Kerala CM condemns students being made to sing RSS song onboard Vande Bharat Express
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday condemned the reported act of the Southern Railway making school students sing an RSS song onboard the newly inaugurated Vande Bharat Express from Ernakulam to Bengaluru.
In a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), Vijayan said that the reported act by the Southern Railway deserves to be protested.
Visuals on TV channels showed students singing the RSS song onboard the Vande Bharat Express.
He said that including the song of the RSS, which allegedly constantly spreads anti-religious hatred and communal divisive politics, in the official programme of the government is a violation of constitutional principles.
Using the country's largest public sector undertaking, the Railways, by the Sangh Parivar for spreading their alleged communal political propaganda, is unacceptable, the CM said.
By sharing on social media the singing of the RSS song on the train by the students with the caption -- 'a patriotic song' -- makes a mockery of the Southern Railway and the Indian national movement, the Marxist veteran claimed.
The Railways, which served as the cornerstone of India's secular nationalism during the freedom struggle, is now supporting the communal agenda of the RSS, which betrayed the freedom struggle, Vijayan contended.
The inauguration ceremony of Vande Bharat witnessed the sneaking-in of extreme Hindutva politics, he said.
The CM contended that narrow political mindsets aimed at destroying secularism were behind the incident.
Vijayan said that the people should recognise this and protest against it.
The Southern Railway reportedly withdrew the social media post following widespread criticism against it.
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Rupee falls 9 paise to all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): Rupee depreciated 9 paise to an all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said rupee is trading with a negative bias as investors are in wait and watch mode and awaiting cues from the India-US trade deal front.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.53 against the US dollar, then fell further to an all-time intraday low of 90.58 against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee had slipped 17 paise to close at an all-time low of 90.49 against the American currency.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 98.35.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.52 per cent at USD 61.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 298.86 points lower at 84,968.80, while the Nifty was down 121.40 points at 25,925.55.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,114.22 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"FPIs continue to be in selling mode in equity and debt while RBI has been selling dollars to fund their long positions," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
