Bengaluru, Dec 9: Social activist S.R. Hiremath said that in the political history of the country, Amit Shah was the biggest ghost of corruption.

Speaking at an elocution and discussion programme on ‘International Anti-Corruption Day’, organized by the Corruption Free Karnataka Nirmana Vedike at the Legislators House here on Sunday, he said that “majority of the political leaders including former chief ministers Yeddyurappa and Siddaramaiah, present chief minister HD  Kumaraswamy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others are corrupt. So, we should not oppose politics. Instead, we should question the corrupt practices of the politicians”, he said.

“Man is a most greedy animal as he is incomplete. It is not possible to do everything good. So, in order to remove corruption, the fight should start from our homes. We should inculcate meaningful habits and we should be complete men before the corrupt persons. Those who exploit the people are more prejudiced and hate people because they have lost humanity. We should try to establish humanity in the society with constructive and strategic efforts. We should have the confidence of winning the war. It was said that we would not get even 5 per cent success in Ballary. But we continued our fight and got the result more than our expectation”, he said.

After independence, misuse of power and nepotism have paved away for widespread corruption in the society. Unfortunately, the present youth have not understood the intention of the Constitution and democracy. They should understand that they were the real owners of the Constitution and democracy and politicians were just the servants of the people, he said.

The elected representatives and those who are at the helm of affairs were not speaking about public problems. The Prime Minister has not uttered a single word about the Rafale deal which is the biggest scandal in the history of Defence Ministry of the country, and atrocity on dalits in Gujarat but he was busy on speaking in the election rallies, he said.

Vedike president Ravi Krishna Reddy said that the corruption was rooted right from higher education to higher positions. CID sources have been saying that for AC post, the candidates have to give Rs 1 crore and Rs 80 lakh for tahsildar’s post, which shows the real situation of the country. Those who have dream of getting good education and good job to serve the society were disappointed. So, people should elect non-corrupt candidates and those would appoint non-corrupt officers to right positions. This would certainly reform the society, he said.

Social activist HM Venkatesh, Kaleel, Vijay Raghava Marathi and others were present. The winners in the elocution contest were given prizes on the occasion.

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Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 22 paise to 90.54 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, following a sharp rally after India and the US agreed to a trade deal on suspected dollar buying by corporates and importers.

Forex traders said despite the positive sentiment post the India-US trade deal, caution still remains as there is no signed or officially released trade agreement yet — no framework text or final documentation.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.35 against the US dollar, then lost ground and fell to 90.54, registering a loss of 22 paise over its previous close.

On Tuesday, the Indian rupee emerged as the best-performing Asian currency, registering a record gain of 117 paise or 1.28 per cent in a single trading session to settle at 90.32 against the US dollar, after India and the US agreed to a trade deal.

"After Tuesday's good news the rupee was back to its own self of weakening as RBI bought dollars towards the end to take the dollar up to 90.2650," said Anil Kumar Bhansali Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

Forex traders said investors are trading with caution as the India-US trade deal still awaits formalisation.

"Any sustained turnaround in FII flows will depend on greater clarity around the final structure and commitments within the deal," CR Forex Advisors MD – Amit Pabari said.

President Trump stated that India will end purchases of Russian crude over an undefined timeline, while increasing imports of US energy, including oil and coal, and potentially Venezuelan crude with US approval.

"Moving away from discounted Russian oil could prove challenging for India, given its long-standing commercial and strategic ties with Moscow, and may have implications for India’s energy costs and external balance," Pabari added.

According to Pabari, the 89.80–90.00 zone should act as strong support. "Ultimately, the directional cue for the rupee will hinge on confirmation of the final trade agreement and its specifics. That clarity will determine whether this move extends — or pauses for consolidation," he said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.02 per cent lower at 97.41.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.65 per cent at USD 67.77 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex advanced 68.49 points to 83,816.96 in early trade, while the Nifty was up 51.90 points to 25,779.45.

Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth Rs 5,236.28 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.