Vajpayee's 'asthi visarjan' in Haridwar on Sunday
New Delhi, Aug 18: The "asthi visarjan" (immersion of ashes in river) ritual of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be held on Sunday in Haridwar, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Saturday.
The same ritual, thereafter, will be performed in 100 other "sacred rivers" of the country.
"The 'asthi visarjan' of Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be done tomorrow at Haridwar by the family members. Party President Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat will attend the ceremony.
"They will leave from Jolly Grant Airport of Dehradun in the morning and the ritual will be performed in Haridwar in the afternoon," BJP spokesperson Bhupender Yadav told the media.
He said that mass prayer meetings in the memory of late Prime Minister will be organised in all states in 10-15 days, starting with one in Delhi on August 20. It will be held inside the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium between 4pm and 6pm at K.D. Jadhav Hall and will be attended by all parties.
"Since Atalji had a unique connection with Lucknow, a memorial will be held there also on August 23, to be attended by Yogi Adityanath, Rajnath Singh and Atalji's family members. His ashes will also be immersed in the Gomti river the day," Yadav added.
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Rupee hits record intra-day low in early trade, falls 12 paise to 92.37 against US dollar
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee slumped 12 paise to its record low of 92.37 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday as global crude oil prices showed no signs of easing amid the ongoing West Asian conflict.
A stronger greenback, heavy FII selling and weak sentiments in the domestic equity markets further weighed on the rupee, according to forex traders.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 92.33 and slipped further to hit its record intra-day low of 92.37 against the US dollar, down 12 paise from its previous close.
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The rupee touched a fresh intra-day low of 92.36 on Thursday and closed the session 24 paise down at its lowest level of 92.25 against the US dollar.
"Oil prices remained elevated after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is closed permanently till the resolution of the crisis. The dollar index also rose, European and Asian currencies all fell against the dollar," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
The rupee has remained vulnerable and in the absence of the RBI could have reached 93.00 levels, he added.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent higher at 99.77.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 4.99 per cent at USD 96.57 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex plunged 560.06 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 75,474.36, while the Nifty tanked 184.45 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 23,454.70.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 7,049.87 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, retail inflation moved up to 3.21 per cent in February compared to 2.74 per cent in the preceding month, driven mainly by higher food prices, government data released on Thursday showed.
