The Indian rupee (INR) dropped by 29 paise to trade at 64.36 against the US dollar today amid a selloff in domestic equity markets and dollar demand from importers and banks. This is the lowest value of the rupee (INR) against the US dollar (USD) since December 18 2017 when it hit 64.68 intraday against the US dollar (USD). Dealers said early losses in domestic equity markets and fresh foreign fund outflows weighed on the rupee (INR). On Monday the rupee (INR) had closed on at a flat note at 64.06 against the US dollar (USD).The benchmark BSE Sensex crashed by 1 274.35 points or 3.66 per cent to 33 482.81 while Nifty tanked by 390.25 points or 3.65 per cent to 10 276.30 in opening trade. 5 Things To Know About Rupee Fall (INR) Vs US Dollar (USD) Today1) The rupee has been on a weakening streak since the start of this month. The rupee had plunged by 44 paise against the US dollar on Budget day (Thursday) after the government announced a long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on equities and set a fiscal deficit target at a wider-than-expected 3.3 per cent for FY19.2) Weak domestic equities also hurt the rupee. Foreign investors sold domestic equities worth Rs 1 263.57 crore on Monday.3) Domestic stock markets were under strong selling pressure with the Sensex falling over 1 200 points at day s low tracking a selloff across global markets. Overnight the Dow fell over 4 per cent while today Japan s Nikkei slumped over 5 per cent. CommentsClose X 4) The latest trigger for the global bloodbath in equities is better-than-expected jobs data in the US which has raised the possibility of Federal Reserve hiking rates faster than expected.5) US raising rates faster than expected would be negative for Asia and emerging market assets says forex advisory firm IFA Global which expects the rupee to trade in the range of 64.25-64.62 against the dollar on Tuesday.
By: PTI | Mumbai | Published: January 25 2018 10:26 am Yesterday the rupee had strengthened by 9 paise to close at a new one-week high 63.69. Related News Rupee slumps 23 paise to 64.30 in late morning dealsRupee up 9 paise against US dollar in late morningRupee advances 11 paise to 63.26 against US dollarThe rupee gained 22 paise to 63.47 against the US dollar in early session on Thursday on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. Besides sustained foreign fund inflows stock markets opening with gains and the dollar weakening against major currencies overseas also supported the domestic unit forex dealers said. The dollar was weak following the US Treasury Secretary hailing a weak dollar at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Yesterday the rupee had strengthened by 9 paise to close at a new one-week high 63.69. Meanwhile the benchmark BSE Sensex rose 85.38 points or 0.23 per cent to quote higher at 36 247.02 in early trade today. For all the latest Business News download Indian Express App More Related News Rupee gains 10 paise against dollar in early trade Rupee depreciates 13 paise against US dollar Tags: Indian rupee No Comments.
MUMBAI: After the shadow over Nifty trades the Singapore stock exchange may need to brace for another shock. With the Budget paving the way for a unified regulator for India s International Financial Services Centre housed in Gujarat s GIFT City the stage is set for GIFT authorities and the government to push for the trade of Dollar-Rupee (USD/INR) currency futures in GIFT. In the absence of a separate regulator the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been reluctant to allow currency futures trading on GIFT exchanges. Now the central bank may have to revisit the proposal. GIFT authorities are expected to meet RBI soon to explore the possibility banking sources told ET. At present capital market products that can be traded in GIFT are derivatives on equity commodities and cross-currency pairs (such as USD/GBP). But not USD/INR which traders believe could generate a huge interest. Besides Nifty contracts dollar-rupee futures has emerged as a lucrative offering for the Singapore bourse. The combined volumes of the USD/INR futures in Singapore and Dubai is almost 1.75 times of the USD/INR futures business in Indian exchanges. Since dollar-rupee futures contract is not a proprietary product offshore markets like Dubai had launched the contract despite objections from RBI. The central bank has been traditionally sensitive on matters linked to the dollar-rupee exchange rate. Despite a flourishing non-deliverable forward market in London and Singapore where over-thecounter trades take place between financial institutions and corporates and the subsequent launch of USD-INR futures on foreign exchanges RBI held the view that the external value of rupee cannot be determined outside India. In fact RBI had in the past turned down representations from a few Indian exchanges for extending trading hours in currency futures. The USD-INR trade begins before the Indian market opens and continues even after trading stops in the Indian market. There are international exchanges which keep the trading platform open for more than 17 hours. Given the trading hours in GIFT there are chances that some of the currency futures volumes may shift from Dubai and Singapore to GIFT. Most of the currency