YANGON - Over 170,000 people have been affected by Cyclone Giri that struck Myanmar's western coastal Rakhine state in October, the UN said Monday.

KOLKATA - A piece of wood from a capsized trawler in West Bengal provided a lifeline to a 15-year-old boy, who floated in the Muriganga river for 24 hours by clinging on to it till he was rescued Sunday morning.

KAKDWIP - The deaths in the West Bengal trawler capsize in the Muriganga river rose to 23 after five more bodies were fished out Sunday, even as divers from the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Kolkata Port Trust conducted a massive operation to look for about 100 still missing.

RANCHI - Suspected Maoists abducted two local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders from Jharkhand's Latehar district Sunday afternoon, police said.

GHAZIABAD - Suspecting an insider hand, investigators Sunday questioned employees of a finance company from where gold worth over Rs.1 crore was looted by armed dacoits in Ghaziabad a day earlier, police said.