Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh on February 21 in Amritsar. The CM, who will receive Trudeau in Amritsar on 21 February and accompany him to the Golden Temple, had sought a structured meeting with him from the ministry of external affairs. Reports say that Amarinder Singh is concerned about a Khalistani separatist movement allegedly being run from Canadian soil.

Trudeau will be in Mumbai tomorrow.

Trudeau and his family today offered prayers at the Swaminarayan Akshardham temple in Gandhigram today and visited the Sabarmati Ashram as part of their day-long visit to Gujarat.


The family travelled straight to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad after arriving here this morning. Trudeau, accompanied by his wife Sophie and their three children, visited Hriday Kunj, the place where Mahatma Gandhi lived and from where he ran the non-violence movement. Dressed in traditional Indian clothes, they also tried their hand at Mahatma Gandhi's spinning wheel.


Yesterday, Trudeau, accompanied by his wife and three children, visited the Taj Mahal. This is his second visit to the Taj. He tweeted, "I was about Xav's age when I first visited the Taj Mahal almost 35 years ago... and it's amazing to be back with him & the family on Day 1 of our trip to India."


While officials said that Trudeau's visit to Gujarat will be the first by a Canadian prime minister, the absence of PM Modi to shepherd him around has raised eyebrows, especially by the Canadian media.


Speculation is rife that PM Modi's absence is a snub for Justin Trudeau because of India's concerns over Sikh radicalism in Canada and support for a separate Khalistan state.

Three plaintiffs in Babri Masjid/Ram Janmbhoomi case have said they will not accept any out-of-court settlement. At a gathering of local Muslims in Ayodhya which the plaintiffs - Haji Mahboob , Iqbal Ansari and Mohammad Umar -- were present, a resolution was passed that the "Muslims will not shift the mosque" to any other site or gift the land to any party, according to a press statement issued after the meeting which was held on Saturday.

It said the Hindus can build Ram temple on Ram Chabootra in the outer court yard of Babri Masjid. The resolution also rejected any out-of-court settlement in Babri Masjid/Ram Janmbhoomi case and said that Muslims will only obey the Supreme Court verdict, it said.


Among those who signed the resolution were the three plaintiffs, the statement said, claiming that the meeting was attended by the representatives of Barelvi , Deobandi and Shia sects of Muslim community. -- PTI


Image: The development comes amid efforts by Art of Living founder Sri Sri Sri Ravishankar and Muslim cleric Maulana Salman Nadvi for an out -of-court settlement in the Ayodhya dispute.

The arguments on Monday were inconclusive in Central Bureau of Investigation judge B H Loya death case hearing, which would continue on March 5.


Advocate of Bombay Lawyers Association, Dushyant Dave will continue the hearing.


The apex court had earlier asked the Maharashtra Government to submit the postmortem report of the CBI judge, who had died in alleged suspicious circumstances in 2014, citing that the "matter was very serious."

The CBI has registered a case against Rotomac pen promoter Vikram Kothari and his family in connection with a case related to the alleged swindling of Rs 3,695 crore of bank loan funds, officials said today. The scam was earlier estimated at around Rs 800 crore.


The case against Kanpur-based Rotomac Global Pvt Limited, its director Vikram Kothari, his wife Sadhana Kothari, and son Rahul Kothari and unidentified bank officials was filed on a complaint received from Bank of Baroda, they said.


The agency searched three locations in Kanpur, including Kothari's residence and office premises. There have been no arrests in the case yet, CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal categorically said.


He said Kothari, his wife and his son are being examined by the CBI, which is conducting the searches. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also registered a money laundering case against Kothari and his family members in connection with the alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 3,695 crore, officials said.


The case was filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), after studying the CBI FIR that was registered yesterday. The ED, the officials said, would probe if the funds obtained through the alleged fraud were laundered and if the proceeds of the crime were subsequently used by the accused to create illegal assets and black money.


According to the complaint from Bank of Baroda, the conspirators allegedly cheated a consortium of bank loans of Rs 3,695 crore, including the interest component, officials said. The principal involved is Rs 2,919 crore. -- PTI

PNB scam: Central Vigilance Commission asks PNB and the Finance Ministry officials to submit a report on how the scam took place despite monetary regulations being in place. CVC gave a time of 10 days to the bank.