traders in Dubai are Indians NRIs and people of Indian origin. They can easily set up shop in GIFT and there can be arbitrage trades between regular Indian exchanges like NSE/BSE and GIFT bourses said a veteran in the foreign exchange market. Currency futures in GIFT may impact Dubai more than Singapore. It s easier for currency futures to take off in GIFT than stock or equity index derivatives the overseas banking units (arms of Indian banks) in GIFT can also trade in USD/INR futures said another person. The proposed unified regulator is expected to monitor all financial services activities banking capital market and insurance in GIFT. Typically international financial centres in other markets have separate regulators; one of the key functions of such a regulator is preserving a centre s competitive edge. In competing with other destinations like Singapore the Budget has also proposed doing away with the 30% tax on short-term capital gains in GIFT. There is no tax on security and commodity transactions in GIFT. A year ago some of the market participants had proposed that high net worth investors in India should be allowed to trade on GIFT exchanges under RBI s liberalised remittance scheme which allows resident individuals to invest up to 250 000 a year on overseas securities properties and other assets. This however would require a change of regulations which currently disallow the use of LRS to trade in derivatives. India Indian minister urinates on wall amid drive to end public defecation Tweeted image embarrasses Kalicharan Saraf whose party wants to end public urination Michael Safi in Delhi @safimichael Thu 15 Feb 2018 10.03 GMT Last modified on Thu 15 Feb 2018 10.58 GMT Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email View more sharing options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Close Indian women sweep a road in Hyderabad. The Clean India campaign is a flagship policy of the prime minister. Photograph: Mahesh Kumar A/AP An Indian health minister has been pictured urinating on a wall amid a nationwide drive to end public defecation and promote cleanliness and hygiene. Kalicharan Saraf the health minister for Rajasthan state was pictured relieving himself on a wall in Jaipur in an image tweeted by a staffer from the opposition Congress party. Danish Abrar (@danishabrar2016) #Rajasthan Health Minister #KaliCharanSaraf urinating at roadside under a govt which claims record work in #ODF @OfficeOfRG @SachinPilot @VasundharaBJP @PMOIndia @vidyarthee pic.twitter.com/5z3ce461bn February 13 2018 The picture went viral and caused embarrassment for Safar and the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP). Ending public defecation and urination are key priorities of the Clean India campaign a flagship policy of the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. Modi is frequently pictured holding a broom and sweeping streets as part of the drive which produces an annual list of the 100 cleanest Indian cities. Jaipur is yet to appear on the list. Modi has pledged to eradicate open defecation by October 2019 and his administration claims to have built 60m toilets across the country since coming to power in 2014 with another 20m scheduled to be constructed by the middle of next year. We have to build toilets before temples Modi said in a speech last year. Men urinating in public is a common sight in Indian cities and villages and an estimated 500 million people in the country still defecate outdoors a practice considered the main reason for the country s high rate of diarrhoea-related deaths among children aged five and under. Nearly 190 000 children die each year from conditions linked to frequent bouts of diarrhoea which weakens their immune systems and makes them more vulnerable to malnutrition and diseases such as polio or pneumonia. Death-trap toilets: the hidden dangers of Mumbai s poorest slums Read more Reviews of the toilet-building programme have shown many Indians continue to defecate openly despite the presence of new latrines in their villages. A 2015 study argued the practice is deeply woven into the culture of some communities in one case giving women an opportunity to leave their homes and socialise away from the scrutiny of their mothers-in-law. It also found many toilets were inadequately built and frequently flooded. Saraf declined to comment in detail telling Indian agencies the picture was not a big issue . Topics India Narendra Modi South and Central Asia news Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Reuse this content
