Special prayers for ailing Parrikar in Hindu convention
Panaji, June 1: The All India Hindu Convention to be held in Goa on June 4 will offer special prayers for Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is currently undergoing advanced treatment for pancreatic cancer in a US hospital.
"Goa Chief Minister is of clean character and principled. Unfortunately, he is grappling with some health issues. So we will offer special prayers and good wishes for his health," one of the convenors of the event Charudatta Pingale told reporters on Friday at a press conference in Panaji.
"A lot of respectable personalities are attending the convention," Pingale added.
Parrikar has been undergoing treatment at a New York-based health facility since March 2018.
The Goa event is expected to see the attendance of 650 participants from 180 Hindu organisations coming from 19 states, as well as from Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
The convention will discuss what is termed the failure of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in resolving issues related to Hindus, including enacting a law to ban cow slaughter, said Pingale.
The event had hit the headlines in 2017 after Madhya Pradesh-based Sadhvi Saraswati in her speech at the Goa convention said that those who eat beef should be hung in public.
Ramesh Shinde, national spokesperson of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, which is organising the event distanced himself from the comments. Saraswati will not be attending this edition of the event.
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Rupee hits record low of 96.14/USD, settles at fresh closing low of 95.86/USD
Mumbai (PTI): The Indian rupee crashed below the 96/USD mark on Friday before closing at an all-time low of 95.86 (provisional) against the US dollar as elevated crude oil prices and inflation concerns added to the downside pressure on the rupee.
Rupee has registered over 6 per cent losses so far this year, and in the past six trading sessions, it has depreciated nearly 2 per cent as Iran war risk escalation pushed crude oil prices higher. The dollar index moved northwards after strong US retail sales and stable labour market data reduced expectations of aggressive Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Forex traders said global uncertainties, relatively high valuations, and the lack of AI-led investment opportunities have weighed on capital flows.
Moreover, weak net FDI inflows are likely to exert pressure on the balance of payments, while rising crude oil prices stoke inflation worries.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 95.86, then slumped to a record low of 96.14 in intraday trade, registering a fall of 50 paise from its previous close.
The USD/INR pair finally settled at 95.86 (provisional) against the US dollar, registering a fall of 22 paise from its previous close, helped by likely RBI intervention.
On Thursday, the rupee weakened to a fresh record low of 95.96 before closing with a marginal gain of 2 paise at 95.64 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 99.15, higher by 0.34 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading up 3.14 per cent at USD 109.04 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex fell 160.73 points to settle at 75,237.99, while Nifty declined 46.10 points to 23,643.50.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers, purchasing equities worth Rs 187.46 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the country's exports in April rose by 13.78 per cent to USD 43.56 billion despite global challenges, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Friday.
Imports grew 10 per cent year-on-year to USD 71.94 billion in April. The trade deficit during the month stood at USD 28.38 billion.
"We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on elevated crude oil prices and inflation concerns. Strong dollar and FII outflows may also weigh on the rupee. However, any intervention by the RBI and hiking of import duty on gold and silver may support the rupee at lower levels. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 95.60 to 96.20," said Anuj Choudhary, Research analyst at Mirae Asset ShareKhan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump on Friday hailed their talks as "historic" and "landmark", as the American leader wrapped up his three-day visit on a high note, but no deals on any contentious issues were announced.
Both Presidents, who held several rounds of talks covering a range of global issues, including the Iran war and bilateral trade frictions, concluded their discussions with a private meeting at Zhongnanhai, the well-guarded compound in Beijing where top leaders reside.
