Indian Sub-continent

Salem (TN), Oct 31 (PTI) A 13-year-old Dalit girl was beheaded at a hamlet in this district of Tamil Nadu allegedly by her neighbour after she reportedly spurned his advances.

A senior police official said Wednesday the accused Dinesh Kumar has been arrested and lodged in Salem jail and a probe was on.

The incident happened at a small village near Attur in Salem district recently.

Thiruvananthapuram,Oct 31 (PTI) Congress leader Shashi Tharoor Wednesday wanted to know why BJP had not built a bigger statue for Mahatma Gandhi while they erected a 182-metre statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, his disciple.

Addressing a function at the district congress committee office here, the Congress leader said there was no such gigantic statue for RPT for RPT Mahatma Gandhi in the country.

Noida, Oct 31 (PTI) A fake call centre was busted here and 18 men were arrested for allegedly duping several people on the pretext of getting them jobs, police said Wednesday.

The action comes close on the heels of the busting of at least three similar bogus call centres in a fortnight -- two of them duping US, Canadian citizens and other foreigners with "tax benefit" schemes while the third offered people "cheap holiday packages" across India.

Phagwara (Pb), Oct 31 (PTI) A Class 1 girl student was allegedly raped by an unidentified man while she was returning home from school here, police said Wednesday.

The six-year-old girl's mother reported the matter to police when she saw her weeping and bleeding on Tuesday, Station House Officer (SHO) Inspector Jatinderjit Singh said.

He said the minor girl was returning home from school when she was raped by an unidentified man.

The victim was medically examined, the SHO said.

Patna, Oct 31 (PTI) An official of the Bihar Military Police was on Wednesday placed under suspension and orders were issued for his arrest after he was accused of molestation by a trainee female constable, a senior BMP official said.

The accused is Shambhu Saran Rathore, a subedar - an inspector rank post - with the BMP-5 .

Director General, Bihar Military Police Gupteshwar Pandey told PTI-Bhasha that departmental action, which may be dismissal from service, will be taken against the accused BMP official based on findings of the probe.

Deoria (UP), Nov 1 (PTI) A minor girl was allegedly gang-raped in a village under Rudrapur police station area here, police said Thursday.

She was raped by four minor boys of the village on Wednesday night, Deoria Police Superintendent N Kolanchi.

An FIR has been lodged in connection with the incident, he said, adding the victim has been sent for medical examination.

New Delhi, Nov 1 (PTI) The two public sector undertakings tasked with manufacturing the latest M3 type electronic voting machines to be used in next year's Lok Sabha elections have delivered the lot comprising nearly 22.3 lakh ballot units and 16.3 lakh control units to the Election Commission, a senior EC official said.

Around 22.3 lakh ballot units, 16.3 lakh control units and nearly 17.3 lakh VVPATs or paper trail machines will be used for the 2019 LS polls. The number of machines includes the buffer stock for training as well as replacements.

Raipur/Bilaspur, Oct 31 (PTI) Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Wednesday that the Raman Singh-led BJP government in Chhattisgarh has become a "champion" in snatching natural resources away from tribals and handing them over it to businessmen.

It diluted laws for this purpose, he alleged.

"The people of Bastar have been bearing the brunt of this brutal Raman Singh government for 15 years. This government has done nothing except looting jal-jungle-zameen (water, forest and land) of tribals and handing them over to a few businessmen.

New Delhi, Nov 1 (PTI) The national capital's air quality was on the brink of turning severe on Thursday due to stubble burning in the adjoining regions and unfavorable meteorological conditions, authorities said.

The overall air quality index of Delhi was recorded at 392, which falls in the 'very poor' category and is just eight points from turning severe.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s president has summoned Parliament to meet next week as pressure grows for him to resolve the turmoil set off when he sacked the Cabinet last week, his chosen prime minister said Thursday.

President Maithripala Sirisena made the decision a day after meeting with Parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, who previously warned of possible violence if lawmakers were not summoned immediately.