BENGALURU: In what will be one of the most high profile hires by an Indian internet firm in recent years local language news and entertainment aggregator Dailyhunt has roped in former Facebook India head Umang Bedi as President. Bedi will report to founder Virendra Gupta and will take help scale up the revenues and user base of the platform which already has more than 80 million monthly active users. We will focus on three metrics - increasing number of users how we can grow engagement and revenue. I believe Dailyhunt can differentiate to win market share in the advertising space and be an independent platform of scale Bedi told ET. Bedi who was most recently the managing director of Facebook for India and South Asia before which he led India business at multi-national companies like Adobe Intuit and Symantec. He officially left Facebook in January. Umang s background in social media content and experience leading scaled teams generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues is a great fit with our plans. To fight the big boys you need experienced executives like him said Gupta. Dailyhunt aims to capture about 10% of the Indian digital advertising market in the coming years which is right now pegged at about 2-2.5 billion. Search engine giant Google and Facebook currently capture about 80-85% of this market and are also developing products for the local language users. A study by KPMG and Google titled Indian languages Defining India s Internet highlights that by 2021 regional language users will account for 75% of India s Internet user base. According to the report 90% of the new internet users in India in the next five years will be Indian language users growing by 230% to 536 million users in 2021. Dailyhunt has over 250 000 news articles in 14 languages licensed from thousands of content partners with readers spending over six billion minutes on the application each month. Founded in 2009 Dailyhunt has raised over 160 million in funds from investors including Matrix Partners India Sequoia Omidyar Network and Falcon Edge. In 2016 it raised a round from China s Bytedance which operates personalized news app Toutiao there. Dailyhunt has also been expanding it s product suite and recently introduced Newzly a news-in-brief app in nine India languages to compete with startups like InShorts and Times Internet s NewsPoint part of the group which publishes The Economic Times. Newzly provides trending news articles across multiple genres including entertainment business sports amongst other sectors. The idea is to get into more video options soon too besides other offerings eventually creating a family of apps that caters to all kinds of users in the language of their choice as well as focusing on increasing personalization for the user based on their interests said Gupta.
By Archana Chaudhary and Anirban Nag Less than a month after he declared to the World Economic Forum that India was open for business Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised import duties to their highest in three decades setting the stage for a protracted trade war. As he prepares to seek re-election next year Modi has been ensnared by a global wave of protectionism that could threaten the foreign direct investments India needs to achieve double-digit growth. He has made it more expensive to import parts for automobiles cameras televisions electricity meters and smartphones risking trade disputes from allies like the U.S. and Germany to rivals like China. India has taken a dramatic protectionist turn Richard Rossow an Indian policy expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote in a note. The scale of India s protectionist leap is surprising and likely to elicit a strong response from the United States and other major trading partners. President Donald Trump signaled tit-for-tat duties against India s barriers on motorcycles while the German Ambassador to India Martin Ney questioned the decision to raise custom duty on the import of auto components. The U.S. commerce department on Tuesday said it was examining imports of welded pipes from India and five other countries. All this could add up to bad news for India at the World Trade Organisation. This can escalate at the WTO said Rahul Shukla Delhi-based executive director at Pricewaterhouse Coopers Pvt. If they really want to help local industry there s so much more that could be done and it s true that industry needs help. But these are the highest barriers we have seen in a long while. India s move comes as it faces the widest trade deficit in three years and a resilient rupee. Data from the government is due on Thursday and though it is expected to show a pull back for January India s yawning deficit with Asian powerhouse China is a matter of concern. Indian imports from China have soared in the past few years out pacing exports and leaving the local industry especially the medium and small sectors gasping for survival. And exports from the 2.3 trillion economy have slowed at a time when the global economy is ticking higher. High Barriers Finance minister Arun Jaitley announced in his Feb. 1 budget speech that the barriers would push the government s flagship Make in India program to encourage local manufacturing. Yet some believe the electoral costs incurred by Modi after a chaotic roll out of the national goods and services tax -- including significant disruptions to businesses -- may have driven the government to resort to protectionism. The barriers will remain in place for another two-to-three years to help small and medium companies said Vanaja Sarna chairwoman of India s Central Board of Excise and Customs in an interview. But the move may end up hurting local businesses said Bipul Chatterjee executive director at New Delhi-based think tank CUTS International. A hike of 15 to 20 percent is not much for Chinese and South Korean companies -- they can easily absorb it. This will end up hurting Indian competitiveness more than the government imagines he said.
