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The euro has fallen below the dollar for the first time in nearly 20 years as the war in Ukraine pushes the single currency down, BBC reported.

A single euro bought $0.998 on the foreign exchange market at 12:45 GMT, down by 0.4% in the day's trading.

Fears that Russia may restrict Europe's supplies of energy have increased the chances of recession in the euro area.

The European Central Bank has lagged other central banks in raising rates, further weakening the euro.

Currencies tend to rise when the relevant central bank increases interest rates, as international investors eye a larger return for holding assets priced in that currency. 

The dollar has also been strong in recent months, buoyed by the US central bank raising interest rates, and investors seeking the safe haven of dollar assets in times of global turmoil.

A weakening currency will make imports more expensive for eurozone countries, especially goods priced in dollars such as crude oil. 

That could contribute to even higher inflation in the eurozone, which is already running at 8.6% for June, according to BBC.

A spokesperson for the ECB said it does not "target a particular exchange rate. However we are always attentive to the impact of the exchange rate on inflation, in line with our mandate for price stability." 

The bank is expected to start increasing interest rates next week.

The euro has fallen almost 12% against the dollar since the start of the year.

The single currency has been worth more than the dollar for most of its history. It lagged below the dollar in the years following the currency's launch in 1999, but the last time it traded below the dollar was December 2002 - less than a year after euro notes and coins were introduced for the first time, BBC reported.

The rupee weakened to a fresh low against the US dollar on Tuesday as the greenback surged to a 20-year high globally and domestic equities suffered losses, dealers said, Business Standard reported.

The rupee was Tuesday morning trading at 79.61 against the US dollar versus its close of 79.44 on Monday.

The US dollar index, which measures the unit against six major currencies, was at 108.42 this morning, as against 107.67 on Monday. The index was at levels last seen around August 2002, Bloomberg data showed.

At 10:40 am IST, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty were trading 0.3 per cent and 0.4 per cent lower, respectively.

The dollar has been on a strengthening spree of late as worries over slowing global economic growth amid an energy crisis in Europe and aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve have sent investors rushing to the safety of the US currency.

In 2022, the US dollar index has gained 13 per cent. The rupee has depreciated 6.6 per cent versus the dollar over the same period.

The broad dollar strength comes at a time when record outflows of overseas investment and elevated crude oil prices have rendered the outlook on India’s current account deficit unfavourable.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced a slew of measures to ease pressure on the rupee, but currency traders predict an unfavourable near-term outlook for the domestic currency amid global headwinds, according to Business Standard.

The RBI, on Monday, permitted the international trade settlement in rupees, a move that could be aimed at facilitating transactions with Russia, analysts said. Last week, the central bank announced relaxations in overseas investment in government securities as well as sums raised abroad through External Commercial Borrowings.

“In the recent past, RBI has taken steps that could ease the pressure on the rupee viz-a-viz country’s deficit. However, so far the positive impact of the same hasn’t yet been translated into the USDINR pair given by overpowering glooms and the risk-averse environment globally,” said Amit Pabari, managing director at CR Forex Advisors, in a note.

“The given fundamentals shall likely sustain its pressure on the rupee keeping the upside open well in place. As the pair breaks its crucial 79.50 levels, it’s a little far from the next big figure 80.00 levels that could be seen in the short run,” he said, Business Standard reported.

Surging prices for gas, food and rent catapulted US inflation to a new four-decade peak in June, further pressuring households and likely sealing the case for another large interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, with higher borrowing costs to follow, Associated Press reported.

Consumer prices soared 9.1 percent compared with a year earlier, the government said Wednesday, the biggest 12-month increase since 1981, and up from an 8.6 percent jump in May. On a monthly basis, prices rose 1.3 percent from May to June, another substantial increase, after prices had jumped 1 percent from April to May.

The ongoing price increases underscore the brutal impact that inflation has inflicted on many families, with the costs of necessities, in particular, rising much faster than average incomes. Lower-income and Black and Hispanic Americans have been hit especially hard, because a disproportionate share of their income goes toward such essentials as housing, transportation and food.

Some economists have held out hope that inflation might be reaching or nearing a short-term peak. Gas prices, for example, have fallen from the eye-watering $5 a gallon reached in mid-June to an average of $4.66 nationwide as of Tuesday — still far higher than a year ago but a drop that could help slow inflation for July and possibly August.

In addition, shipping costs and commodity prices have begun to fall. Pay increases have slowed. And surveys show that Americans’ expectations for inflation over the long run have eased — a trend that often points to more moderate price increases over time, according to Associated Press.

Yet for now, the relentless spike in inflation has caused a steep drop in consumers’ confidence in the economy, sent President Joe Biden’s approval ratings tumbling and posed a major political threat to Democrats in the November congressional elections. Forty percent of adults said in a June AP-NORC poll that they thought tackling inflation should be a top government priority this year, up from just 14 percent who said so in December.

The anniversary of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s year in office came hot on the heels of the storming of Presidential and Prime Ministerial residences in Colombo. Following the July 8 incident in Sri Lanka, Nepalis are debating if something similar could happen here. It certainly can. Had King Gyanendra not stepped down in the nick of time during the 2006 anti-monarchy protests, the royal palace too could have been overrun. While a repeat in Nepal of the Sri Lankan crisis is unlikely in the near future, it cannot be ruled out in the longer term. This is because in the past one year PM Deuba has done little to improve people’s perennially low opinion of their government. 

