Equity benchmarks buckled under selling pressure for the third session on the trot on Thursday as bearish global cues and a disappointing market debut for Paytm unnerved investors.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 372.32 points or 0.62 per cent to finish at 59,636.01. Similarly, the NSE Nifty dived 133.85 points or 0.75 per cent to 17,764.80.

The price of ten gram of 24-carat gold on Friday decreased by Rs 370 to Rs 49,100 from Thursday's trading price. The price of silver decreased by Rs 100 per kg to Rs 66,300, according to goodreturns.in.

In Delhi, the rate of 24-carat gold stands at Rs 52,420 and in Mumbai it is Rs 49,100. The prices of ten gram of 22-carat gold in Delhi and Mumbai are Rs 48,050 and Rs 48,100.

Even though Vijay Shekhar Sharma-owned Paytm is India’s biggest digital payments platform, the feat wasn’t enough to please Street investors. Shares of One97 Communications, parent firm of Paytm, listed at a nine per cent discount on the bourses on Thursday, debuting at Rs 1,955 per share. Soon after, the shares crashed 27 per cent against the issue price of Rs 2,150 and hit an intra-day low of Rs 1,564 apiece. It must be remembered that the company’s Rs 18,300-crore offering, the biggest-ever in the domestic capital markets, had managed to sail through only on the last day of the offer.

Delhi-NCR's air quality is likely to improve on Saturday and Sunday owing to relatively strong winds and will settle down at the lower end of the 'very poor' and 'poor' categories, authorities said on Friday.

In a statement, the air quality early warning system for Delhi of the Ministry of Earth Sciences said: "The air quality over Delhi-NCT is likely to remain in 'very poor' category today (Friday), but is likely to improve and reach in the lower end of 'Very Poor' category on Saturday.

Responding to as many as 17 petitions related to interfaith marriages, the Allahabad High Court has asked the Central government to consider setting up a panel for implementing the mandate of Article 44, which says that the state shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) throughout the territory of India.

The court directed marriage registrar or officer of petitioners' districts to immediately register the marriage of the petitioners without insisting or awaiting approval of the competent district authority with regard to conversion of faith.

Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has hit out at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on the alleged incident of two police officers physically assaulting the Additional District Judge in Madhubani, and accused him of beating up the judges in the court.

"After the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar beat up the honourable MLAs and journalists from the Bihar Police i.e. JDU Police inside the Vidhan Sabha House, the police are now beating up the judges in the judges' chamber in the court. What more Mangalraj do you want from a well-governed NDA government?" Yadav tweeted on Thursday.

Three farm laws brought in last year to liberalise India’s agriculture markets, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, urging protesters to return to their home.

The constitutional process to withdraw the laws will be completed within a month. "Our government is committed to farmers' welfare, especially small farmers. We are committed to serve them fully. We brought in farm laws with good intentions," he said.

In wake of air pollution, all government and private schools, colleges and educational institutions in Delhi-NCR including Gurugram will remain closed till further orders.

The move came after the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and adjoining Areas (CAQM) issued an order on Tuesday.

Market regulator Sebi wants IPO advertisements to display risk factors prominently. Also, Sebi wants the acquisition cost of all transactions in three years prior to the listing to be a part of the risk factors.

The risk to investors shall include weighted average cost of acquisition of all shares transacted in last three years and one year, from the date of red herring prospectus, Sebi has said in a communication to investment banking industry body AIBI.

With 11,919 fresh cases, India's COVID-19 tally has climbed to 3,44,78,517, while the number of active cases has gone up to 1,28,762, the Union health ministry said on Thursday.

The death toll due to the viral disease has shot up to 4,64,623 with 470 more fatalities, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am.

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