295 killed as Malaysian passenger plane ‘shot down’ over Ukraine
Was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur; Ukrainian officials point at pro-Russian rebels
Kuala Lumpur/Kiev, July 17
All 295 people on board a Malaysia Airlines plane were killed today after the aircraft was shot down over war-torn eastern Ukraine near the Russian border, nearly four months after the mysterious disappearance of MH370 in the Indian Ocean.

Rescue teams at the site of crash in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on Thursday. Reuters

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Punjab Assembly passes anti-HSGPC resolution
Says states shouldn’t interfere in each others’ religious affairs 
Chandigarh, July 17
In the backdrop of controversy over the formation of a separate gurdwara panel by Haryana, the Punjab Legislative Assembly today passed by voice vote a resolution seeking the Centre’s intervention in prohibiting any state to interfere in religious matter of other states.

With Badal away, it’s Akalis versus Akalis in Punjab Assembly
Chandigarh, July 17
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would not have liked it: On a day he chose to skip the Assembly, his party MLAs clashed with each other, leaving amused Congress members thumping their desks. Things took an ironical turn when Akali legislator Virsa Singh Valtoha walked out during Zero Hour, refusing to listen to Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal.

Linking rivers: Centre says can’t go ahead without states’ nod
New Delhi, July 17
The newly elected BJP-NDA Government today made it clear that the much-touted river linking project will not be carried out without the concurrence of the riparian states or beneficiary states.

Monsoon has covered entire nation: Met
New Delhi, July 17
Monsoon has revived and covered the entire country, the Metrological Department today declared. "Southwest monsoon further advanced into remaining parts of north Arabian Sea, Saurashtra and Kutch, Gujarat region and west Rajasthan. It covered the entire country today,” the Met office said.

A car stuck on a water-logged road in Chandigarh

India’s suicide story: Men more vulnerable than women; young at risk New Delhi, July 17 India is witnessing more suicide deaths than ever before and men are more vulnerable than women when it comes to ending one’s life. Fresh evidence on health indicators of the population collected by the government presents eye-opening details of suicide deaths which are on an extreme upswing since 2005. The young are the worst-affected with one in every three suicides involving a 15 to 29-year old. The trend is most visible in the age group 15 to 44 years which alone accounts for 68% (two in every three) of all 1,35, 445 suicides reported in the country last year.