Indian Sub-continent

COLOMBO, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has called on countries to join hands in sharing intelligence to deal with international terror threats, local media reported on Monday.

The call came after the recent terror attacks which killed about 250 people in the island country last month.

Thiruvananthapuram, May 20 (PTI) Rejecting the exit poll results which predicted the return of the NDA government at the Centre, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Monday said there is no need to rely on "speculations based on speculation".

Vijayan, who met mediapersons soon after he returned from a 13-day Europe trip, exuded confidence that the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) will record an impressive win in the Lok Sabha polls.

The exit polls have forecast a poor showing by the ruling Left Front in Kerala.

Thane, May 19 (PTI) A court here has awarded seven years' rigorous imprisonment to a 55-year-old man for sexually abusing a minor girl in 2017.

Special judge (POCSO court) Kavita D Shirbhate in her order last Wednesday also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on the accused, Janardhan Kapse.

According to the prosecution, on December 13, 2017, the accused called the girl, then aged five years, to his house here on the pretext of giving her a chocolate and sexually abused her.

Kolkata, May 20 (PTI) A day after meeting Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee here on Monday, sources said.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president will meet Banerjee as part of his efforts to unite opposition parties against the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha election results on May 23.

Lucknow, May 20 (PTI) A disgruntled Om Prakash Rajbhar on Monday welcomed the decision by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to sack him as an Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister.

Asked about the possibility of going with the BSP-SP-RLD alliance, Rajbhar said he would tell about it later.

"We welcome the decision (to sack me). The decision taken by the chief minister was a delayed one," Rajbhar said. "Had the decision been taken around 20 days ago, it would have been much better."

Bikaner, May 19 (PTI) In yet another case of gangrape, a married woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by three persons at an isolated place near here where she had gone to collect firewood, police said Sunday.

The alleged incident occurred on May 15 while the woman reached the police station along with her husband in the wee hours of May 18 to lodge the complaint," said Chhatargarh police station in-charge Sandeep Kumar.

Hyderabad, May 19 (PTI): Five people were Sunday arrested for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl in Siddipet district of Telangana last week, while one is at large, police said.

On Wednesday last, one of the accused befriended the minor over phone and promised to marry her. Then, he went to her house, and took her on his bike to an isolated place where he and five friends allegedly raped her, the police said.

The girl later informed her parents about the incident.

Hyderabad, May 19 (PTI) Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao Sunday announced allocation of Rs 100 crores for developing ancient Kaleshwara Mukteswara Swamy temple, situated on the banks of river Godavari, into a tourist destination and a spiritual hub.

According to Telangana Tourism department, the temple is located in Kaleshwaram town in Karimnagar district and is dedicated to Lord Shiva.

New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) The navies of India and Singapore conducted their bilateral naval drill in the South China Sea on Sunday, the Navy said.

The bilateral naval drill will be conducted till May 22.

Indian Navy ships Kolkata and Shakti took part in the bilateral naval exercise with Singapore, along with long range maritime patrol aircraft Poseidon-8I (P8I).

Kanpur: Five juvenile delinquents succeeded in running away from the child reformatory at Naubasta area here on Monday. They cut the upper storey window grills and descended with the help of rope prepared with various clothes. This sudden fact came to be known when the caretaker started counting the number of child delinquents. The police was immediately informed about the matter.