TN Guv Ravi in fresh trouble, his 'Jai Shri Ram' chant in college stokes controversy
Chennai, Apr 13 (PTI): Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi's reported remarks asking students of a college to chant "Jai Shri Ram" have trigered a controversy with SPCSS-TN, a body of educationists, alleging he violated his oath of office and secular principles and urged President Droupadi Murmu to remove him from his post.
The State Platform for Common School System-Tamil Nadu (SPCSS-TN), said Ravi failed to abide by the Constitution, respect its ideals and institutions.
"Ravi should be removed from the office of Governor of Tamil Nadu forthwith for deliberately violating Article 159 (oath by governor) of the Constitution of India," SPCSS-TN General Secretary, PB Prince Gajendra Babu, said in a statement.
Ravi was invited by a government-aided college in Madurai as chief guest to distribute prizes to the winners in a literary contest.
Delivering his address on April 12, he had asked the students to chant the name of a God of particular religion (Jai Shri Ram) thrice.
According to the Constitution, India is a secular country, education is a secular activity and it shall be the fundamental duty of every citizen to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the national flag and the national anthem and also to develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.
However, Ravi failed to preserve, defend and protect the Constitution by chanting the name of the God of a particular religion and asking the students to repeat the same thrice, Gajendra Babu alleged.
Instead of obeying the Governor, had the students protested against him for violating his oath, unnecessary embarrassment would have been caused to the management and staff of the college.The students in order to "protect the name of the college," passively submitted themselves to the will of the Governor.
Gajendra Babu alleged: "Ravi is illiterate as far as his knowledge of the curriculum and syllabus followed in schools and colleges in Tamil Nadu. Due to his ignorance and arrogance, he continues to propagate wrong ideas that in effect aim to disturb peace and instigate a group of people against another."
The SPCSS-TN said it hence appeals to President Murmu to remove Ravi from the office of Governor of Tamil Nadu.
Congress MP (Tiruvallur) Sasikanth Senthil said in a post on 'X': "After being slammed by the Supreme Court and blocked by the State Government, he's now resorting to stunts like making students chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ just to irritate the system. Clearly frustrated, he’s sending a message that “Even if the courts rule against me, I will find other ways to push my agenda." It’s a dangerous mix of arrogance and defiance that undermines democratic institutions and the principles of the Constitution!
On April 8, 2025, the Supreme Court's bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said the 10 Bills withheld by Governor Ravi were deemed to have been given assent.
The court came down heavily on Governor Ravi and said him reserving 10 Bills for the consideration of the President was against constitutional provisions.
It was considered a major victory for the DMK government and a legal setback for Governor Ravi.
On April 12, Tamil Nadu government duly notified the 10 Acts in the state gazette.
SPCSS-TN is a body of educationists and educational activists following socialist principles.
Controversy does not seem to leave Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi. At a recent event at Thiagarajar Engineering College in Madurai, where he was invited as the chief guest, he allegedly asked students to chant 'Jai Shri Ram', while distributing prizes to the winners in a literary… pic.twitter.com/yvDIM5WylN
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Rupee strengthens past 90/USD level in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appreciated 24 paise to 89.96 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, supported by corporate dollar inflows and easing crude oil prices.
Forex traders said the gain in the USD/INR pair follows the rupee’s string of record lows in recent weeks on likely intervention from the Reserve Bank of India.
Moreover, crude oil prices hovering around USD 59 per barrel level supported market sentiment.
ALSO READ:Rupee trades in narrow range against US dollar in early trade
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.19 against the US dollar, then gained some ground and touched 89.96 against the US dollar, registering a gain of 24 paise over its previous close.
In initial trade it also touched 90.22 against the American currency. On Thursday, the rupee appreciated 18 paise against the US dollar to close at 90.20 against the greenback.
The rupee sank to a fresh record low, breaching the 91-a-dollar mark for the first time on Tuesday.
"Since the speculators are out of the market the buying of US dollar syndrome has come down a bit though intra-day we could see spikes," said Anil Kumar Bhansali Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
The US CPI came lower than expected but was also due to non-collection of sufficient data and therefore, the next month’s CPI becomes more important, Bhansali said, adding that "Rupee remains in a range of 90-90.50".
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent higher at 98.46.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 0.27 per cent at USD 59.66 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex climbed 375.98 points to 84,857.79, while the Nifty was up 110.60 points to 25,934.15.
Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth Rs 595.78 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Sanjeev Sanyal on Thursday said he is not concerned about the rupee at all, arguing that even China and Japan witnessed exchange rate weaknesses during their high growth phases.
Speaking at 'Times Network's India Economic Conclave 2025', Sanyal said since the 90s, the rupee has mostly been allowed to find its own level, but the RBI uses its reserves to intervene in either direction to stop excessive volatility.
"I am not concerned about the rupee at all... Let me say that the rupee and its current weakness should not be necessarily conflated with some economic worry, because historically, if you go over time, you will see that economies that are in their high growth phase very often go through a phase of exchange rate weakness," he said.
