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Fear dominates as Pakistani soldiers have targeted villages and BSF posts all along the 198km-long border. Twelve people have been killed in Pakistan shelling since May 15.
Ramgarh : A week of relentless Pakistan shelling has driven 1,00,000 people from their homes in Jammu and Kashmir, reducing their villages to ghost towns and leaving their homes pockmarked, bearing the telltale signs of hostilities from across the border.
Soonam Kundal is busy gathering her belongings at her home in Keso village, a few kilometers from the border.
The 19-year-old is alone at home. On Tuesday evening, her father was curing a newly built boundary wall when a mortar shell landed in the compound of their house, injuring him, her mother and brother.
“My family has been shifted to government medical college hospital in Jammu,” says Kundal, who escaped unhurt as she was inside. She will be shifting to her aunt’s home.
Like Kundal, most of the people forced out of their homes in border villages of Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts have chosen to live with relatives. A few have opted for relief camps.
A village of 1,500, Keso is all but abandoned. Women and children have moved to relief camps, men join them at sunset.
Kundal’s aunt Ruby is critical of the government for leaving people to fend for themselves. “We have pleaded with politicians to provide us land at safer locations,” she says.
Fear dominates as Pakistani soldiers have targeted villages and BSF posts all along the 198km-long border. In the last one week, four people have died and 25 injured in Ramgarh alone.
A retried soldier, 61-year-old Des Raj blames the government for the situation. “We have experienced firing from across for decades but the intensity has increased ever since the BJP came to power at the Centre,” he says. Raj was to join his family at a relief camp in the evening.
The last border village of Nanga resembles a ghost town. Only a handful of the 3,500 people have stayed back, to look after houses and cattle. Ashok Kumar 53, whose neighbour’s house was damaged in firing, directed his anger at Pakistan. “They are killing innocent people in the month of Ramzan. How can we talk of peace when they have unleashed bloodshed on us,” he says.

The AAP delegation in their complaint said the molasses illegally released by the sugar mill resulted in the death of thousands of fish and hit other aquatic animals besides endangering human lives.
Chandigarh : Leader of opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Wednesday claimed that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken cognisance of the complaint filed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) delegation into the damage caused by leakage of molasses into the Beas by a sugar mill.
Khaira, who led the delegation of three AAP MLAs to lodge a complaint, said NGT chairperson Justice Jawad Rahim has issued a notice of motion to the Union water resource ministry, the governments of Punjab and Rajasthan besides the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) for Thursday.
The AAP delegation in their complaint said the molasses illegally released by the sugar mill resulted in the death of thousands of fish and hit other aquatic animals besides endangering human lives.
The delegation requested to issue directions to the Punjab government to make up for the damage and prevent extinction of water species and spread of cancer, hepatitis etc in the state.
“Dangerous levels of pollution in the rivers, canals and drains have rocked the state. It all began from discharge of poisonous molasses into the Beas by the Chadha sugar mill at Kiri Afgana in Gurdaspur district,” they said in the complaint.
They also flagged the issue of blatant discharge of industrial waste, medical waste, untreated sewage from villages and cities into rivers, canals, rivulets and drains.
These pollutants have resulted in terminal diseases like cancer, hepatitis, renal failure, liver damage and heart ailments among people, they said.