Officials of PNB, RBI and Dept of Financial Services gave a presentation of 2 hours to the Central Vigilance Commission about the case. CVC has asked for names of officials who were involved and sought identification of officials who could have taken action & prevented it.


After meeting with PNB and Finance Ministry officials Central Vigilance Commission also had a meeting with CBI officials, CBI told CVC that it was a system failure at multiple levels.


The Enforcement Directorate today searched the Mumbai residence of diamantaire Nirav Modi as raids continued for the fifth day in connection with the agency's money laundering probe in the Rs 11,400-crore alleged fraud at the Punjab National Bank.

 
Official sources said ED sleuths arrived at Modi's Samudra Mahal bungalow in Worli in south Mumbai and searched the premises.


The central probe agency also conducted searches at 34 other locations in various cities, including Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Thane, Kolkata, Delhi, Lucknow, Bengaluru and Surat, in connection with its probe.


Image: Diamantaire Nirav Modi

Justin Trudeau at IIM, Ahmedabad. "Citizens are not fools. Citizens can tell whether someone is genuine in their approach or just trying to live up to some lofty familial expectation.

On discrimination:  "Any comments about how a man looks isn't even an eyelash worth of the systemic discrimination women face. As a man in business and politics I had lots of advantage but I didn't go near discrimination, sexism, superficiality and judgement that women go through on daily."


The Canadian Prime Minister and his family today offered prayers at the Swaminarayan Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar and visited the Sabarmati Ashram as part of their day-long visit to Gujarat.


The family travelled straight to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad after arriving in Gandhinagar this morning.

Trudeau, accompanied by his wife Sophie and their three children, visited Hriday Kunj, the place where Mahatma Gandhi lived and from where he ran the non-violence movement.

Dressed in traditional Indian clothes, they also tried their hand at Mahatma Gandhi's spinning wheel.

Canada's first family also spent nearly half an hour at the Akshardham temple here and offered flowers to the deity. "What an extraordinary place of peace. Thank you for sharing with me, with my family, with the world," Trudeau wrote in the visitors' book at the temple.

"In oneness. Shanti," wrote his wife Sophie Trudeau. 

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court on Monday demanding a Special Investigation Team probe in the ongoing Punjab National Bank fraud.


PNB detected the scam last week, wherein noted jewellery designer Nirav Modi acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking from one of its branches for overseas credit from other Indian lenders.


The state-owned lender lodged two financial fraud complaints of Rs 11400 crore and Rs 280 crore against Nirav Modi, his family members and Mehul Choksi, owner of Gitanjali Gems. The Central Bureau of Investigation sealed the bank's MCB Brady House branch in Mumbai earlier today as part of the ongoing investigation.


Raids are also being carried out presently by the Enforcement Directorate in a Gitanjali Gems outlet in Pune's Pacific Mall, a Nakshatra showroom in Kolkata's Salt Lake area and other locations.


On a related note, Advocate Vijay Aggarwal who had represented a number of 'high-profile' accused persons in the 2G spectrum case will be the lawyer for accused jeweller Nirav Modi. -- ANI

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday fired yet another salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asserting that he has "robbed India". Taking to Twitter, Gandhi through a poem said that first it was Lalit Modi then Vijay Mallya and now Nirav Modi, who have eloped the country.


He alleged that the whole scenario depicts as to whose side the Prime Minister is on and ended with a hashtag saying, "Modi robs India".


Gandhi's statements come in the wake of Punjab National Bank fraud case, involving businessmen Nirav Deepak Modi and Mehul Chinubhai Choksi.


The PNB has lodged two financial fraud complaints of Rs. 11400 crore and Rs 280 crore against Nirav Modi, his family members and Mehul Choksi, owner of Gitanjali Gems.


The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a formal case charging four- Nirav Modi, his wife Ami, brother Nishal and Mehul Choksi- on January 31 over Rs. 280 crore fraud.The agency has filed the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation.


