After selling dollars for the past few months, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may take a hands-off approach before its annual account closing by not trying to prop up the rupee as geopolitical tensions show signs of stabilising with global crude oil prices easing from its $140 peak. The central bank was a net buyer of dollars between April and September, and then turned a net seller in the following months, the data released by the RBI showed. The RBI continued to be a net buyer of $36.6 billion in this fiscal year - between April and January. In 2020-21, it purchased $68 billion on a net basis.
Arshad Nadeem's home village erupted into rapturous celebrations after he clinched Pakistan's first Olympic medal in athletics
India's rupee is likely to remain under pressure due to high prices of crude oil and other commodities, and may stabilise at around 79-80 against the US dollar in the near term, say experts amid limited headroom available with the Reserve Bank to check the weakening of the domestic currency. The currency has slumped over 5 per cent this year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent international crude oil prices soaring to a decade high. On Monday, rupee ended at a fresh all-time low of 78.34 (provisional) against the US dollar.
Investors are anxious over the US-China trade tension, a sharp devaluation in yuan and uncertainty over Kashmir issue.
The sudden movement of the rupee - post the monetary policy - is not a reason to panic, said currency dealers. According to them, a correction was overdue for the rupee that remained the best performing currency in the region for well over a month. The rupee closed at 74.72 a dollar on Friday from its previous close of 74.60. It had dropped 1.52 per cent against the dollar on April 7 after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced its monetary policy, committing to buy Rs 1 trillion of bonds in the June quarter. A weak rupee goes well with the export narrative of the government, and is consistent with the RBI's intervention strategy that prevented an appreciation.
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Airfares on major domestic routes such as Kolkata-Bagdogra, Delhi-Bengaluru, and Delhi-Mumbai have witnessed an increase of up to 12.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in May this year, according to data by Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel. The recent increase in aviation turbine fuel prices, rupee depreciation, reduction of flights by key players, and grounding of planes due to engine supply issues have contributed to the rise in airfares, said aviation industry experts. However, the data also shows that summer airfares on key routes such as Delhi-Leh and Delhi-Kolkata have significantly decreased due to the introduction of new flights.
The CISF, tasked with providing security at airports, has also ordered a court of inquiry into the incident.
'With our focus and strategy we can solve at least 20 per cent per cent of India's education problems.'
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'We had been deceived by the clouds, taken to the brink of death, but saved by the Almighty.'
The RBI refuses to classify a cryptocurrency as an asset since it doesn't have future cash flow and its value is always fluctuating because of speculation. There is also no consumer protection, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay, and hence the e-rupee trial run.
Rescue teams on Friday used GPS coordinates from aerial drone pictures and cell phones, including the last location of people who lived in the landslides-hit areas of Wayanad to help locate survivors, amidst accelerated search operations after the completion of the 190-foot-long Bailey bridge by the Army.
'What's sad today is that there are so many people who cannot find work, not because the country is devoid of that opportunity, but because we are not doing enough in the country.'
'Generating employment requires a shift in policy.' 'If not, the country will face economic, social and political challenges in the coming years.'
Ravichandran Ashwin has taken criticism on the chin and has responded with a bagful of wickets, refusing to let that 'outside noise' disturb the equilibrium of his mind.
The representation of women in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls continues to remain dismally low, as only about 12 percent of the candidates in the fray in the fifth phase are female, according to an analysis by poll rights body ADR.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its approval to two Russian banks for opening special vostro account for rupee trade. Sberbank, JSC VTB - the largest and second largest bank of Russia - are the first foreign lenders to receive this approval after the central bank announced the norms on INR trade in July. Both lenders have branch presence in India. Earlier this month, state-run UCO Bank received the RBI's approval to open a special Vostro account with Gazprombank of Russia. While the Kolkata-based lender is in the process of opening the account, the bank has received requests from various foreign lenders for opening such an account.
The agency had alleged in its earlier charge sheets that at least 36 accused, including former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Kumar, "destroyed, used or changed" 170 phones to conceal evidence of "kickbacks" worth thousands of crores of rupees in the alleged scam.
Some of the top cricketers are contemplating terminating their central contracts with the Pakistan Cricket Board after some were refused NOCs to go and play in foreign T20 leagues.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in the Delhi liquor policy case, on Thursday alleged that the 'actual' excise scam started after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe and not when the policy was made and that the agency's 'two main motives' were to crush his Aam Aadmi Party and to declare it corrupt.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on Tuesday that India's general government debt (comprising both central and state government debt) could exceed 100 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the medium term. It also cautioned that long-term debt sustainability risks are high due to the significant investment required to meet India's climate change mitigation targets. The Indian government, however, disagreed, arguing that risks from sovereign debt are extremely limited as it is predominantly denominated in domestic currency.
TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu consistently emphasises, among others, the issue during his campaign, alleging that the state has been supplying poor quality liquor while profiting immensely from 'inflated' prices, running to thousands of crores of rupees.
'We used to get Rs 250 for a Test match, and if the match was over in 4 days, 50 rupees were cut.'
The Sittwe deal is more significant than Chabahar in Iran, where India has rights to operate only two terminals and not the port itself.
The Chinese currency too is expected to continue its fall.
The Indian rupee is down nearly 2 per cent against the US dollar since the beginning of January 2019. Experts attribute the Indian rupee's relatively poor performance to a sharper-than-expected fall in economic growth in India.
'It is time to allow the rupee to move towards its true value, as it is hurting Indian exports, investment and SMEs associated with export sectors that create jobs,' argues Pravakar Sahoo.
The broader NSE Nifty after shuttling between 10,451.90 and 10,595.75 finally ended 100.30 points, or 0.96 per cent, higher at 10,582.50.
A weak rupee, though seemingly good for exporters, would push up input cost further for Indian companies.
On a relative worldwide scale of 0-100, the search value index of the rupee stood at 100 in August so far.
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday accused him of lowering the dignity of public discourse and the gravity of the office of the PM by giving "hateful speeches" during the poll campaign.
'Global investors expect the rupee to be more vulnerable in the downturns in the future than ever before,' notes Apoorva Javadekar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the people have given his government a mandate for stability and continuity for the third consecutive term after seeing its work of 10 years and accused the Congress of trying to build a narrative that it has defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha polls.
'The question often being asked is whether the demand for petrol and diesel is price inelastic?' asks Arun Balakrishnan, former chairman and managing director, Hindustan Petroleum.
India now has three companies in the global top 100 list in terms of market value: Reliance Industries (RIL) ranks 72, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is at 86 and HDFC Bank at 99.
In a poor village of daily wage earners in Siwan, Bihar, people speak about their hard lives and why they vote.
The dollar was weak against major world currencies.
The partially convertible rupee was trading at 65.87/88 per dollar.
The rupee has depreciated by about 25 per cent in the past three months, from close to Rs 83 in mid-May, while it was even higher at about Rs 80 against the British Pound in March.
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