Opposition parties urge President to intervene in NRC issue
New Delhi, Aug 9 : A delegation of opposition parties on Thursday met President Ram Nath Kovind and urged him to ensure that no Indian citizen is left out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.
In a memorandum submitted to the President, the opposition parties accused the BJP-led Central government of "deliberately attempting to undermine the nation's democratic and secular values".
"The aftermath of the NRC 2018 is one example of the ruling dispensation threatening and attempting to ruin the nation's great Institutions like the Constitution, the Parliament, the judiciary and the media.
"As the custodian of these great institutions, we appeal and urge upon you to ensure that not a single Indian citizen is excluded from the NRC list in Assam," it said.
Among other leaders in the delegation were former Prime Minister and JD(S) leader H.D. Deve Gowda, Anand Sharma from Congress, Farooq Abdullah from National Conference and Ram Gopal Yadav from Samajwadi Party.
The memorandum said the NRC had resulted in the exclusion of over 40 lakh Indian citizens including Bengalis, Assamese, Rajasthanis, Marwaris, Biharis, Gorkhas, Punjabis, many tribals and Indian citizens from the four southern states who are residents of Assam for a very long time.
"This NRC list has not even spared excluding some brave soldiers, ex-Rashtrapati-Ji's families, a former Chief Minister and other elected representatives, prominent members of civil society as well as the poor and marginalised," it said.
"Serious anomalies in the preparation of the list have torn several families apart, destroying our social fabric," it added.
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Rupee hits all-time low for second time in a week
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 31 paise to settle at 91.99 against the US dollar on Wednesday, touching the lowest closing level for the second time in less than a week, amid increased month-end demand for the greenback.
Forex traders said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe offered quiet reassurance. However, increased month-end demand for the American currency as well as the ongoing geopolitical tensions dented investors' sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.60 and touched an early high of 91.50, but pared all the gains to touch an intra-day low of 91.99 against the greenback.
The domestic unit settled 31 paise down, revisiting its lowest-ever closing level of 91.99 against the greenback. The Indian currency previously ended at this level on January 23 when it also hit its all-time intraday low of 92 against the US dollar.
On Tuesday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low levels and gained 22 paise to close at 91.68 against the US dollar.
Analysts said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe bolstered investor sentiment.
India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), under which a number of domestic sectors such as apparel, chemicals and footwear will get duty-free entry into the 27-nation bloc, while the EU will get access to the Indian market at concessional duty for cars and wines, an official said.
The deal has been dubbed the "mother of all deals" as it will create a market of about 2 billion people.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 96.14.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.43 per cent lower at USD 67.28 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 487.20 points to settle at 82,344.68, while Nifty surged 167.35 points to 25,342.75.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
