Death toll rises to 3 in helium cylinder blast near Mysuru Palace
Mysuru (PTI): The death toll in the helium cylinder blast that occurred near the Mysuru Palace has risen to three, police said on Saturday.
Lakshmi (29), a resident of Kamakshipalya in Bengaluru, succumbed to her injuries while undergoing treatment in KR Hospital, taking the toll to three, late on Friday, police officials said.
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She had suffered grievous injuries in the blast, including severe abdominal trauma, and despite intensive treatment, she could not be saved," a senior police officer said.
Lakshmi was the wife of Rajesh, an auto-rickshaw driver in Bengaluru. Rajesh is originally a resident of Hosahalli village in Mandya district.
Police said the couple had come to Mysuru on Thursday and were staying at their relatives' house in Belavadi when the incident took place.
Earlier, Saleem, the helium balloon seller, was killed on the spot on December 25. On Friday, another injured woman, identified as Manjula, also died while undergoing treatment at KR Hospital.
Police said Saleem was a native of Uttar Pradesh and had been staying at Lashkar Mohalla in Mysuru along with two others. He was making a living by selling balloons.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has also joined the probe and is collecting information related to the incident.
Police said further investigation is underway to ascertain the exact cause of the explosion.
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Rupee hits all-time low for second time in a week
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 31 paise to settle at 91.99 against the US dollar on Wednesday, touching the lowest closing level for the second time in less than a week, amid increased month-end demand for the greenback.
Forex traders said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe offered quiet reassurance. However, increased month-end demand for the American currency as well as the ongoing geopolitical tensions dented investors' sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.60 and touched an early high of 91.50, but pared all the gains to touch an intra-day low of 91.99 against the greenback.
The domestic unit settled 31 paise down, revisiting its lowest-ever closing level of 91.99 against the greenback. The Indian currency previously ended at this level on January 23 when it also hit its all-time intraday low of 92 against the US dollar.
On Tuesday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low levels and gained 22 paise to close at 91.68 against the US dollar.
Analysts said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe bolstered investor sentiment.
India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), under which a number of domestic sectors such as apparel, chemicals and footwear will get duty-free entry into the 27-nation bloc, while the EU will get access to the Indian market at concessional duty for cars and wines, an official said.
The deal has been dubbed the "mother of all deals" as it will create a market of about 2 billion people.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 96.14.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.43 per cent lower at USD 67.28 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 487.20 points to settle at 82,344.68, while Nifty surged 167.35 points to 25,342.75.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
