Udhayanidhi calls Sanskrit 'dead language,' BJP hits back
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Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Friday called Sanskrit "a dead language," drawing a sharp response from the BJP which said leaders must be more responsible while making remarks.
The DMK leader was addressing a book release event, where he criticised the Union government for allotting only Rs 150 crore for Tamil Development.
In contrast, Sanskrit, "a dead language", was getting Rs 2,400 crore, he said.
Taking offence to his terminology, BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan told PTI Videos that no one has the right to call any language dead, especially the one that is still used today in prayers and rituals across the country.
"This mindset of appreciating one language only by putting down another is fundamentally wrong, and leaders must be more responsible when they speak about language and culture," she said.
According to her, even Tamil has many inclusions from Sanskrit.
"Tamil is an open-hearted language that has absorbed words and ideas from many tongues, including Sanskrit. This shows its strength, not its weakness," she said.
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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.
