LIVE news updates: Lankan officials discover training centre used by suicide bombers prior to Easter attacks

Visakhapatnam Rural SP, Attada Babujee: Six naxals have surrendered before police. We are giving an open call to Naxals to come forward to surrender and support the development causes.

Paralympic Committee of India removes Girraj, Chairperson STC Athletics, after complaints from athletes from all over India over his alleged involvement in illegal and unlawful acts.

"Chardham Yatra" -- the pilgrimage to four Hindu shrines nestled in Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand, begins on Tuesday, on the auspicious Akshaya Tritiya day.

Welcoming the pilgrims, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat wished them a successful pilgrimage to the four shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.

"Uttarakhand is ready to welcome the pilgrims coming for the Chardham Yatra," Rawat said. The security and various other amenities for pilgrims will also be taken care of, he said.

While the portals of Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines are being reopened on Tuesday, the Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines will be thrown open for pilgrims on May 9 and May 10, respectively.

National Green Tribunal directs UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) to file report on the alleged illegalities committed by a bio-medical waste treatment plant in Mathura. UPPCB to submit its report till next date of hearing on 22nd August.

The Supreme Court on Monday said that "no coercive action" would be taken against the Volkswagen Group till the German automaker's plea challenging the ₹500 crore penalty imposed on it by the NGT was heard by it.

Passing its direction - which virtually indicates a stay on the fine - after hearing the petition filed by Volkswagen Group challenging the penalty, a bench of Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice S Abdul Nazeer also issued notice.

Volkswagen had moved the apex court against the fine imposed on it by NGT Bench of Chairperson, Justice AK Goel in March this year. The tribunal had found the car carmaker guilty of deploying "cheat devices" in its diesel cars, which caused an immense amount of damage to the environment.

Sri Lankan authorities on Monday discovered a facility believed to be used as a training centre by the suicide bombers prior to the terror attacks on churches and luxury hotels on the Easter Sunday that killed more than 250 people.

Nine suicide bombers carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels on the Easter Sunday. The Islamic State claimed the attacks, but the government blamed local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jammath (NTJ) for the attacks.

A total of 98.11 per cent of students has passed in this year's class X board examination the results of which were declared by the Kerala education department Monday.

Last year, the pass percentage was 97.84 compared to 95.98 per cent in 2017.

Announcing the results, the secretary to department of public instruction said 4,26,513 students qualified for higher studies.

A total of 37,334 students got 'A' plus in all the subjects, the official said, while pointing out that Pathanamthitta district in the state recorded the highest pass percentage at 99.33 per cent and Wayanad the lowest at 93.22.

Fifty-five people died when a tanker truck exploded near the international airport of Niger's capital Niamey overnight, an interior ministry spokesman said on Monday.

"The toll from the explosion is 55 dead and 36 injured," the official told AFP. "The victims were burnt." Witnesses said people were trying to collect petrol leaking from the truck, which had overturned on railway tracks, when the explosion happened.

Pakistan army resorted to heavy mortar shelling and small arms firing targeting forward posts and villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Monday, resulting in injuries to two civilians, officials said.

Pakistan violated ceasefire by resorting to heavy mortar shelling and firing along the LoC in Mankote and Krishna Ghati sectors of Poonch district, they said.

Two civilians -- Maqsood Ahmed and Ashiq Hussain -- were injured in the shelling, officials said.

Russia's transportation minister says 41 bodies have been recovered from the burned wreckage of an Aeroflot plane at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport.

Minister Yevgeny Dietrich also told reporters in a Monday briefing that six people who survived the disaster Sunday night have been hospitalised.

The plane, a Sukhoi SSJ100, caught fire while making an emergency landing at the airport, after turning back on a flight to Murmansk for unspecified reasons.

Russia's Investigative Committee says the flight recorders from the plane have been recovered and that investigators are looking into inexperienced pilots, equipment failure and bad weather as possible causes for the disaster.

The pilot of a Russian passenger plane that erupted in a ball of fire on the runway of Moscow's busiest airport, killing 41 people, said lightning led to the emergency landing.

Investigators were on Monday working to understand the causes of the blaze after the Sukhoi Superjet-100 had to return to Sheremetyevo airport shortly after take-off Sunday evening.

