The Hindu National
์ค๋ ์ฑํฅ
๊ธฐํ
Kerala rains: IMD sounds red alert for five districts on June 6
Rest of Kerala has been put on orange alert, except Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, and Alappuzha, where very heavy rain is likely
๐ฎ๐ณ ์ธ๋ ยท "ALERT" ยท ์ด 81๊ฑด
ํํฐ ๋ณด๊ธฐํ์ฌ ์ง์
50.0
0 = ๋ถ์ ์ฐ์ธ
50 = ์ค๋ฆฝ
100 = ๊ธ์ ์ฐ์ธ
์ต๊ทผ 7์ผ ๊ธฐ์ค 5,903๊ฑด์ ๋ถ์ํ ๊ฒฐ๊ณผ, ๋ด์ค ์ฌ๋ฆฌ์ง์๋ 50.0(๊ท ํ)์ ๋๋ค. ๊ธ์ 0๊ฑด(0.0%)ยท์ค๋ฆฝ 5,903๊ฑด(100.0%)ยท๋ถ์ 0๊ฑด(0.0%)์ด๋ฉฐ, ์ค๋ฆฝ ๋น์ค์ด ๋๋ ทํ๊ฒ ๋์ต๋๋ค. ์ฑํฅ ์ง์๋ ์ข ํฉ 0.0(์ค๋ ๊ท ํ)์ ๋๋ค.
Rest of Kerala has been put on orange alert, except Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, and Alappuzha, where very heavy rain is likely
Orange alert issued for eight districts from Ernakulam to Kasaragod on Friday; on Saturday too, orange alert issued across the State except in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, and Alappuzha
The southwest monsoon set in over Kerala on Thursday (June 4, 2026), the India Meteorological Department announced. This is three days later than the normal onset date of June 1, and four days behind the date the department had forecast.
Severe weather conditions, including rainfall and thunderstorms, disrupted flight operations at Delhi airport on Thursday. Thirteen incoming flights were forced to go around, with 11 diverted to other airports. A yellow alert remains in effect for Friday, forecasting continued light rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds.
According to IMDโs latest bulletin, heavy rainfall is very likely to occur at isolated places in the Rangareddy, Sangareddy, Medak, Kamareddy, Mahabubnagar and Nagarkurnool districts
Delhi-NCR experienced relief from warm and humid weather as light rain arrived, accompanied by a red alert from the IMD forecasting thunderstorms and gusty winds up to 70 kmph. Residents were advised to follow disaster management guidelines due to the possibility of hail at isolated spots.
Rain, Gusty Winds Bring Respite From Sweltering Heat In Delhi-NCR
Another spell of very light to light rain, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, is likely during the night.
Assam to roll out emergency mobile alert system to warn citizens about impending disasters
After a delay of three days from normal onset date of June 1, southwest monsoon has set in over Kerala
IMD confirms southwest monsoon onset over Kerala on June 4, marking start of Indias rainy season, with widespread rain and alerts for heavy to very heavy showers in Kerala.
After making landfall in Kerala, the monsoon typically progresses northward in phases, covering most parts of the country by mid-July.
The Indian rupee is trading around Rs. 95-96 to the dollar in late May 2026, setting fresh record lows. Markets are openly discussing the Rs. 100 threshold. The rupee has weakened in almost every year since 2014 and has lost approximately half its value against the dollar over that period. The end of this currency depreciation is not in sight. The factors that would stop it are not yet visible.The government is acting. State run oil companies have implemented four fuel price hikes in ten days as of May 25, taking petrol in Delhi past Rs. 102 per litre. This is the right and necessary response to the energy cost reality created by the Iran war. Crucially, the Modi government has also done its part on the macroeconomic front, consistently and aggressively reducing the fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP to maintain structural stability.Yet, the currency pressure persists. The energy price impact has not yet fully reached Indian consumers and supply chains. It is coming.Uday Kotak said it plainly at the CII Annual Business Summit on May 12: "Be ready for tough times rather than waiting for the shock to hit us." He was right.Also read | Manufactured monopoly: How industrial policy is structuring monopolies in IndiaThis is not a time to panic. But it is a time to act. The leaders who move now will have options. Those who wait will not.The Overriding Factor: The Psychology of the PlayersWhy is the currency declining despite strong domestic fiscal discipline? Because exchange rates are not driven by mathematical models alone. The currency decline is highly affectedโand acceleratedโby the psychology of all players engaged in this endeavor.Currency movements are deeply behavioral. When a currency visualizes a downward trend, psychology shifts from calculation to self-protection and speculation. Every player in the ecosystem operates under this psychological weight:Corporate CFOs and Treasurers: Instead of hedging normally, they rush to cover future dollar liabilities early, hoarding hard currency and inadvertently worsening the scarcity.Foreign Investors: They begin to judge their returns not by the quality of Indian business operations, but by the eroding value of the conversion rate.Importers and Exporters: Importers advance their payments to avoid paying more tomorrow; exporters delay converting their dollar earnings back into rupees, waiting for a "better" rate. This collective psychology creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.Investors, CFOs, and FDI decision makers extrapolate what is happening now into the future. When they see a currency that has lost approximately half its value since 2014 with no clear floor in sight, their psychological pivot alters market realities.Also read | India tightens checks on overseas flows as currency pressure mounts, sources sayThe cascading timeline of Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) equity behavior perfectly mirrors this psychological shift from rational evaluation to systemic risk aversion:2024 (The Calculation Phase): Rupee averages Rs. 83-84. FPI flows remain positive (+$12 billion) as investors trade on strong domestic corporate earnings.2025 (The Self-Protection Phase): Rupee slides past Rs. 89. Collective psychology shifts to risk mitigation. FPIs withdraw a record $18.4 billion from Indian equitiesโthe largest annual equity outflow on record.Early 2026 (The Capitulation Phase): Rupee breaks past Rs. 95. Sentiment turns into an outright exit strategy. In the first four months of 2026 alone, outflows have already reached $19.1 billion, completely bypassing the entire previous year's record loss in a fraction of the time.FDI agreements are being signed, but capital is delayed because players are psychologically hesitant to deploy funds into a depreciating asset.The Trap of Hard Currency Debt: A Broken Business Model There is a highly significant and dangerous phenomenon unfolding in India today that requires immediate exposure. For years, a specific class of Indian corporates adopted a regular strategy of borrowing heavily in hard currency (External Commercial Borrowings, or ECBs). Lured by low nominal global interest rates, several of these companies over borrowed, treating cheap dollar debt as a permanent structural advantage.Today, that strategy has become a trap. The compounding effect of a depreciating rupee, skyrocketing hedging costs, and brutal refinancing realities is fundamentally breaking their business models.Consider the mechanics of this crisis:The Hedging Penalty: Leaving dollar debt unhedged is now corporate roulette. However, buying hedges at current rupee levels has become structurally prohibitive. The cost of protection completely wipes out any interest rate advantage.The Refinancing Wall: Billions in foreign debt are coming due. These over-borrowed companies must now refinance their liabilities at a time when the rupee value has materially deteriorated. They are effectively forced to borrow far more rupees just to pay back the same amount of original dollars.The Crushing Cost of Rupee Capital: As these companies try to pivot back to domestic lenders, they face a severe escalation in their rupee cost of capital.The Growth Verdict: When your cost of capital spikes and your cash flows are consumed by servicing legacy dollar debt, future growth stops. Capital expenditure (CapEx) plans are being frozen. These companies can no longer invest in innovation, capacity, or market expansion. Their business model shifts overnight from aggressive value creation to basic survival. Boards must realize that this is not a temporary treasury headache; it is a structural threat to the companyโs future viability.India's forex reserves stand at approximately 10 to 11 months of import cover. Substantial, but being actively deployed to defend the currency. Some imports are non-negotiable: oil, critical inputs, components. These will now cost more. That cost passes through every supply chain.Six Actions for Business Leaders1. Protect your cash and liquidity first. This is the most immediate priority. Map your cash position today. Identify every source of liquidity across the next twelve months. Stress-test it at Rs. 100 and beyond. Which receivables are at risk? Which credit lines are rupee-denominated and which are not? Companies that run into a cash crisis during a currency depreciation cycle lose their options entirely. The CFO must own this analysis and present it to the board within days, not weeks.2. Act now on your foreign currency borrowings, hedging, and refinancing. Do not assume the rupee will recover to Rs. 80. Analyse your full foreign currency exposure across the next three years: every loan, every refinancing date, every hedging contract, every procurement price denominated in foreign currency. Hard currency loans now face refinancing at rupee values that have materially deteriorated. Model every scenario at Rs. 100 and beyond. Your CFO, treasury, and procurement team must be aligned on one instruction: do not run into a liquidity crisis. This analysis must happen now, not at the next quarterly review.3. Build a war room. Most companies have begun thinking about war rooms for supply chain disruptions. Expand the mandate. Currency exposure belongs in the same room. Which of your costs are dollar or euro denominated? Which of your revenues are rupee denominated? Where is the mismatch? What is your break-even exchange rate? If you do not have clear answers today, you are exposed. The war room is not a committee. It is a real-time decision environment with live data, a clear owner, and the authority to act.4. Use the currency depreciation advantage: double your export salesforce. A weaker rupee makes Indian exports more competitive. This window will not stay open indefinitely. Double the salesforce in your export markets now. Use this period to upgrade quality, improve service delivery, and build customer relationships that will last beyond the currency advantage. Indian exporters who invest in capability during this period will emerge stronger regardless of what the rupee does next. Those who simply ride the price advantage without building the underlying business will lose when conditions change.5. Watch your stock and your sector. Banks and financial institutions should already be on high alert. Companies with large foreign currency exposure will see pressure on their financials. Some stock prices are already reflecting this. Go through your sector company by company. Identify who is most exposed. If you are an investor or a lender, this analysis is not optional. The combination of currency depreciation, rising oil prices, and FPI outflows creates a compounding