HP rains: Death toll climbs to 74
Shimla (PTI): The death toll in rain-battered Himachal Pradesh rose to 74 as another body was pulled out of the rubble of a Shiva temple here and two more people killed in Chamba district, officials said on Thursday.
Twenty-one of these deaths were in the three major landslides in Shimla alone --at the Shiva temple in Summer Hill and in Fagli and Krishnanagar.
Eight persons are still feared buried in the temple debris.
On Wednesday, workers at the Summer Hill landslide site retrieved the body of P L Sharma, head of the Mathematics department at Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told PTI.
Two rain-related deaths were reported in Chamba district where a person fell from a height and another drowned, taking the death count over the past four days to 74, according to the state emergency operation centre.
The state recorded heavy rains for three days, beginning Sunday. After Tuesday, there has been less rain. There were light showers at some places on Thursday.
Since the onset of the monsoon on June 24, 217 persons have died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh.
Operations are on at the landslide sites in Shimla. So far, 14 bodies have been recovered from Summer Hill, five from Fagli and two from Krishnanagar, SP Gandhi said.
The Indian Army, Air Force and other rescue personnel evacuated 309 people from the flood-affected area in Kangra district's Fatehpur and Pong Dam in Indora.
Over the last three days, 2074 people have been evacuated from these areas.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday visited the rain and flood-affected areas of Matehdi, Baldwara, Maseran and Jukain of Sarkaghat assembly segment of Mandi district and met people there.
He assured them all possible support from the government.
Principal Secretary (Revenue) Onkar Chand Sharma said the losses in the monsoon season have touched 7,500 crore.
Schools were closed in Shimla city on Thursday.
Officials said 875 roads remain blocked in the state, and 1,135 transformers and 285 water supply schemes disrupted.
In an interview with PTI, Sukhu has said the state will take a year to rebuild the infrastructure damaged by the heavy rains this monsoon. He estimated that the loss in the two devastating spells of heavy rains - this week and in July - is about Rs 10,000 crore.
The chief minister said it takes time to rebuild roads and water projects. But the government is speeding up the process. "We have to get the infrastructure fully restored within a year. I am working with this in mind".
The state government on Thursday relaxed conditions for spending the MLA local area development fund.
The MLAs would now be able to use their fund of Rs 2.10 crore per year for projects like the construction of retaining walls and channelisation of nullahs.
Meanwhile, the Public Works Department Minister Vikramaditya Singh said the central government has approved Rs 2,643 crore for upgrading 254 roads in rural areas during the current financial year under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
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Rupee hits record low of 96.14/USD, settles at fresh closing low of 95.86/USD
Mumbai (PTI): The Indian rupee crashed below the 96/USD mark on Friday before closing at an all-time low of 95.86 (provisional) against the US dollar as elevated crude oil prices and inflation concerns added to the downside pressure on the rupee.
Rupee has registered over 6 per cent losses so far this year, and in the past six trading sessions, it has depreciated nearly 2 per cent as Iran war risk escalation pushed crude oil prices higher. The dollar index moved northwards after strong US retail sales and stable labour market data reduced expectations of aggressive Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Forex traders said global uncertainties, relatively high valuations, and the lack of AI-led investment opportunities have weighed on capital flows.
Moreover, weak net FDI inflows are likely to exert pressure on the balance of payments, while rising crude oil prices stoke inflation worries.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 95.86, then slumped to a record low of 96.14 in intraday trade, registering a fall of 50 paise from its previous close.
The USD/INR pair finally settled at 95.86 (provisional) against the US dollar, registering a fall of 22 paise from its previous close, helped by likely RBI intervention.
On Thursday, the rupee weakened to a fresh record low of 95.96 before closing with a marginal gain of 2 paise at 95.64 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 99.15, higher by 0.34 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading up 3.14 per cent at USD 109.04 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex fell 160.73 points to settle at 75,237.99, while Nifty declined 46.10 points to 23,643.50.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers, purchasing equities worth Rs 187.46 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the country's exports in April rose by 13.78 per cent to USD 43.56 billion despite global challenges, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Friday.
Imports grew 10 per cent year-on-year to USD 71.94 billion in April. The trade deficit during the month stood at USD 28.38 billion.
"We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on elevated crude oil prices and inflation concerns. Strong dollar and FII outflows may also weigh on the rupee. However, any intervention by the RBI and hiking of import duty on gold and silver may support the rupee at lower levels. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 95.60 to 96.20," said Anuj Choudhary, Research analyst at Mirae Asset ShareKhan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump on Friday hailed their talks as "historic" and "landmark", as the American leader wrapped up his three-day visit on a high note, but no deals on any contentious issues were announced.
Both Presidents, who held several rounds of talks covering a range of global issues, including the Iran war and bilateral trade frictions, concluded their discussions with a private meeting at Zhongnanhai, the well-guarded compound in Beijing where top leaders reside.
