Indian Sub-continent

Hyderabad, May 14 (PTI) Former skipper Mohammad Azharuddin described India as the favourites to lift the ODI World Cup, saying the team has very good bowlers who can win the quadrennial event, which gets underway in England on May 30.

"We have a very good chance. We have a very good team. We have very good bowlers. Lot of people are saying if the wickets are favouring the bowlers, we will find it difficult. But even our bowlers can also get the opposition out. We have got world-class bowlers," Azharuddin, who scored 6215 runs in 99 Tests and 9378 runs in 334 ODIs, said.

New Delhi, May 14 (PTI) IndiGo on Tuesday announced a three-day summer sale till May 16 across its network that connects 53 domestic and 17 international destinations.

Passengers can avail the all-inclusive fares starting at Rs 999 for travel between May 29-September 28 on domestic and international routes, the airline said in a statement.

Tuticorin(TN), May 14 (PTI) Raids were carried out at a hotel, where DMK Chief M K Stalin is scheduled to stay near here Tuesday, following reports of alleged money distribution to voters in the Ottapidaram assembly constituency, district officials said.

Election Commission's flying squad searched cars of DMK functionaries apart from hotel rooms during the raid, which continued for one hour, they said.

The Ottapidaram consituency in-charge K N Nehru was also staying in the same hotel.

ISLAMABAD, May 13 (Xinhua): At least two policemen were killed and 11 others injured on Monday evening in a bomb blast in Quetta district of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province, a provincial minister said.

Provincial Interior Minister Mir Zia Langau said the blast hit a police mobile near a market in the Satellite Town area of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.

KABUL, May 14 (Xinhua): The Afghan law enforcement agencies have sentenced 34 individuals in connection with drug-related crimes to jail terms, authorities said Tuesday.

"In the past one week, 34 people involved in 42 cases of drug trafficking have been sentenced from two years and six months to 17 years, during open meeting of the primary and secondary courts of the Central Narcotics Tribunal (CNT), a judicial center," Afghan Counter-Narcotics Criminal Justice Task Force said in a statement.

New Delhi, May 12; GANASHAKTI:  CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury has written to the Election Commission against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly violating the poll code by sharing operational details of a "sensitive" defence mission in a television interview to influence voters.

Colombo, May 13 (PTI) The Sri Lankan government Monday blocked social media following rising tensions between the minority Muslims and majority Sinhalese in the wake of the Easter Sunday bombings which killed nearly 260 people.

The blockade comes a day after Sri Lankan police imposed curfew in the country's western coastal town of Chilaw where a mob attacked a mosque and some shops owned by Muslims in a dispute that started on a Facebook post by a Muslim shop owner.

Aravakurichi(TN), May 13 (PTI) Makkal Needhi Maiyam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan has stoked a possible controversy, saying free India's first "terrorist was a Hindu," referring to Nathuram Godse who killed Mahatma Gandhi.

Addressing an election campaign here last night, the actor-politician said he was one of those "proud Indians" who desires an India with equality and where the "three colours" in the tricolour, an obvious reference to different faiths, "remained intact."

Ahmedabad, May 12 (PTI) The wedding procession of a Dalit bridegroom at a village in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat had to be provided police cover Sunday after members of the Thakor community objected to him offering prayers at a local temple.

The procession, however, passed off peacefully, police said.

Bhubaneswar, May 12 (PTI) The toll in Odisha due to cyclone 'Fani' sharply rose to 64, with 21 fresh casualties confirmed by the state government on Sunday.

The 'extremely severe' cyclonic storm, which made landfall in Puri with wind speed of up to 240 kmph on May 3, has left at least 241 people injured, an official said.

The toll, which was 43 till Saturday, rose to 64, as 18 more casualties were reported from the worst-hit Puri district and four more from Khurda district.