NESO demands capital punishment for those responsible for killing Tripura student in Dehradun
Shillong (PTI): The North East Students' Organisation (NESO) on Tuesday demanded capital punishment for those responsible for the killing of a 24-year-old student from Tripura in Dehradun and sought the direct intervention of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in the matter.
The NESO is an umbrella organisation of student organisations from all north eastern states.
In a memorandum to the Uttarakhand chief minister, NESO said Angel Chakma was assaulted and stabbed in Dehradun on December 9 and succumbed to his injuries on December 26 after battling for life for over two weeks in hospital.
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His brother, Michael Chakma, was also assaulted during the incident, it said.
The NESO alleged that the attack was racially motivated, with the victims subjected to derogatory and demeaning racial abuse targeting their physical features.
Such incidents, it alleged, were part of a recurring pattern of harassment and violence faced by people from the north east in different parts of the country.
Seeking urgent steps to ensure the safety of students and residents from the region in Dehradun and across Uttarakhand, the NESO urged the state government to implement effective measures to provide mental, social, and physical security through appropriate authorities.
Apart from capital punishment for the perpetrators, the organisation demanded the establishment of at least one special police station to deal exclusively with cases of racial discrimination and atrocities against people from the north east.
NESO also called for the enactment of a stringent anti-racism law, saying the existing legal framework was inadequate to address crimes rooted in racial and ethnic discrimination.
The organisation said it hoped for immediate action from the Uttarakhand government to ensure justice and prevent recurrence of such incidents.
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Rupee hits all-time low for second time in a week
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 31 paise to settle at 91.99 against the US dollar on Wednesday, touching the lowest closing level for the second time in less than a week, amid increased month-end demand for the greenback.
Forex traders said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe offered quiet reassurance. However, increased month-end demand for the American currency as well as the ongoing geopolitical tensions dented investors' sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.60 and touched an early high of 91.50, but pared all the gains to touch an intra-day low of 91.99 against the greenback.
The domestic unit settled 31 paise down, revisiting its lowest-ever closing level of 91.99 against the greenback. The Indian currency previously ended at this level on January 23 when it also hit its all-time intraday low of 92 against the US dollar.
On Tuesday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low levels and gained 22 paise to close at 91.68 against the US dollar.
Analysts said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe bolstered investor sentiment.
India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), under which a number of domestic sectors such as apparel, chemicals and footwear will get duty-free entry into the 27-nation bloc, while the EU will get access to the Indian market at concessional duty for cars and wines, an official said.
The deal has been dubbed the "mother of all deals" as it will create a market of about 2 billion people.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 96.14.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.43 per cent lower at USD 67.28 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 487.20 points to settle at 82,344.68, while Nifty surged 167.35 points to 25,342.75.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
