Nifty Bank index held its gains above the crucial 32,000-mark, and hit a record high of 32,186.95 in the opening deals on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on expectations that ArcelorMittal could complete payment worth Rs 42,000-crore in the Essar Steel case to the lenders. For the world's largest steel maker, the timeline of one month for the full payment ends on Monday.

The Income Tax Department has issued as much as Rs 1.57 trillion of income tax refunds in the first eight-and-a-half-months of the current fiscal compared to Rs 1.23 trillion in full 2018-19 fiscal, Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said Friday.

At a press conference called to disclose impact of steps taken to boost consumption in the economy so as to uplift growth from a six-year low, Pandey said tax refund cases have gone up by 17 per cent to 2.16 crore.

In a historic move, the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly on Friday passed AP Disha Act 2019 to protect women and children in sexual offences cases by providing speedy investigation and justice to victims.

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy said the Nirbhaya case and the recent Disha case have compelled the need for AP Disha Act which has many salient features.

Tamil Nadu has overtaken Karnataka to become India's top renewable power generating state in FY20 (till October).

Of the total renewable power generation in the country, nearly 17.2 per cent was from Tamil Nadu. According to Central Electricity Authority (CEA) data in 2019-20 (upto October) 85,774.92 million units (MU) of power was generated through renewable energy, of which 14,771.69 MU was generated by Tamil Nadu followed by Karnataka (14,730.08 MU), Gujarat (10,505.54), Andhra Pradesh (9,638.70), Maharashtra (8,942.55) and Telangana (3794.99 ).

India's market for initial public offerings is expected to gather pace in 2020 after this year's relatively small crop saw strong gains in the stock market.

The 14 mainboard IPOs this year have risen by an average of more than 50% since listing, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Shares of Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) hit an all-time high of Rs 2,363, up 2 per cent on the BSE on Friday after the company completed the acquisition of HDFC Credila Financial Services. The stock surpassed has its previous high of Rs 2,357 hit on July 18, 2019.

"The Corporation has completed acquisition of 11.47 million equity shares, representing 9.12 per cent of total equity of HDFC Credila for a total consideration of Rs 395 crore, from its promoter Ajay Bohora and Anil Bohora," HDFC said in a regulatory filing.

Shares of Tata Motors surged 6 per cent to Rs 184, an over six-month high level, in intra-day trade on Friday on the back of heavy volumes. The automobile major's stock has gained 14 per cent in the past two trading days on the BSE. It was trading at its highest level since May 28, 2019.

At 10:56 am, Tata Motors had erased its early morning gain and was trading 4 per cent higher at Rs 180 on the BSE. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.83 per cent at 40,916 points.

The Supreme Court on Friday declined to pass any order on the pleas by two women activists seeking a direction to the Kerala government to ensure safe entry of women in the Sabarimala temple under police protection.

The top court said the issue was very emotive and it did not want the situation to become explosive.

Banking counters such as IDBI Bank, State Bank of India (SBI), YES Bank, and ICICI Bank, were trading higher on Friday after reports suggested that the government is considering increasing the government bond investment limit of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to at least 10 per cent of the outstanding, from 6 per cent now, with an aim to incorporate local bonds into global bond indices.

According to a Business Standard report, the central bank, however, wants the government to go slow and first check how the currency risk is covered from the issuer perspective, before increasing the limits further.

The hearing in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case will be conducted in Delhi's Patiala Court on Friday with the four convicts appearing via video conferencing. The decision was taken citing security reasons and a threat to their lives by the enraged public over the rise in the number of rape incidents in the country. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 AM.

Currently, the court is hearing a plea filed by the victim's parents seeking execution of all the convicts to be expedited. Counsel for Nirbhaya's parents, Seema Kushwaha, had sought issuance of death warrant against them without any delay.

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