The annual growth in all-India housing price index (HPI) continued to moderate and stood at 2.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2019-20 (Q2FY20) as against 3.4 per cent in the previous quarter and 5.7 per cent a year ago.

The index is based on transaction-level data received from housing registration authorities in 10 major cities — Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai.

A Kazakhstan plane with 100 people aboard crashed shortly after takeoff early Friday, killing at least 14 people while at least 35 others survived with injuries, officials in Almaty said.

The Bek Air aircraft hit a concrete fence and a two-story building after takeoff from Almaty International Airport. It said the plane lost attitude at 7:22 a.m. (0122 GMT).

The railways may cut freight rates in a bid to boost economic growth, besides rationalising passenger fares. While Railway Board Chairman V K Yadav refused to say if passenger fares would see an increase, he hinted that freight rates might be reduced.

We are going to rationalise the fares and freight rates. Something is being thought about. I cannot divulge more as this is a sensitive subject. While freight fares are already high, our target is to draw more traffic from road to railways in this regard, Yadav said on Thursday.

Shares of HG Infra Engineering jumped over 10 per cent to Rs 269 apiece on the BSE on Friday, a day after the company said it has bagged a highway project worth Rs 522 crore in Haryana from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

At 10:44 am, the stock was trading over 6 per cent higher at Rs 259. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading 267 points or 0.65 per cent higher at Rs 41,431 levels.

Public sector banks (PSBs) were in focus on Friday, with Nifty PSU Bank index gaining more than 3 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), on expectation that the banks would benefit from lower yields on government bonds.

At 10:45 am, Nifty PSU Bank index was trading as the top gainer among key sectoral indices, and was up 3.2 per cent, as compared to a 0.64 per cent rise in the benchmark Nifty50 index.

Shares of ICICI Securities climbed 14 per cent to hit a 52-week high of Rs 415.15 on the BSE on Friday amid expectation of earnings improvement going forward.

The counter has seen huge activities with trading volumes rose more than two-fold today. A combined 766,750 equity shares had changed hands on the NSE and BSE till 10:14 am. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.46 per cent at 41,354 points.

Making bus rides free for everyone and ensuring cleanliness in Delhi will be among the top agendas of the AAP if it is re-elected to power in the upcoming assembly elections, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday. Kejriwal also promised installation of water and sewer pipelines, advanced drainage system, construction of roads, and ‘mohalla’ clinics in all the unauthorised colonies of the city.

Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged the students community to remain united and continue their agitation against National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Banerjee was speaking at a party rally from Rajabazar to Mullick bazar on Thursday.

In wake of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the Uttar Pradesh administration has imposed Section 144 in the entire state as a preventive measure. Under the section, assembly of four or more people in an area is prohibited.

Internet services in several districts have also been suspended to curb the spread of fake information through social media. The affected districts include Bulandshahar, Agra, Sambhal, Bijnor, Saharanpur, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, Firozabad, Mathura, Shamli, and Aligarh.

Shares of Allahabad Bank bounced 10.98 per cent to Rs 19.70 per share on the BSE on Friday after the state-owned bank said the President has sanctioned fresh capital infusion of Rs 2,153 crore, to be released during the current financial year of 2019-20.

The President has sanctioned the release of fresh capital infusion fund of Rs 2,153 crore towards contribution of the Central Government in the preferential allotment of equity shares of the bank during the financial year 2019-20, as Government's investment, the bank said in an exchange filing, post-market hours, on Thursday.

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