India News
Indian Oil PSUs raise import from Iran
Iran becomes second largest oil supplier to India
Despite mounting pressure from US for reducing Iranian oil imports to “zero” by November 4 this year, Iran was the second largest oil supplier to Indian state owned refiners between April and June, replacing Saudi Arabia as companies took advantage of steeper discounts offered by Tehran.
This was disclosed by Oil and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday in Lok Sabha. He said that the Indian oil imports from Iran in the first three months of this year have totalled 5.67 million tonnes, more than the 5.22 MT from Saudi Arabia, and less than only the 7.27 MT import from Iraq among the countries in the Middle East.
He was responding to a question from Supriya Sule (NCP) and Mullappally Ramachandran (Cong). Besides the Middle East, Indian crude imports come from countries including Nigeria, Venezuela, Egypt, and now, the United States.
Read More: Germany asks India to continue buying oil from Iran
He did not provide comparable numbers from the year-ago period. But statistics reveal that India imported about 3.46 million tonnes, or about 279,000 bpd, from Iran between April and June last year.
According to the reply by the minister, Indian Oil Corp, Chennai Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum and its unit Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals – shipped in 9.8 million tonnes of Iranian oil in 2017/18, about a quarter less than a year ago.
For this fiscal year, the refiners had decided to almost double imports from Iran, which offered almost free shipping and extended credit period on oil sales.
During April-June quarter Iraq remained to be the top oil supplier to India. New Delhi shipped in 7.27 million tonnes of oil from Iraq, while shipments from Saudi Arabia totalled 5.22 million tonnes, making it the third largest supplier.
Read More: Iran accuses India of bowing to US pressure, warns of withdrawing privileges if it cuts oil import
US has been exerting pressure on India and other major buyers of Iranian oil to cut imports from the country after Washington withdrew from multilateral Iran-nuclear deal signed in 2005 nuclear deal and decided to re-impose sanctions on Iran.
Read More: India under US pressure to cut oil imports from Iran, Govt says exploring all options
According to US administration the first set of sanctions will take effect on Aug. 6 and the rest, notably in the petroleum sector, following a 180-day “wind-down period” ending on Nov. 4.
Earlier Iran was the third largest oil supplier for India, after Iraq and Saudi Arabia. For Iran, India has been the second largest buyer of its oil after China.
India News
Earthquake of 6.2 magnitude on Richter scale shakes up Delhi-NCR, North India
Reports said the tremors were felt acutely by people residing in high rises and many fled by staircase to the groundfloor and were awaiting more aftershocks.
Strong tremors lasting almost a minute rocked parts of Delhi-National Capital Region, and several northern states after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake at its epicentre hit Nepal.
Reports said the tremors were felt acutely by people residing in high-rises and many fled by staircase to the groundfloor and were awaiting more aftershocks. Similar sights were visible in the region’s office districts. The tremors were also felt in parts of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand just after 2.45 pm. According to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority website, “Delhi is located in zone IV which has fairly high seismicity where the general occurrence of earthquakes is of 5-6 magnitude, a few of magnitude 6-7 and occasionally of 7-8 magnitude. Delhi thus lies among the high-risk areas.” The site adds that Delhi and the union territory region has already seen five earthquakes of the 5.5 to 6.7 scale since 1720.
There has been no report of damage to life and property as of now and reports are awaited on the situation in Nepal. Seismologists said the epicentre was 5 km underground in Bhatekhola in Nepal. The Himalayan country has already faced a massive quake on April 25, 2015 of 7.8 magnitude. Some 9,000 people died and injured more than 20,000.
India News
Watch: Nitin Gadkari takes a test drive on hydrogen bus in Prague
In the video Gadkari is seen seated on the bus while officials surround him standing. One of the officials asked about the distance the bus can cover in a single charge. Gadkari said the visit is part of India’s commitment to eco friendly and sustainable transportation solutions.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is currently on an official visit to the Czech Republic. He took a test drive in a hydrogen bus. Nitin Gadkari took to X (formerly Twitter) and shared a video of the bus ride. In the video Gadkari can be seen surrounded by a group of officials.
In the video Gadkari is seen seated on the bus while officials surround him standing. One of the officials asked about the distance the bus can cover in a single charge. Gadkari said the visit is part of India’s commitment to eco friendly and sustainable transportation solutions. The video is captioned Hydrogen buses are a beacon of hope in India’s fight against environment degradation and carbon emissions. The buses will pave a greener and cleaner future.
The union minister posted a series of photographs on X, which showed the Gadkari’s test drive. Hydrogen fuel celled powered buses use air and hydrogen to generate electricity. It is a more environment friendly and sustainable mode of public transportation.
Gadkari arrived in the Czech Republic on October 1. He received a warm welcome at the Prague airport. He also participated on the ministerial session on road safety at the 27th World Road Congress in Prague. The Minister reaffirmed India’s dedication to achieving road safety targets which are outlined in the Stockholm Declarartion.
Nitin Gadkari has clearly advocated asserting that advancements and transition to green fuel. This will reduce the cost of electric vehicles when compared to petrol run vehicles within a span of two years. Variety of comments started coming on X (formerly twitter). One social media user said all school and state run buses would be run on hydrogen in the coming days. One X User was asked about the mass production of hydrogen cars. One user said the video was highly inspiring.
India News
Watch: Rajasthan independent MLA Om Prakash Hudla polishes people’s shoes
Hudla did a similar act in the year 2018. He won the election from Dausa constituency. Talking to the media Hudla said he took the initiative to polish the shoes of workers and voters. He said he wanted to make them realize MLAs are their employees and not vice versa.
As the election fever grips Rajasthan independent MLA Om Prakash Hudla became a cobbler in Dausa. He polished people’s shoes. In a video going viral on social media, Hudla is seen wearing a garland and polishing the elderly man’s shoes. He later helps the man to put the shoes on.
Many people have surrounded the MLA. One man even threw rose petals on him. Hudla did a similar act in the year 2018. He won the election from Dausa constituency. Talking to the media Hudla said he took the initiative to polish the shoes of workers and voters. He said he wanted to make them realize MLAs are their employees and not vice versa.
He said he has done it before. He was doing it again and he would continue to do it in the future. Hudla also hosted a tricolor outside a hospital on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. Rajasthan will have assembly elections later this year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh in preparation for the upcoming state elections. PM Modi slammed Ashok Gehlot led congress government in the state and said the Rajasthan state had been destroyed in the past five years.
PM Modi said every leader of Congress, Tyrant, rioter, goon and corrupt person has considered himself the government of Rajasthan. PM Modi added Congress had left no stone unturned in looting the state. He added The Congress has successfully deceived the people of Rajasthan.
But the Congress had failed to run the government in the state. He said Ashok Gehlot was trying to save his chief minister’s chair and almost half of the Congress party was trying to unseat him. Pilot and Gehlot have been up against each other over the past few years as Pilot was trying his level best to replace Gehlot in the Chief Minister’s position.
