Rupee marks lowest level as investors flee

May 22, 2012

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Mumbai, May 22: India's rupee fell past 55 per dollar to a record low as concern Europe's debt crisis will worsen prompted investors to pull money out of emerging-market assets.

"It has been touching lows quite regularly, said Subir Gokarn, a deputy governor at the Reserve Bank of India. "There is clearly a strong pressure on the rupee to depreciate. This is coming from a number of factors. One is clearly the current account deficit, demand from oil has been strong and the capital flows are not matching that," he said.

"We have done a number of things and will continue to do things that we think will have the impact of stabilizing the currency. But ultimately capital flows are going to be the main determinant of how the currency behaves.''

Sweeping declines

The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index of shares lost 10 per cent this month as global funds pulled $6.2 billion (Dh22.76 billion) from the stock markets of India, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan, according to the latest exchange data.

German and French leaders meet this week to discuss a revised plan for the euro amid concern Greece is close to an exit from the monetary union. The rupee is also weakening because India's fiscal policy is "too loose" and that is widening the current-account deficit and spurring inflation, according to BNP Paribas.

"An improvement in the situation in Europe and firmer global risk appetite is a necessary, although not sufficient, condition for the rupee to stabilise," Richard Iley, the Hong- Kong based chief economist for Asia at the French bank, wrote in a research note released yesterday. "Fiscal laxity is the root of the problem."

The rupee dropped 1.1 per cent to 55.0350 per dollar in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It touched an all-time low of 55.0550 and has slumped 7.6 per cent this quarter in Asia's worst currency performance.

India's budget deficit widened to 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product in the fiscal year ended March 31, compared with a target of 4.6 per cent. finance minister Pranab Mukherjee aims to narrow the shortfall to 5.1 per cent this fiscal year.

Rising volatility

The rupee's one-month implied volatility, a measure of exchange-rate swings used to price options, was unchanged at 13 per cent. It touched this year's high of 13.27 per cent on May 18.

The central bank cut the amount of overseas income companies can hold in foreign currency this month to 50 per cent from 100 per cent, in a bid to boost dollar inflows and stem the rupee's slide.

On May 4, policy makers raised interest rates on non-rupee deposits by as much as 300 basis points and freed up borrowing costs on foreign-exchange loans to exporters.

Gold: Debt crisis dims allure

Gold declined in New York as concerns that Europe's debt crisis is worsening boosted the dollar and curbed the appeal of precious metals as alternative investments.

The euro fell as much as 0.4 per cent against the dollar as German and French officials meet today to discuss ways to contain Europe's financial turmoil. Before today, gold declined 4.3 per cent this month, while the dollar climbed 3.2 per cent against a basket of six currencies.

"The flight is towards the dollar," Bart Melek, the head of commodity strategy at TD Securities in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. "The softness in the euro is keeping gold under pressure."

Gold futures for June delivery fell 0.3 per cent to $1,587.70 an ounce at 10:01 am on the Comex in New York.

Demand for bullion in India, the world's largest consumer, dropped to the weakest since late March on May 18, UBS said in an emailed report on Monday.

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News Network
April 27,2020

New Delhi, Apr 27: A private hospital here claimed that a coronavirus patient, who was administered plasma therapy for the first time in the facility, was discharged on Sunday after being completely cured.

The 49-year-old man had tested positive for COVID-19 on April 4 and was admitted to Max Hospital, Saket, it said in a statement.

As his condition deteriorated, he was put on ventilator support on April 8, the hospital added.

When the patient showed no signs of improvement, his family requested for administration of plasma therapy on compassionate grounds, it said, adding that the family arranged a donor for extracting plasma.

The patient was administered fresh plasma as a treatment modality as a side-line to standard treatment protocols on the night of April 14, the statement said.

Subsequently, the patient showed improvement and by the fourth day, was weaned off ventilator support and continued on supplementary oxygen. He was shifted to a room with round-the-clock monitoring on Monday after testing negative twice within 24 hours, it said.