But pilot Denis Yevdokimov told Russian media the craft lost communication and needed to switch to emergency control mode "because of lightning" on the Aeroflot flight to the Arctic city of Murmansk.

He did not specify if the plane was struck directly.

Total pass percentage in CBSE Class-10th Exams is 91.1 %; Trivandrum (99.85%), Chennai (99%), Ajmer (95.89%) are top three regions.

Ashmi scored 99 marks in English, 100 in Sanskrit, 98 in Mathematics, 99 in Science and 100 in Social Science

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declared the results for Class 10 exam on Monday, officials said. The results can be checked at cbse.nic.in. Around 18 lakh students registered for class 10 board exams.

Last year, over 16 lakh had given their class 10 exams. To clear the exam, candidates need to score at least 33 per cent based in theory as well as practical and aggregate score. Last year Anushka Panda from Gurugram topped with Sanya Gandhi from Ghaziabad with a score of 489 out of 500 each.

A total of 12 suspected Rohingyas from Bangladesh were arrested in Mizoram for entering the state without valid travel documents, a police officer said on Monday.

Eight women and four boys from Bangladesh were taken from a house to Bawngkawn police station here on Sunday, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Northern Range) Lalbiakthanga Khiangte said.

It is suspected that they were victims of human trafficking. Khiangte said the arrested people had some mobile phones without sim cards in their possession. Investigation is on to find out their identities.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will be announcing the results for Class 10 exam on Monday, officials said.

According to an official, the results will be announced by 3 pm and will be available on the CBSE website.

A 57-year-old man, earlier convicted in a rape case, has been awarded two years' rigorous imprisonment by a court in Thane district of Maharashtra for molesting a minor girl residing in his neighbourhood.

District Judge S A Sinha in her order on Saturday pronounced Arif Ahmed Memon, a labourer, guilty under Indian Penal Code section 354-A (physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures). The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 500 on him.

According to the prosecution, on May 17, 2017, the accused touched the girl, then aged 12 years, inappropriately while she was sitting outside her house in a locality in Bhiwandi town.

The prosecution also informed that the accused was in 2010 convicted by a court under IPC Section 376 (rape) and served seven years' rigorous imprisonment in that case.

Five members of a family were injured after an LPG cylinder exploded in a residential building in Geeta Colony area of East Delhi on Monday, fire officials said.

Fire department was informed about the blaze at around 6.40 am and three fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

The fire was brought under control at around 7.15 am.

The five injured persons have been rushed to the Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital.

TV Actor Karan Oberoi was arrested in Mumbai by the police after an FIR was lodged at the Oshiwara Police Station under Sections 376 (rape) and 384 (Extortion) of the Indian Penal Code.

According to the police, the actor was accused of allegedly raping the victim on the pretext of marriage and filming the act. He supposedly used the video to blackmail the victim.

The actor who is also a fitness and fashion model, has been active on social media.

State-run Air India has decided not to pursue its plan to take B777s from grounded Jet Airways as it has found it commercially inviable given their huge maintenance requirement.

"The engineering unit has done the work around the B777s and found no merit in taking them," said an airline executive.

A few weeks back, Air India had shown keen interest to take 5 wide-body Boeing 777 aircraft of Jet Airways on dry/wet lease and initiated talks with the crisis-hit airline's lead lender SBI.

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging the Jammu and Kashmir government's order restricting civilian traffic for a day in a week on a stretch of the national highway from Udhampur to Baramulla for the movement of security forces.

Counsel for the Jammu and Kashmir government told the bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta that the order restricting traffic on the national highway was taken due to the ongoing election and will remain in force till May 31.

The bench, after hearing the submissions, said, "We are not inclined to keep this petition pending."

Scorpene class submarine Vela, equipped with modern machinery and technology to guard the seas, was launched on Monday, an official said.

It will undergo a number of tests by the Indian Navy before it gets commissioned in the defence fleet, the official added.

It is the fourth submarine to be launched by the state-owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) after entering into a contract for the construction and transfer of technology for six Scorpene class submarines with French collaborator Ms Naval Group (formerly known as DCNS).

Maoists allegedly killed a person in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on suspicion of him being a police informer, the second such incident in the area in the last two days, a police official said on Monday.

