If Dolly Chaiwala were from Mangaluru, his stall would’ve been demolished: Actor Raj B Shetty
Mangaluru: Actor and director Raj B Shetty has criticised the BJP-led Mangaluru City Corporation’s ‘Tiger Operation’ targeting street vendors. In an Instagram story, he remarked that if Dolly Chaiwala were a street vendor in Mangaluru, his stall too would’ve been demolished.
The statement came after the City Corporation organised a five-day ‘Mangaluru Street Food Fiesta’ near Lady Hill Circle, a location where stalls were previously demolished for causing traffic congestion and encroachments. The irony of holding such an event while evicting local vendors has drawn sharp criticism.
The festival, running from January 18 to 22, featured Dolly Chaiwala from Mumbai as a special participant, sparking protests from activists. On the event’s opening day, the presence of Dolly Chaiwala triggered debates on social media, with many calling out the administration's double standards.
In his Instagram post, Raj B Shetty stated, “Dolly Chaiwala a street tea seller was celebrated in Mangalore. The same city buldozed street food vendors few months ago. Glad that Dolly is not from Mangalore If he was here we would have buldozed.”
Street vendors and activists have criticised the BJP-led administration for prioritising high-profile events over the welfare of local vendors. BK Imtiyaz, honorary president of the street vendors’ association, accused the City Corporation and MLA Vedavyas Kamath of hypocrisy. "They destroyed livelihoods with bulldozers and then hosted an event in violation of their own rules," he said.
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Rupee strengthens past 90/USD level in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appreciated 24 paise to 89.96 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, supported by corporate dollar inflows and easing crude oil prices.
Forex traders said the gain in the USD/INR pair follows the rupee’s string of record lows in recent weeks on likely intervention from the Reserve Bank of India.
Moreover, crude oil prices hovering around USD 59 per barrel level supported market sentiment.
ALSO READ:Rupee trades in narrow range against US dollar in early trade
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.19 against the US dollar, then gained some ground and touched 89.96 against the US dollar, registering a gain of 24 paise over its previous close.
In initial trade it also touched 90.22 against the American currency. On Thursday, the rupee appreciated 18 paise against the US dollar to close at 90.20 against the greenback.
The rupee sank to a fresh record low, breaching the 91-a-dollar mark for the first time on Tuesday.
"Since the speculators are out of the market the buying of US dollar syndrome has come down a bit though intra-day we could see spikes," said Anil Kumar Bhansali Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
The US CPI came lower than expected but was also due to non-collection of sufficient data and therefore, the next month’s CPI becomes more important, Bhansali said, adding that "Rupee remains in a range of 90-90.50".
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent higher at 98.46.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 0.27 per cent at USD 59.66 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex climbed 375.98 points to 84,857.79, while the Nifty was up 110.60 points to 25,934.15.
Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth Rs 595.78 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Sanjeev Sanyal on Thursday said he is not concerned about the rupee at all, arguing that even China and Japan witnessed exchange rate weaknesses during their high growth phases.
Speaking at 'Times Network's India Economic Conclave 2025', Sanyal said since the 90s, the rupee has mostly been allowed to find its own level, but the RBI uses its reserves to intervene in either direction to stop excessive volatility.
"I am not concerned about the rupee at all... Let me say that the rupee and its current weakness should not be necessarily conflated with some economic worry, because historically, if you go over time, you will see that economies that are in their high growth phase very often go through a phase of exchange rate weakness," he said.
