Delhi

New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI) Investor wealth worth nearly Rs 12 lakh crore was wiped off in less than 15 minutes of trade opening on Friday, with benchmarks crashing over 10 per cent on mounting fears over coronavirus pandemic.

The 30-share BSE Sensex plummeted 3,380.59 points, or 10.31 per cent, to 29,397.55. It hit an intra-day low of 29,388.97, falling up to 3,389.17 points.

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.

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.

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.

New Delhi, March 13 (PTI) The government on Friday said in Rajya Sabha that there is no proposal to ban the export of buffalo meat or fish.

During Question Hour, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, said, "There is no proposal to ban the export of buffalo meat or any meat or fish."

New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI) Environment minister Gopal Rai on Friday moved a resolution in the Delhi Assembly against implementation of the National Population Register in the national capital and said if executed, it should be applied using the procedure of 2010.

Rai said the National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens(NRC) are not only meant for a "particular religion" but will also impact the majority population.

New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) The Delhi government on Thursday declared coronavirus an epidemic and shut all cinema halls, schools and colleges, except those where exams are on, till March 31.

The government also made it compulsory to disinfect all public places, including government and private offices and shopping malls, every day in the national capital.

New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate has booked suspended Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain, Islamist group PFI and some others on the charges of money laundering and alleged funding of last month's communal riots in northeast Delhi, officials said on Wednesday.

They said the central probe agency has filed a criminal case against Hussain, facing charges of killing an Intelligence Bureau official during the riots, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).