Donald Trump and the North Korean leader are scheduled to meet in Singapore on June 12 but the US has been insisting on the country giving up its nuclear arsenal first.
Washington: US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday there was a “substantial chance” his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will not take place as planned on June 12 amid concerns that Kim is resistant to giving up his nuclear weapons.
Trump raised doubts about the Singapore summit in talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who came to Washington to urge Trump not to let a rare opportunity with reclusive North Korea slip away.
If the summit is called off or fails, it would be a major blow to what Trump supporters hope will be the biggest diplomatic achievement of his presidency, and a huge disappointment for the president himself.
“There`s a very substantial chance … it won’t work out. And that’s OK,” Trump told reporters. “That doesn’t mean it won’t work out over a period of time. But it may not work out for June 12. But there is a good chance that we’ll have the meeting.”
Trump said whether the meeting will be held as scheduled will be determined “pretty soon.”
“North Korea has a chance to be a great country and I think they should seize the opportunity,” he said.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later told reporters the Trump administration was still planning for a June 12 summit, but he declined to predict whether it would actually take place.
Trump`s Oval Office remarks were the strongest sign from him yet about the possibility of a delay or cancellation of what would be the first-ever summit between the leaders of the United States and North Korea.
It was unclear whether Trump was truly backing away from the summit or whether he was strategically coaxing North Korea to the table after decades of tension on the Korean peninsula and antagonism with Washington over its nuclear weapons program.
The original purpose of Trump and Moon`s meeting was to fine-tune a joint strategy for dealing with Kim. Instead it has become more of a crisis session after Pyongyang last week threatened to pull out of the planned summit.
The White House was caught off guard when, in a dramatic change of tone, North Korea condemned the latest U.S.-South Korean air combat drills, suspended North-South talks and threw into doubt the summit with Trump if Pyongyang was pushed toward “unilateral nuclear abandonment.”
“Trump doesn’t want to look like he wants this summit more than Kim does,” said Bonnie Glaser, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
“It’s a smart move to say that he is willing to postpone,” she said. “But to be credible, the president really has to be willing to walk away and I’m not sure he is.”
MOON KEEN FOR SUMMIT
Aides said Trump has privately been wondering whether Kim is serious about the summit after the abrupt change in tone.
Moon told Trump in their private talks that there was no need to doubt North Korea`s will to hold a summit, a South Korean government spokesman told reporters.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said summit planning continued apace after what U.S. officials said were constructive talks with the South Koreans.
Trump heaped praise on Moon as an “extremely competent” leader despite some concerns voiced by U.S. officials that Moon might be too willing to compromise with Kim.
US officials have privately expressed concern that Moon, eager to make progress with the North, may have overstated Kim’s willingness to negotiate in good faith over the dismantling of his nuclear arsenal.
Moon was optimistic about the summit in his Oval Office remarks. His national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, told reporters en route to Washington that he believed there was a “99.9 percent chance” the Trump-Kim summit would take place as scheduled.
Moon said he realized many were sceptical in the United States about the summit, “but I don`t think there will be positive developments in history if we just assume that, because it all failed in the past, it will fail again.”
Trump on Tuesday reiterated comments from last week, saying Kim`s safety would be guaranteed and his country would be rich if he denuclearised.
But Trump said there are certain conditions that must be met and if North Korea refuses, the meeting will not take place. He said he would like a deal to commit North Korea to denuclearize over a “short period of time.”
Before seeing Trump, Moon met with Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton and urged them to speed preparations for the Trump-Kim summit.
Trump reiterated his suggestion that Kim’s recent meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping had influenced Kim to harden his stance ahead of the summit.
“President Xi is a world-class poker player,” Trump said.
Pompeo later praised China by saying it has offered “historic assistance” in the pressure campaign against North Korea.
The Trump administration is at odds with Beijing over trade. Trump on Monday urged China, North Korea`s main trading partner, to maintain tight sanctions, tweeting that “the word is that recently the Border has become much more porous.”
Tensions between the United States and North Korea escalated last year as Pyongyang tested missiles believed capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. Trump threatened to “totally destroy North Korea” if necessary and derided Kim as a madman, calling him “little rocket man,” while
Kim said the US president was mentally deranged.

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday accused the Centre for penalising the common man with high fuel prices and said the government is continuing to fill its coffers at their behest.
New Delhi: Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday accused the Centre for penalising the common man with high fuel prices and said the government is continuing to fill its coffers at their behest.
On a day when petrol in Delhi rose by 30 paise and breached the Rs 77 per litre mark, Chidamabaram took to Twitter to outline how the central government is walking away with Rs 25 from every litre of fuel sold in the country. “Central government saves Rs 15 on every litre of petrol due to fall in crude oil prices. Central government puts an additional tax of Rs 10 on every litre of petrol. Bonanza to central government is Rs 25 on every litre of petrol. This money rightfully belongs to the average consumer,” he wrote in a series of tweets. “It is possible to cut upto Rs 25 per litre, but the government will not. They will cheat the people by cutting price by Rs 1 or 2 per litre of petrol. ”
Chidambaram was the Finance Minister of the country when Congress was in power and also at a time when international crude prices peaked at $147.3 per barrel – in 2008. Even then, fuel prices in India were slightly less than what they are now when international crude price is around $80 to each barrel.
Rising fuel costs have given ammunition to opposition leaders to flay the current government. Not that BJP leaders had not used the same tactics when they were in the opposition. For now though, they are busy blaming a volatile international market, rising crude prices, reduction in production by OPEC countries and the fallout of US-Iran nuclear deal for the costs. However, repeated increase in excise taxes since BJP came to power has been highlighted by not just opposition leaders but market analysts as well.
There has been a call to include petrol and diesel in GST which would ensure prices fall back appreciatively. That, however, would mean government collections taking a hit even as the Centre maintains that state governments too won’t allow for it to happen.
For now, speculation is if prices would end up touching the Rs 100 mark.

