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Bengaluru, Mar 23: Indian stocks plunged over 9% on Monday, as the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic sent major states including the country's capital into a lockdown amid increasing fears that outbreak could bring world economies to a grinding halt.

The NSE Nifty 50 index slipped 9.17% to 7,937.75 by 0408 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex was 9.42% lower at 27,093.24.

Over the weekend in India, the virus drove several companies to shut operations and the government sent states into lockdowns, bringing normal life to a grinding halt.

"Panic has gone up domestically because of the lockdown situation," said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

"There is fear that the situation will not be brought under control soon."

The rupee hit a fresh record low of 76.05 against the dollar, as a flight into cash and worries about tightening liquidity boosted demand for the world's reserve currency.

Meanwhile, global markets crumbled, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan sliding nearly 4% as the global death toll climbed to over 14,000, further battering economic activity, and raising fears of a global recession.

After market hours on Friday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India halved position limits for certain stock futures, restricted short-selling of index derivatives and raised margin rates for some shares to curb "abnormally high" volatility amid the pandemic.

In domestic trading, the Nifty PSU Bank Index plunged 8%, while the Nifty bank index crashed nearly 10%.

The Nifty Auto Index slid 9% after several carmakers over the weekend suspended production due to the virus.

Mumbai, Jan 15: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday redistributed portfolios of Deputy Governors following the appointment of Michael Debabrata Patra to the post.

An official release said that NS Vishwanathan will handle co-ordination, Department of Regulation (DOR), Department of Communication (DoC), Enforcement Department, Inspection Department (ID), Risk Monitoring Department (RMD), and Secretary's Department.

BP Kanungo will look after Department of Currency Management (DCM), Department of External Investments and Operations (DEIO), Department of Government and Bank Accounts (DGBA), Department of Information Technology (DIT), Department of Payment and Settlement Systems (DPSS), Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), Foreign Exchange Department (FED), Internal Debt Management Department (IDMD), Legal Department (LD) and Right to Information (RIA) Division.

The release said that MK Jain will handle the Department of Supervision (DOS), Consumer Education and Protection Department (CEPD), Financial Inclusion and Development Department (FIDD), Human Resource Management Department (HRMD), HR Operations Unit (HR-OU), Premises Department (PD), Central Security Cell (CSC), and Rajbhasha Department.

Patra will look after the Monetary Policy Department including Forecasting and Modelling Unit (MPD/MU), Financial Markets Operations Department (FMOD), Financial Markets Regulation Department including Market Intelligence (FMRD/MI), International Department (Intl. D), Department of Economic and Policy Research (DEPR), Department of Statistics & Information Management (including Data and Information Management Unit) (DSIM/DIMU), Corporate Strategy and Budget Department (CSBD) and Financial Stability Unit.

Jammu, Jan 18: Prepaid mobile connections were restored in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday and 2G services resumed in two districts of the valley after being disconnected on August 5 last year. Voice and SMS facilities were restored for all local prepaid mobile phones across the Union territory.

Rohit Kansal, the principal secretary to the administration of Jammu and Kashmir said the order will come into effect from Saturday.

In order to consider giving mobile Internet connectivity on such SIM cards, the telecom service providers will have to verify the credentials of the subscribers, he said.

Internet service providers have been asked to provide fixed line Internet connectivity in all the 10 districts of Jammu region and two districts, Kupwara and Bandipora, in North Kashmir.

Telecom services were shut in the entire Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 when the Centre abrogated special status to the erstwhile state and also bifurcated it into two Union Territories.

However, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the UT administration last week for arbitrarily shutting down the Internet, the facility described as the fundamental right by the apex court.