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
June 20,2020

Jun 20: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remark that neither is anyone inside India's territory nor has any of its posts been captured, alleging that the PM has "surrendered" Indian territory to Chinese aggression.

In a statement on the all-party meeting called by Modi on Friday to discuss the situation at the India-China border, the government said, "At the outset, prime minister clarified that neither is anyone inside our territory nor is any of our post captured."

Tagging PM's remarks with his tweet, Gandhi said, "PM has surrendered Indian territory to Chinese aggression."

"If the land was Chinese: 1. Why were our soldiers killed? 2. Where were they killed?" Gandhi said.

The categorical statement by the prime minister came in the wake of reports that Chinese military has transgressed into the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control, the de-facto border, in several areas of eastern Ladakh including Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley.

Soon after Gandhi's tweet, Union Home Minister Amit Shah posted video of father of a soldier, who was injured in Galwan face-off, and hit out at the Congress leader, accusing him of indulging in "petty politics".

"A brave armyman’s father speaks and he has a very clear message for Mr. Rahul Gandhi. At a time when the entire nation is united, Mr. Rahul Gandhi should also rise above petty politics and stand in solidarity with national interest," Shah wrote.

The prime minister's assertion came even as Congress president Sonia Gandhi, at the all-party meet, questioned the government's handling of the situation, asking if there was any intelligence failure, and seeking assurance that China will "revert" to its original position.

Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused senior ministers in the government of "lying" to protect the prime minister and that the Centre was "fast asleep" while martyred jawans paid the price in Ladakh.

The former Congress chief also tagged a one-minute video of a jawan's father saying the Indian soldiers were unarmed when they were attacked by Chinese troops.

He has been questioning the government on the LAC standoff and asking how the Chinese occupied Indian territory and why Indian soldiers were sent "unarmed to martyrdom" in Ladakh.

Twenty Indian Army personnel, including a colonel, were killed in a clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday night, the biggest military confrontation in over five decades that has significantly escalated the already volatile border standoff in the region.

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News Network
March 2,2020

Mar 2: Two more positive cases of the novel coronavirus -- one in Delhi and another in Telangana -were reported, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

The person from Delhi had travelled to Italy, it said adding he is being diagnosed at RML hospital.

The other person with the coronavirus infection has a travel history to Dubai, the ministry added.

"Both the patients are stable and being closely monitored," the ministry said.

Sunitha Krishnan is the name of the patient from Telangana and she is a social activist.

Krishnan has tweeted, "So going to enjoy hospitality at Gandhi Hospital for two days as admitted in the isolation ward suspected coronavirus. They have not started the tests yet( 1.30 hrs since I arrived).I believe the results make take 48hrs. At this pace, I have a feeling I am might be here sometime."

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April 16,2020

New Delhi, Apr 16: South Delhi District Magistrate Brij Mohan Mishra on Thursday said that the administration is investigating how the pizza delivery boy contracted the coronavirus.

"In the last 15 days, we discovered houses he had delivered food. We contacted people living in 72 houses and they have been asked to stay in-home quarantine. No symptoms have been seen in people related to him. 

Testing of his roommate has been done and his reports are awaited. The rest of the people don't have any symptoms, they have been placed under institutional quarantine. Those in-home quarantines are also asymptomatic," Mishra said.

"Unless a positive case comes, we feel that transmission has not taken place. The boy told us that he was continuously wearing a mask while delivering the food. We are also finding out how he got infected. We are getting the information about the places he visited for delivery. He was tested on the basis of the doctor's advice. Later, he tested positive," he said.

72 families have to stay in home quarantine in the Malviya Nagar area after the delivery boy tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said that 17 other delivery boys linked with the infected person have also been placed under institutional quarantine.

"A pizza delivery boy has been detected with COVID-19 here. 17 other delivery boys linked with him have been placed under institutional quarantine and 72 people have been placed under home quarantine," Jain said.

Food delivery app Zomato said that the staff of the infected person's restaurant has delivered some orders which were placed on its platform.

"We've been made aware today that a restaurant's employee, who has been recently tested positive for COVID-19, had delivered food in the past to a few customers in the Malviya Nagar area in Delhi. All these customers have already been contacted by the govt authorities... We are not sure whether the rider was infected at the time of delivery," the company said in a statement.

Zomato also claimed that colleagues of the delivery boy have tested negative for COVID-19.
"This restaurant had instructed their riders to wear masks and follow strict hygiene to keep customers safe from any unintended mishap.

All co-workers of the said rider have been tested negative. And as a precaution, the restaurant where this rider worked has suspended operations," read the statement.

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