Two more Ayyappa devotees succumb to burns suffered in Habballi gas cylinder explosion
Hubballi (Karnataka), Dec 27: Two more Ayyappa devotees on Friday succumbed to their burns suffered in a gas cylinder explosion in Habbali district earlier this week, taking the total death toll of the incident to four, police said.
Nine devotees of Lord Ayyappa were staying in a room when an LPG cylinder caught fire, injuring them badly at Achchhavana Colony in Sainagar, Hubballi, on Monday.
Among them, two victims succumbed to their burn injuries on Thursday morning following which Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased.
"Two more victims died today. The deceased have been identified as Lingaraja Biranoora(19) and Raju Krishna Mugeri(16). One of them succumbed to injuries this morning, while the other died this evening. Out of the remaining five devotees who are undergoing treatment at the hospital, four are stated to be critical," a senior police office said.
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 declines 27 paise to 90.95 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 27 paise to 90.95 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, weighed down by a strong American currency and higher crude oil prices due to the escalated geopolitical tension.
A selling rush in domestic equities further pressured the Indian currency, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.94 and slipped further to trade at 90.95 against the greenback in early deals, losing 27 paise from its previous closing level.
The rupee rose 4 paise to settle at 90.68 against the US dollar on Wednesday. The currency exchange markets were closed on Thursday on account of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent higher at 97.89.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.14 per cent higher at USD 71.77 per barrel in futures trade.
Analysts attributed the strengthening dollar and crude prices to heightened tension between the US and Iran, with both countries signalling they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran's nuclear programme fizzle out.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex fell 150.35 points to 82,347.79 in early trade while the Nifty declined 35.15 points to 25,419.20.
On Thursday, foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 880.49 crore, according to exchange data.
_vb_94.jpeg)
