Morning briefing: Hardik Patel calls for Gujarat bandh, Whatsapp and SMS suspended to contain rumour mongering

GN Staff | August 26, 2015


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Patels community leader Hardik Patel has called for a bandh in Gujarat today. In a late night message on WhatsApp, he also said, "I make an appeal to maintain peace and keep calm."  Meanwhile, internet services on mobile phones have been suspended in some parts of the state to check the spread of rumours through Whatsapp and SMS. Internet can be accessed on computers in homes and offices. There is curfew in some areas of Ahmedabad and Surat where there has been violence after 21-year-old Hardik Patel was briefly detained on Tuesday night. Schools and colleges are closed today in Ahmedabad, There is a  demand for reservation in government jobs and colleges for the Patel community or Patidars. Chief Minister Anandiben, who also belongs to the Patel community, has said the Patels cannot be added to the list of castes entitled to quotas because Gujarat has hit the cap of 50 per cent reservation ordered by the Supreme Court.

Hindu population declines by 0.7%, Muslims' increases by 0.8%
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Raghuram Rajan: India 'not immune to China-led slowdown'
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Sensex down; Nifty trades near 7,800

The S&P BSE Sensex slipped over 300 points in trade on Wednesday, led by losses in ICICI Bank, ITC, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank and RIL. The 50-share Nifty index plunged below its crucial psychological support level of 7800, weighed down by losses in pharma, IT, auto, banks, metal and power stocks.

Asian equities trade lower; Chinese rate cut fails to fuel rally
Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Wednesday, after a move by China to cut its key interest rate failed to spark a sustained rally on Wall Street. Investors looked set for another white-knuckle day as Chinese, Hong Kong and Japan shares bobbled in and out of negative territory. Japan's main Nikkei 225 stock index ended the morning up 0.5 percent at 17,896.23, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dipped in early trading but was up 0.2 percent at 21,444.73. China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index — source of much angst through these days of volatility — fell 0.4 percent to 2,953.33. But Australian shares fell 0.2 percent to 5,127.30 and shares in New Zealand, Taiwan and Southeast Asia were mostly lower.

Indian-made foreign liquor sales volume drops for first time in 10 years
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Modi rakhis make it big in poll bound Bihar
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E-commerce firms hope for $4-billion sales bonanza in festive season
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Online grocery stores selling cheaper onion
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India to face power surplus
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Modi calls Nepal PM Sushil Koirala, offers security assistance

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