Archives for October 2021

NEW DELHI: Petrol and diesel price on Saturday was hiked again by 35 paise a litre to take retail rates across the country to new record highs.

With this hike, petrol is now at Rs 100-a-litre mark or more in all state capitals, while diesel has touched the 100-level in a dozen states.

Diesel is nearing Rs 100-a-litre mark in Goal and Bengaluru.

The price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of Rs 105.49 a litre and Rs 111.43 per litre in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

In Mumbai, diesel now comes for Rs 102.15 a litre; while in Delhi, it costs Rs 94.22. This is the third straight day of 35 paise per litre hike in petrol and diesel prices. There was no change in rates on October 12 and 13.

Since ending of a three-week long hiatus in rate revision in the last week of September, this is the 15th increase in petrol price and the 18th time that diesel rates have gone up.

While petrol price in most of the country is already above Rs 100-a-litre mark, diesel rates have crossed that level in a dozen states/UT including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Bihar, Kerala, Karnataka and Ladakh.

In Panaji, diesel now costs Rs 99.56 a litre while in Bengaluru it comes for Rs 99.97 per litre and Silvassa for Rs 99.86. Prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes.

Shedding the modest price change policy, state-owned fuel retailers have since October 6 started passing on the larger incidence of cost to consumers.

This is because the international benchmark Brent crude is trading at USD 84.8 per barrel for the first time in seven years.

A month back, Brent was trading at USD 73.51. Being a net importer of oil, India prices petrol and diesel at rates equivalent to international prices. The surge in international oil prices ended a three-week hiatus in rates on September 28 for petrol and September 24 for diesel.

Since then, diesel rates have gone up by Rs 5.6 per litre and petrol price has increased by Rs 4.30 a litre.

Prior to that, the petrol price was increased by Rs 11.44 a litre between May 4 and July 17.

Diesel rate had gone up by Rs 9.14 a litre during this period.

NEW DELHI: Hard Hindutva appeared on the horizon as RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday pushed for revisiting the population policy, scorned at state control of temples, sought tough measures against illegal immigrants, regulation of internet-based OTT content and further “unification of J&K” with the rest of the country.

His annual Vijayadashmi address gave a glimpse of the agenda, as the NDA government at the Centre enters its eighth year in power, while the BJP will be up against a charged Opposition to defend party ruled states in polls next year. Bhagwat argued that the population percentage of religions of Indian origin has been consistently declining as against a rising Muslim head count.

He demanded a revamp of the population policy keeping the next 50 years in mind, adding it must be uniformly enforced across all communities and religions. Citing the situation in West Bengal and Assam, Bhagwat toughened his stance against illegal immigrants, demanding the withdrawal of the citizenship granted to some of them as also land ownership.

Turning to the issue of temple control, Bhagwat said in the South they are mostly run by the state, though they lack proper governance, with interference by people who are “irreligious and unethical heretics”. Stressing on collectivism, which is seen as a message for the consolidation of Hindus castes, Bhagwat sought to restore the status of temples as the fulcrum of society, which can spur Hindu revivalism.

Bhagwat saw in the targeted killings of minorities in Kashmir a clear design to stoke fear. Noting that there had been gains after the abrogation of Article 370, Bhagwat sought further integration of J&K, which is likely to be an indication for easing curbs on outsiders for settling and doing business there. Expressing anguish over the face-off between Assam and Mizoram police, he asked, “Are we not citizens of the same country?”

Where he stands

• Temples: Hand over operating rights of Hindu temples to Hindus. Wealth of Hindu temples must be used for worship of deities and welfare of Hindu community only
• J&K: Targeted killings of national minded citizens — especially Hindus — to destroy their morale and
• re-establish a reign of terror
• Taliban: Its stance has alternated between Kashmir and peace talks. Our military must be prepared for all eventualities
• Bitcoins: Clandestine, uncontrolled currency; has potential to destabilise economy
• OTT platforms: Broadcasts unregulated; difficult to predict how it will affect society. But how anti-national forces wish to use it is wellknown

NEW DELHI: Former Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh, who has been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), is stable and improving, according to the officials on Friday.

As per the officials of the premier facility, Singh has been doing good and showing signs of betterment and recovering. The 89-year-old Congress leader was admitted at AIIMS on Wednesday after he complained of weakness following

According to the sources at the facility, the former prime minister was admitted to the cardioneuro unit at the hospital and is under the care of a team of cardiologists led by Dr Nitish Naik, Singh’s personal physician for years.

Following his admission, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya visited AIIMS to enquire about Singh’s health and met his family. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also went to check upon his condition.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also tweeted about Singh’s admission wished him quick recovery. However, Mandaviya/s visit has drawn flak over privacy as he posted photos of the former PM lying on the bed. The photos have been removed from the social media account. 

WASHINGTON: Developed countries must take measures and legislate for net-zero emissions by the current decade itself, India demanded on Friday.

India made the demand while cautioning the World Bank against the climate change agenda of countries that are outside the scope of their Nationally Determined Contributions.

A key pillar of the historic Paris Agreement, countries under Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs have set their own loan goals in this global fight against climate change.

For instance, under its NDC, India has made four commitments, including reducing the greenhouse gas emission intensity of its GDP by 33-35 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

India’s developmental imperatives are eradication of poverty, provision of basic needs for all citizens and access to energy for all, in the context of sustainable development, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her address to the Development Committee of the World Bank.

