Indian Sub-continent

Kanpur: The shops selling firecrackers in the city areas Kanpur are fewer compared to previous years.

A shopkeeper selling firecrackers on the festive occasion said that restrictions were quite confusing as it becomes hard to distinguish between a genuine green cracker and a sham one.

The demand and supply have gone down. The spectre of lockdown also looms large on the business. Some traditional sellers have opted out to other kinds of business.

Lucknow, Nov 2 (PTI) Samajwadi Party MLA Subhash Pasi, who was expelled from the party on Tuesday, joined the BJP here.

"SP MLA Subhash Pasi, his wife Rina Pasi today joined BJP here in presence of party state president Swatantra Dev Singh," BJP state general secretary Govind Narain Shukla said.

Singh welcomed Pasi in the party, and said his joining will further strengthen the BJP.

Earlier in the day, Pasi, the MLA from Sadipur seat of Ghazipur, was expelled from the SP for alleged anti-party activities.

Chandigarh, Nov 2 (PTI) Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh resigned from the Congress on Tuesday.

He sent a seven-page resignation letter to party president Sonia Gandhi, sources said.

Singh had quit as the Punjab chief minister in September amid a bitter power tussle with state Congress chief Navjot Sidhu.

A few days ago, Singh had dismissed reports of back channel talks with the Congress as incorrect , saying the time for rapprochement was over and his decision to leave the grand old party was final.

Guwahati, Nov 2 (PTI) The ruling BJP-led alliance in Assam won all the five Assembly constituencies where by-polls were held, with the saffron party bagging three seats and its ally United Peoples' Party Liberal (UPPL) emerging victorious in the two other, according to the Election Commission of India on Tuesday.

New Delhi, Nov 2 (PTI) The JNU Student Union (JNUSU) Tuesday demanded the institution clear all pending fellowships and return money to students from whom it "illegall" recovered non-NET fellowship amount.

In a statement, the JNUSU alleged the university was illegally recovering money from students as non-NET fellowship amount.

The JNUSU had made similar allegations on October 29 also.

However, the JNU in a statement on Monday has denied these allegations.

Nagpur, Nov 2 (PTI) A 75-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping a 20-year-old woman in Kondhali area of Nagpur, police said on Tuesday.

Jawalsingh Chavhan, a resident of Hingna, was held along with his son Nilkant and nephew Pandurang for allegedly threatening the woman to not reveal the ordeal to anyone, an official said.

Ballia (UP), Nov 3 (PTI) A court here has sentenced three people to life imprisonment in a four-year-old dowry death case.

Additional Sessions Judge Hussain Ahmad Ansari awarded life sentence to Purvanchal Chauhan, his father Keshav Chauhan and mother Rukmani Chauhan.

The court also imposed Rs 11,000 fine on each of them.

Kanpur: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday took over the probe from the Uttar Pradesh Police. Thus SIT probe now goes into the hands of CBI.

This step was initiated in connection with the death case of businessman Manish Gupta, who allegedly died during a police raid at a hotel in Gorakhpur.

Manish Gupta, a 36-year-old property dealer, had died after being allegedly assaulted by the police in a Gorakhpur hotel which they had raided earlier in September.

Jaipur, Nov 3 (PTI) The Bharatpur police on Wednesday arrested a judge, who was earlier suspended after being booked for allegedly sexually exploiting a 14-year-old boy.

Bharatpur SP Devendra Kumar said the suspended judge was called for interrogation and was later arrest.

"The interrogation and arrest were as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court," he said.

New Delhi, Nov 3 (PTI) Supreme Court judge Justice D Y Chandrachud has termed the delay in communicating bail orders to prison authorities as a very serious deficiency and stressed the need to address it on war footing as it touches the human liberty of every under-trial prisoner.

Justice Chandrachud was speaking at an online event organised by the Allahabad High Court to inaugurate virtual courts and e-Sewa kendras' to facilitate online legal assistance to litigants.