Union Minister Nitin Gadkari gets Rs 4 lakh royalty per month from YouTube for lecture videos
Bharuch (Gujarat), Sep 17: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said he gets Rs 4 lakh every month as royalty from YouTube, as viewership of his lecture videos posted on the platform has increased during the pandemic period.
While reviewing the progress of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway (DME) in Bharuch, Gadkari further said his ministry has started rating road construction contractors and consultants.
During COVID-19 times, the road transport and highways minister said, he did two things.
"I became a chef and started cooking at home and giving lectures through video conference. I delivered more than 950 lectures online, including lectures to foreign universities students, which were uploaded on YouTube.
"Viewership of my YouTube channel increased and YouTube now pays me Rs 4 lakh per month as royalty," he said.
Gadkari, who is known for his frank views, said that in India, those who do good work, don't get appreciation.
The minister also emphasised on the importance of network of modern- and high-quality roads for economic development and creating employment opportunities.
He said that in Gujarat, 423 km of road is being constructed at a cost of Rs 35,100 crore.
Gadkari added that under this expressway, 60 major bridges, 17 interchanges, 17 flyovers and eight road over bridges (ROBs) will be built in the state.
The minister said 33 wayside amenities are also proposed to be build on this expressway to provide world-class transport facilities as well as generate employment opportunities in the state.
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Rupee crashes 46 paise to 92.28 against US dollar in early trade, nears all-time low
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee plummeted 46 paise to near its all-time intra-day low of 92.28 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday as global crude oil prices shot up and the greenback strengthened amid the worsening situation in the Middle East.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by a staggering 25.68 per cent at USD 116.5 per barrel in futures trade as the war between US-Israel and Iran intensified.
A big surge in FII outflows and a crash at the domestic equity market in morning trade put further pressure in the local unit, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 92.22 against the US dollar before declining further to 92.28, down 46 paise from its previous close. The rupee had hit an all-time intra-day low of 92.35 on March 4.
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The rupee depreciated 18 paise against the US dollar on Friday to close at 91.82 against the American currency.
"The rupee will remain vulnerable to the rising oil prices which have risen by more than 28 per cent since the last closure on Friday. Asian currencies were also lower on Monday," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
Rupee might touch 93.00 if oil remains above USD 100 in the coming trading sessions, he added.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.66 per cent higher at 99.64.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex crashed 2,345.89 points to 76,573.01 in early trade, while Nifty tumbled 708.75 points to 23,741.70.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 6,030.38 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, India's forex reserves jumped USD 4.885 billion to an all-time high of USD 728.494 billion during the week ended February 27, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.