BJP has maintained that Congress-JDS do not have people’s support as the two parties finished a distant second and third in the Karnataka elections.
New Delhi: After months of battling for political control in the state of Karnataka, HD Kumaraswamy is going to take oath as CM of the state – leading a cabinet that is likely to see more ministers from Congress than his own JDS. On the other side of the field, BJP – having given up power despite being the largest-single party – has said the swearing-in ceremony would be observed as ‘Anti-People’s Mandate Day.’
The root cause of BJP’s displeasure stems from the fact that the party had to suffer an embarrassment in the Karnataka Assembly last week. BS Yeddyurappa – just two days after becoming CM – tendered his resignation because he won’t have been able to prove majority. As a result, the JDS-Congress combine, which was a post-poll alliance – came together to stake claim to form the government.
BJP’s angst against the alliance is primarily because during campaigning, Congress had called JDS as BJP’s ‘B Team’. Congress leaders had said JDS was working at the behest of BJP and only wanted to hurt its interest. Yet, the two parties came together to cross the majority mark and stake claim to form the government. BJP leaders repeatedly said that since the party got the largest number of seats on its own, it has the right to form the government. Without majority though, it was always going to be a tough ask.
Nonetheless, BJP has been saying both Congress and JDS do not have the support of people and have no right to form the next government. “Had people of Karnataka given BJP just a few more votes, we would have turned the state into a paradise,” an emotional Yeddyurappa had said in a speech just before resigning.
Now, that same paradise is being promised by Kumaraswamy – the kingmaker who rose to become king. The BJP may be predicting a shaky alliance and one which does not have support of the people. For the JDS leader though, all is hunky dory and that his party and Congress are ready to serve people. There were some reports of rift regarding the post of deputy CM but on Tuesday, AICC general secretary in-charge of the state KC Venugopal confirmed that Karnataka Congress president G Parameshwara will be given that post. News agency PTI further quoted Venugopal as saying that Congress will have 22 ministers and JDS 12 in the state cabinet.
All eyes now are on Vidhan Soudha where the grand ceremony will take place on Wednesday evening – an event that would be attended by a long list of leaders of regional parties known for their opposition to BJP.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), etc. are among the 16 regional parties whose audit reports were unavailable on the Election Commission’s website.
In 2014, the Election Commission of India (ECI), had directed all political parties to submit details of their audited reports of funding to the Commission. As per the analysis of these audit reports submitted to the Election Commission, the total income of all 32 regional parties for the year 2016-17 was Rs 321.03 crore. The reports have been analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms. As per the analysis, the Samajwadi Party reported having the highest income of Rs 82.76 crore, which forms 25.78 per cent of the total income of all 32 regional parties. SP is closely followed by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with an income of Rs 72.92 crore. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) stood at the third spot with an income of Rs 48.88 crore.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), etc. are among the 16 regional parties whose audit reports were unavailable on the Election Commission’s website.
Out of 32 regional parties, 14 parties have shown a decline in their income from 2015-16 to 2016-17, while 13 parties have shown an increase in their income. Five regional parties have not submitted their Income Tax Return to the ECI in FY 2015-16.
The total income of 27 regional parties increased from Rs 291.14 crore in 2015-16, to Rs 316.05 crore in 2016-17.
There are 17 regional parties who declared that a part of their income has remained unspent in the year 2016-17 while 15 parties spent more than the income collected during the year.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Janata Dal Secular (JDS) have more than 87 per cent of their total income remaining unspent while TDP has 67 per cent of its income remaining unspent for 2016-17.
DMK has declared spending Rs 81.88 crore more than its income while SP and AIADMK declared spending Rs 64.34 crore and Rs 37.89 crore more than their total income.
Samajwadi Party incurred the highest expenditure of Rs 147.1 crore, followed by AIADMK which spent Rs 86.77 crore and DMK with Rs 85.66 crore.

The Tamil Nadu Directorate of Government Examinations has declared the Tamil Nadu TN SSLC class 10 results 2018 on its official website tnresults.nic.in. The topper list and results can also be checked on dge.tn.gov.in, dge1.tn.nic.in, tnresults.nic.in and dge1.tn.nic.in.
The Tamil Nadu Directorate of Government Examinations has declared the Tamil Nadu TN SSLC class 10 results 2018 on its official website tnresults.nic.in. The topper list and results can also be checked on dge.tn.gov.in, dge1.tn.nic.in, tnresults.nic.in and dge1.tn.nic.in.
The TN Board SSLC Class 10 exams were held from April 16 to April 20, 2018. The board had on May 16 announced TN HSC or Plus Two Results 2018.
How to check your TN 10th Board Result 2018:
Step 1: Log onto the official website tnresults.nic.in
Step 2: Click on the link Tamil Nadu 10th Result 2018 / Tamil Nadu SSLC Result 2018
Step 3: Enter your required details
Step 4: Your result will be displayed on the screen. Candidates are advised to download the same and take a printout for future reference
Beginning this year, the education department said it will not release topper’s name and ranks in an effort to discourage unhealthy competition among students.
For any queries on Tamil Nadu SSLC Board Results, candidates can Contact DGE the at directordge.tn.nic.in.

