Deve Gowda condemns 'attack' on churches, hails PM Modi for joining Christmas service
Bengaluru (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Friday condemned the alleged attacks on churches and demanded stringent action against those involved in such acts.
He praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for attending a Christmas service in Delhi and showing his respect to Christianity. Underlining that India is home to all the religions, Deve Gowda, addressing reporters, said: "There were attacks on churches a few days ago. This is highly condemnable. Such incidents should never happen. We all should condemn these incidents."
The 92-year-old JD(S) patriarch said he was deeply pained by the alleged attacks and sought tough action against those who were behind the attacks.
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When reporters told him that "such incidents happened more" in the BJP-ruled states, Gowda said: "I would say without fear that wherever it has happened and whoever is at fault, action should be taken."
He hailed PM Modi for sending across a strong message by visiting a church in Delhi and attending Christmas prayers there. "Yesterday, the Prime Minister visited a church and offered prayers. I saw that. I don't think that the Prime Minister will backtrack (from taking action),” the JD(S) supremo said.
Further, he said that the prime minister himself has gone to the church and prayed and thereby showed his respect towards Christianity.
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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.
