Indian Sub-continent

Former judge K Ravinder Reddy, who quit after delivering the verdict in the Mecca Masjid blast case, has joined the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS), part of the opposition alliance led by the Congress for the coming Assembly polls, weeks after expressing keenness to embrace the BJP.

The move is being seen as a shot in the arm for the TJS in the run-up to the December 7 polls. Reddy was welcomed into the party by TJS president M Kodandaram at an event Saturday.

KANPUR: It is for the first time the Kanpur Cricket Association has extended its financial help to the former cricketer. A cheque worth rupees twenty-five thousand was presented to the ailing player Dilip Srivastav by the senior officials of the KCA. He is also a member of the referee panel of the Association. 

KANPUR: Unnao will soon equip with a Bio-gas CNG unit. The agricultural wastes shall be used to produce the gas. The crop growing farmers will provide the raw materials to the unit to be set up along the highway extending between Kanpur and Lucknow.

The vehicles running along the highways will obtain CNG filling stations.

New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) Unemployment, financial and political corruption, as also crime and violence are among the key issues bothering Indians the most, says a survey.

The survey -- 'What Worries the World' conducted by the Ipsos, an independent market research company -- shows that 44 per cent of respondents in respect to India are bothered about unemployment, and financial and political corruption.

Mumbai, Oct 12 (PTI) The country's foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 915.8 million to USD 399.609 billion in the week to October 5 on account of a fall in foreign currency assets, according to RBI data.

In the previous week, the reserves had declined by USD 1.265 billion to USD 400.52 billion.

In the reporting week, foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, decreased by USD 1.011 billion to USD 375.231 billion, as per the RBI data.

Visakhapatnam (AP), Oct 12 (PTI) A woman Maoist, an accused in the recent killing of two TDP leaders, including an MLA, was gunned down by security forces in alleged encounter near Andrapali forest Friday during intense combing operations, police said.

They said four maoists, including three women, were captured after the exchange of fire during the combing operations held in the forest near Andhra-Odhisha border.

The deceased Maoistwas identified as 40-year old N Meena, wife of top Maoist leader Gajarla Ravi alias Uday alias Anand, police said.

Mumbai, Oct 12 (PTI) Dissident BJP leader Ashish Deshmukh, who resigned as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly last week, has also quit the primary membership of the party.

He alleged that policies of the BJP-led state government had created a "paralysis".

Deshmukh, who represented Katol Assembly constituency in Vidarbha region, sent his resignation letter to BJP president Amit Shah Thursday.

Pune, Oct 12 (PTI) A case of alleged extortion has been registered against Yogesh Tilekar, a BJP MLA from Pune, and two others, police said Friday.

Tilekar, his brother Chetan and his associate Ganesh Kamthe were booked under IPC section 385 (extortion) for allegedly demanding Rs 50 lakh from a private firm to allow it to lay optical fibre cables for internet, police said.

(Maha), Oct 12 (PTI) Days after a local woman BJP activist was killed in her flat here in Maharashtra, her domestic help has been arrested for the crime, police said Friday.

Rupali Chavan (36) was found dead in her house in the Nallasopara area of Palghar district on October 9. She was killed two days earlier, the police had said early this week.

Mumbai, Oct 12 (PTI) Congress and NCP leaders in Maharashtra met here Friday to continue their discussions on alliance for the next year's LokSabha and Assembly elections.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had held a discussion on alliance in Delhi on Thursday.

"Our endeavour is to ensure that a maximum number of like-minded parties come together to defeat the BJP," state Congress chief Ashok Chavan said Friday after the meeting.