The Telangana cabinet met here on Sunday amid speculation that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was planning to dissolve the state Assembly and go for early polls but it ended without taking a decision on the issue.

Five people died of asphyxiation inside a septic tank in Odisha's Rayagada district on Sunday, police said. The incident occurred at Paika Sahi of Durgi village, said police.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a veiled attack on the Opposition, saying the one who calls for discipline was being branded an "autocrat" as he praised Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu for bringing "discipline" to the House.

A crucial meeting of the Telangana cabinet was underway on Sunday amid talks that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was planning to dissolve the state Assembly to go for early polls.

Three accused in journalist Gauri Lankesh murder case were conspirators in the Narendra Dabholkar murder too, and one of them imparted weapon-training to Dabholkar's shooters, the CBI told a court here Saturday.

A woman on Sunday became the latest victim of leptospirosis in the flood-battered Kerala, taking the death toll due to the rat fever outbreak to 15 even as Health Minister K.K. Shailaja assured that there was no need to panic.

Human rights activist and petitioner in the Major Leetul Gogoi case Ahsan Untoo on Saturday sought a proper investigation into the matter to explore the human trafficking angle. He also informed that the Indian Army's Court of Inquiry (CoI) has ordered the police to investigate the case and submit a detailed report by September 18.

A helicopter crashed on Sunday near an Afghan army base in Balkh province, a military spokesman said.

"The incident occurred at 7.55 a.m. near army Corps 209 Shaheen on the outskirts of provincial capital Mazar-i-Sharif. The chopper crashed shortly after taking off from the base and an investigation has been launched into the incident," the spokesman told Xinhua news agency.