NEW DELHI: In one of the biggest fraud cases to hit Indian banking Punjab National Bank (PNB) informed stock exchanges on Wednesday that it has been hit by embezzlement amounting to Rs 11 300 crore at one of its branches in Mumbai. The enforcement directorate (ED) has registered a money laundering case against diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his relatives along with others and raided over dozen premises across the country connected to them on Thursday. Here is how the fraud took place: WHEN AND WHERE DID THE FRAUD START? In 2011 when a letter of undertaking (LoU) was opened at the Fountain branch of PNB in Mumbai by the alleged fraudster. Read also: Billionaire jeweller under lens as PNB jolted by Rs 11 300 crore fraud WHAT S AN LoU? A bank guarantee. The bank opening an LoU for a client agrees to unconditionally repay the principal and interest on client s loan. The client could be an importer who uses funds or credit limit with an Indian bank to get cheaper foreign currency loans. Read also: Nirav Modi: Hollywood stars glittered in his gems on red carpet HOW WAS THE LoU MISUSED? A PNB deputy manager Gokulnath Shetty allegedly used his access to the SWIFT messaging system used by banks for overseas transactions to authenticate guarantees given on LoUs without any sanctions. Based on such authentications overseas branches of several Indian banks gave forex credit. Read also: Nirav Modi under ED lens in CBI s Rs 280cr fraud case ARE OTHER BANKS AFFECTED? Several Indian banks with overseas branches will be impacted as they have provided loans based on these LoUs. PNB is denying liability claiming that these are fraudulent LoU. WHAT ACTIONS HAS PNB TAKEN? It has suspended 10 employees and referred the case to CBI and ED. HOW AND WHEN DID IT COME TO LIGHT? In January when the earlier LoUs matured and foreign branches did not get their money. They then turned to PNB which said that the guarantees were fraudulent. THE FRAUD...IN NUMBERS 1) The fraud is 8 times the bank s 2016-17 profit of Rs 1 325 crore 2) It is equal to a third of PNB s market cap of Rs 35 300 crore 3) PNB share price fell 10 per cent on Wednesday. It cracked a further 8 per cent in Thursday s morning trade 4) Government was expected to infuse Rs 5 473 crore in PNB equity
JOHANNESBURG: Having retained the top ranking in the Test series with a remarkable win over South Africa at the Wanderers last month despite the series loss the Indian team took that confidence into the One-dayers and have now stamped their authority in a format they ve been dominating for a while now. ALSO READ: Rohit reveals reason behind quiet century celebration India are now the top-ranked team in 50 overs cricket too by a considerable margin a feat that could help Virat Kohli and Co. do wonders looking ahead to the 2019 ICC World Cup. There s little time between now and the start of the marquee tournament in England next year 15 months to be precise and that would mean that the core of this present side is what India can expect to continue with barring the unforeseen going forward. ALSO READ: Kohli loves Pandya s attitude will give him long rope: Pollock If you look at the entire (ODI) series it was a dominant performance for us. It will only give us confidence as a team to go outside and keep winning (more) opener Rohit Sharma said after the win in Port Elizabeth. The team s ability to start on an aggressive note and then fall in line with the changing nature of the wicket one that kept getting slower and made batting difficult was in stark contrast to South Africa s absolute failure in sticking around. However the conditions notwithstanding India s inability to surge from a position of absolute strength to eventually not touching the 300-run mark raised questions on the middle-order s inability to add to the top-order onslaught. While India s victories against South Africa were dominating ones they also came riding on a very poor opposition that batted miserably over the last couple of weeks. In that the opposition regardless of the series result have posed India the questions they must answer before it s time to head to England. Sharma nevertheless puts down the middle-order s relatively dry run so far to lack of opportunities. The bulk of scoring has been done by top 3-4 guys. I know our middle-order hasn t got enough opportunities. If their turn to bat doesn t come we cannot do anything he says adding in jest If we are playing well we cannot come back retired hurt . Yet the team does have its share of answering to do even as it is supposed to happen within the sanctity of its dressing room. The fact that barring his impressive 93 in the first Test of the tour in Cape Town allrounder Hardik Pandya has collectively managed around