Rahul Gandhi too stands in line for note exchange, smiles for selfies

November 11, 2016

New Delhi, Nov 11: At a bank in central Delhi, there was commotion when Rahul Gandhi suddenly arrived and tried to join the queue.rahul-gandh

Millions across India spent long hours at banks and ATMs today trying to withdraw cash after Prime Minister Narendra Modi suddenly declared Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes "worthless pieces of paper" on Tuesday.

Mr Gandhi, one of the most protected politicians in India, plunged right into the scrum of people at a State Bank of India branch on Parliament Street.

"I have come to exchange Rs. 4,000. My people are in pain and are suffering, I have come to stand with them," the Congress Vice President told reporters.

Surrounded by personnel of the Special Protection Group, the 45-year-old offered to stand in the queue but was whisked away. "I want to stand in the line, with my people who are suffering. But as soon as I came, they moved the people inside...," he complained.

Taking a swipe at PM Modi and the government, he said, "The government should be for these people, not a select 10 or 15 people who are not here."

Mr Gandhi gamely posed for selfies with customers who were stunned to find a VIP in their midst.

Asked repeatedly why he was there, Mr Gandhi replied: "You will not understand that. You or your millionaire bosses or the media or the government will never understand what these people are suffering."

The BJP accused the Congress leader of playing to the gallery at a huge inconvenience to people.

"Rahul Gandhi is adding to the chaos. The people do not buy this, they are not interested in theatrics," said BJP spokesperson Shaina NC.

PM Modi's decision to take the two highest currency notes out of circulation has been applauded by many as a strong step against black or untaxed money but many opposition politicians have criticised the government, alleging hardship to the poor.

Yesterday, there were long queues as people hurried to exchange their old notes and withdraw new ones at banks. Today, there was a similar sight at ATMs, which reopened after three days of preparing for the turnaround.

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Agencies
March 12,2020

Mumbai, Mar 12: In what appears to be the worst trading session in the Indian stock markets, the benchmark BSE Sensex crashed over 2900 points to end below the 33,000-mark.

The Sensex crashed 2,919.26 points to end at 32,778.14. So far it has touched an intra-day low of 32,530.05 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange also lost nearly 850 points so far. It plunged 868.25 points to 9,590.15.

The plunge was in line with the global markets as all Asian indices also traded in the red after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus a global pandemic following which the Dow Jones Industrial Average also slumped significantly on Wednesday.

The bear run in both the global and domestic markets has continued off late on concerns of the coronavirus outbreak severely impacting the global economy. It has also raised calls for government intervention and support.

Central banks in several countries, including the US Federal Reserve have announced emergency rate cuts to boost sentiments. However, the concerns have only deepened in the past few days as the number of COVID-19 cases across the world has increased.

Further, following the rout in the global markets oil prices also fell on Thursday with the Brent crude trading around $34 per barrel.

The Indian rupee also felt the pressure and touched a 17-month low of 74.34 per dollar in its initial trade.

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Agencies
March 6,2020

Mumbai, Mar 6; The Indian equity indices slumped on Friday morning, with the BSE Sensex falling over 1,450 points

The slump across the sectoral indices was led by the finance and banking stocks as the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday superseded the board of directors of Yes Bank and placed it under moratorium.

Persistent fears of the coronavirus outbreak severely impacting global economy also weighed on the investor sentiments, analysts said.

At 9.36 a.m., the BSE Sensex trimmed some losses and was trading at 37,376.66, lower by 1,093.95 points or 2.84 per cent from the previous close of 38,470.61

So far, the index has touched an intra-day low of 37,011.09, falling by 1,459.52 points.

It had opened at the intra-day high of 37,613.96.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 10,938.75, lower by 330.25 or 2.93 per cent from its previous close.

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Agencies
March 22,2020

New Delhi, Mar 22: The total number of novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 341 on Sunday after fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country, the Union Health Ministry said.

The total includes 41 foreign nationals and five deaths, the latest being reported from Maharashtra, taking the death toll in the state to two.

Delhi, Karnataka and Punjab have reported one death each so far. Twenty-four others have been cured/discharged/migrated.

The figure of 341 cases include 63 cases in Maharashtra, which has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases, including three foreigners.

Kerala has reported 52 cases, including seven foreign nationals.

Delhi has reported 27 positive cases, including a foreigner, while Uttar Pradesh has recorded 25 cases, including a foreigner.

Telangana has reported 21 cases, including 11 foreigners. Rajasthan has reported 24 cases, including two foreigners.

In Haryana, there are 17 cases, which include 14 foreigners.

Karnataka has 20 coronavirus patients. Punjab and Ladakh have 13 cases each. Gujarat has 14 cases while Tamil Nadu has 6 cases, which includes 2 foreigners. Chandigarh has five cases.

Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and West Bengal reported four cases each. Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand have reported three cases each. Odisha and Himachal Pradesh reported 2 cases each.

Puducherry and Chhattisgarh have reported one case each.

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