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Pak soldier crossed LoC by mistake: Pak Army  

Islamabad: The Pakistan Army has said that one of its soldiers had inadvertently crossed the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and contact was being established with Indian authorities for his return.

The Pakistani soldier lost his way on Thursday afternoon and inadvertently crossed the LoC in Khoi Ratta sector, military officials said yesterday.

Contact was being established with Indian authorities for the soldier's return, the officials said.

Such incidents had happened on both sides in the past and were sorted out mutually, they said.

The incident occurred even as the two sides traded fresh charges of ceasefire violations along the 742-km LoC. PTI 

Asteroid to pass by Earth today

New Delhi: Get ready for a rare celestial treat on Friday when newly discovered asteroid 2012 DA14, about half the size of a football field, will make a record-setting close approach to Earth.

DA14 is the largest known object of its size to pass this close; scientists say there is no chance of an impact, this week or in the foreseeable future. Its closest approach will occur at 19.40 GMT (1.10 IST) Feb 15-16 as it shoots past in a south-north direction above Earth. It will not be visible with naked eyes but can be seen using binoculars in clear sky conditions.

150-foot-wide or nearly 13 stories big and weighing around 130,000 tonnes, DA14 was detected in February last year by La Sagra Observatory in southern Spain discovered just a year ago.

Travelling at between 12,427mph (20,000kph) and 18,641mph (30,000kph) - around five miles (8km) a second, or eight times the speed of a rifle bullet - the asteroid will fly inside the orbits of high geostationary satellites some 22,000 miles (35,406km) above the Earth.

One person killed, two injured in fire at Kumbh

Allahabad: A fire broke out at the Maha Kumbh Mela today, leaving one person dead and two others injured. The fire mishap took place on a day when lakhs of devotees have gathered for the 'Shahi Snan' on the occasion of Basant Panchami.

"An unidentified person was killed in the fire that broke out in Sector 4 of the Kumbh Mela area early this morning.

"Two persons sustained minor injuries while the fire was brought under control quickly, though about 10 tents were gutted by the time", SSP (Kumbh) R K S Rathore said.

He said prima facie the fire was caused by a short circuit and the person, who got killed, "probably was fast asleep and could not run out of his tent before getting engulfed in flames".

In another incident that took place some 5 kms away, 10 tents were gutted in a fire late last night when pilgrims were having their dinner inside a camp of a religious organization.

However, nobody was injured in the incident, sources in the Mela administration said.

The Maha Kumbh congregation, which commenced on January 14, has so far witnessed a number of fire-related incidents, most notable of these being the one on January 25 which had left 19 people seriously injured out of whom as many at least five have succumbed to their injuries so far.