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Karachi [Pakistan], Oct. 18 : A pilot of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has been killed after his Mirage jet crashed near Karachi's Musharraf Colony on Tuesday.

Squadron leader Baqir Ali confirmed that PAF Mirage jet bearing tale number 921 took off from Masroor Base before crashing near Musharraf Colony.

Police officials said the pilot died on the spot.

The Express Tribune quoted Senior Superintendent Police city confirming as saying, "A Mirage plane crashed near Musharraf colony,".

PAF spokesperson said in a statement that the pilot ejected from the aircraft and sustained fatal injuries. He added that though the pilot did not survive, he "succeeded in saving precious lives on ground."

New Delhi [India], Oct.18 : Faced with heavy discounts from e-commerce, shopping mall owners in major cities are shaping back, going aggressive in the run up to Diwali offering freebies and easy finance options, hoping to win back the footfalls and increase their business by at least 45-50 per cent in the ongoing festive season as compared to similar period last year, an ASSOCHAM paper has noted.

Armed with new sales strategy of giving a shopping and festive feel to the consumers, the malls in Delhi -NCR, Mumbai, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Chennai have already started seeing increased activity while Diwali still 10 days away, as per the feedback received from the retailers.

London [UK], Oct. 18 : The Taliban and representatives of the Afghan Government have restarted secret talks in the Gulf state of Qatar.

Sources told the Guardian that among those present at the meetings held in September and October was Mullah Abdul Manan Akhund, the brother of Mullah Omar, the former Taliban chief who led the movement from its earliest days until his death in 2013.

The two rounds of talks are the first known negotiations to have taken place since a Pakistan-brokered process entirely broke down following the death of Omar's successor Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in a US drone strike.

According to a Taliban source, no Pakistani official took part in either the October or September meetings but a senior US diplomat was present in the Qatar meetings.

New Delhi [India], Oct. 18 : In a major setback to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the cricket board's petition seeking review of the apex court verdict validating the Lodha panel recommendations.

The BCCI had sought a review of the July 18 judgment in which the top court had accepted major recommendations of Justice R.M. Lodha-led panel on structural reforms in the cricket body.

The apex court had yesterday reserved its order after the BCCI sought more time to implement the reforms by the Justice Lodha committee.

However, Amicus Curiae Gopal Subramaniam asked the apex court to appoint an administrator or ask the Lodha Committee to do so.

New Delhi [India], Oct.

Rishikesh (Uttarakhand) [India], Oct.18 : Mumbai-based SevaChild India, along with the Rural Development Institute (RDI), Divine Shakti Foundation and Him Jyoti School for Girls came together to conduct a health, hygiene and sanitation awareness day on 17th October 2016 at the Mayakund slum. It was combined with the distribution of Vitamin A and Albendazole to children below the age of five.

Child receiving Vitamin A 1

- Between 250,000 and 500,000 preschool-aged children worldwide become blind each year as a result of a lack of vitamin A; half of those victims die within a year of losing their sight.