Heavy rain pummelled Mumbai and its suburbs in which two persons died of electrocution and bringing normal life to a grinding halt on Friday with several areas waterlogged and local train services cancelled leaving thousands of commuters stranded. As civic authorities described the rainfall in the country's financial capital as "unprecedented", they said 283mm of rain, which is normally received in 10 days, was witnessed in just 24 hours. Mithi river is around the danger mark, according to Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said that India's prestige in the international arena has risen "dramatically" in the last one year, catapulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi among the top leaders of the world. "It is no mean achievement that in just one year of his tenure, our Prime Minister has emerged as one of the front ranking leaders of the world," Swaraj said here. Swaraj, who is here to participate in programmes to mark completion of Modi government's one year in office, attributed the rise in India's prestige abroad to the "candour" with which the Prime Minister is dealing with neighbouring countries like China and the role played by the country in tackling the crises in Ukraine, Iraq, Libya and Yemen.

Geologists were sent to earthquake-damaged mountain villages in Nepal this week to assess landslide risks before the rainy season begins next month, an official said on Friday. Many of them walking to their destinations, the geologists will check the soil in the remote villages in the districts hit worst by the quakes, home ministry official Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said. They are scheduled to report their findings in Kathmandu next week, and the government would then decide which villages are in danger of landslides and need to be relocated. Dhakal said only few weeks are left to get people to safer areas and it was going to a big challenge.

Notwithstanding recommendation by government panels, Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu has outrightly ruled out privatisation of the public transporter, saying it was a "bogey" being raised by those who do not want any change. He further said the concept of privatization gives confusing signals and envisages the possibilities of ownership transfer of an enterprise to a different entity or management which was not possible in railways.