Connect with us
Wednesday,25-June-2025
Breaking News

Business

US dollar advances on continuous rise of inflation

Published

on

US-dollar

The US dollar gained ground against most of a basket of currencies in late trading amid rising inflation pressure and expectation of an earlier hike of interest rate by the Federal Reserve.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.39 per cent at 96.8639 in late trading on Wednesday.

US personal consumption expenditure price index in October grew 0.6 per cent month on month, higher than 0.4 per cent of expansion in the previous month, according to the data issued by the US Department of Commerce on Wednesday morning.

The index posted year-on-year growth of 5 per cent in October, up from 4.4 per cent in September, according to the US Department of Commerce.

The Federal Reserve is expected to raise benchmark interest rates as early as mid-2022 with some calling for faster tapering of the bond purchasing programme, Xinhua news agency reported.

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly on Wednesday said she certainly sees a case to be made for speeding up the tapering of Fed’s bond purchasing programme.

“If things continue to do what they have been doing, then I would completely support an accelerated pace of tapering,” said Daly in an interview with Yahoo Finance.

The Fed has as much as 91.2 per cent probability of raising benchmark interest rate by at least 25 basis points by the scheduled meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on June 15, 2022, according to the FedWatch Tool on the website of CME Group.

The probability for at least 25 basis points of interest rate hike by then stood at 73.5 per cent a day ago, according to the FedWatch Tool.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to $1.1199 from $1.1250 in the previous session, and the British pound fell to $1.3323 from $1.3381 in the previous session. The Australian dollar fell to $0.7192 from $0.7223.

The US dollar bought 115.43 Japanese yen, higher than 115.06 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar was up to 0.9341 Swiss franc from 0.9332 Swiss franc, and it fell to 1.2671 Canadian dollars from 1.2682 Canadian dollars.

Crime

PFI had ‘hit list’ of 950 in Kerala including judge, reveals NIA probe

Published

on

Kochi, June 25: In a startling revelation made by the National Investigating Agency (NIA), it has surfaced that the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) had prepared a hit list of 950 people in Kerala.

The list, which surfaced in the media on Wednesday, included a now-retired district judge.

Incidentally, this list was submitted early this month by the NIA at a special court here when the bail applications of four accused in the murder of RSS leader Sreenivasan came up for hearing. The NIA opposed the bail strongly. The four accused, identified as Muhammad Bilal, Riyasudheen, Ansar K.P. and Saheer K.V., were arrested for murdering Sreenivasan at Palakkad, Kerala, in 2022.

The list of 950 was compiled after getting confirmed inputs from different places by the NIA probe team. It includes eight documents seized from the 51st accused, Sirajudheen, which contain a list of 240 people from other communities.

Then, while conducting a search held at Periyar Valley Campus at Aluva, NIA was able to get the details of five targeted persons from the purse of the 15th accused, Abdul Wahad, who is presently on the run.

It was in this list that the name of a former district judge was found.

Another document seized from an accused, who turned approver later, contained a hit list with the names of 232 people.

Similarly, a search held at the home of the 69th accused, Ayoob, a hit list containing the names of about 500 people was found.

When the NIA was probing the Sreenivasan case, the PFI link emerged. It was later found that PFI had sinister plans to create unrest in the country.

During the investigation, the anti-terror agency got details of the PFI carrying out physical and arms training for its cadres.

The NIA has now claimed that it has voice clips and witness statements that reveal the ‘India 2047 plan’ of setting up Islamic rule in India.

The special court, after hearing both sides and going through the documents produced before it, observed that there were reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against the petitioners was prima facie true, and rejected the bail petition.

Continue Reading

International

Nearly 50 Vietnamese evacuated from Israel

Published

on

Hanoi, June 25: Nearly 50 Vietnamese citizens have been evacuated from the conflict zone in Israel to Egypt, the state media reported on Wednesday.

Several evacuees have already returned to Vietnam, while others are completing necessary procedures to repatriate as soon as possible, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said.

The evacuation was carried out through coordinated efforts by the Vietnamese embassies in Israel and Egypt, media reported.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Israel continues to advise citizens remaining in the conflict area to stay calm, maintain regular contact with the embassy, and strictly follow guidance and warnings issued by local authorities, MOFA and the embassy, media reported.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

Guterres urges Israel and Iran to fully respect the ceasefire and to stop fighting, noting that the people of the two countries have already suffered too much, said Stephane Dujarric, Guterres’ spokesman.

“The secretary-general hopes that this ceasefire can be replicated in the other conflicts in the region,” said the spokesman on Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump declared that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel has officially taken effect, urging both sides to maintain restraint.

“THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!” Trump posted on social media platform Truth Social.

The announcement came amid escalating violence in the Middle East, but President Trump’s declaration appeared to catch both parties off guard. The ceasefire claim was quickly contradicted by Iran, which asserted it had not received any formal proposal from Washington and had not agreed to a bilateral ceasefire.

Earlier in the day, President Trump wrote, “Israel & Iran came to me, almost simultaneously, and said, ‘Peace’! I knew the time was NOW. The World, and the Middle East, are the real winners!”

“Both Nations will see tremendous love, peace and prosperity in their futures. They have so much to gain, and yet, so much to lose if they stray from the road of righteousness and truth. The future for Israel & Iran is unlimited, & filled with great promise. God bless you both!” he added.

Earlier, Iran announced a unilateral halt to its military operations against Israel, effective 4 a.m. local time, but made it clear that the pause was conditional, based entirely on whether Israel would stop its own airstrikes and military actions.

Continue Reading

International

Axiom Space lifts off: Journey of India’s human space flight, says Shubanshu Shukla

Published

on

New Delhi, June 25: IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who began his historic mission to become the first from India to reach the International Space Station on Wednesday, said it’s the journey of India’s human space flight.

After 41 years, India will have an astronaut in space. Shukla will be the second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma’s flight in 1984.

“This is not my journey alone, but I am carrying the Indian flag with me, and this is the journey of India’s human space flight,” Shukla said, onboard the flight.

“Liftoff for #Ax4. The #Ax4 crew is on its way to the space station,” said the US-based Axiom Space, which has, in collaboration with NASA and SpaceX, organised the mission.

“Liftoff of Ax-4!” added SpaceX.

Shukla’s flight launched at 2.31 a.m. EDT ( noon IST) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, aboard a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket.

The lift-off comes after being deferred at least six times.

“India is returning to space, Jai Hind,” Shukla wrote on X, just before the launch of the mission.

“After 41 years, India’s flag will fly in space again,” he added.

Earlier, Shukla also penned an emotional note for his wife.

“Special thanks to Kamna for being the wonderful partner that you are. Without you none of this was possible but more importantly none of this would matter,” said Shukla, in a post on Instagram.

He also shared a photograph that shows them saying goodbye through opposite sides of a glass wall.

Shukla also thanked people “involved in this mission for their support”.

He is serving as the pilot of the mission alongside Commander Peggy Whitson of the US.

The other crew members include Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary, both serving as mission specialists. Once aboard the ISS, Shukla will conduct pioneering experiments related to food and space nutrition.

Once aboard the ISS, Shukla will conduct pioneering experiments related to food and space nutrition and study the effects of microgravity and space radiation on edible microalgae — a nutrient-rich, high-potential food source for future space missions.

Continue Reading

Trending