Bangkok, Jan. 19 : Australian writer Harry Nicolaides, 41, has been sentenced to three years in jail here for insulting Thailand''s revered royal family in a novel.

Nicolaides pleaded guilty to the charge earlier today. He has been in custody for nearly five months.

"He was found guilty under criminal law article 112 and the court has sentenced him to six years, but due to his confession, which is beneficial to the case, the sentence is reduced to three years," a judge told the court.

Gaza City

Bangkok - A Bangkok court on Monday sentenced an Australian author to three years in jail for allegedly insulting the Thai monarchy in his novel Verisimilitude published in 2005, court sources said.

The Bangkok Criminal Court found Harry Nicolaides, 41, guilty of lese majeste for a passage in his novel that allegedly criticized the son of Bhumibol Adulyadej, Thailand's much-revered king for the past 62 years.

Hyderabad, Jan 19 : A Hyderabad court on Monday fixed January 22 as the next date for hearing the bail plea of Satyam''s former chief B Ramalinga Raju.

A court also deferred SEBI petition seeking permission to question Ramalinga Raju till the same date.

Ramalinga Raju, his brother Rama Raju and company''s Chief Financial Officer Vadlamani Srinivas, are in police custody since Sunday. They were formally taken into police custody for four days and were grilled by Crime Investigation Department (CID) sleuths.

New Delhi - Ajmal Amir Qasab, the lone terrorist arrested in the November 26 attacks in Mumbai was Monday remanded in police custody until February 2, a news report said.

Qasab has been in police custody since his arrest on the night of November 26 and has been booked in 12 cases including murder, attempted murder, waging war against a country and criminal conspiracy.

The multiple gun-and-bomb attacks on India's financial hub between November 26-29 killed at least 173 people, including 26 foreign nationals.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian police seized cannabis valued at 169,800 ringgit (51,455 dollars) and detained two Indonesian men, a news report said Monday.

Police from the southern Johor state raided a shop early Sunday and discovered 8.5 kilograms, said district police chief Roslan Zainuddin.

"The suspects have been in operation since two months ago. We are investigating whether the drugs were supplied from any neighbouring country," Roslan was quoted as saying by the Star online news portal Monday.