US expects rapid action on J&K situation

  • Alice Wells, the acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, said that the Trump Administration hopes to see rapid action on lifting of restrictions and release of detainees in J&K.
  • India had put communication restrictions and detained political leaders in Kashmir before revoking the special status for J&K on August 5th.
  • Wells reiterated Trump’s offer to mediate if both India and Pakistan are willing.

Former French President Jacques Chirac dies at 86

  • Chirac was president from 1995 to 2007, and was the second longest-serving post-World War II president.
  • Chirac was also the only western leader who supported India after it conducted the nuclear test in 1998.
  • He was born in 1932 in Paris and become a junior minister and was just 41 when he became prime minister in 1974.

Probe absolves Dr Kafeel Khan of all charges in Gorakhpur hospital child deaths

  • The probe also commended him for doing everything in his power to help save lives, and did not find any evidence of medical negligence and corruption.
  • The paediatrician in the hospital had been suspended after deaths of 63 children in August 2017 after an alleged shortage of oxygen in the government-run hospital.
  • He was jailed for nine months after a criminal case of medical negligence, corruption and dereliction of duty was filed against him.
  • The UP government is yet to acknowledge the report. CM Adityanath had blamed the doctor for the deaths and had denied that the deaths had occurred due to shortage of oxygen.