5:07 PMGovt extends facilities to minorities from Pak, B'desh living in India: MHA
The Centre has extended various facilities to many people belonging to religious minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh, who have come to India and are staying on long-term Visas, Union Minister Nityananda Rai said here on Wednesday.
The Minister of State (MoS), Home, said this in reply to a written query by Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai in the Upper House of the Parliament.
Desai had asked whether a large number of people from minority religions in Pakistan and Bangladesh had taken shelter in India and if so, what were the facilities given by the Centre to them.
Read more 4:55 PMEnactment of farm bills will lead to 'unrest' in Punjab: Amarinder Singh
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said the enactment of farm sector bills now before Parliament would lead to "resentment and unrest" in the border state, which is already at the receiving end of Pakistan's concerted efforts to foment trouble.
The chief minister led a Congress delegation to submit a memorandum in this regard to Governor V P Singh Badnore, seeking his intervention for non-pursuance of the agriculture bills by the Centre in Parliament.
4:36 PMSensex, Nifty rise on banking, IT boost; Dr. Reddy's hits five-week high
Indian shares on Wednesday notched their best closing levels in nearly three weeks, boosted by gains in large-cap banks and IT firms, while drugmaker Dr. Reddy's Laboratories jumped on a deal with a Russian fund to cooperate on Moscow's vaccine trials.
The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index closed 0.72% higher at 11,604.55, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.66% to 39,302.85, both marking their highest close since Aug. 28.
Gains of around 2% each in index heavyweights HDFC Bank Ltd and Infosys Ltd helped India's benchmark indexes outperform peers in Asia and Europe, where risk appetite was limited ahead of the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, which ends on Wednesday.
4:25 PMFM Sitharaman moves Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill in LS
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman moves Bill to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. "We are trying to bring this amendment to protect the depositors. As in some unfortunate situation in banks, depositors have suffered," Sitharaman said.
4:15 PMGold slips Rs 137 to Rs 53,030/10 gm; silver too declines Rs 517
Gold prices fell Rs 137 to Rs 53,030 per 10 gram in the national capital on Wednesday amid rupee appreciation, according to HDFC Securities.
The precious metal had on Tuesday closed at Rs 53,167 per 10 gram.
The rupee strengthened by 12 paise and settled at 73.52 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday supported by positive domestic equities and weak American currency.
Silver also declined Rs 517 to Rs 70,553 per kg, from the previous close of Rs 71,070 per kg.
4:06 PMFire breaks in garbage treatment plant at Safdarjung hospital
A fire broke out in a garbage treatment plant at Safdarjung hospital on Wednesday, a Delhi Fire Service official said. No injury has been reported, he said.
A call about the fire was received at 12.55 pm after which seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot, said Atul Garg, Director of Delhi Fire Service.
The fire was brought under control by 1.20 pm, he said, adding that the cause of the blaze was being ascertained.
3:58 PMSebi plans to empanel securities market trainers
Capital markets regulator Sebi is looking to rope in individuals or entities to support its investor awareness and education initiative. Entities or individuals who are interested in working in the field of investor education pertaining to securities market are proposed to be empanelled as Securities Market Trainers (SMARTs), Sebi said in a notice on Wednesday.
The empanelled SMARTs will supplement the regulator's initiatives in the area of investor education and protection.
The SMARTs are expected to conduct investors awareness programmes on behalf of the regulator under the aegis of Sebi Investor Protection and Education Fund (Sebi IPEF).
3:49 PMCong MP in RS asks govt scientific basis for claims on lockdown preventing Covid-19 deaths
Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Wednesday questioned the government's claims that the lockdown prevented up to 29 lakh COVID-19 cases.
Initiating a discussion on the COVID-19 pandemic in Rajya Sabha, he said people of the country should know if the lockdown really helped in containing the spread of the disease.
"The minister said in a statement yesterday that it has been estimated that this decision prevented approximately 14-29 lakh cases and 37-78 thousand deaths...how have you derived this figure? What is the scientific basis, the House must be informed," Sharma said.
The day the lockdown was imposed the country had 600 cases which have now increase to 50 lakh cases, he added.
3:37 PMMaharshtra: Naxals block road in Gadchiroli ahead of foundation week
Naxals have blocked a road in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district and put up banners there asking people to observe the foundation week of the outlawed movement, police said on Wednesday.
The CPI (Maoist) observes its foundation week from September 21 to 27.
The Maoist Communist Center (MCC) and People's War Group (PWG) merged to form CPI (Maoist) on September 21, 2004, and since then it has been observing the foundation week every year during this period.
3:20 PMTamil Nadu to bifurcate Thiruvalluvar University, create new one
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Wednesday announced in the Assembly that Vellore-based Thiruvalluvar University will be bifurcated and a new varsity will be created.
He said the new university will be based in Villupuram and added that the bifurcation is for ease of administration and nothing more should be read into the decision.
Palaniswami said the new university will start functioning from this year itself.
3:08 PMRupee settles 12 paise higher at 73.52 against US dollar
The rupee strengthened by 12 paise and settled at 73.52 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday supported by positive domestic equities and weak American currency.
At the interbank forex market, the local unit witnessed high volatility against the US dollar. It opened at 73.70, gained the lost ground and finally closed on a positive note at 73.52 against the US dollar, registering a gain of 12 paise over its previous closing price 73.64.
During the session, the domestic unit touched an intra-day high of 73.48 and a low of 73.78 against the greenback.
2:40 PM2.83 mn domestic air passengers in Aug, 76% lower than in Aug 2019: DGCA
A total of 2.83 mn domestic passengers travelled by air in August this year, 76 per cent lower than the corresponding period last year, aviation regulator DGCA said on Wednesday.
While IndiGo carried 1.68 mn passengers, a 59.4 per cent share of the total domestic market, SpiceJet flew 39.1 mn passengers, which is 13.8 per cent share of the total market, the DGCA data noted.
These two airlines were followed by Air India, AirAsia India, Vistara and GoAir at 278,000, 192,000, 142,000 and 133,000 passengers respectively in August, the data showed.
As many as 2.12 mn people travelled by air domestically this July, the regulator had said last month.
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