The Indian rupee slipped to an all-time low of 85 against the US dollar on Thursday, December 19, as global and domestic factors continued to weigh on the currency.

It opened at 85 against dollar compared to Wednesday's close of 84.95 against dollar.

Here’s a look at the key factors driving the rupee's decline:

Hawkish Fed signals boost dollar strength

The US Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance at its December meeting sent ripples through global markets.

The Fed now projects only two rate cuts in 2025, down from four estimated in September.

The Fed raised its forecast for core PCE inflation to 2.8% in 2024 and 2.5% in 2025, signaling prolonged inflation concerns.

The dollar index surged to a two-year high, further pressuring emerging market currencies, including the rupee.

A new long-acting preventive HIV drug could reach the world’s poorest countries by the end of 2025 or early 2026, a global health official told Reuters on Tuesday.

The ambition is to start deliveries of Gilead Sciences’ lenacapavir on that timeline, said Hui Yang, head of supply operations at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. However, she said a lot of things need to happen first, including the injectable drug receiving regulatory approvals from authorities like the United States Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization.

Lenacapavir is already approved for use as a treatment for multi-drug resistant HIV, costing around $42,250 for the first year of therapy in the United States. Clinical trials this year showed it is also very effective at preventing infection and Gilead is seeking approvals for the new use globally.

The National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) scheme has profiled over 57,758 Sewer and Septic Tank Workers (SSWs) across India, with 54,574 workers validated so far, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramdas Athawale, informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The initiative, launched in the 2023-24 fiscal year, seeks to ensure safety, dignity, and socio-economic empowerment for sanitation workers. It is being implemented across more than 4,800 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) under a collaboration between the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJ&E) and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).

The data reveals that sanitation work remains deeply entrenched in social inequalities, with 67.91% of the workers coming from Scheduled Castes (SC), followed by 15.73% from Other Backward Classes (OBC), 8.31% from Scheduled Tribes (ST), and 8.05% from the General category.

The Vietnam Coast Guard Ship CSB 8005 is set to arrive in Kochi on December 16 as part of its ongoing overseas deployment to India, the Indian Coast Guard announced in a press release.

According to the release, the four-day visit aims to enhance maritime cooperation and interoperability between the two forces.

"During the visit, the crew of the VCG Ship will engage in professional interactions focusing on marine pollution response, maritime search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement," the release stated.

In Shooting, Riya Shirish Thatte of Aurangabad clinched the gold medal in the women’s 25m pistol final of the 67th National Shooting Championship Competitions in New Delhi yesterday.

She defeated Punjab’s Simranpreet Kaur Brar 7-2 in a shoot-off after both had tied at 31 hits in the eight series of five-shots decider. This is Riya’s first senior national title. Olympian and former Asian Games champion Rahi Sarnobat was third with 25 hits.

The shotgun and pistol competitions of the National Shooting Championship are being held in New Delhi, while Bhopal is holding the rifle nationals.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday in State Assembly presented the Supplementary Budget of ₹17,865.72 crore for the financial year 2024-25. State Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna while presenting the Budget said that the supplementary demand of grant of ₹17,865 crore is 2.42% of the original Budget of ₹7.36 lakh crore presented in February 2024. The Supplementary Budget is the second such Budget presented after the original Budget. Now, the total Budget size of U.P. is ₹7,66,513.36 crore.

The Finance Minister said a provision of ₹8,587.27 crore is made for the energy department, ₹2,438.63 crore for the finance department, ₹1,592.28 crore for the family welfare department, and ₹1,001 crore for the Animal Husbandry Department. Additionally, ₹805 crore grant has been allocated for the Public Works Department (PWD), ₹505 crores for the Information Department, ₹515 crore for the Primary Education Department.

U.P. CM Yogi Adityanath also spoke on the second day in the Assembly highlighting the government’s achievement alleging the previous regime pushed the State in backward direction. “The unemployment rate of the State was more than 19% between the year 2012 and the year 2017, today this rate is at 2.4%. Our government is moving in right direction. We have made more than 1,60,000 recruitments in the education department alone in the State. These are the vacancies that could not be filled due to the bad intentions of the previous government,” Mr. Adityanath said.

Akin to the protective PPE kits that health workers don, scientists affiliated to the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) have developed an ‘anti-pesticide’ suit called Kisan Kavach. The suit is intended to protect farm labourers from imbibing the pesticides they spray. Several of the common pesticides are potential neurotoxins and detrimental to health.

The kit consists of a trouser, pullover, and a face-cover made of ‘oxime fabric’ that can chemically breakdown any of the common pesticides that get sprayed onto cloth or body during spraying operations. This prevents chemicals from leaching into the skin. The price per kit is ₹4,000. Those who spray insecticide or pesticides usually cover themselves from head to toe with ordinary cloth. This approach, said Praveen Kumar Vemula, of inStem Bangalore, the DBT-affiliated organisation that developed the kit, wasn’t advisable. Cloth over time tended to accumulate high quantities of the poisonous chemicals that would eventually pass into the body. Moreover, field observations with farmers and workers revealed that many of them didn’t wear protective covering because it was uncomfortable and unsuitable for prolonged outdoor work.

Britain's online safety regime came into force on Monday, requiring social media companies like Meta's Facebook and ByteDance's TikTok to take action to tackle criminal activity on their platforms and make them safer by design.

Media regulator Ofcom said it had published its first codes of practice on tackling illegal harms such as child sexual abuse and assisting or encouraging suicide.

Sites and apps have until March 16, 2025, to assess the risks illegal content poses to children and adults on their platforms, Ofcom said.

In Hockey, India won the Women’s Junior Asia Cup 2024 championship in Muscat, Oman last night. In the title clash, the Indian team defeated China 3-2 in a penalty shootout to successfully defend its title. Indian goalkeeper Nidhi made three crucial saves during the penalty shootout, while Sakshi Rana, Ishika and Sunelita Toppo scored for India in the shootout. Earlier, Jinzhuang Tan scored the opening goal for China with Kanika Siwach equalised in the third quarter for India. After a 1-1 draw in regulation time, the title clash went to a shootout. Hockey India has announced a reward of 2 lakh rupees for each player and 1 lakh rupees to each support staff for their efforts and spectacular win. India’s Deepika Sehrawat, with 12 goals ranked the top scorer of the tournament. India won their maiden Women’s Hockey Junior Asia Cup title last year by defeating the Republic of Korea.

Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) in India have achieved a significant milestone by recording the highest-ever aggregate net profit of ₹23.50 lakh crore in FY2023-24, compared to ₹22.63 lakh crore in FY2022-23, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The asset quality of SCBs has also improved remarkably, with the gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio declining to 2.67% (₹4.75 lakh crore) in June 2024 from a peak of 11.18% (₹10.36 lakh crore) in March 2018. Public Sector Banks (PSBs) reported a similar improvement, with their gross NPA ratio dropping to 3.32% in June 2024, compared to 14.58% in March 2018 and 4.97% in March 2015.

Additionally, the provision coverage ratio (PCR) of SCBs has risen from 49.31% in March 2015 to a robust 92.52% in June 2024, reflecting increased resilience in the banking sector.