09:55 Bloodbath at the bourses, Sensex crashes 1000 points : Sensex crashes over 1,000 points, Nifty below 10,200 on global sell-off.
In opening trade, the Sensex plunged 1,037 points to 33,723.53 and the Nifty 50 slumped 321 points to 10,138.60. Asian share markets sank in a sea of red after US stocks suffered its worst drubbing in eight months.
Around 175 stocks have hit fresh 52-week lows at this point on the BSE. Some of the names include Bank of Baroda, Bharti Airtel, Bombay Dyeing, Central Bank of India, Deepak Fertilisers, Finolex Industries, HAL, HUDCO, Indostar and Nilkamal, among others.
09:51 It’s winds@126kmph as Cyclone Titli makes landfall in Odisha: Visuals from Ganjam’s Gopalpur after the Titli Cyclone made landfall in the region at 5:30 am today. At least 10,000 people from low lying areas have been evacuated to government shelters till last night.
The process of landfall of the very severe cyclone Titli started early Thursday with surface wind reaching speeds of 126 kmph at Gopalpur in Odisha’s Ganjam district, the India Meteorological Department said.
“The process of landfall has started and it will completely cross the Odisha coast in one or two hours. The system will pass close to Gopalpur,” HR Biswas, Director of Metereological Centre, Bhubaneswar, told PTI.
The IMD said, “The forward sector of the eye of the storm has been entering into the land mass.” While Gopalpur in Odisha reported surface winds at 126 kmph, Kalingapatanam in Andhra Pradesh recorded wind speed of 56 kmph. As the landfall process started, at least five districts like Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Khurda and Jagatsinghpur are receiving good amount of rainfall coupled with high speed winds under the impact of Titli. — PTI
09:40 Rupee hits new low, falls 24 paise against US dollar: Rupee making it to the news every day for all the wrong reasons.
The rupee Thursday weakened by 24 paise to hit another low of 74.45 against the US dollar on strong demand for the American currency from importers amid unabated foreign fund outflows and a sharp losses in the domestic equity market.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the domestic currency opened weak at 74.37 and slipped further to quote at an all-time low of 74.45, depreciating 24 paise against the US dollar in the early trade.
Forex dealers said besides strong demand for the American currency from importers, concerns of fears of rising fiscal deficit and capital outflows weighed on the domestic currency.
On Wednesday, the rupee snapped its six-session losing streak to end 18 paise higher at 74.21 against the US dollar after the American currency weakened overseas.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares net worth a net of Rs 1,096 crore Wednesday, provisional data showed. Investors remained concerned over sustained foreign capital outflows. Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex crashed 1,030.40 points, or 2.95 per cent, to hit 33,730.49 in opening trade. — PTI
09:22 JUST IN: Sensex opens with a fall of more than 980 points, currently at 33,774.89
09:20 “India will find out”: Trump on Sanctions for S-400 deal with Russia:
US President Donald Trump said that India “will soon find out” about his decision on the punitive CAATSA sanctions after India signed a $5 billion deal to purchase the much-vaunted S-400 air defence system from Russia.
Under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act or CAATSA sanctions, which was amended early this year, only Trump has the authority for the presidential waiver to India on weapons deal with sanctions-hit Russia.
India last week inked a $5 billion deal to purchase S-400 Triumf air defence system from Moscow. The mega deal was sealed in New Delhi during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin for the annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Asked about the agreement between India and Russia, Trump while interacting with reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, said, “India will find out. Aren’t they?”
“India is going to find out, he reiterated in response to India specific question.
Asked when, he said, “You will see. Sooner than you think.”
Last week, the White House had said that the US presidential waiver on weapons deal with sanctions-hit Russia is intended to “wean” countries like India off the Russian equipment.
“The (CAATSA presidential) waiver is narrow, intended to wean countries off Russian equipment and allow for things such as spare parts for previously-purchased equipment,” a White House National Security Council Spokesperson had said after the conclusion of the S-400 contract.
The US embassy spokesperson in New Delhi had said that the CAATSA was aimed at Moscow and not intended to damage the military capabilities of its “allies and partners.”
— PTI
08:58 45% rise in sexual harassment cases at workplace over 3 years:
As many as 1,971 cases of sexual harassment of women at workplace were registered in four years till December 12, 2017, or one case every day, according to this reply to the Lok Sabha on December 15, 2017.
Cases reported increased by 45 per cent from 371 in 2014 to 539 in 2017 (till December 12, 2017).