The PNB detected the scam in which jeweller Nirav Modi acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking from one of its branches for overseas credit from other Indian lenders. The scam started in 2011 and was detected in the third week of January this year, after which the PNB officials filed a complaint with the CBI on January 31. -- ANI

What former employee Santosh Srivastava has to say about Mehul Choksi: Around 2012-13, I observed there were huge discrepancies in the books of accounts and physical things. I raised these with Mehul Choksi but I was told to shut up and do my job. In fact the language was tu apna kaam kar salary le aur nikal."

The Bagdogra airport in Darjeeling district will soon have sanitary napkin dispensing machines at its terminal, a senior Airports Authority of India official said today.


The facility would be available at ladies toilets in the airport at the end of this month and the cost of each napkin will be Rs 5, Director of Bagdogra Airport Rakesh R Sahay said.


"The availability of sanitary napkins inside the terminal building will ensure comfort to women passengers and promote hygienic practices. It will also help address the deep rooted stigma attached to menstruation," the Director of Bagdogra Airport, Rakesh R Sahay, told PTI.


The AAI first installed sanitary napkin vending machines at Indore airport in 2017 and then in various other airports, Sahay said adding that the initiative was widely appreciated by women passengers. -- PTI

Vadodara: The Enforcement Directorate team reaches the residence of former Allahabad Bank director Dinesh Dubey who had alleged that loan was given to Gitanjali Gems in 2013 despite his dissent note. 

Madhya Pradesh Minister Maya Singh issued an indirect warning to the people in Ashoknagar in the state, saying that people voting for the Congress party will not get the benefit of any scheme by the Centre.


The urban development while campaigning for the upcoming by-poll in the constituency asked the people to vote for the BJP.


"Those who have voted for the phool (BJP) everything is fine with them. You people made a mistake by voting haath (Congress). Vote for the BJP everyone will get everything. Don't waste your votes. Those who will commit the same mistake will not get anything," she added.


A few days back, BJP leader Yashodhara Raje Scindia also made a similar remark. Addressing a rally in Shivpuri, she said that Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana was BJP's scheme and will not be provided to those who vote for the Congress.


BJP had won 165 of the 230 assembly seats in the last elections. -- ANI

Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi Palaniswami calls for an all party meet on Feb 22 over the Cauvery verdict.

Rotomac Pens owner Vikram Kothari rebuffed the reports of not repaying bank loan worth Rs. 837 crore.


Kothari on February 16 said that he has not done anything wrong and would not run away from the country.


"Yes, I took a loan from the bank, but it's wrong to say I am not paying it back. I live in Kanpur and will continue to live here, I am not running away anywhere, no country better than India," Kothari said.


Earlier in the day, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a case against Kothari and others. Furthermore, raids are presently underway at his residence in Kanpur. On Sunday, reports surfaced that Kothari was allegedly 'missing' from Kanpur in possession of a bank loan worth Rs. 837 crore. Kothari had taken a loan worth Rs. 352 crore from the Kanpur branch of Allahabad Bank and Rs. 485 crore from three other banks, namely Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank, and Union Bank of India.


Rajesh Gupta, a Recovery Agent of Allahabad Bank, told ANI that the loan amount was being recovered from the attached properties of Kothari.Since last week, Kothari's office in Kanpur's City Center road has been locked, and he has been untraceable ever since. -- ANI

Resource persons affiliated to Vijnana Bharati, the science wing of the RSS, insisted that ancient Indian scriptures are the repository of all scientific knowledge and that western scientists plagiarised these accomplishments, which are being falsely feted today as western in origin. As an example, one speaker claimed that Aryabhatta was the original proponent of the theory of gravity. The insight came to him apparently when a litchi fell on his head -- Newton stole these ideas much later, adroitly substituting an apple for the litchi.

Read the full report here.

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect. Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!


Winfrey, a talk show host, actress and philanthropist, made her debut on "60 Minutes" as a correspondent in September last year with a story about the political divide in the US, reports CNBC.

She accepted the Golden Globes' Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement last month, and gave an acceptance speech that explored issues of race, gender and other social and political hot buttons.

Her speech gave rise to speculation of a potential presidential bid in 2020, but Winfrey has denied any such plans.

Bank stocks continued to face selling pressure today with many hitting their 52-week lows amid concerns over the alleged Rs 11,400 crore PNB fraud case involving billionaire diamantaire Nirav Modi.