The victim, Sudhir Sarkar, was abducted by Maoists from Bande village in Etapalli tehsil on Sunday evening. The body was found late in the night in a forest near the village, he said.

On Saturday, a person was abducted on similar suspicion by Maoists from a marriage function in Mardhar village, the official said.

SC directs CBI to file status report by June 3 on its probe into alleged murder of 11 girls at shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur. Supreme Court also asked CBI to complete investigation into the alleged murder of 11 girls, in two weeks time. SC says matter would be heard by vacation bench on June 3 keeping in view urgency of case

Sri Lankan authorities Monday lifted an overnight curfew in the western coastal town of Negombo where violence erupted between groups of people over the weekend, days after the Easter bombings by Islamist extremists that killed more than 250 people in the island nation.

The curfew was imposed on Sunday after a group of miscreants carrying swords attacked some people travelling on a three-wheeler in Porathota area of the town. The vehicle was set on fire.

Several people were injured in clashes in Negombo, where St. Sebastian's Church was targeted in the Easter attacks carried out by suicide bombers who had pledged support for the ISIS.

A total of 12 suspected Rohingyas from Bangladesh were arrested in Mizoram for entering the state without valid travel documents, a police officer said on Monday.

Eight women and four boys from Bangladesh were taken from a house to Bawngkawn police station here on Sunday, Deputy Inspector of Police (Northern Range) Lalbiakthanga Khiangte said.

It is suspected that they were victims of human trafficking.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday conducted an aerial survey to assess the loss and destruction caused by Cyclone Fani in Odisha.

Modi was received by Governor Ganeshi Lal and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on his arrival at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here.

Modi, who has three rallies scheduled later in the day in West Bengal and Jharkhand, immediately proceeded towards his chopper to carry out the survey of the worst-hit Puri district and other affected areas.

The rupee depreciated by 24 paise to 69.46 against the US dollar in early trade Monday on increased demand for the US currency from importers and weak opening in domestic equities.

Forex traders said, the US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to raise tariffs on USD 200 billion worth of Chinese goods and this in turn impacted investor sentiment in the currency market.

The rupee opened weak at 69.38 at the interbank forex market and then fell further to 69.46, down 24 paise over its last close. The local currency however pared the initial loss and was trading at 69.41 at 0926 hrs. The rupee had strengthened by 15 paise to close at 69.22 against the US dollar Friday.

Palestinian leaders in Gaza agreed a ceasefire with Israel on early Monday, three officials with knowledge of the talks said, after the most serious flare-up since a 2014 war.

Egypt brokered an agreement to cease hostilities from 4:30 am (0130 GMT) local time, an official from the strip's Islamist rulers Hamas and another from its allied group Islamic Jihad said on condition of anonymity.

An Egyptian official also confirmed the deal on condition of anonymity. An Israeli army spokeswoman had no comment.

Strongly condemning the rocket attacks against Israel by terrorist groups, US President Donald Trump on Sunday asked Palestinians to "end violence" and work towards peace.

"Once again, Israel faces a barrage of deadly rocket attacks by terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad," Trump said in a tweet.

"We support Israel 100 per cent in its defense of its citizens," he said.

An AFP correspondent in Gaza said the situation had been calm since the time of the supposed ceasefire.

There appeared to have been no Palestinian rocket fire or Israeli airstrikes.

The Islamic Jihad official said the truce agreement was based on Israel easing its blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Among the steps, he said, were the easing of limits on fishing and improvements in Gaza's electricity and fuel situation.

The United States is sending an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East in a "clear and unmistakable" message to Iran, National Security Advisor John Bolton said Sunday.

The Sri Lankan government has re-imposed a ban on social media platforms in an effort to stop the spread of rumours after violence erupted between groups of civilians in Negombo, north of the capital and site of one of the Easter Sunday bombings on April 21.

Forty-one people including at least two children are believed to have died when a Russian passenger plane made an emergency landing and was engulfed in flames at Moscow's busiest airport Sunday, investigators said.

Dramatic footage shared on social media showed Aeroflot's Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft, land at Sheremetyevo international airport, flames and black smoke pouring from its fuselage.

Passengers could be seen leaping onto an inflatable slide at the front and running from the blazing plane as huge black columns of smoke billowed into the sky.