08:30 Aamir Khan pulls out of film citing #MeToo, issues detailed statement:
In the wake of #MeToo movement, Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao have decided to “step away” from a film – what appears to be their next production venture.
On Wednesday, Aamir issued a statement on Twitter, in which he stated that his production company Aamir Khan Productions has a “zero tolerance policy towards sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour of any kind.
Aamir Khan, who is busy with promotional duties of Thugs Of Hindostan, had earlier confirmed he was producing the Gulshan Kumar biopic.
The untitled film was to be directed by Subhash Kapoor, who was accused of molestation by actress Geetika Tyagi back in 2014, according to an IANS report.
Since Aamir hasn’t taken any name, it is unsure if he was hinting at him or somebody else.
Aamir wrote: “Two weeks ago, when traumatic #MeToo stories began emerging, it was brought to our attention that someone we were about to begin work with has been accused of sexual misconduct. Upon enquiry we found that this particular case is subjudice, and that the legal process is in motion.”
“We are not an investigative agency, nor are we in any position to pass judgement on anyone – that is for the police and judiciary to do. So, without casting any aspersions on anyone involved in this case, and without coming to any conclusions about these specific allegations, we have decided to step away from this film,” read an excerpt from Aamir Khan’s tweet.
Khan notes in his statement that the film industry must start working towards creating a “happy and safe” work environment for women and added, “We believe that this is an opportunity for the film industry to introspect and take concrete steps towards change. For far too long women have faced the brunt of sexual exploitation. It has to stop. In this regard we are committed to doing any and everything to make our film industry a safe and happy one to work in.”
08:16 Trump mocks #MeToo movement:
US President Donald Trump has mocked the “#MeToo” movement, saying that he needs to censor himself due to the rules of this movement, which is being enforced by the press.
“There’s an expression, but under the rules of #MeToo, I am not allowed to use that expression anymore. I can’t do it,” Trump said at a mid-term election rally in Pennsylvania, and then he pointed at the phrase “the girl that got away”.
07:54 Cyclone Titli hits Odisha’s Gopalpur, over 3 lakh moved to safety:
The process of landfall of the very severe cyclone Titli started early Thursday with surface wind reaching speeds of 126 kmph at Gopalpur in Odisha’s Ganjam district, the India Meteorological Department said.
“The process of landfall has started and it will completely cross the Odisha coast in one or two hours. The system will pass close to Gopalpur,” said H R Biswas, Director of Metereological Centre, Bhubaneswar.
The IMD said, “The forward sector of the eye of the storm has been entering into the land mass.”
While Gopalpur in Odisha reported surface winds at 126 kmph, Kalingapatanam in Andhra Pradesh recorded wind speed of 56 kmph.
As the landfall process started, at least five districts like Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Khurda and Jagatsinghpur are receiving good amount of rainfall coupled with high speed winds under the impact of Titli.
Reports of trees, electric poles getting uprooted and damages to kuchha houses were reported, officials said, adding that road communication in some places, including Gopalpur and Berhampur, was snapped.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government has geared up its machinery to tackle the situation. The state government has already evacuated over 3 lakh people living in low lying areas and kuchha houses ahead of the landfall in five coastal districts.
00:26 Colleges have to return original documents, fees on no admission:
The University Grants Commission has warned varsities and colleges against retention of original documents of admitted students and non-refund of fees in case an admission is withdrawn within one month.
The higher educational institutions will be penalised with withdrawal of affiliation, deemed status and barred from receiving any assistance from the UGC if they fail to follow the directive.
“No student will be required to submit any original academic and personal certificate like marksheet and school leaving certificate at the time of submission of admission form.
“No institution can take any original certificate into their custody. They can only ask for self attested copies of the documents,” HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters.
“In case a student withdraws the admission 15 days before the notified last date of admission, he or she shall be entitled for a 100 percent refund. Some colleges which deduct a processing fee can not deduct more than 5 per cent paid by the student, subject to a maximum of Rs 5000,” he added.
In case a student decides to withdraw within 15 days before the last date of admission, he will be entitled for a 90 per cent refund of the fees and if the withdrawal happens 15 days after the last date, the amount supposed to be refunded will be 80 per cent.
While the refund amount will be 50 per cent if the admission is withdrawn between 16 to 30 days after the last date of the admission, no refund will be given for admissions withdrawn after the prescribed timeline. — PTI
Source: Rediff