Shares of UCO Bank plunged 11.26 per cent, those of Union Bank of India - 10.94 per cent, Allahabad Bank - 10.77 per cent, Bank of Baroda - 9.28 per cent, Syndicate Bank - 8.96 per cent and Bank of Maharashtra - 7.33 per cent on BSE. Among others, State Bank of India lost 5.57 per cent, Corporation Bank 3.32 per cent and AXIS Bank 1.71 per cent. Almost, all public sector lenders saw prices of their stocks tumble last week after the alleged PNB fraud came to light. -- PTI

The Trudeaus at the Akshardham temple

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau visits the magnificent Akshardham Mandir in Gandhinagar. Seen here with his sons. 

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau spins yarn at the Sabarmati Ashram. 

Justin Trudeau ‏ Verified account  @JustinTrudeau I was about Xav's age when I first visited the Taj Mahal almost 35 years ago... and it's amazing to be back with him & the family on Day 1 of our trip to India.


Justin Trudeau's father, Canadian premier Pierre Trudeau, had visited India in 1983. Trudeau recalled he had come down to see Agra from New Delhi to see the Taj Mahal. His father was not able to accompany him then due to his busy schedule.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who arrived in India on Sunday for a week-long visit, was at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad today. He will hold talks with Narendra Modi on wide-ranging issues, including defence, and counter-terror cooperation, on February 23.


Yesterday, Trudeau, accompanied by his wife and three children, visited the Taj Mahal. This is his second visit to the Taj. He tweeted, "I was about Xav's age when I first visited the Taj Mahal almost 35 years ago... and it's amazing to be back with him & the family on Day 1 of our trip to India."


While officials said that Trudeau's visit to Gujarat will be the first by a Canadian prime minister, the absence of PM Modi to shepherd him around has raised eyebrows, especially by the Canadian media.


Every time foreign heads of state visited his home state Gujarat, PM Modi has been present. The PM accompanied Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last year and Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2014 during their visits to Gujarat.


In UP, neither was CM Yogi Adityanath present to welcome Trudeau in the state.


Speculation is rife that PM Modi's absence is a snub for Justin Trudeau because of India's concerns over Sikh radicalism in Canada and support for a separate Khalistan state.


Image: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau with his wife Sophie and three children at the Sabarmati Ashram this morning. The picture was tweeted by India's envoy to Canada, Vikas Swarup.

"I had met Jean Drze several times before. Once, in the early 1990s, when he was teaching at the London School of Economics, and living in a working-class tenement. A second time, in the late 1990s, when he was teaching in the Delhi School of Economics, and living in a jhuggi-jhopri colony in Timarpur. A third time, in the early 2000s, when he was visiting Bangalore, and I dropped him at the railway station where he took a train, travelling unreserved to places further south to study the implementation of the mid-day meal programme in small towns and villages across Tamil Nadu. On another occasion, I visited an NGO working among tribals in Odisha to find that Drze had just left my hosts, having chosen to spend a week walking from Kashipur to Rayagada, stopping in hamlets on the way when he was not sleeping under the open sky. And one time, when we were due to meet in Delhi, he had to abruptly cancel as he had to fly urgently to Brussels. Drze was in the process of getting Indian citizenship; that was hard enough, but even harder, apparently, was getting the Belgians to agree to his no longer being a Belgian."

Ramchandra Guha on the man who helped formulate NREGA, RTI and the Right to Food -- Jean Dreze. Do read

The body of a heavily-armed Pakistani intruder was recovered along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Pooch district after the Army thwarted an infiltration attempt by a group of terrorists under the cover of Pakistani firing, an Army official said today.


The body was recovered during a search and sanitisation operation launched after the Army foiled an attempt by a group of terrorists to intrude into this side in Khari Karmara sector yesterday evening, the official said.


The Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing yesterday along the LoC in Poonch to facilitate an infiltration attempt by a group of terrorists.


Indian troops deployed at the border detected the movement and engaged the infiltrators with effective automatic fire. The official today said three Army personnel who were injured in the exchange of fire were admitted to a hospital and their condition was stated to be 'stable'.


