New Delhi - India's benchmark Sensex index tumbled 4.2 per cent in trading on Tuesday afternoon on heavy selling by funds and investors after the Federal Reserve Bank of India hiked its key interest rate.

The 30-share index lost 606.41 points and was trading at 13,742.70 points at mid-session soon after the RBI announced the hike in a quarterly review of the monetary policy.

Market analysts said weak global markets had a negative impact on trading in the domestic bourses.

New Delhi, July 29 :

Srinagar, Kashmir - Fierce clashes between Indian and Pakistani troops along the volatile Kashmir border stopped Tuesday and the body of an Indian soldier killed in the violence was recovered, Indian officials said.

The firing began on late Monday afternoon after 12 Pakistani soldiers crossed the Line of Control (LoC) dividing the disputed region and shot dead an Indian soldier in the Nowgam sector.

New Delhi - At least three Maoist rebels, including a top commander, were killed and several injured in an overnight encounter with security forces in India's eastern Jharkhand state, a news report said Tuesday.

The clash broke out late Monday when a police and paramilitary forces contingent raided a Maoist hideout in the Vishnugarh jungles in Hazaribagh district, 130 kilometres north of the state capital Ranchi, the PTI news agency reported.

Hazaribag (Jharkhand), July 29 : Three Maoists were killed and several injured in an encounter with the Central Reserve Police Force last night in Vishnugarh forest area of Hazaribag District.

The encounter took place when security forces headed by the CRPF Deputy Commandant R K Mishra and Vishnugarh, police station in-charge Bhola Singh raided the jungles on Hazaribag-Bokaro border, about 90 km from here.

A total solar eclipse will occur on Friday, August 1, 2008.

The moon’s shadow takes on a very interesting path, beginning from Canada, bending over northern Greenland, the Arctic, and going towards Russia, Mongolia and China.

Therefore the people in Russia, Mongolia and the Arctic regions will enjoy the solar eclipse in totality. In India, it will be visible as a partial eclipse.

The eclipse commences at 1.34 p.m. IST, when the shadow of the moon first touches the Earth at a point in the North Atlantic Ocean near New Foundland in Canada.