Sensex sinks 792 points to close below 35,000-mark

Agencies
October 5, 2018

Mumbai, Oct 5: The BSE Sensex plunged 792 points on Friday to end at a near six-month low of 34,376.99 after the RBI unexpectedly maintained status quo on the policy rate but changed its stance to "calibrated tightening" amid the rupee breaching the 74-mark.

The central bank kept the interest rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent.

Sentiments were also bearish largely in tandem with a sell-off in global markets as US Treasury yields surged to multi-year highs on robust economic data and comments from the Federal Reserve, sparking fears of accelerating inflation, brokers said.

The Indian rupee Friday crashed below the 74-level against the US dollar for the first time ever after the Reserve Bank kept its key policy rate unchanged.

The domestic currency was quoting 65 paise lower at 74.23 (intra-day) against the dollar soon after the RBI announced its monetary policy.

The 30-share index remained in the negative zone through the session. Selling activity gathered momentum after the RBI kept rates unchanged but changed its stance to "calibrated tightening". The benchmark hit a low of 34,202.22, before finishing 792.17 points, or 2.25 per cent down at 34,376.99.

This is its lowest closing since April 23 when it had finished at 34,450.77 points.

The gauge had lost 1,356.98 points in the previous two sessions on rupee woes and boiling crude oil prices.

The wider National Stock Exchange index Nifty too tanked 282.80 points, or 2.67 per cent to close at 10,316.45 points. Intra-day, it hit a low of 10,261.90 soon after RBI's policy announcement.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 5:1 in favour of a status quo, with only Chetan Ghate voting for a 0.25 per cent hike.

The MPC, headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel, said that the recent excise duty cut on petrol and diesel will help contain inflation.

RBI maintained growth estimate at 7.4 per cent for current fiscal and projected retail inflation to rise to 3.8-4.5 per cent in October-March.

Marketmen were expecting the six-member Monetary Policy Committee to go for at least a 0.25 per cent hike at the review.

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Agencies
July 24,2020

New Delhi, Jul 24: Telecom companies lost 82.3 lakh subscribers during the COVID-19 lockdown period of April, data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday showed.

As per the reports received from 342 operators in April, TRAI said the number of broadband subscribers decreased from 68.7 crore at the end of March to 67.6 crore at the end of April with a monthly decline rate of 1.64 per cent.

Top five service providers constituted 98.98 per cent market share of total broadband subscribers with Reliance Jio Infocomm (38.9 crore), Bharti Airtel (14.4 crore), Vodafone Idea (11.1 crore), BSNL (2.1 crore) and Atria Convergence (16 lakh).

The number of overall telephone subscribers decreased from 117.7 crore at the end of March to 116.9 crore at the end of April, showing a monthly decline rate of 0.72 per cent.

The TRAI said total wireless subscribers (2G, 3G and 4G) decreased from 115.7 crore at the end of March to 115 crore at the end of April, thereby registering a monthly decline rate of 0.71 per cent.

Wireless subscription in urban areas decreased from 63.8 crore to 62.9 crore but increased in rural areas from 51.9 crore to 52 crore. Monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless subscription were minus 1.42 per cent and 0.16 per cent respectively.

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Agencies
June 19,2020

New Delhi, Jun 19: Delhi minister Satyendar Jain's health has deteriorated further. He is infected with the coronavirus. Jain has also been diagnosed with pneumonia. He is being shifted to an ICU.  According to doctors, Jain is now kept full-time on oxygen support as his oxygen saturation level has dipped.  

Jain was admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital early Tuesday after running high fever and suffering a sudden drop in oxygen level. The 55-year-old leader's test result came positive on Wednesday evening after a second test. Jain was brought to the hospital and was administered a test for the novel coronavirus infection on Tuesday morning, for which he tested negative. But he still ran fever and showed symptoms, so another test was done after 24 hours of the first.

He will now be shifted Max Hospital in Saket and administered plasma therapy. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also wished for Jain's speedy recovery.

On Thursday, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia took over the charge of health, PWD, power and other departments held by Jain. Jain will remain the cabinet minister without any portfolio in the Arvind Kejriwal government until he recovers. 

On Sunday, Jain attended a high-level meeting on the coronavirus situation in the national capital, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, which was also attended by Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal, Kejriwal, Sisodia and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.

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News Network
February 21,2020

Nagpur, Feb 21: Former Maharashtra chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday condemned AIMIM leader Waris Pathan's reported remarks that 15 crore Muslims are more than a match for the country's 100 crore Hindus, and asked the latter not to mistake the majority community's tolerance for weakness.

Pathan has been widely condemned for reportedly stating that "15 crore hain lekin 100 crore pe bhari hain".

He purportedly made these comments while addressing an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act rally in Kalaburagi in north Karnataka on February 16. The AIMIM leader has claimed he was quoted out of context.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Fadnavis demanded an apology from Pathan and asked the Uddhav Thackeray government to take action.

"We condemn the statement made by Waris Pathan and demand an apology. In case he does not apologise, the state government must take action against him," he said.

Fadnavis said Pathan should understand that minorities were safe and enjoyed full freedom in India because 100 crore Hindus live in the country.

He said no one would dare utter such a statement in a Muslim-majority nation, adding that the "Hindu community is tolerant but its tolerance should not be mistaken for weakness".

"Pathan should apologise to the nation and the Hindu community," he said.

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