Amarnath yatra

Srinagar, June 28: The first batch of Amarnath pilgrims trooped into Kashmir to a trouble-free welcome today as peace held in the Valley for the first time in several summers.

Violent clashes had rocked the Valley the past three years, all the protests beginning in June around the same time as the annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine. The first batch of 2,096 pilgrims was flagged off at Jammu by tourism minister Nawang Ringzin Jora.

Trafficking

Washington (PTI): The US has taken India off the human trafficking watch list for making significant efforts in combating the menace.In its annual trafficking report, the state department has upgraded India to tier 2 countries after keeping it on the watch list for six years.

Poison death

Erode (PTI): A six-year-old girl died in Erode on Monday after consuming poison mistaking it to be cough syrup , police said. The girl was rushed to hospital where she died. The girl’s parents said they had stored pesticide in an empty cough syrup bottle.

CPM arrest

Midnapore: A CPM worker was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the recovery of human remains near the ancestral home of CPM leader Sushanta Ghosh. The worker was held while being produced in a Midnapore court for possessing illegal arms.

Force pullout

Calcutta: CRPF commandant Shyam Chanda De has said at Writers’ Buildings that the remaining four companies of the central force deployed in the state for the Assembly election would be withdrawn “within a short period”. A total of 144 companies of CRPF had been deployed in Bengal for the polls.

Chiranjeevi

Hyderabad: Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi has announced his retirement from acting. The announcement assumes significance as there are indications that he may be inducted either into the state cabinet or even the Union cabinet in the next round of reshuffle.