Rupee falls 8 paise to 90.98 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 8 paise to 90.98 against the American currency in early trade on Tuesday, as strong dollar demand from metal importers and persistent foreign fund outflows dented investor sentiment.
Forex traders said rising geopolitical uncertainty, including renewed US expansionary signals, has increased risk aversion and kept emerging market currencies under pressure.
Moreover, a sluggish domestic stock market triggered by an exodus of foreign capital, they said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.91 and lost ground to trade at 90.98 against the greenback, down 8 paise from its previous close.
ALSO READ: Rupee strengthens past 90/USD level in early trade
On Monday, the rupee depreciated by 12 paise to close at 90.90 against the greenback, a tad above its record low closing level. On December 16, 2025, the rupee reached its lowest intra-day level of 91.14 and its lowest closing level of 90.93 against the American currency.
"The US Supreme Court will be giving a decision on the legality of the Trump Tariffs, which will affect the world markets directly. Presently, all the markets are in risk-off mode with Gold and Silver getting bought as safe havens," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.44 per cent lower at 98.95.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.11 per cent higher at USD 64.01 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 311.33 points to 82,934.85 in early trade, and the Nifty dropped 99.5 points to 25,486.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 3,262.82 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
"Foreign investors have withdrawn more than USD 3 billion from Indian equities so far in January, and the steady outflow has made the rupee increasingly sensitive to even modest dollar demand. With capital moving out, stability becomes harder to defend," CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said.
Pabari further noted that the ongoing global uncertainty, combined with a sustained break above 91.07, could pave the way for a move toward the 91.70–92.00 zone, unless offset by active intervention from the RBI. On the downside, any corrective move is likely to find initial support in the 90.30–90.50 range.
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Man booked for duping firm of Rs 6 cr by posing as Infosys CSR official
Bengaluru (PTI): An FIR has been registered against a man and his accomplices for allegedly cheating a firm of Rs 6 crore by falsely claiming to be associated with an IT company and promising to facilitate CSR funds for its projects, police said on Friday.
The crime is said to have taken place between September 1, 2025 and March 20, 2026, and after consultation with legal experts the company decided to file a complaint at the Devanahalli police station here, they said.
The FIR was registered on March 30 following a complaint by Mysore Mercantile Company, alleging that a person named Gagan N Deep approached them, posing as the Regional Head (CSR) at Infosys Ltd, they said.
According to the FIR, Deep claimed he reported to senior officials - Harsh J, Senior Regional Manager - Infrastructure, Facilities Operation, Public Relations and CSR Works, and Niladri Prasad Mishra, Senior Vice President and Head - Global Infrastructure and Climate Action.
The FIR alleged that the accused expressed interest in the activities of their associated trust, Heggunje Rajeeva Shetty Charitable Trust, Bangalore, and assured facilitation of CSR funds from Infosys Ltd.
It further stated that the accused sent a team of four to five individuals representing Infosys, including persons identified as Chethan and Tejas, to Udupi, Mangaluru and other places to verify the trust’s activities.
According to the complaint, the accused subsequently induced the complainant to pay an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to alleged regular vendors of Infosys as a condition for approval of CSR grants.
The complainant stated that a total amount of Rs 6 crore was paid, including Rs 1.75 crore through demand drafts in favour of Anitha Ventures and Rs 3.75 crore through demand drafts in favour of ANS Engineerings, apart from an additional cash payment of Rs 30 lakh allegedly handed over to the accused through his driver near Nandi Upachar Hotel in Devanahalli, as per his instructions.
The FIR further alleged that the accused issued a purported sanction letter dated October 21, 2025, allegedly from Infosys bearing the signature of Mishra, and executed a grant agreement dated January 8, 2026 between Infosys and the charitable trust for the construction of more than 855 houses across Karnataka with a total grant of Rs 179 crore.
Another grant agreement dated January 13, 2026 was also executed for construction of primary health care centres across the state with a total grant of Rs 178 crore, it stated.
However, the complainant later suspected that the representations made by the accused were false, the documents were fabricated, and the entire transaction was fraudulent in nature, as the accused dishonestly induced them to part with substantial amounts under the pretext of EMD for CSR grants.
"Despite repeated follow-ups neither has any grant materialised nor have the amounts been returned, and the accused is now unresponsive and deliberately avoiding communication," the FIR added.
A case has been registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), Section 319(2) (cheating by personation), Section 336(3) (forgery for the purpose of cheating), police said, adding that further investigation into the matter is underway.
Efforts are being made to nab the suspects in the case, they added.
