No 1 Newspaper

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday said he would soon take up with the Congress high command the issue of Navjot Singh Sidhu’s damaging remarks ahead of polling in Punjab, which he said might have affected the party’s performance in Bathinda. The Chief Minister also said the performance of the ministers would be reviewed in the backdrop of the Lok Sabha results in the state. “We will review the performance of the ministers, it was not a veiled threat made by the party before the elections,” he told media persons at a press conference this afternoon. Though he refused to comment directly on the possible impact of Sidhu’s comments on the Congress performance in Punjab, Captain Amarinder said as a minister, Sidhu’s own performance needed to be reviewed. Asserting that Navjot Singh Sidhu had not been able to handle his department, the Chief Minister made it clear that he intended to take up the issue with the high command once things have settled down in

The rupee declined by 29 paise to 70.32 against the US dollar in opening trade Friday as crude oil prices firmed up and US-China trade-related concerns weighed on investor community. Forex traders said, besides the US-China trade concerns, foreign fund outflows also kept the pressure on the Indian rupee. The rupee opened weak at 70.22 at the interbank forex market and then fell further to 70.32, down 29 paise over its last close. The rupee had settled at 70.03 against the US dollar on Thursday. However, a positive opening in domestic equities supported the local unit and restricted the fall. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.30 per cent to USD 72.84 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 953.23 crore Thursday, as per provisional data. Domestic bourses opened on a positive note Friday with benchmark indices Sensex trading 192.61 points up at 37,586.09 and Nifty rising 51.25 points to 11,30