Train engine catches fire

Alert passengers of a train averted a possible accident when they stopped the Kannur-Yeshwantpur Express Train after noticing a fire in the engine near here in the wee hours of Friday, reports PTI from Salem. The fire broke out in the engine after a cylinder broke down.

Passengers of an air-conditioned coach, who noticed the fire, pulled the alarm chain and stopped the train around 1.45 am between Aangoor and Sankari, Salem Railway divisional manager T Mohan said.

Soldier, ULFA militant killed

A soldier of the Army’s Red Horns division and a militant of the proscribed ULFA were killed in a gun-battle at Udalguri in western Assam early on Friday, reports DHNS. Sources said the Army soldiers engaged in counter-insurgency operations in Udalguri raided a village at Dalanghat following a tip-off that some ULFA militants were hiding there. The militants opened fire sensing the presence of the soldiers, who also retaliated.

Two soldiers killed in Manipur

In Manipur, two soldiers of the paramilitary Assam Rifles (AR) were killed in an ambush by the militants of the outlawed United National Liberation Front (UNLF). Four other AR personnel were injured in the rebel offensive, reports DHNS. The incident took place near the India-Myanmar border.

Prasar Bharati’s new chairman 

Arun Bhatnagar, retired IAS officer considered close to the ruling dispensation, on Friday took over as Prasar Bharati chairman replacing noted journalist M V Kamath. Bhatnagar will serve a tenure of three years. He has earlier served as Principal Adviser in the Planning Commission.