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At least seven persons were killed in Kolkata amid heavy overnight rainfall that led to waterlogging in several areas. The city received 247.4 mm of rainfall since 8.30 am on Monday, according to the Regional Meteorological Centre.

Kolkata Mayor and state Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said that most parts of the city were waterlogged. Several areas reported power outages amid the downpour on Tuesday. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged the public to stay indoors for their safety.

Banerjee also ordered state government schools to start Durga Puja holidays from Tuesday and urged private schools to remain closed for the next two days. The rain came days before the festival starts on September 28. Read on.

The Indian rupee fell to an all-time provisional low of 88.75 against the United States dollar. The depreciation came against the backdrop of the United States increasing the H-1B visa fee to $100,00, which forex traders said could lead to lower remittances and hit Indian Information Technology service exports.

The rupee opened at 88.41, fell to an intraday low of 88.82, and ended the day at 88.75.

The rate of 88.75 marked a fall of 47 paise per dollar from its closing rate on Monday, which was 88.28. The previous all-time low was 88.44 on September 11.

The rupee is Asia’s worst-performing currency this year, Bloomberg reported on August 29. Read more.

A nun and 19 Adivasi children were questioned at Jharkhand’s Tatanagar railway station on Friday when they deboarded from a train after members of the Bajrang Dal raised concerns of alleged religious conversion. The group of four boys, 15 girls and the nun were made to wait at the station for about five hours.

The investigators have not found merit to the Hindutva organisation’s allegations.

The nun said that the children were travelling with her to attend a life-skills training programme, and that she had permission letters from their guardians. The group was allowed to go to the training programme after the Bajrang Dal vigilantes left.

Christian rights groups alleged that members of the Bajrang Dal posted photos and videos of the minors on social media. In response, the outfit’s local unit chief Arun Singh claimed that it was done to “gather evidence”. Read more.

Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan has been released from Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district jail after 23 months in custody. He has been convicted and sentenced in six cases, but has received bail in all of them, his lawyer Jubair Ahmed Khan said.

Ahead of his release, the Sitapur administration had imposed prohibitory orders barring gatherings in areas around the prison. Despite this, supporters of Azam Khan and Samajwadi Party workers reached the jail in large numbers to welcome him.

Since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, Azam Khan – one of the Samajwadi Party’s s most prominent Muslim leaders – has been booked under several charges, including land grabbing, cheating and criminal trespass.

Khan faces charges in 111 criminal cases, according to police records. Read more.

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