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.

After a Delhi court fixed January 22 as the date for the hanging of all four convicts in 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape case, one of the convicts, Vinay Kumar Sharma has filed a curative petition before the Supreme Court.

The curative petition grants a second review of the death sentence upheld by the apex court.

Mahindra Renewables Private Limited (MRPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Mahindra Group (worth $20.7 billion) cleantech arm Mahindra Susten Private Ltd (MSPL) is planning to invest around $171 million to set up a 250 mega watt (MW) solar power project in Rajasthan. The project will be backed by International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The proposed project will consume around 1200 acres (486 hectares) at Bhiv ji ka gaon Village in Bap Tehsil, Jodhpur District in Rajasthan.

The Shiv Sena on Thursday hit out at BJP leader and former CM Devendra Fadnavis for targeting Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over the Free Kashmir placard displayed by a woman at a protest in Mumbai against the JNU violence.

When Mehek Prabhu, a Marathi woman from Mumbai stood up for the pain of Kashmiris by holding the placard, the opposition termed it as "sedition, the Shiv Sena said, adding that there cannot be a dirtier example of irresponsibility.

Shares of real estate companies advanced at the bourses on Thursday, gaining up to 6 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), after the State Bank of India (SBI) launched a Residential Builder Finance with Buyer Guarantee (RBBG) scheme to safeguard home buyers financially.

Sunteck Realty, Indiabulls Real Estate, DLF and Oberoi Realty were up more than 2 per cent each on the NSE in the intra-day trade today. Meanwhile, Sobha, Mahindra Lifespace Developers, and Godrej Properties gained in the range of 1 to 2 per cent.

The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives will vote Thursday to prevent President Donald Trump from waging war with Iran after he ordered the killing of a top general, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Pelosi said that the Democrats will move forward because their concerns were not addressed in a closed-door briefing to lawmakers Wednesday by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other top officials.

Shares of Bharti Airtel were up 3 per cent to Rs 474 on the BSE on Thursday after the company launched its $2 billion (Rs 14,350 crore) equity issuance to institutional investors. It has fixed floor price of Rs 452.09 for qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue. The stock has rallied 6 per cent in the past two trading days on the QIP buzz.

SoftBank Group Corp is in talks to sell a majority stake in its renewable energy joint venture in India as it looks to raise cash after facing setbacks to its global investments, India's Economic Times daily reported on Thursday.

As part of the move, the Japanese technology and investment giant has been in talks with sovereign wealth and pension funds from the Far East and Gulf regions, as well as some Silicon Valley technology giants, the report said, citing people in the know of the matter.

No Americans were harmed in missile attack by Iran on two US bases in Iraq, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday.

Over a dozen missiles were launched in the early hours of Wednesday targeting at least two Iraqi military bases hosting US military and coalition personnel at Al-Assad and Irbil, in Iraq. The strike was launched in retaliation to the killing of its top military commander Major General Qassem Soleimani.

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