He has now fully recovered and was discharged, the hospital said, adding that he will stay at home for another two weeks.

Group medical director of Max Healthcare and senior director of the Institute of Internal Medicine Dr Sandeep Budhiraja said, "We can say that plasma therapy could have worked as a catalyst in speeding up his recovery. We cannot attribute 100 per cent recovery to plasma therapy only, as there are multiple factors which carved his path to recovery."

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Agencies
July 15,2020

Mumbai, Jul 15: In a mega investment announcement, Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday said that Google will invest ₹ 33,737 crore in Jio Platforms for an equity stake of 7.73%.

Google is investing at an equity valuation of ₹ 4.36 lakh crore, said an RIL regulatory filing.

"Jio Platforms Limited, a subsidiary of the Company, today signed binding agreements with Google International LLC pursuant to which Google would invest ₹ 33,737 crore for a 7.73 % equity stake in Jio Platforms Limited on a fully-diluted basis. Google is investing at an equity valuation of ₹ 4.36 lakh crore," it said.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of RIL, Ambani said that he looks forward to working with investors in Jio Platforms in a collaborative way.

Making another major announcement, the RIL Chairman said that Jio has designed a complete 5G solution and it will be available for trials as soon as spectrum is available.

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News Network
March 7,2020

Srinagar, Mar 7: Two more accused, including a man who allegedly bought chemicals online for making improvised explosive device (IED) to be used in an attack on a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama last year, were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday, an official said.

The terror attack left 40 CRPF personnel dead in south Kashmir's Pulwama last year.

Waiz-ul-Islam, 19, from Srinagar and Mohammad Abbass Rather, 32, from Pulwama were arrested by the NIA, taking the number of those arrested in the case in the past week to five.

"During initial interrogation, Islam disclosed that he used his Amazon online shopping account to procure chemicals for making IEDs, batteries and other accessories on the directions of Pakistani Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists," the official said.

He said Islam personally delivered the items to the JeM terrorists after buying them online as a part of the conspiracy to carry out the attack.

"Rather is an old overground worker of the JeM. He has disclosed that he gave shelter at his home to Jaish terrorist and IED expert Mohd Umar after he came to Kashmir in April-May 2018," the official said.

Rather also sheltered other JeM terrorists - suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar, Sameer Ahmed Dar and Kamran, a Pakistani -- at his house before the Pulwama attack, the official said.

"He also facilitated safe shelter for the JeM terrorists, including Adil, at the house of accused Tariq Ahmed Shah and his daughter Insha Jan of Hakripora, who were arrested on March 3," the official said.

He said Islam and Rather will be produced before the NIA special court in Jammu on Saturday, while further investigation in the case continues. The NIA took over the case to probe the conspiracy behind the February 14, 2019, attack in Pulwama.

The last video of Adil, which was released by the JeM from Pakistan after the terror attack, was filmed at the home of Tariq Ahmed Shah. On February 28, the NIA achieved a major breakthrough in the case when it arrested 22-year-old Shakir Bashir Magrey, a furniture shop owner and resident of Pulwama.

Magrey had given shelter and other logistical assistance to suicide bomber Adil. He was introduced to Adil in mid-2018 by Pakistani terrorist Mohammad Umar Farooq and he became a full-time OGW of the JeM.

The explosives used in the attack were determined through forensic probe to be ammonium nitrate, nitro-glycerin and RDX. During investigation into the attack, the identity of the suicide bomber to be Adil Ahmad Dar was confirmed through DNA matching with that of his father.

The other key terrorists involved in the attack have been found to be JeM's south Kashmir divisional head Muddasir Ahmad Khan, killed in an operation by the security forces on March 11 last year; Pakistani terrorists Muhammad Umar Farooq and IED expert Kamran, both killed on March 29 last year; the owner of the car Sajjad Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Anantnag who was killed on June 16 last year, and Qari Yassir, JeM's commander for Kashmir who was killed on January 25 this year.

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