In The Headlines: India summons Pak high commissioner 

India on Wednesday summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit in connection with the beheading of two Indian security force personnel in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan forces. Basit was called in by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar to convey India's strong views on the incident, the external affairs ministry said. The Indian Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen AK Bhatt has conveyed to his Pakistan counterpart that such a dastardly and inhuman act was beyond any norms of civility and merits unequivocal condemnation and response.

Earlier, Indian troops on Wednesday opened "speculative fire" along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. Earlier, an Army officer had said that there was a ceasefire violation in the area and that details are being sought. "There was no ceasefire violation along the LoC in Poonch. It was speculative fire,” an army officer of northern command said. Speculative fire is normally used to check movement of suspicious persons along the border.

Darkness in North Block after fire, none injured

Fire broke out on Wednesday in the North Block, which houses the ministries of home and finance, due to a short-circuit in the underground cable, leading to complete darkness in the heritage building for nearly an hour. The fire broke out near gate number eight of the North Block at around 3 pm but nobody was injured in the incident. At least four fire tenders were called to douse the blaze. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi were not present at the building but Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir entered the building amid the darkness.

AAP placates Vishwas, suspends Amanatullah

The Aam Aadmi Party has suspended its Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan, who had accused senior party leader Kumar Vishwas of being an "RSS-BJP agent". The suspension is seen as a compromise after Vishwas had threatened to quit the party. In the party's Political Affairs Committee meeting which lasted for three hours at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence, a decision was made to give greater responsibility to Vishwas.

Army jawan commits suicide in Rajouri along LoC

An army jawan allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle in Laam sector along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district. Police have registered a case and are investigating into the circumstances that led to the suicide of Lance Naik Vishal Lohar of 54 Rashtriya Rifles last evening. The army has also ordered a court of inquiry (CoI) into episode. The 33-year-old jawan hailed from Karnataka.

Pak media regulator revokes TV channels’ licence

Pakistan's electronic media regulator on Wednesday revoked the licences of two television channels after the interior ministry refused to give security clearance to their directors. Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) took the action against the Bol channels on which former Pakistan presidents Pervez Musharraf and Asif Ali Zardari used to appear as analysts on weekly shows. The TV channels are owned by Shoaib Sheikh who was arrested for his alleged role in international fake degree scam but later cleared by courts in Pakistan.

Journalists go on strike in Australia over job cuts

Fairfax Media, one of Australia's largest publishers announced massive editorial job cuts. Journalists responded by going on strike for a week in protest. Fairfax said on Wednesday it would cut 125 editorial jobs - a quarter of its newsroom - to absorb slumping revenues. Fairfax's outlets include the Sydney Morning Herald, Melbourne's The Age and the Australian Financial Review.

With inputs from NH Web Desk