Mumbai, Nov 28: The Khar Police have registered an FIR against director, producer and writer Kaval Sharma for allegedly cheating actress Kiran Ahuja of Rs 71.50 lakh under the pretext of investing in movies and web series.

According to the FIR, Ahuja, 57, who resides in Khar West, has worked in the film Ready as well as various advertisements. In 2016, she was introduced to Sharma, 69, from Juhu through a friend.

The actress said that he told her he ran a company, Film Farming Entertainment Network India, based in Andheri and even offered her a role in a play, but she declined.

Seven years later, both of them met at an event and Sharma again proposed to work together, while offering her good returns upon an investment of Rs 3 lakh in a play, said the FIR, adding that Ahuja declined again.

In August 2024, Sharma allegedly contacted her and claimed that his production house was planning to produce a web series Luck by Exchange and a film. He apparently told the actress that if she invested Rs 60–70 lakh, she would earn Rs 1 crore. Ahuja said that she accepted the offer this time as Sharma was ready to accept money in instalments.

Mumbai, Nov 29: The Indian equity benchmarks made marginal gains for the third consecutive week, supported by positive global cues, robust domestic inflows and strong Q2 earnings.

Benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex edged higher 0.34 and 0.52 per cent this week to close at 26,202 and 85,706, respectively.

Analysts said that global cues remained supportive, aided by softer US yields, renewed expectations of a Fed rate cut, and benign crude prices that helped temper inflation concerns.

Broader indices underperformed, with the Nifty Midcap100 and Smallcap100 ending the week down 0.11 per cent and 0.10 per cent respectively.

Gains during the week were led by pharma, PSU banks, media, and IT, while realty, consumer durables, and oil & gas lagged behind.

Indian equities navigated a highly eventful week characterised by alternating phases of volatility, resilience and profit booking, finally closing the week on a positive note.

Nifty reached an intra-day low of 25,842 before bouncing back and making a high of 26,310 on the last day of trading week.

Bharat K Gala, President, Technical Head, Ventura, said that key corrective zones traders should watch out for is the support zone at 25,851–25,566. A breach of this level can take the index to 25,337 and further to 25,107–24,780 zone.

Domestically, the stronger-than-expected Q2 GDP print, driven by resilient manufacturing, solid construction activity, and healthy private consumption, is set to support sentiment in the near term, market watchers said.

With robust GDP momentum and improving credit growth providing a solid backdrop for earnings acceleration in H2, the medium-term outlook remains positive, they added.

Investors look for cues next week from a critical lineup of macro data, including India and US PMI releases, US core PCE inflation and the RBI’s policy decision.

New Delhi, Nov 28: The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from the Centre and the Haryana government on a petition highlighting the alleged humiliation of three female sanitation workers at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) in Rohtak, who were reportedly forced to furnish photographic proof of menstruation to their supervisors.

A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan issued notice on the writ petition filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) under Article 32 of the Constitution.

The matter, now scheduled for hearing on December 15, raises concerns about protecting women’s rights to health, dignity, privacy, and bodily autonomy in workplaces and educational institutions during menstruation or related gynaecological issues.

The plea stems from an incident reported on October 26, when the three sanitation workers — called in on a Sunday due to the visit of the Haryana Governor — were allegedly “verbally abused, humiliated and pressured” by supervisors hired through the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam Limited.

According to the petition, the supervisors “demanded photographic proof from the workers by asking them to send photos of their sanitary pads”.

During the hearing, Justice Nagarathna-led Bench remarked that the episode reflected “a mindset” that was deeply troubling.

“In Karnataka, they are giving period leave. After reading this, I thought — will they ask for proof for giving the leave?” observed Justice Nagarathna.

“This shows the mentality of the person. If some heavy work could not be done because of their absence, somebody else could have been deployed,” the apex court added, expressing hope that “something good will happen in this petition”.

Following the incident, the MDU had suspended the two supervisors and initiated an internal inquiry. The Haryana State Commission for Women also took suo motu cognisance and sought reports from the varsity administration and the Rohtak police.

The Assistant Registrar and the two supervisors were subsequently booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to assault and outraging the modesty of a woman.

Calling the episode “disturbing”, the SCBA in its petition said such acts amounted to a violation of the women’s fundamental right to life, dignity, privacy and bodily integrity under Article 21.

The plea also referred to similar instances of “period-shaming” and invasive checks in schools and workplaces over the years, including a 2017 case where 70 girls in Uttar Pradesh were allegedly stripped naked to check for menstrual blood, and a 2020 incident in Gujarat where 68 college students were asked to remove their underwear for inspection.

Filed through advocate Pragya Baghel, the petition has sought directions to the Centre and the Haryana government to conduct a detailed inquiry into the Rohtak incident and issue nationwide guidelines “to ensure that the right to health, dignity, bodily autonomy and privacy of women and girls is not violated when they are going through menstruation and related gynaecological issues at workplaces and educational institutions”.