The Indian rupee slumped to a record low of 96.9 against the United States dollar amid elevated global oil prices and economic headwinds caused by the conflict in West Asia. Its value improved marginally to 96.8 by the end of the trade session. However, it had fallen 30 paise from the previous low of 96.5 recorded on Tuesday.
Wednesday was the eighth consecutive trade session in which the rupee had lost its value. The Indian rupee has been the worst-performing Asian currency in 2026, with a 6% loss in its value since the conflict began on February 28. Read on.
The Delhi High Court set aside a sessions court order that had stayed ab first information report being filed against commentator Abhijit Iyer-Mitra for his social media posts in which he made sexually abusive remarks about the women employees of news outlet Newslaundry.
Noting that the sessions court order did not provide any reasons for its decision, the High Court bench remanded the matter back to the judge and asked him to pass a fresh and reasoned order within four weeks. Read on.
Kerala’s new United Democratic Front government said that it was scrapping the Silver Line semi-high-speed railway project planned by the previous Left administration. The proposed 530-km route was to connect Thiruvananthapuram in the south and Kasaragod in the north, reducing travel time to less than four hours from about 12 hours.
Chief Minister VD Satheesan said that the Congress-led government is not against high-speed railway projects, but was scrapping the “K-Rail” because it was “an environmental disaster and not economically viable”. He also said that the cases against the persons who protested the project would be withdrawn. Read on.
The Supreme Court dismissed a public interest litigation demanding that caste enumeration be excluded from the 2027 Census. The bench said that the matter lies within the government’s domain and that the courts cannot intervene.
The government must know how many people are backward and how many need welfare, the bench said, adding that it is a “matter of policy”.
The petitioner had contended that there was no justification for the government to collect such a large amount of data on caste. “There are endless possibilities of politicians and corporate entities misusing the caste data,” the petitioner had argued. Read on.
The Delhi High Court dismissed a public interest litigation demanding that Aam Aadmi Party leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Durgesh Pathak be disqualified from contesting elections after a judge initiated criminal contempt proceedings against them. The petitioner alleged that the contempt proceedings showed that the AAP leaders did not hold allegiance to the Constitution.
The bench said that the contentions were “absolutely baseless and bereft of any consideration”. The court also rejected the petitioner’s plea to direct the Election Commission to de-register the AAP. The poll panel does not have the power to do so barring in exceptional circumstances, the bench said. Read on.
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