ST quota must be increased if Kurubas included in ST list: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the Scheduled Tribes reservation quota must be increased if Kurubas are included in the ST list.
Speaking after distributing Valmiki Awards at the Valmiki Jayanti programme held in the Vidhana Soudha here, he also said he would consider the demand for including lessons on Maharshi Valmiki and Ramayana in the school curriculum.
“If Kurubas are included in the ST list, the ST reservation quota must be increased accordingly. I support and agree with that,” the Chief Minister said in his address.
“No one should put their hand into another’s food plate, and no one should snatch away another’s opportunities. That is my commitment.”
The Chief Minister told the gathering that when J H Patel was the Chief Minister, recommendations were made to the Centre to include several communities, including the Bestha community, in the ST list but it has not materialised yet.
Siddaramaiah also assured that former MP V S Ugrappa’s demand to include lessons about Valmiki and the Ramayana in the curriculum would be positively considered.
“Valmiki, who belonged to the Valmiki community that was once deprived of scriptural knowledge, became a great world-renowned sage and composed the magnificent epic Ramayana. Therefore, every member of the community must give top priority to education,” he said.
The CM said it was not wrong to obtain the rights and opportunities your community deserves through organisation and struggle,” he noted.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
