2 women among 6 Naxalites killed in encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur
Bijapur (PTI): Six Naxalites, including two women cadres, were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Wednesday, a police official said.
The gunfight took place in the forest area located along the Talperu river near Chipurbhatti village under Basaguda police station area, when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P told PTI.
The operation involving personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and its elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), was launched based on inputs about the presence of Naxalites from People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) platoon no. 10 of Maoists, he said.
"After the exchange of fire stopped, bodies of six Naxalites, including two women, and a huge cache of weapons and explosives were recovered from the spot", the IG said.
The official earlier said the deceased Naxalites included only one woman.
The identity of the dead Naxalites is yet to be ascertained, he said.
Many other Naxalites were reported to be injured in the gunfight and the search operation was still underway in the area, he added.
Bijapur district is located in the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls in the first phase of the general elections on April 19.
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Rupee settles 1 paisa higher to close at 94.15 against US dollar
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee settled with gains of just one paisa to close at 94.15 against the US dollar on Monday, as rising global uncertainty, escalating tensions in West Asia and soaring crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiments.
Forex traders said the INR/USD pair pared its initial losses, but the overall bias remains negative as FII sell-off and elevated crude oil prices restricted the gains for the local unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 94.25 against the US dollar, and touched an intraday high of 94.11 and a low of 94.28 against the greenback during the day.
At the end of Monday's trading session, the rupee was quoted at 94.15, registering a gain of just 1 paisa over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee extended its losing streak for the fifth day in a row, depreciating 15 paise to close at 94.16 against the US dollar.
"The rupee snapped a five-session losing streak, rebounding in tandem with a rally across regional currencies. However, the mood remains apprehensive as the market braces for a potential RBI intervention around 94.30 and higher crude oil prices," said Dilip Parmar – Senior Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.
On the charts, the USDINR pair has reclaimed its upward momentum, carving out a classic bullish structure of higher highs and lows on the daily time frame, he said, adding that for the coming sessions, 93.80 serves as a support, with 94.40 acting as the primary hurdle.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.21 per cent at 98.32.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 2.36 per cent at USD 107.82 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 639.42 points to settle at 77,303.63, while the Nifty surged 194.75 points to 24,092.70.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,151.48 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, India's forex reserves jumped by USD 2.362 billion to USD 703.308 billion during the week ended April 17, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.
In the previous reporting week, the forex kitty had increased by USD 3.825 billion to USD 700.946 billion.