Deuba’s biggest achievement was giving Nepal’s grassroots democracy a new lease of life by successfully holding the May 13 local elections. Besides that it is hard to think of Debua’s any other achievement. Economic indicators have steadily gotten worse. The pandemic’s aftereffects and the ongoing war in Ukraine have weighed heavy on Nepal. Yet the government has also failed to bring comfort to the people in these troubled times. Instead, his (now ousted) finance minister did everything in his power to wreck the already troubled economy by pandering to vested interests.

Deuba liked to bemoan Oli’s authoritarian tendencies but he too has preferred to rule by diktat and concentrate power in Singhadurbar. Or he would have detached vital state organs like the the Department of Revenue Investigation and National Vigilance Center from the PMO. The transitional justice has continued to stagnate under his watch. Nepal’s foreign partners are more suspicious of Kathmandu than ever before. Meanwhile, the prime minister sounds out of sorts as he finds himself hemmed in both in and outside his party.

There was some hope that in these fading days of his political career, the five-time prime minister would try to cement his legacy as a statesman. But he has further tarnished his political legacy. Unlike in Sri Lanka, his offices may not be stormed. Yet the signs of public disillusionment against his government are there for everyone to see. 

Kathmandu Valley recorded 125 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 100 cases were reported in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur and Lalitpur logged seven and 18 cases respectively in the last 24 hours. 

As of today, there are 694 active cases in the country.

Nepal reported 206 new Covid-19 cases today. 

According to the Ministry, 2, 082 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 177 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 093 people underwent antigen tests, of which 29 were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of the virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 45 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 1, 005 active cases in the country.

A book titled “Rana Tharu Samudayama Prachalit Lokkatha Ra Mithak” written by journalist Indra Chaudhary was launched amidst a function in the Capital on Monday.

The investigative book was published by Nepal Pragya Pratisthan.

The book was mainly focused on the popular folk stories and myths of Rana Tharu Community who live only in Kailali and Kanchanpur districts in the far-western region of Nepal.

“Folklores are the traditional stories created by the community,” writer Chaudhary said, adding, “It has direct influence on faith, belief, culture and society.”

The knowledge and experience of one generation are passed on to another generation through this type of stories, he said. That is why, in order to safeguard the existence of human civilization and community, it is necessary to preserve it in writing, Chaudhary further said.

Though he was born in the Dangaura Tharu Community, Chaudhary said that he grew up with the people of Rana Tharu

“I got an opportunity to understand the culture, tradition, customs and rituals of Rana Tharu closely. But, the folk traditions have been vanishing at present with the influence of modernization. That is why, I think all these things should be preserved and I started collecting the folk stories,” he said.

The book has the collection of 12 stories like “Karmuo Aur Sapano,” “Sadasurka Aur Sadabircha,” “Soratha,” among others.

Likewise, the various castes, sub-castes popular in Rana Tharu Community and myths are also included in the book.

Sri Lanka's political and economic crisis escalated as protesters stormed the prime minister's office on Wednesday, demanding the country's leaders step down after President Gotabaya Rajapaksafled to the Maldives without resigning, CNN reported.

Rajapaksa had been expected to formally resign Wednesday but instead left the crisis-hit nation and appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as its acting leader, citing a section of the constitution that allows a prime minister to "discharge the powers, duties and functions of the office of president" when the president is ill or "absent" from Sri Lanka. 

Wickremesinghe was also due to formally resign "to make way for an all-party government."

The move further enraged protesters, who want both leaders to vacate their roles as the country's 22 million people struggle to buy basic goods, fuel and medicine.

Hundreds of demonstrators breached the compound of the prime minister's office in Sri Lanka's largest city Colombo on Wednesday and entered the premises, according to footage from the scene and local witnesses. 

The grounds have now been taken over by protesters who are gathering in celebration, following a standoff with armed police at the gates of the property.

People could be seen on the balcony of the property, lighting firecrackers and waving the Sri Lankan flag, according to witnesses.

Demonstrators outside demanded that neither the President nor the Prime Minister "be spared."

This follows months of escalating anger over the economic crisis, with Rajapaksa accused of high-level corruption and mismanagement that ultimately bankrupted the country.

As demonstrators took to the streets, acting President Wickremesinghe appointed a committee of senior armed forces commanders headed by the Chief of Defense Staff Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva to "restore law and order" in the nation, a high-ranking military official told CNN Wednesday, according to CNN.

Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency across Sri Lanka and a curfew on Wednesday only to later cancel both orders, according to the prime minister's office. 

In Colombo, a handful of protesters also entered the premises of state broadcaster Sri Lanka Rupavahini on Wednesday, negotiating a "deal" with broadcast staff to not give airtime to politicians such as Wickremesinghe.

At the prime minister's office, demonstrators waving the Sri Lankan flag thronged the building and celebrated on the balcony of the property after a standoff with the police, according to eyewitnesses and footage from the scene, CNN reported.