding complaints in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls of the late arrival of such teams in areas where tension broke out.

“This time, the Commission is strict that such complaints should not recur. So the deployment of CAPF at booth-level and for QRTs will be much higher in comparison to the limited areas covered under these four assembly constituencies,” said an official from the CEO’s office.

As per the statistics of the 2021 assembly polls and assembly-wise results in the Lok Sabha polls, BJP is comfortably placed in Raiganj, Bagdah and Ranaghat Dakshin while Trinamool has the edge in Maniktala.

–IANS

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