Mobile Internet services was restored in Kashmir on Thursday afternoon, hours after authorities had suspended the facility to prevent rumours about the health of separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

A rape accused, booked under the POCSO Act and undergoing treatment in a government hospital here, escaped in the early hours of Thursday, through the toilet ventilator, police said.

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the request of Nirbhaya case death-row convict Vinay Sharma to peruse recommendation for rejection of his mercy plea.

Army officials on Thursday briefed the delegation of foreign envoys visiting Jammu and Kashmir on the security situation here.

The geopolitical situation acrossthe world, specially in the Indo-Pacific region, demands greater vigilance, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Thursday.

 The Supreme Court on Thursday directed all political parties to upload on their website details of pending criminal cases against candidates contesting polls, noting that there has been an alarming increase in criminalisation of politics.

Close on the heels of a similar move by neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the Puducherry Assembly has passed a resolution declaring Karaikal region and Bahoor block in the Cauvery belt as "protected agricultural zones" and opposed any hydrocarbon projects in the areas.

The efficacy of Pakistan's decision to send Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed to jail remains to be seen as it came just days ahead of a global watchdog's review on Islamabad's action against terror networks operating from the country, official sources said on Thursday.