India

Mumbai, Dec 24 (PTI) Benchmark equity gauges furthered losses on Tuesday after investors fretted over IMF's comment that the Indian economy is in the middle of a "significant" slowdown.

Participants also appeared cautious ahead of December month F&O expiry and year-end holidays.

After trading on a volatile note through the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 181.40 points, or 0.44 per cent, lower at 41,461.26.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty closed 48.20 points, or 0.39 per cent, down at 12,214.55.

Mumbai, Dec 23 (PTI) Persons accused of sexual offences against minor victims should be "mercilessly and inexorably punished", the Bombay High Court said while upholding the conviction of a 29-year-old man for raping a five-year-old girl.

A single bench of Justice Prithviraj Chavan on Friday dismissed an appeal filed by Sagar Dhuri, challenging a special court order of June 2018 convicting him for sexually assaulting the victim and sentencing him to ten years in jail.

New Delhi, Dec 23 (PTI) A Delhi court on Monday dismissed bail pleas of 15 people arrested in connection with the violence in Delhi's Daryaganj area and extended their judicial custody by two weeks.

Metropolitan Magistrate Kapil Kumar dismissed the bail applications, saying there was no sufficient ground to grant them the relief.

The court passed the order after they were produced before it on expiry of their two-day judicial custody (JC).

Srinagar, Dec 23 (PTI) The National Conference (NC) held its provincial-level meeting here on Monday and passed two resolutions condemning the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and demanding immediate release of the detained political leaders and civil society members in Kashmir.

The meeting was held at the NC headquarters, Nawa-i-Subah, and the party's provincial body of Kashmir and the youth and women's wing attended it, NC spokesperson Imran Dar told PTI.

He said the meeting was chaired by NC provincial secretary, Kashmir, Showkat Ahmad.

Mumbai, Dec 23 (PTI) NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday said he was surprised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comment that his government never discussed a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Pawar said President Ram Nath Kovind had talked about the government's plan to implement NRC across the country in his joint address to Parliament.

Even Home Minister Amit Shah had also spoken on this issue in Rajya Sabha, Pawar told reporters here.

Hyderabad, Dec 23 (PTI) Various organisations in Nizamabad district of Telangana on Monday staged protest meetings against the CAA and the proposed NRC, even as police foiled an attempt to hold a protest near Charminar in the city by taking 12 people into preventive custody.

In Nizamabad, a protest meeting was organised under the aegis of different organisations and later a rally was conducted, police said.

Over 5,000 protesters took part, a police official told PTI.

Guwahati, Dec 23 (PTI) Protests against the contentious citizenship law continued in Assam with agitators staging sit-ins across the state on Monday.

However, no violence from anywhere in the state was reported.

Former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who was the founder of the Asom Gana Parishad which is an alliance partner of the ruling BJP in the state, joined a sit-in at the Gandhi Mandap, a memorial for Mahatma Gandhi atop the Sarania Hill in Guwahati with his party colleagues to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Lucknow, Dec 23 (PTI) Chief Judicial Magistrate Sudesh Kumar on Monday rejected the bail plea of jailed social activist and Congress worker Sadaf Zafar who was arrested during the anti-CAA protests here.

A bail application was moved on her behalf claiming that she had not committed any crime.

While rejecting her bail plea, the court said the offences under which she has been booked are serious in nature and she is not entitled to bail.

Latur, Dec 23 (PTI) Social activists, political workers and people from different walks of life on Monday took out a peaceful march demanding scrapping of the amended citizenship law and boycott of the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) here in central Maharashtra.

The march, with the theme 'Sanvidhan Bachao, Desh Bachao' (Save the Constitution, Save the country), was organised under the banner Amhi Laturkar (we, residents of Latur) and comes amid nationwide protests against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the NRC.

Kolkata, Dec 23 (PTI) A group of Jadavpur University students who were protesting against the Citizenship Amendement Act in Kolkata's Baghajatin area was allegedly thrashed and some of the women taking part in the agitation were molested, police said on Monday.

The incident happened late Sunday night when the students were holding a demonstration in front of Baghajatin I Block, a senior officer of the Kolkata Police said, adding that three persons have been arrested.