Sumalatha’s picture removed from ‘Lankesh Rangamandira’ in Bidarakere after she supports BJP
Mandya: A picture of local MP Sumalatha was taken off the walls of the ‘Lankesh Rangamandira’ in Bidarakere village of Nagamangala taluk of the district, following the independent MP’s decision to support the BJP.
The theatre was constructed in Bidarakere with the financial aid of Kannada movie star Late Ambareesh, husband of Sumalatha, and named after renowned writer Lankesh. The pictures of several achievers of Karnataka, including Dr. Raj Kumar, Ambareesh, Lankesh and Sumalatha, were put up on the walls of the ‘Lankesh Rangamandira’.
The locals, however, removed the picture of Sumalatha on learning of her support to the BJP.
Columnist B Chandre Gowda said, “When Sumalatha won the Lok Sabha elections from Mandya as an independent candidate, she had garnered the maximum votes from Bidarakere village. Taking pride in her victory, the locals had even put up her picture on the walls of the ‘Lankesh Rangamandira’. Sumalatha’s unexpected decision to support the BJP, however, has shocked the people of Bidarekere. As a result, the locals decided to remove her picture.”
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Rupee plunges 17 paise to settle at new record low of 85.91 against US dollar
Mumbai, Jan 8: The rupee extended its slide for the second straight session and declined 17 paise to hit a fresh record low of 85.91 against the US dollar on Wednesday amid higher crude oil prices and stronger American currency.
Lacklustre sentiment in domestic equity markets and sustained outflow of foreign funds also played spoilsport even as investors stayed cautious over lower economic growth projection by the government, forex analysts said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 85.82 and lost further ground to finally settle at 85.91 against the dollar, 17 paise lower than its previous close.
On Tuesday, the rupee settled with a loss of 6 paise at 85.74 against the dollar.
"This decline is attributed to the strengthening of the US dollar, bolstered by positive economic indicators from the United States, including robust labour market data and increased activity in the services sector. These factors have led to a rise in US Treasury yields, making the dollar more attractive to investors," Anil Kumar Bhansali,
Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
"In response, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has intervened through state-run banks to mitigate the rupee's losses. Despite these efforts, the rupee's depreciation reflects broader concerns about India's economic growth and capital flows," he said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.35 per cent higher at 108.76.
The 10-year US bond yields also remained elevated at 4.67 per cent amid expectations of delayed interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 0.90 per cent to USD 77.74 per barrel in futures trade.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex skid 50.62 points, or 0.06 per cent, to settle at 78,148.49 points, while the Nifty fell 18.95 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 23,688.95 points.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded Rs 3,362.18 crore in the capital markets on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
The latest government data released on Tuesday showed India's economic growth rate is estimated to slip to a four-year low of 6.4 per cent in 2024-25 due to poor show by the manufacturing and services sectors.
The gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 6.4 per cent will be the lowest since the Covid year (2020-21) when the country witnessed a negative growth of 5.8 per cent. It was 8.2 per cent in the last fiscal year ended March 2024.
The first advance estimates of the national income for 2024-25 released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) is lower than the 6.6 per cent projected by the Reserve Bank in December 2024.