Twenty people -- 11 security personnel and nine civilians -- were killed and over 75 others injured in Pakistani shelling along the LoC and the International Border in Jammu division since the beginning of this year. Meanwhile, a junior commissioned officer was injured in an accidental mine blast in a forward area in Mankote sub sector in the district yesterday. The officer accidentally stepped over a landmine, which was washed away, causing an explosion, the official said requesting anonymity. -- PTI



Image: Artika, the daughter of Army Havaldar Roshan Lal, who lost his life in a ceasefire violation in Rajouri, told ANI that the J-K CM Mehbooba Mufti only cares about Kashmir and not Jammu. "We have no hope from her, she hasn't even called us," the girl said. 

Shares of Gitanjali Gems continued to fall for the fourth straight session today, plunging 10 per cent as investor sentiment remained muted after the company came under the scanner of various investigating agencies following PNB's Rs 11,400-crore fraud detection.


The stock tumbled 9.99 per cent to Rs 33.80 -- its lower circuit limit -- on BSE. At NSE, shares of the company plunged 9.87 per cent to hit its lowest trading permissible limit of Rs 33.75. In four trading sessions, the stock has lost over 46 per cent, wiping out Rs 344 crore from its market valuation.


Among other jewellery stocks, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri was trading lower by 3.80 per cent, Thangamayil Jewellery 1.84 per cent and PC Jewellers 1.42 per cent on BSE.


On February 14, Punjab National Bank disclosed that it detected some fraudulent transactions with financial implication of about Rs 11,346 crore and the matter has been referred to law enforcement agencies for the recovery.


Four big jewellers -- Gitanjali, Ginni, Nakshatra and Nirav Modi -- are under scanner. While billionaire jewellery designer Nirav Modi, the alleged perpetrator of this fraud, is not directly linked to any listed company, his relative and business associate Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Gems is a listed firm and has been involved in some other cases of suspected market manipulations.

The DMK has decided to convene an "all-party meeting" on the Cauvery issue in which actor Kamal Hassan, who will to launch his party this week, has agreed to attend, party working president MK Stalin has said.


The DMK took the decision as the AIADMK government was not paying heed to its demand of holding an all-party meeting in the wake of the Supreme Court reducing the quantum of water from Cauvery river to the state, he told reporters in Chennai last night.


"As an opposition party, we have decided to convene an all party meeting and will invite the AIADMK which is the ruling party... we will also invite the BJP," Stalin said, without mentioning the date of the proposed meeting.


"Not only that... I have invited Kamal Hassan, who is going to launch his party on February 21. He has assured us about his participation," he said.


To a query on actors Hassan and Rajinikanth's political foray, the DMK working president said anyone can enter politics. The Supreme Court had on February 16 directed the Karnataka government to release 177.25 tmcft of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, reducing the quantum specified by the tribunal in 2007. The DMK has accused the state government of inept handling of the case in the Supreme Court. -- PTI

The CBI has registered an FIR against Rotomac pen promoter Vikram Kothari on the basis of a complaint from Bank of Baroda for allegedly swindling over Rs 800 crore, officials said here today. The agency started searching his residence and offices in Kanpur from early in the morning, they said. There were no arrests in the case yet, CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal categorically said.


He said Kothari, his wife and his son are being examined by the CBI, which is conducting the searches. This is the second major financial scam to break out after the sensational Rs 11,400 crore fraud allegedly committed by billionaire jewellery designer Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, who is a promoter of Gitanjali group of companies. Both fled the country before the Punjab National Bank realised the depth of the alleged crime. -- PTI


Image: A CBI raid at Vikram Kothari's residence in Kanpur this morning.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Karnataka today to take part in the 88th Mahamastakabhisheka Mahotsav of Bhagwan Bahubali in Shravanabelagola.


Prime Minister Modi will also inaugurate the newly carved 630 steps on the Vindhyagiri hill that takes the disciples to the top for a darshan of the 58.8 feet tall monolithic statue of Bahubali.


Later in the day, Prime Minister Modi will flag off the Palace Queen Humsafar Express between Mysuru and Udaipur. He will also lay the foundation stone for the eight-laning of the Mysuru-Bengaluru highway.


