Maoists kill SP, 5 cops in Jharkhand
Kolkata/Ranchi, July 2
Armed Maoists today ambushed a police convoy killing a superintendent of police and five others near the West Bengal-Jharkhand border. The attack took place in a jungle stretch between Kathikund and Gopikanar in Dumka, around 350 km from Ranchi.

Father of Pakur SP Amarjit Balihar pays homage to his son at their Ranchi residence on Tuesday. — PTI

Railgate: Bansal’s nephew, nine others figure in CBI chargesheet
New Delhi, July 2
Former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was today given a clean chit by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Rs 10 crore cash-for-post Railway bribery scandal in which the agency filed a chargesheet against his nephew Vijay Singla and suspended Board Member Mahesh Kumar along with eight others for graft and other charges.

Himalayan TSUNAMI
Badrinath all clear, rescue ops over
Dehradun, July 2
The mammoth multi-agency rescue operations to evacuate all stranded pilgrims and tourists in the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand concluded on Tuesday with a group of 155 persons being evacuated from Badrinath. In all, around 1.1 lakh people — stranded due to flash floods and landslides after monsoon rains pounded the hill state on June 15 — were evacuated by joint teams of the Army, Indian Air Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

Wrecked vehicles lie in front of damaged houses in Sonprayag in Uttarakhand on Tuesday. — AFP

All eyes now on GSLV launch next month
Bangalore, July 2
The proposed launch of the GSLV D5 next month (August 6) will provide a perfect opportunity to ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan to sign off from the space agency on a winning note. Radhakrishnan is slated to retire on August 31. (Details on Nation page)

8 die in Taliban attack on NATO supply site
Kabul, July 2
A Taliban truck bomb and gun attack killed eight persons in the Afghan capital Kabul today, destroying the entrance to a NATO supply company's compound in the latest insurgent assault to shake peace efforts. (Details on World page)

Seniority prevails, Sujatha Singh is new Foreign Secy New Delhi, July 2 Adhering to the seniority principle, the government today named Indian Ambassador to Germany Sujatha Singh as the next Foreign Secretary to succeed Ranjan Mathai on his retirement on July 31. An IFS officer of the 1976 batch, Sujatha will be the third woman to navigate India’s foreign policy as the country’s top diplomat. Earlier, Chokila Iyer and Nirupama Rao have held the coveted post. Sujatha Singh (L) will replace Ranjan Mathai who retires on July 31 this year. — PTI