Section 144 prohibits assembly of more than four people in an area was imposed on Wednesday with most shops and commercial establishments remaining shut.
Chennai: A day after eleven people died during protests against Sterlite Industries in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi, Section 144 has been imposed in the city fearing more protests on similar lines.
Section 144 prohibits assembly of more than four people in an area was imposed on Wednesday with most shops and commercial establishments remaining shut. Security was tightened and police personnel were seen keeping a tight vigil in several parts of the city.
The protests were going on in Tuticorin for over three months now, but violence erupted on Tuesday with agitators allegedly fighting pitched battles with police, prompting it to open fire. Locals have alleged that the Sterlite copper plant is responsible for increasing pollution and have been demanding its closure. On Tuesday, the protests flared with police telling PTI that 5000 people had gathered close to a local church and took out a rally to the district collectorate after they were denied permission to march to the copper smelter plant.
Things soon turned violent with police resorting to firing tear gas and live ammunition. Now, authorities face backlash with a number of political leaders strongly condemning measures used to contain the protestors. While Chief Minister EK Palaniswami has announced Rs 10 lakh compensation to family members of each deceased, opposition leaders have torn into him for not preventing the incident.
MDMK founder Vaiko likened the incident to the British era Jallianwala Bagh massacre, while the CPI(M)’s state unit demanded the chief minister’s resignation.
Actors-turned politicians Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan slammed the Tamil Nadu government for police firing on protesters.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi said the state government committed a “Himalayan blunder”.

Narendra Modi had led BJP-led NDA to a landslide victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and had taken oath as the 15th PM of India on May 26.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah will lead from the front in taking the achievements of the BJP-led NDA government to the people on the completion of four years in power at the Centre.
The PM is scheduled to visit Odisha on May 26 and address a rally in Cuttack. Shah, on the other hand, will hold a press conference in Delhi on the same day. As per Zee Media, the saffron party will organise events all across the country to mark the day. A committee has been formed, comprising of various ministers, for the same. The final touches was given by the BJP chief himself.
He is said to have entrusted all party leaders and workers to take the achievements of the Modi government to the people. They have been given a time-period of two weeks to hold various events like connecting with Dalits, connecting with senior citizens, connect with workers at booth-level, go to Schedule Tribe villages, hold seminars and meet the press, among others.
Shah has also chalked out a plan via which four thousand senior party members, including ministers, MPs, MLAs and Mayors, have been asked to meet eminent and intellectual citizens. He himself will reportedly flag it off. Meetings will be held with many such people including, formers chief justices, former Army and administrative officers, members of film, sports and literary world, among others.
Senior Cabinet ministers like Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Ravi Shankar Prasad and others will hold press conferences.
Modi had led BJP-led NDA to a landslide victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and had taken oath as the 15th Prime Minister of India on May 26. The then president Pranab Mukherjee had administered the oath of office and secrecy in Hindi to him in the courtyard of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. 45 Cabinet ministers, including Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, were too sworn-in.
Outgoing PM Manmohan Singh, who was at the helm of affairs of the Congress-led UPA government for ten years, was present on the occasion of the change of guard. The Congress was reduced to its lowest tally of 44 seats in the Lok Sabha in 2014. The then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul and former presidents APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil were among the over 4,000 people guests who had attended the event.

The body of jawan Deepak Nainwal was brought to his hometown in Dehradun on Monday for the last rites.
Little did his six-year-old daughter know that it was the final time she was getting to see her father’s lifeless body. As tears rolled down her eyes, she paid tribute to her brave father who was martyred in an encounter with the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
No doubt, the heart-wrenching incident caught everyone’s attention.
The body of jawan Deepak Nainwal was brought to his hometown in Dehradun on Monday for the last rites.
On April 10, Nainwal suffered serious injuries while he tried to encounter a group of heavily-armed terrorists. He was shot twice during the counter operation.
After struggling for life for over a month, the jawan breath his last on Sunday. He succumbed to his injuries at Pune’s Command Hospital at around 10 pm.
Nainwal is survived by his wife, six-year-old daughter, five-year-old son, mother, father and a brother. His father is a retired Captain and his brother too is in the security forces.