Srinagar, July 30 : In a respite to traders of Jammu and Kashmir, the State Government today ordered amendment of Rule 28 of the State''s Value Added Tax (VAT).

Which will in result extend the date for filing of returns by dealers not exceeding 30 days from the due date in the wake of extraordinary circumstances.

According to an official spokesman, the government has decided to extend the date of filing of returns by the dealers for the first quarter of the year 2008-09 by a period of
30 days.

Srinagar, India - Pakistani troops fired across the line of control that divides India- and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Indian defence sources said Wednesday.

The incident took place in the Kupwara sector of the line of control, the de-facto border, sources in the Jammu and Kashmir state capital Srinagar said. More details were awaited, they added.

Fierce clashes between Indian and Pakistani troops along the border on Monday and Tuesday left one Indian soldier dead.

The fighting that lasted more than 16 hours stopped Tuesday, and a meeting was held between Indian and Pakistani troops.

Ranchi, July 29 : Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president Sibu Soren on Tuesday said in Bokaro that the question whether he would become a Union Minister or the Chief Minister of Jharkhand will become clear after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returns from his impending trip to Colombo.

Soren said, "Be it union minister ship or chief minister ship, everything will be decided only after the Prime Minister completes his foreign engagement."

New Delhi  - India's western state of Gujarat was on high alert Tuesday after police found nine bombs in Surat city, three days after synchronized blasts killed up to 50 people in the state's main city of Ahmedabad.

Police defused all nine bombs, which were found in residential areas, in markets and along roads in the Varachha area of Surat, which is among the world's biggest diamond-polishing centres and is located 200 kilometres south of Ahmedabad.

"Most of these were crude bombs and have been sent to the forensic lab for analysis," Inspector P Mangabe at the Surat police control room said by telephone.

Kanpur, July 29 : Residents of Akbarpur Mati village near Kanpur are suffering from corneal diseases and other eye allergies brought on by toxic emissions from about 300 factories.

"The ashes from the factories which are running in the vicinity affect the eyesight of everyone. Some people get their checkup done and are cured but again after some days the problem reoccurs," said Raju, a villager.

The doctors have claimed that out of the 80 patients visiting the clinic, 50 percent have been victims of corneal injuries and allergic conjunctivitis.

Jammu, July 29 : Jammu continued to observe a shutdown for the sixth consecutive day on Tuesday, even as the authorities lifted curfew.

All shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed and traffic was off the roads.

The capital had been reeling placed under curfew following violent protests over the revocation of forestland transfer order to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board.