Indian Sub-continent

New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Saturday announced the inauguration of its local automotive assembly plant near Colombo, Sri Lanka .

"Christened Mahindra Ideal Lanka Pvt. Ltd. this assembly plant is in collaboration with Ideal Motors of Sri Lanka. The assembly plant today rolled out its first product, the compact SUV, KUV100 and will roll out a slew of products over the next 3 years," the company said in a statement.

New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) Director General of the Election Commission Dhirendra Ojha has been given a one year extension, a government order said on Friday.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the extension in the central deputation tenure of Ojha, the DG (Media and Communications) of the Election Commission of India, it said.

Srinagar, Aug 16 (PTI) National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Friday returned to Delhi after spending 11 days in Kashmir Valley to ensure smooth implementation of plans after the withdrawal of special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Doval, Who came here on August 6, took charge of security and development-related activities with a special focus on ensuring that there was no loss of life, they said.

New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad condemned the arrest of the party's Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir and senior leader Ravinder Sharma in Jammu on Friday.

Srinagar, Aug 17 (PTI) Landline services in 17 exchanges of the Kashmir Valley were restored on Saturday, officials said.

Seventeen out of a little over 100 telephone exchanges were made operational. These exchanges are mainly in Civil Lines area, Cantonment area, airport of Srinagar district.

Jajpur (Odisha), Aug 17 (PTI) A 51-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping a minor in Bari area of Odisha's Jajpur district, police said on Saturday.

The accused, a neighbour of the nine-year-old girl, lured her with chocolates before taking her to his house in Ratnagiri area under Bari block on Thursday, a police officer said.

"The man took her to his house where he raped her," said Chakrabarty Kanhar, Inspector In-Charge of Bari police station.

Hyderabad, Aug 17 (PTI) The restrictions imposed in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of abrogation of Article 370 are being lifted gradually and the situation should be normal within a week, Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said on Saturday.

Precautionary measures were being taken in view of provocative statements and others coming from Pakistan, he said.

Surat, Aug 17 (PTI) A man was arrested on Saturday for allegedly raping a three-year-old girl living in his neighbourhood here, police said.

The accused, Ajit Vishwakarma (20), a resident of Hirabaug locality in Surat was arrested from his house, where he had sexually assaulted the girl on Thursday, police said.

Jammu, Aug 17 (PTI) An Army soldier was killed on Saturday as Pakistan violated ceasefire by resorting to mortar shelling and small arms firing on forward posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district, a defence spokesman said.

The latest ceasefire violation comes two days after Pakistan claimed that its four soldiers were killed in firing by Indian troops on their posts along the LoC.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir began restoring landline phone services on Saturday after a nearly two-week security crackdown and news blackout following a decision to downgrade the majority-Muslim region’s autonomy.

Administrator Shahid Choudhary said restrictions were being lifted in most areas and government offices would open sometime Saturday. He also said on Twitter that food and other supplies were available “in abundance.”