India

Mumbai, Mar 13 (PTI) Equity benchmark Sensex plummeted over 3,200 points and the broader Nifty sank near 8,600 level, hitting their lower circuit limits, in opening session on Friday as coronavirus pandemic-led recession fears fuelled worldwide panic.

Stock exchanges have halted trading for 45 minutes.

Manic selling across the globe rendered stocks at multi-year lows.

New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said Jyotiraditya Scindia forgot his ideology as he was apprehensive about his political future and that he would not get respect in the BJP.

Talking about Scindia's move to the BJP ending his long association with the Congress, Gandhi said there is a difference between what Scindia is saying and what is in his heart.

New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) Opposition parties on Thursday panned the government as well as the police over the Delhi violence last month that claimed over 50 lives, and warned that the spread of the "communal virus" would eventually pose to a threat to democracy.

Taking part in a short-duration debate in Rajya Sabha on the recent law and order situation in some parts of Delhi, some Opposition members said the "communal virus" being unleashed by the BJP was "no less harmful" than the coronavirus.

Aligarh (UP), Mar 12 (PTI) BJP leader Vinay Varshney, who was booked in an attempt to murder case during violent clashes in the city over the new citizenship law, was arrested on Thursday.

Varshney was arrested from his residence, police said.

He was booked under IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder) in connection with an attack on Mohamed Tariq, who was shot at and seriously wounded on February 23, when violence erupted at Upper Kot locality in the city after the police evacuated some anti-CAA women protestors.

New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) Retail inflation dropped for the first time after six months in February, easing to 6.58 per cent as prices of vegetables and other kitchen items cooled, government data showed on Thursday.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation, however, still continues to rule above the comfort level of the Reserve Bank of India.

New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) A PIL was moved in the Delhi High Court on Thursday seeking directions to the Centre to take appropriate steps for stopping religious conversion of socially and economically downtrodden people, particularly of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community.

The plea claims that the government has done nothing to stop religious conversions.

The plea is listed before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar on Friday.

Bhubaneswar, Mar 12 (PTI) At least eight Maoists were killed, 50 arrested and 13 surrendered during 2019 across Odisha, according to a Home department standing committee report.

It said that 44 left wing extremism incidents were reported during last year of which 12 incidents were exchange of fire between the security personnel and the Maoists.

Rishikesh, Mar 12 (PTI) A 33-year-old woman from the US was allegedly raped by a man at a yoga centre here, police said on Thursday.

The accused has been identified as Gitansh (26), an attendant at Rishikeshnath Yogashala, they said.

Bengaluru, Mar 12 (PTI) A 76-year-old man who died two days ago in Karnataka while being treated for suspected coronavirus has become India's first COVID-19 fatality with his samples taken earlier confirming the infection, the state government said on Thursday.

Confirming that the man was a positive patient for coronavirus, Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu in a tweet said necessary contact tracing, isolation and other measures as per protocol were being taken.

New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI) The government on Friday extended the deadline for submitting bids for buying 100 per cent stake in Air India till April 30.

The deadline was originally set at March 17.

The government had allowed access to the virtual data room of Air India to interested bidders late in February and allowed them further time till March 6 to pose queries.