just 50 runs until now. If the team management were to do a checklist of the factors that went their way and ones that did not it is the middle-order they ll look to work on in the coming months. In an otherwise very strong outfit the team is yet to figure out who s their best bet to bat at No. 5 and 7. Between Virat Kohli Shikhar Dhawan and Sharma in that order India managed the bulk of their ODI scores while the rest of the line-up either lacked opportunities as Sharma says or fell short of making the most of whatever came their way. Whatever series we have played before in India and in the Champions Trophy a lot of the scoring has been done by the top three. It augurs well for the team because we always talk about batsmen batting through the innings. That is what we are trying to do says Sharma. The top three have got the best opportunity because they get to play maximum balls.
London: India s defence budget broke into the world s top five beating the UK for the first time a new report by a London-based global think-tank has said signalling a key shift in the military balance between the two countries.India overtook the UK as the fifth-largest defence spender in the world in 2017 at USD 52.5 billion up from USD 51.1 billion in 2016 according to the Military Balance 2018 report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).In contrast the UK s defence budget fell from USD 52.5 billion in 2016 to USD 50.7 billion last year. This represents a key shift in the military balance between India and the UK with India allocating more capabilities to develop its regional resources than the UK in a global context said IISS Senior Fellow for South Asia Rahul Roy-Chaudhury.The report notes that while India continues to modernise its military capabilities China with the world s second- largest defence budget after the US remains far ahead with three times India s defence budget at USD 150.5 billion.China s real defence spending increased by nearly 25 per cent in 2016-17 whereas India s rose by just 2.4 per cent. Post-Dokalam India s military balance with China continues to be significantly in China s favour. Since 2000 China has built more submarines destroyers frigates and corvettes than Japan South Korea and India combined. China will continue to dominate the region militarily and seek to challenge the US in the region as well Roy-Chaudhury notes.According to the analysis the Chinese army has over 600 000 more active personnel than India; it has nearly 1 200 tactical aircraft compared to India s 785; and 55 more cruisers destroyers and frigates than India.The report takes note of the Indian government s Make in India policy which aims to strengthen the defence-industrial base through measures such as reforming the cap on foreign direct investment (FDI) and that the country is one of the top troop contributors to UN peacekeeping operations. The overall capability of the (Indian) army is limited by inadequate logistics and shortages of ammunition and spare parts. Defence cooperation with the US continues to grow with an increasing level of exercising and sales of US equipment. Development and procurement programmes across the services are aimed at replacing ageing equipment but many projects have experienced significant delays and cost overruns particularly indigenous systems the report finds.IISS says the new Indian Joint Armed Forces Doctrine issued last year sees an emerging triad of space cyber and special-operations capabilities complementing conventional land sea and air capabilities as India continues to modernise its strategic forces particularly its delivery systems.Overall the report found that China and Russia with the world s fourth-largest defence budget at USD 61.2 billion are challenging the military supremacy of the US (USD 602.8 billion) and its allies and that the West can no longer rely on the strategic advantage it has enjoyed until now. CommentsClose X Saudi Arabia with a defence spending of USD 76.7 billion came in third to complete the world s top five the US China Saudi Arabia Russia and India.(Except for the headline this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
