Bengaluru, Aug 20: The ruling Congress government in Karnataka is convening an all-party meeting on August 23 to discuss the Cauvery water sharing issue in view of the low inflow of water into the reservoir due to poor rains.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said some MPs have also been invited to attend the all-party meeting on Wednesday.

"It is our bounden duty to protect our state because the farmers of Karnataka feel they are not getting water. Rains are also not so good. I think the flow (of Cauvery river) in the reservoir has come down. So we want to discuss this issue on Wednesday. We have called an all-party meeting on Wednesday," Shivakumar told reporters.

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He said the government is cautious as the hearing on Cauvery issue will come up at the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).
Shivakumar, however, blamed the opposition for politicising the Cauvery issue.

"We want to respect farmers, we want to respect farmers, we want to respect court, we want to respect everyone but some BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) friends are trying to make it a political issue," he said.

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Kochi (PTI): A Kerala court on Monday acquitted Malayalam actor Dileep in a case relating to the sexual assault of a South Indian actress in Kochi in 2017.

The court, however, found six others, including prime accused Sunil N S alias Pulsar Suni, who directly committed the crime, guilty.

Apart from Dileep, the court also acquitted three other persons in the case.

The verdict was pronounced by Ernakulam Principal Sessions Judge Honey M Varghese, who had concluded the hearing in the lengthy trial on November 25.

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The assault on the actress, who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, after her car was abducted for two hours, had shaken the conscience of Kerala society.

According to the prosecution, several persons forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area.

The ten accused who faced trial are Sunil NS alias Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijesh V P, Salim H, Pradeep, Charly Thomas, actor Dileep (real name P Gopalakrishnan), Sanil Kumar alias Mesthri Sanil, and Sharath.

Police arrested the accused soon after the incident and filed the first charge sheet against seven persons in April 2017.

During further investigation, Dileep was arrested on July 10, 2017 after the probe team found that the prime accused, Suni, had allegedly sent a letter to him from jail.

Dileep was granted bail on October 3, 2017.