Indian Sub-continent

Muzaffarnagar, April 22 (PTI) A debt-ridden farmer allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison in a village in Shamli district, police said Monday.

Rajender, 50, had taken a loan from a cooperative society and was finding it difficult to repay it, according to village head Bijender Kumar.

Rajender consumed poison yesterday and was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead. The body has been sent for postmortem, police added.

New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) The Congress on Monday announced the names of six candidates for Delhi Lok Sabha seats , fielding former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit from North-East Delhi, Ajay Maken from New Delhi and J P Agarwal from Chandni Chowk.

The Congress also fielded Arvinder Singh Lovely from East Delhi, Rajesh Lilothia from North-West Delhi and Mahabal Mishra from West Delhi.

Ballia (UP), Apr 21 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Minister and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar attacked the BJP leadership on Sunday, saying it had been captured by "Gujarati people".

He challenged the party to sack him as minister. "The BJP has not remained Atal-ji's party. It has been captured by Gujarati people. I will not resign as minister now. Let the BJP sack me," Rajbhar told reporters here.

New Delhi, Apr 21 (PTI) A 70-year-old man was arrested Sunday for allegedly raping a seven-year-old girl in northeast Delhi's Jyoti Nagar area, police said.

According to a senior police officer, the victim and the accused are neighbours.

A case has been registered and the accused and he was arrested, he said.

The condition of the victim is stated to be out of danger, police said, adding further details are awaited.

Muzaffarnagar, April 22 (PTI) Nearly a week after three bodies were fished out of the Ganga canal here, police have found that the trio was murdered and their bodies thrown in the water body.

The three were found dead on April 17 and police had said that they died after their car plunged into the canal.

However, later investigation found that the three were murdered and their bodies thrown in the canal, SHO, Harsharan Sharma said Monday.

The three were identified as Ravi, Pradeep and Akshay.

New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) The Election Commission on Monday submitted its detailed report to the Supreme Court on the biopic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took the EC's report on Modi's biopic and asked the poll panel to supply a copy of the report to the producer of the movie.

The bench, which also comprised Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, has now fixed the plea of producers challenging the EC's ban on the movie for hearing on Friday 26.

Jaipur, Apr 22 (PTI) An Australian citizen was arrested after he was allegedly found carrying a satellite phone at Jaipur airport on Monday, police said.

The satellite phone was recovered from the possession of Corbett during checking before boarding a Delhi-bound flight, DCP (East) Rahul Jain said.

He could not furnish documents and permission for carrying the satellite phone.

He is being interrogated, the DCP added.

NEW DELHI, April 22 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people were killed and 10 others injured due to a stampede during a Hindu temple ceremony in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, police said Monday.

The stampede occurred near Thuraiyur in Tiruchirappalli, about 316 km south of Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu.

"Yesterday hundreds of people had gathered for the 'padikasu' (temple coin) distribution ceremony and a stampede broke out during a local temple festival here," a police official said.

COLOMBO, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the multiple explosions which shook Sri Lanka on Sunday has risen to 290, while over 500 have been injured, the police said Monday.

Earlier reports put the number of casualties at 228, with 450 wounded in the nine attacks that occurred at three churches and four hotels across the country on Sunday.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said Sunday evening in a statement that 32 foreigners were among those killed.

22 April 2019 (AP) - Sri Lankan authorities blocked most social media after Easter Sunday attacks killed more than 200 people, with officials saying the temporary move was meant to curtail the spread of false information and ease tensions.

The NetBlocks observatory said it detected an intentional blackout of popular services including Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat and Viber.