South African attacks on foreign shops continue; 12 dead
Johannesburg: Two people have been killed in Johannesburg, police confirmed Monday, bringing to 12 the number of deaths since violence against foreign-owned shops erupted last month.Bands of South Africans launched violent attacks against foreign-owned shops and stalls, looting and burning the small businesses and attacking some of the shopkeepers.
Police spokesman Kay Makhubela confirmed that two people suspected to be foreigners were killed in the violence Sunday night and said that at least 640 people have been arrested since the violence erupted last week.
The nationalities of those killed have not been announced but Nigerians, Ethiopians, Congolese and Zimbabweans have been attacked, according to local media.
The attacks appear to be spreading throughout Gauteng, the country's most populous province encompassing the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Police minister Bheki Cele on Monday met with executives of major South African businesses, including the retailer Shoprite and MTN, a mobile phone and internet provider, whose operations were targeted in retaliatory attacks in Lagos, Nigeria, last week.
The executives expressed concern that the violence in South Africa is hurting their operations in other parts of the continent.
"The implications of the situation in South Africa are really profound. They have affected us in other countries in which we operate," said MTN group CEO Rob Shuter.
The MTN group is owned almost 50 per cent by international investors, some living in London, Boston and New York, he said. The Nigerian demonstrations forced South Africa's consular offices in Lagos to close.
South Africa's foreign affairs minister Naledi Pandor is scheduled to meet with African ambassadors in Pretoria Monday as the government attempts to put out the diplomatic fallout from the attacks.
Nigerian president Mahummadu Buhari is scheduled to visit South Africa on a state visit in October, and the attacks against Nigerian nationals and businesses in South Africa are expected to be on the agenda.
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Rupee falls 5 paise to 90.22 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee weakened by 5 paise to 90.22 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday, amid a strengthening American currency, higher crude oil prices and incessant outflow of foreign funds.
An unprecedented geopolitical concern and global trade uncertainties have accelerated the dollar demand worldwide, adding strength to the greenback and putting pressure on the Indian currency, analysts said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.24 and gained slightly to trade at 90.22 against the greenback in early deals, registering a loss of 5 paise from its previous closing level.
On Monday, the rupee ended 1 paisa higher at 90.17 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.11 per cent higher at 98.73.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.28 per cent higher at USD 64.05 per barrel in futures trade.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 3,638.40 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex rose 125.96 points or 0.15 per cent to 84,004.13, while the Nifty advanced 47.25 points or 0.18 per cent to 25,837.50.
Analysts attributed the buying trend in equities to the positive cues triggered by strong domestic macroeconomic numbers.
According to government data released on Monday, India's retail inflation rose to a three-month high of 1.33 per cent in December, mainly due to higher prices of food items, but remained below the Reserve Bank of India's lower tolerance level.
Also, the latest data from the Income Tax Department showed the government's net direct tax collection grew about 8.82 per cent to over Rs 18.38 lakh crore in the current fiscal till January 11 due to slower refunds and better corporate tax mop-up.
Net corporate tax collection grew 12.4 per cent to over Rs 8.63 lakh crore, and taxes from non-corporates, including individuals, rose 6.39 per cent to about Rs 9.30 lakh crore.
