As India and Pakistan prepare for bilateral talks later this month, a Pakistani militant has been caught alive in Udhampur on Wednesday and this will bolster India's position. Twenty-year-old Usman from Faislabad in Pakistan was captured today after an operation. Usman and two other militants had attacked a BSF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Udhampur in which two jawans were killed. The militant had taken three persons hostage in a school at a nearby village.

Bail for Janhavi Gadkar after 58 days
A session’s court in Mumbai granted bail to advocate Janhavi Gadkar who spent 58 days in jail for her alleged involvement in a drunken driving incident that claimed two lives. On Tuesday the defence had stated that her qualifications should not be held against her while deciding her bail plea. Gadkar had allegedly rammed her Audi car into an oncoming taxi while driving on the wrong side of the Eastern Freeway in an allegedly drunken state on June 10. Two persons - Mohammed Abdul Sayyad (55) and Mohammed Salim Sabuwala (50) - lost their lives in the accident.

Australian court revokes approval for Adani's coal mine project
Industrialist Gautam Adani's plan to build one of the world's largest coal mines in Australia on Wednesday suffered a setback after a court revoked the government's environmental approval for the 16.5 billion dollar project. Adani's environmental authority has been set aside after the court found environment Minister Greg Hunt had not properly considered advice about two threatened species — the yakka skink and the ornamental snake in the Galilee basin. Environmentalists hailed the federal court's ruling against the controversial Carmichael mine as another setback for the project.

No proposal to review guidelines on ministers' staff
The centre today said it had no plans to review the guidelines for appointment of personal staff to Ministers as per which those who worked for UPA ministers are not likely to be appointed for present ones."Due to administrative requirements, the government has issued guidelines that any officer, official, private person, who has earlier worked in the personal staff of a minister, may not be appointed in the personal staff of ministers in the present government," minister of state for personnel, public grievances and pensions Jitendra Singh said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

Online hiring grew 32 per cent in July
Online hiring activity in India jumped 32 per cent in July from a year ago, a sign that Indian businesses are getting confident of the economy, says a survey. The Monster.com's employment index, a monthly gauge of the country's online job demand, rose 50 points (up 32.46 per cent) to 204 in July this year, from 154 in the same period a year ago.

Government loses Rs 7 per post card, Rs 5 for inland letters
Department of posts incurred a loss of Rs 7.03 per post card and Rs 4.93 on every inland letter in 2013-14. In 2011-12 and 2012-13, there was a 3.3 per cent and 5.2 per cent fall in traffic of inland letters, while the same grew 1.1 per cent to Rs 87.45 crore in 2013-14. Similarly, for letters, the traffic declined 6.3 per cent in 2011-12 and 2.7 per cent in 2012-13. The traffic grew 3.1 per cent to Rs 208.72 crore in 2013-14. However, speed post traffic grew 14.8 per cent in 2011-12, fell 17.8 per cent in 2012-13 and came back to growth in 2013-14 with 7.8 per cent rise in traffic to Rs 39.87 crore.

NHRC notice to Delhi govt over ignoring old health centres
National Human Rights Commission today issued a notice to Delhi government over its alleged failure to revive 228 existing primary health centres and proposing 1,000 new 'Aam Aadmi Clinics' instead.  However, the rights body welcomed the proposal of launching 'mohalla clinics' with a rider saying making the existing healthcare infrastructure functional was "paramount."

World's most powerful storm of 2015, races towards Japan and China
Super Typhoon Soudelor developed into the world's most powerful storm of the year on Tuesday as it took aim at Japan, Taiwan and China after trashing the Northern Marianas. The storm was roaring across the western Pacific Ocean packing wind gusts up to 354 km per hour according to the typhoon warning center which rated it a maximum category five.

Over 4,400 students dropout of IITs, NITs in three years
Over 4,400 students dropped out of IITs and NITs in the last three years due to various reasons including "academic stress", the government said today and assured that corrective actions have been initiated. Giving a breakup the government said 2,060 students dropped out from Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and 2,352 students dropped out from the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) from 2012-13 to 2014-15. There are 16 IITs and 30 NITs in the country.

Delhi govt to sell cheaper onions from Monday
With onion prices touching Rs 60 per kg in the open market, the Delhi government will start the supply of onions at controlled prices from Monday at 280 locations across the city at Rs 40 per kg. The department will sell onions in packets of one kg each at fair price shops. About 15-20 mobile vans will also sell onions.