US intelligence officials believe that the Ukraine International Airlines plane that crashed in Iran on Wednesday with 176 people on board was downed by an Iranian missile, multiple US media reports said on Thursday.

CBS News reported that intelligence officials have evidence to back up the belief. The report said that US intelligence picked up signals of a radar being turned on, detected two surface-to-air missile launches just before the plane exploded.

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the NCLAT order restoring Cyrus Mistry as executive chairman of the Tata Sons.

A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant agreed to hear Tata Sons' plea challenging the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) decision and issued notices to Mistry and others.

World Bank's investment arm International Finance Corporation (IFC) will buy a 4.5 per cent stake in Navi Technologies (NAVI), a company founded by Filpkart founder and former CEO Sachin Bansal, for $30 million.

NAVI is in the process of acquiring 100 per cent ownership Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services (CRIDS) via shares from Sachin Bansal and existing investors.

The Special Investigation Team probing the murder of activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh has arrested one person in connection with the case.

Rushikesh Devdikar alias Murali, 44, who was absconding was arrested on Thursday from his hideout at Katras in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand, the SIT said in a statement.

Slamming Pakistan over the vandalism of Gurdwara Nankana Sahib near Lahore recently and the killing of a Sikh youth there, the Centre on Thursday said that a country which cannot take care of its minorities should not tell others how to do it.

A country that cannot take care of its minorities should not tell other countries how to do it, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said while referring to the incidents.

The Supreme Court of India on Friday ordered immediate review of internet suspension in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, while pronouncing its verdict on a batch of pleas, including that of Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad challenging the restrictions imposed in the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) following abrogation of provisions of Article 370.

Restrictions on fundamental rights cannot be done by arbitrary exercise of power, said Justice Ramana while reading out the verdict.

Pharma stocks were in focus on Friday with the Nifty Pharma index gaining nearly 2 per cent on report that brokerage firm Citi has upgraded Dr Reddy's to 'buy' from 'sell' and Lupin to 'neutral' from 'sell'. The foreign brokerage also said that valuations of pharma companies look reasonable.

At 10:05 am, Nifty Pharma index was the top gainer among sectoral indices and was trading 1.6 per cent up as compared to 0.44 per cent rise in the benchmark Nifty50 index.

The committee of creditors (CoC) tasked with finding buyers for the Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Communications and its two arms decided at a meeting on Thursday to seek an extension of 24 days from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to complete the process.

Banking sources involved in the process of sale of the companies — Reliance Communications, Reliance Telecom Infrastructure, and Reliance Infratel, which houses the tower and fibre assets — say they are expecting the extension to be granted soon.

Amid the wide-spread protests against recent changes in the citizenship law, the prospect of Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee sharing dias with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 150th anniversary function of Kolkota Port Trust here on Sunday remained uncertain on Thursday.

There was neither any confirmation nor denial on whether Banerjee would attend the programme, said a senior Trinamool Congress leader.

Shares of small-cap companies were in focus on Thursday with S&P BSE Smallcap index hitting a 6-month high on the back of strong rally in agri inputs, fertilizers, education, metals, textiles and real estate stocks.

Titagarh Wagons, Shakti Pumps, Aptech, BGR Energy, Jindal Saw, Tejas Networks, RSWM, Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals, Anant Raj Industries, Mishra Dhatu Nigam (Midhani), Gujarat State Fertilisers & Chemicals, Puravankara and NIIT have rallied by up to 20 per cent on the BSE.

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