Civility a rare virtue in Indian politics, says Tharoor after Defence Min visits him in hospital
Thiruvananthapuram: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Tuesday called on Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who is in hospital after suffering head injuries while performing a ritual at a temple here.
Tharoor, the Thiruvananthapuram MP and party candidate in the April 23 Lok Sabha polls, was injured when the hook of a weighing scale came off and its iron panel hit his head during the "Thulabharam" ritual.
He was admitted to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical college hospital Monday, and is expected to be discharged later Tuesday.
The former union minister later tweeted, "Touched by the gesture of @nsitharaman, who dropped by today morning to visit me in the hospital, amid her hectic electioneering in Kerala.Civility is a rare virtue in Indian politics - great to see her practice it by example!".
'Thulabharam' is a Hindu ritual in which a person is weighed against a commodity such as flowers, grains, fruits and similar articles in temples and the equal value or quantity is offered as donation.
Monday being the Malayalam new year day ('Vishu'), Tharoor performed the ritual by offering sugar equal to his weight in the morning before embarking on his poll campaign.
Sitharaman had reached Kerala Monday night and held a road show at Thiruvananthapuram along with BJP candidate Kummanam Rajashekaran along the coastal stretch, besides addressing a campaign meeting at Attingal for Shobha Surendran.
C Divakaran, the CPI and left front candidate, who is opposing Tharoor, also visited him at the hospital.
"Very gracious of my LDF rival C Divakaran to call this morning to express concern about my well-being.Said he had spoken to the Hospital Superintendent to assure himself I would be ok," Tharoor said.
Divakaran asked Tharoor not to be demoralised,.
"I'm not: I'm more determined than ever to see this through!," Tharoor said.
The Thiruvananthapuram constituency is witnessing a fierce triangular fight among the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF, Opposition Congress-led UDF and BJP-led NDA.
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Rupee falls 20 paise to 95.43 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 20 paise to 95.43 against US dollar in early trade on Tuesday as market sentiments remained fragile after renewed military exchanges between US and Iranian forces in the Gulf region.
Forex traders said investor anxiety due to instability in the Gulf is causing massive capital flight into safe-haven assets, with the US dollar acting as the primary beneficiary.
Moreover, Brent oil prices is hovering near USD 113 per barrel, maintaining pressure on oil-importing economies like India.
At the interbank foreign exchange market the rupee opened at 95.30 then lost ground to touch 95.43 against the US dollar, in initial trade, registering a fall of 20 paise over its previous close.
Rupee fell 39 paise to close at an all-time low of 95.23 against the US dollar on Monday.
"With oil boiling rupee on Monday fell to a closing low of 95.0875 and this morning the opening was still lower as it becomes more and more vulnerable when dollar index rises due to safe-haven buying and oil prices rise due to the continuous fighting in the Gulf Region," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
The higher oil prices will keep rupee sold off against the dollar as oil companies and FPIs intensify dollar buying, Bhansali added.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 98.51, up 0.15 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 1.07 per cent at USD 113.22 per barrel in futures trade.
"Market sentiments remained fragile after renewed military exchanges between US and Iranian forces when Iranian forces launched fresh attacks in the Gulf as both sides sought to assert control over the strategic waterway," Bhansali said.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 361.62 points to 76,907.78 in early trade, while the Nifty dropped 134.90 points to 23,980.60.
Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth Rs 2,835.62 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