pressure that will surface in earnings before it surfaces in headlines.6. Cut costs aggressively. AI will help. There has never been more urgency to reduce costs than now. And there has never been a better tool to do it. AI can cut most operational costs by as much as 30% across functions: procurement, finance, customer service, logistics, and compliance. McKinsey data confirms companies adopting AI and automation reduce operational costs by 20 to 30 percent. This is not a future opportunity. It is a present imperative. Every rupee of cost removed through AI is a rupee that does not need to be recovered through revenue in a deteriorating currency environment. Start now with your highest-cost functions.The CFO as CaptainCurrency risk is a cash flow risk. Every function that touches foreign currencyโprocurement, treasury, sales, capex planningโ must now report into a single coordinating authority. That authority is the CFO. This is not about hierarchy. It is about clarity. In a currency crisis, fragmented decision-making is as dangerous as wrong decision making. One captain. One consolidated view. Weekly reviews minimum.The Bigger PictureThis currency depreciation is a structural signal, not a cyclical one. India's economy must move from a cheap labour advantage to genuine global value creation.The companies that will survive and thrive are those building products and services that command premium prices in global markets. The rupee's weakness is a reminder that competing on cost alone has limits.The recently concluded trade agreements are a genuine opportunity. Execute them with full force. Build the export pipelines. Add the sales capacity.The businesses that move now, with discipline and clarity, will manage market psychology, navigate the debt trap, and define the next chapter of Indian industry.The shock is coming. Prepare before it arrives.Ram Charan is the author of Chinaโs 90% model. It is restricting Indiaโs industrial progress. Former Director of Hindalco and Muyuan (China).
Kerala Monsoon Arrival: The IMD has issued Orange and Yellow alerts for multiple districts including Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha.
BEST bus number 8184, returning to Wadala Depot after its scheduled run, allegedly rammed into multiple vehicles near Pushpa Park at 6.50 am, mangling at least one cab.
As many as 16 stocks are set to turn ex-record date for dividends on Friday, effectively making today the last day for interested investors to buy the shares to be eligible for the payments.Under Sebiโs T+1 settlement cycle, investors need to purchase a companyโs shares at least one trading day before the record date to ensure the shares are credited to their demat accounts in time, and they become eligible for the corporate action. Accordingly, today is the last opportunity for investors to buy the shares so that they are credited to their accounts by the record date (June 5), making them eligible for the dividend.Reliance Industries dividendReliance Industries (RIL) is among the most notable names on the list, as the Mukesh Ambani-led company has fixed June 5 (Friday) as the record date for its final dividend of Rs 6 per share for FY26. Indiaโs most valuable company has declared 28 dividends over the past 25 years, and its dividend yield currently stands at 0.42%, according to Trendlyne data.HDFC AMC dividendThe highest dividend among the pack will be paid by HDFC Asset Management Company. The stock will turn ex-record date on Friday for a final dividend of Rs 54 per share. Bank of Baroda has also fixed June 5 as the record date for its final dividend of Rs 8.5 per share.ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company dividendICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company had declared a final dividend of Rs 1.65 per share for its shareholders. The record date to determine the eligibility of shareholders for the dividend has been fixed on June 5.Further, Bank of Maharashtra and BEML have also fixed Friday as the record date for their dividends of Rs 1.2 per share and Rs 2.3 per share, respectively. Cipla will turn ex-record date tomorrow for its interim dividend of Rs 13 per share.JSW Energy is also among the key names, with the stock set to go ex-record date on Friday for a final dividend of Rs 2 per share. Other companies which have fixed June 5 as the record date for their dividend payments are Archean Chemical Industries (final dividend of Rs 2.5 per share), Jagran Prakashan (special dividend of Rs 3 per share and interim dividend of Rs 7 per share), Mahickra Chemicals (interim dividend of Rs 0.15 per share), MKVentures Capital (interim dividend of Rs 0.25 per share), Ponni Sugars (final dividend of Rs 5 per share), Qgo Finance (interim dividend of Rs 0.15 per share), Spacenet Enterprises (interim dividend of Rs 0.01 per share) and Vertoz (interim dividend of Rs 0.1 per share).Take a look at all the stocks which will turn ex-record date for their dividends on June 5, making today the last day for interested investors to buy the shares and be eligible for the rewards. 131496582(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
The southwest monsoon is set to reach the Kerala coast on June 4. IMD issues orange alert for Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, and Thrissur on Wednesday, warning of intense rainfall
The weather department said โpartly to generally cloudy skiesโ would persist for the next couple of days.
Centre has put itself on alert mode to deal with the possible impact of El Nino (Representational)
Southwest monsoon is expected to enter India via Kerala around June 4, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).