Indian goes missing in UAE
Dubai: An Indian has gone missing in the UAE where he was on a tourist visa to look for some job opportunities after losing his work due to the coronavirus pandemic, a media report said.
Chenoth Thuruthummal Ashik, 31, a resident of Kerala, had reportedly gone out for a walk from his friends' flat at the Persia cluster in International City around on Saturday but did not return, Gulf News quoted his friend as saying.
Ashik told my other friend Ramees that he was just stepping out of the building for a walk. Then Ramees told Ashik to wait so that he could join him after taking his mask and wallet. But by the time he picked up those items and went down, Ashik had left the building and there were no signs of him, his friend said.
He did not carry his mobile, wallet, passport, or any other belonging with him when he left, the report said.
He had been staying indoors ever since he reached here on October 17. He was supposed to go to Abu Dhabi after completing the quarantine period, according to his friend.
Around two years ago, he had lost his job as an assistant technician at an oil and gas company in Abu Dhabi where he worked for four years. He then went home and started working as a receptionist at a hotel in Bengaluru. However, the job was affected due to COVID-19, according to the report.
His friends have reported the incident to the Indian Consulate in Dubai and the police.
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Rupee rises 6 paise to 89.92 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee witnessed range-bound trade in the morning session on Friday, appreciating by 6 paise to 89.92 against the US dollar as thin liquidity conditions accentuated everyday demand-supply imbalances, keeping the rupee tilted toward weakness.
Forex traders said the USD/INR pair is expected to trade in a narrow range as the 90 level is being protected by the Reserve Bank of India.
Moreover, the support from positive domestic equities was offset by sustained foreign fund outflows.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 89.95 against the US dollar, then gained some ground and touched 89.92, rising by six paise from its previous close.
On Thursday, the rupee depreciated 10 paise to close at 89.98 against the US dollar.
"Unless RBI comes and sells dollars heavily, the movement is going to be in small ranges as seen in the last three sessions. The pair is seen in a holding pattern between 89.80 and 90, considering the narrow range," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
Bhansali further noted that corporate demand, FPI demand, and government demand have been the salient features of the rupee over the past year, during which it fell by more than 5 per cent and became the worst-performing Asian currency, though partly protected by the RBI.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading marginally down by 0.15 per cent at 98.17.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.38 per cent higher at USD 61.08 per barrel in futures trade.
"With early-year liquidity still thin and domestic fundamentals offering a mixed but stable backdrop, the rupee appears set to remain range-bound in the near term. As long as USD/INR stays below the 90 handle, the balance of risks tilts mildly in favour of the rupee," CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said, adding that against this backdrop, USD/INR is expected to trade in a 89.30–90.20 range.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex climbed 158.19 points to 85,346.79 in early trade, while the Nifty was up 55.8 points to 26,202.35.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 3,268.60 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
On the domestic macroeconomic front, gross GST collections rose 6.1 per cent to over Rs 1.74 lakh crore in December 2025, on slow growth in revenues from domestic sales following the sweeping tax cuts, according to government data released on Thursday.
Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue in December 2024 was over Rs 1.64 lakh crore.
