Rupee jumps 50 paise to 72.50 against USD on easing crude prices
Mumbai, Nov 9: The rupee rose by 50 paise to end at 72.50 per US dollar Friday on increased selling of the greenback by exporters amid softening crude oil prices, which slipped below the USD 70 per barrel mark.
The dollar weakened following the US midterm election results, which showed Democrats wresting control of the House of Representatives from the ruling Republican party.
However, it later staged a recovery after the US Fed kept interest rates unchanged but indicated a hike next month.
Forex traders said the rupee's rise was supported by dollar-selling by exporters and banks, and the greenback's weakness against some currencies overseas.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the rupee opened on a firm note at 72.68 from Tuesday's close of 73.
It climbed to a high of 72.45, driven by dollar selling by exporters, but ceded some ground to finally end at 72.50, up 50 paise over its last close.
The rupee had rebounded by 12 paise to end at 73 per US dollar Tuesday. In the last two trading sessions, the rupee has gained 62 paise.
The forex market was closed on Wednesday and Thursday on account of 'Diwali' and 'Diwali Balipratipada' respectively.
Globally, Brent crude, the international benchmark, slipped below the USD 70 per barrel mark Friday before a weekend meeting of major oil producing nations in Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs), which had been selling on the Indian bourses, made fresh purchases worth Rs 31.02 crore Wednesday, as per provisional data.
The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 72.7347 and for rupee/euro at 82.5195. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 94.8737 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 63.84.
Meanwhile, domestic benchmark indices ended on a negative note after a choppy session Friday.
The 30-share Sensex fell 79.13 points, or 0.22 per cent, to close at 35,158.55, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 13.20 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 10,585.20.
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UK Professor Nitasha Kaul's Overseas Citizenship of India cancelled
Academician decries move as "transnational repression"
London/New Delhi: Professor Nitasha Kaul, a London-based academic, announced on May 18, 2025, via a social media post that her Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card has been cancelled by the Indian government. She described the move as a "bad faith, vindictive, cruel example of transnational repression" intended to punish her for her scholarly work critical of the Modi government's policies concerning minorities and democracy.
The cancellation follows an incident in February 2024 when Professor Kaul, who holds a British passport and held an OCI card, was denied entry into India upon arrival at Bengaluru airport. She had been invited by the then Congress-led Karnataka state government to speak at a conference on "The Constitution and Unity in India."
According to an image of the letter shared by Professor Kaul, the Indian government stated that it had been "brought to the notice of the Government of India that you have been found indulging in anti-India activities, motivated by malice and complete disregard for facts or history." The letter further accused her of regularly targeting India and its institutions on matters of India's sovereignty through "numerous inimical writings, speeches and journalistic activities at various international forums and on social media platforms."
Professor Kaul, who is a Professor of Politics, International Relations, and Critical Interdisciplinary Studies and the Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) at the University of Westminster, London, vehemently rejects these accusations. She stated she had provided a 20,000-word response to what she termed the government's "ridiculous inanity about ‘anti-India’," but the OCI was cancelled through a "rigged process."
In her social media posts, Professor Kaul lamented the decision, questioning how the "mother of democracy" could deny her access to her mother in India. She characterized the action as stemming from "thin-skinned, petty insecurity with no respect for well-intentioned dissent."
The February 2024 denial of entry had already sparked controversy. At the time, immigration officials reportedly cited "orders from Delhi" without providing formal reasons, though Professor Kaul mentioned informal references to her past criticism of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The Ministry of External Affairs had then responded by stating that the entry of foreign nationals into India is a "sovereign decision." Unofficial government sources had indicated that a "preventive lookout circular" was issued against her due to her alleged "pro-separatist" and "anti-India" stance on Kashmir.
The BJP in Karnataka had criticised the state government for inviting her, labelling her an "anti-India element." Conversely, the then-Karnataka government and various international human rights organizations and academic bodies had condemned the denial of entry.
Professor Kaul has been an outspoken commentator on Indian politics, including the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, and has testified before international bodies such as the US Congress on human rights in the region. She maintains her work is academic and pro-democracy, not anti-India.
The cancellation of her OCI card effectively bars her from entering India, a country to which she has personal and academic ties. This incident adds to a growing list of academics, journalists, and activists of Indian origin whose OCI status has been revoked or who have been denied entry to India in recent years, raising concerns about freedom of speech and dissent. Reports indicate that over 100 OCI cards were cancelled by the Indian government between 2014 and May 2023. Furthermore, in 2021, new rules were introduced requiring OCI cardholders to obtain special permission for activities such as research and journalism.