Meanwhile, in the later part of the day Prime Minister Modi will also inaugurate a new block of the Employees' State Insurance hospital in the city. By evening, he will also address a public rally in Mysuru. -- ANI

Advocate Vijay Aggarwal who represented a number of accused persons in the 2G spectrum case, to be the lawyer for Nirav Modi. File pic. 

The CBI is questioning Vipul Ambani, the Chief Financial Officer of diamantaire Nirav Modi's Fire Star diamond company, officials said in Mumbai today. They said Vipul Ambani was holding the position for the last three to four years. He is understood to be a relative of the late Dhirubhai Ambani.


The CBI yesterday started an intensive search operation at the Brady road branch of PNB in Mumbai, which is at the centre of a colossal banking fraud involving billionaire jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.


The agency continued interrogating two PNB officials and an authorised signatory of Nirav Modi's company, officials said. The probe agency has also started interrogating five more officials, including general manager level officers, taking the total number of officials facing questioning to 11, they said.


CBI officials said the agency is continuing the questioning of arrested bank officials -- Gokulnath Shetty (retired) and Manoj Kharat, and the signatory of Nirav Modi's company -- besides that of other officials of PNB, to find out the money trail and depth of the alleged scam involving thousands of documents and digital records.


The CBI is also examining financial transactions of 18 India-based subsidiaries of the Gitanjali group of companies promoted by Choksi to understand the money trail of funds taken from various banks on the basis of Rs 11,384 crore of guarantees furnished by Punjab National Bank, officials said here. -- PTI

In the wake of Punjab National Bank fraud case, the Central Vigilance Commission on Monday issued an advisory to all the public sector banks ordering them to transfer the officers who have completed three years as on December 31, 2017.


The CVC advisory also stated that the transfer of all clerical staff who have completed five years as on December 31, 2017 "should be done immediately".


Bank of Baroda (BOI) on CVC's behest has started implementing the process.


"As per Central Vigilance Commission guidelines, all officers should be rotated every 3 years. Further, as per Bank's Transfer Policy for Officers, no officer should be retained in the same post for a period in excess of 3 years and in the same station (municipal limits) for a period in excess of 5 years," said a BOI office memorandum.


The PNB has lodged two financial fraud complaints of Rs. 11400 crore and Rs 280 crore against Nirav Modi, his family members and Mehul Choksi, owner of Gitanjali Gems.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a formal case charging four- Nirav Modi, his wife Ami, brother Nishal and Mehul Choksi- on January 31 over Rs. 280 crore fraud.


The agency has filed the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation.


The PNB detected a scam in which jeweller Nirav Modi acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking from one of its branches for overseas credit from other Indian lenders.The scam was started in 2011 and was detected in the third week of January this year, after which the PNB officials filed a complaint with the CBI on January 31. -- ANI

Two bombs were found in front of the main gate of a government school in Paraiya in Gaya district.

Kanpur: Visuals from outside Rotomac Pens' owner Vikram Kothari's residence as a CBI raid is underway.

The benchmark BSE Sensex slipped below the 34,000-mark by falling nearly 131 points in early trade today, extending Friday's losses as investors cut bets amid weak domestic sentiment and absence of Asian cues.


The 30-share barometer dropped by 130.54 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 33,880.22 in early trade led by fall in Tata Steel, SBI, Reliance Industries and L&T.


The gauge had lost 286.71 points in the previous on Friday. The Nifty50 index also fell 47.40 points, or 0.45 per cent, at 10,404.90. Brokers said investors trimmed positions on distinctly weak sentiment since the detection of a massive Rs 11,400-crore fraud at state-run Punjab National Bank. Shares of PNB remained under selling pressure and lost another 5.25 per cent.


Other laggards were Tata Steel, SBI, L&T, IndusInd Bank, Adani Ports, M&M, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paint, Bajaj Auto, Yes Bank, ONGC, Coal India and Reliance Industries, falling up to 3.22 per cent.


Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors continued selling on domestic bourses. On net basis, they sold shares worth Rs 1,065.99 crore, while domestic institutional investors made purchases to the tune of Rs 1,127.78 crore on Friday, provisional data showed.


Globally, in the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei rose 1.33 per cent, while markets in Hong Kong and China remained shut today on account of a public holiday. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.08 per cent higher on Friday. -- PTI