Rupee skids 24 paise to close at 73.56 against US dollar
Mumbai, Oct 22: The rupee pared its early gains to settle 24 paise lower at 73.56 against the US dollar Monday due to steady capital outflows and strengthening of the American currency.
The rupee came under pressure following heavy selling in domestic equities and the crude oil breaching the USD 80 per barrel mark on geo-political worries related to killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, again went past the the USD 80-mark to quote USD 80.14 per barrel on Monday, putting pressure on the local unit.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened on a higher note at 73.36 and gained further ground to hit an intra-day high of 73.19 against the US dollar.
But it failed to hold onto the gains and fell back to settle at the day's low level of 73.56, showing a loss of 24 paise or 0.33 per cent over the previous close.
The rupee had settled at 73.32 against the US dollar Friday.
Unabated capital outflows by foreign funds, and heavy selling in domestic equities dampened the sentiment, dealers said.
The BSE Sensex gave up all its early gains of over 435 points to end 181 points lower at 34,134.38 on Monday.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 618.26 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) had net sold shares worth Rs 2.14 crore on Friday as per provisional data.
The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 73.3025 and for rupee/euro at 84.5730. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 95.9305 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen was 65.02.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
