Rupee rises 49 paise to 89.17 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee rebounded on Monday from record lows, rising 49 paise to 89.17 against the greenback in early trade on US dollar selling by banks and a dip in global crude oil prices.
A positive opening in the domestic equity markets and intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lent support to the domestic unit, according to forex traders.
The rupee opened at 89.46 against the greenback before rising to 89.17, up 49 paise from its previous close.
The rupee plunged 98 paise to close at its lifetime low of 89.66 against the US dollar on Friday, due to a huge demand for the greenback in the domestic forex market amid widespread selling pressure in local and global equities and trade-related uncertainties.
In the steepest fall in over three years, the domestic currency nosedived 98 paise to finally settle at 89.66 against the American currency.
The previous biggest one-day fall was recorded at 99 paise against the dollar on February 24, 2022.
"Most traders believe that rupee may not cross 90 as it may remain protected for a few more weeks and expect a positive (India-US) trade deal outcome by December-end. The market is bracing for more weakness after the rupee slid to a record low on Friday," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
In the absence of a trade deal, the 90-mark doesn't seem quite distant now, he added.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was marginally up by 0.01 per cent at 100.18.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.10 per cent lower at USD 62.50 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex climbed 218.44 points to 85,450.36 in early trade while Nifty was up 69.4 points to 26,137.55.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 1,766.05 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
India's forex reserves jumped USD 5.543 billion to USD 692.576 billion during the week ended November 14 due to a steep increase in the value of gold reserves, the RBI said on Friday.
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