There is optimism and excitement among American businesses about India and they are eager to tap the opportunities for FDI in the country in sectors like healthcare after the latest budget India s envoy to the US has said. Navtej Sarna who is on a maiden trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles addressed the Indian-American community in Los Angeles and applauded their dynamism and philanthropy. He also had a series of meetings with top business executives think tanks and community leaders. Top among them included meeting with the Walt Disney chairman Andy Bird and vice president Alan Braverman meeting with Cisco s John Chambers a round table with the prestigious Bay Area Council and another one organised by US India Strategic and Partnership Forum. Referring to his visit to Disney and his meeting with its chairman and vice president Sarna said they are very excited about India and the work they do in the country from movies to their digital application and content creation. There is tremendous sense of optimism and excitement (among American businesses) Sarna said. American businesses he said are uniformly positive about India s reforms and excited about the new opportunities like the one in healthcare sector that has come up in the latest budget India s top diplomat to the United States has said. They (American business leaders) are uniformly positive about Prime Minister s reforms. They are very excited about the fact that we have opened up FDI in so many areas he said. The businesses are also very excited with the GST. They are looking at the healthcare with excitement. Start ups are particularly a very good area of cooperation the ambassador said referring to his meetings with the American businesses in the west coast. Virtually every sector of the economy is open to foreign direct investment Sarna said in his address to the Bay Area Council. India which has attracted USD60 billion in foreign direct investment is today the most favoured destination for FDI. India with its USD1.5 trillion plan in infrastructure sector offers great opportunities for American companies he said. In his address to the community leaders Sarna said India is witnessing transformational changes. Today we are the fastest growing economy in the world. We are set to become a USD5 trillion economy in 2025. We will become the third largest consumer market in 2025 he said. There is a huge burgeoning and rich middle class whose purchasing power has increased hugely Sarna said. While in San Francisco Sarna also visited Gadar Memorial -- an iconic moment from India s freedom struggle. Early this week he also visited Bancroft Doe and the South/Southeast Asia at Berkeley Library in University of California. Well known as a Sikh scholar of eminence Sarna during his visit viewed parts of the South Asians in North America Collection which is housed in Bancroft and other Library holdings on Sikhism.
JOHANNESBURG: It s wasn t entirely convincing to many at the start of this tour to South Africa when India travelled with an uncapped bowler in right-arm pacer Jasprit Bumrah and decided to play him right in the first Test. Like many former South African allrounder Shaun Pollock wasn t convinced either. Like many who ve played their cricket the traditional way - of having come up the ranks through the domestic grind in the longer formats - Pollock took time before arriving at the conclusion that Bumrah is different . ALSO READ: Kohli loves Pandya s attitude will give him long rope: Pollock He has something different hasn t he? His action is different he bowls wide of the crease he is skiddier and rushed batsmen a little bit says Pollock. Bumrah is a good reason why old school Pollock believes youngsters these days are all learning on the job . I think he learnt as he went through the Test series about http://www.icsi.edu/capitalmarketweek/UserProfile/tabid/4706/userId/1957011/Default.aspx the lines that he could bowl and he learnt what he could do and couldn t do. I spoke to him and asked wouldn t you like it if the rest of your Test career was played on surfaces like this? He said definitely. ALSO READ: Pollock disappointed by India s approach in Tests In that Pollock believes Bumrah s big challenge in Test cricket will be when he gets back to India and bowls on surfaces that don t assist mere pace. It s going to be more of a challenge when he gets to India. He is going to learn to reverse it and different surfaces and different stages says Pollock. The cricketer-turned-commentator is impressed with India s stock. It s the first time that you ve had 5-6 guys (who have) played and done a good job. Unlike the past now you (India) have had a good balance to the attack. The bowling was good and if you can keep those bowlers as a group there is no reason why India can t be successful in England and Australia he says. Approach to Test series was disappointing He was however critical of India s approach in Tests. I was a little bit surprised by their batting. I thought it was going to be their strength Pollock said. Looking back I think they have identified that preparation wise they needed to be here for more time. It goes down to what are the actual goals you want to achieve. If you want to win Test series away you have to give them priority. And priority means more preparation he concluded. (with agency inputs)