“It remains paramount that the World Bank maintains and enhances its support for these. While we broadly support the Green Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID) strategy, we would like to caution that this strategy should be consistent with the NDCs of the client countries,” Sitharaman said.

“WBG should neither promote interventions that are outside the scope of the said NDCs nor lose its razor-sharp focus on its twin goals,” she added.

The multilateral climate change regime is based on the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibility and respective capacities (CBDR-RC), in the light of national circumstances, she said.

It is not appropriate to compare the stringency of GHG mitigation policies across developed and developing countries given their diversity both in terms of the level of development and the responsibility they owe due to past emissions.

“India’s share of global cumulative emissions (1850-2018) is only 4.37 per cent and its current per capita emissions are at 1.96 tons CO2 per capita. For Europe, the respective numbers are 33 per cent and 7.9 tons CO2 per capita and for the USA, these numbers are 25 per cent and 17.6 tons CO2 per capita,” Sitharaman said.

“The emission by the developed countries has led to a huge carbon stock in the atmosphere, taking away the carbon space required by the developing countries to grow,” the Union Finance minister said.

“Some of the developed countries peaked in 1979 but still aim to reach net-zero by only 2050 while they expect the same transition to be performed much more swiftly by the developing countries, many of whom have yet to reach their peak,” she told the international community.

“What is most onerous is that this great transition is expected without clear and substantial financial support or technology transfer,” she said.

“It is important that the focus of the discussion on climate finance for developing countries should be on providing adequate resources — both financial (predominantly grant/grant equivalent) and technology transfer to facilitate the developing countries to transition to a low carbon growth pathway,” she added.

“Hence, net-zero emissions can be a global aspirational goal and historical responsibility demands that developed countries should take measures and legislate for net-zero emissions by the current decade itself,” Sitharaman said.

“For commensurate climate actions in developing countries like India, it is required to ensure adequate support from developed to developing countries in the form of finance, technology and in capacity building,” Sitharaman asserted.

“The past performance of both finance and technology flow from the developed to the developing countries falls way short of the requirements,” she added.

In her address, Sitharaman said India’s NDC envisages 40 per cent of its electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.

“Therefore, universalization of access to energy requires that both renewable energy investments and cleaner coal investments must grow,” she said.

“Coal, as mentioned in India’s NDC, will continue to be a driving force behind electrification through 2040 and will continue to play an important role in the energy security of the country. We have noted that the background document mentions that just transitions have to be discussed in line with national objectives and we welcome such an approach,” she said.

While India is supportive of the overall GRID strategy, Sitharaman said, she is constrained to note that over-reliance on GRID could result in losing sight of the long-term development agenda of the World Bank Group.

“It is therefore paramount that response to crises focus on restoring the loss in human capital and making sure that the SDG targets are not lost sight of,” she added.

“We would also like to reiterate that the GRID strategy for client countries should be aligned with their NDCs and GRID should not be used as a tool to promote interventions outside the scope of the NDCs,” she said.

New Delhi: India has slipped to 101st position in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021 of 116 countries, from its 2020 position of 94th and is behind its neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Eighteen countries, including China, Brazil and Kuwait, shared the top rank with GHI score of less than five, the website of the Global Hunger Index that tracks hunger and malnutrition said on Thursday.

The report, prepared jointly by Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide and German organisation Welt Hunger Hilfe, termed the level of hunger in India “alarming”.

In 2020, India was ranked 94th out of 107 countries. Now with 116 countries in the fray, it has dropped to 101st rank.

India’s GHI score has also decelerated — from 38.8 in 2000 to the range of 28.8 – 27.5 between 2012 and 2021.

The GHI score is calculated on four indicators –undernourishment; child wasting (the share of children under the age of five who are wasted i.e who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition); child stunting (children under the age of five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition) and child mortality (the mortality rate of children under the age of five).

The share of wasting among children in India rose from 17.1 per cent between 1998-2002 to 17.3 per cent between 2016-2020, according to the report.

“People have been severely hit by COVID-19 and by pandemic related restrictions in India, the country with highest child wasting rate worldwide,” the report said.

Neighbouring countries like Nepal (76), Bangladesh (76), Myanmar (71) and Pakistan (92) are also in the ‘alarming’ hunger category, but have fared better at feeding its citizens than India, according to the report.

However, India has shown improvement in other indicators such as the under-5 mortality rate, prevalence of stunting among children and prevalence of undernourishment owing to inadequate food, the report said.

According to the report, the fight against hunger is dangerously off track. Based on the current GHI projections, the world as a whole — and 47 countries in particular — will fail to achieve a low level of hunger by 2030.

Food security is under assault on multiple fronts, it said, adding that worsening conflict, weather extremes associated with global climate change, and the economic and health challenges associated with the COVID19 pandemic are all driving hunger.

“Inequality — between regions, countries, districts, and communities — is pervasive and, (if) left unchecked, will keep the world from achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) mandate to leave no one behind,” the report said.

Further, the report noted that it is difficult to be optimistic in 2021 because the forces now driving hunger are overpowering good intentions and lofty goals.

Among the most powerful and toxic of these forces are conflict, climate change, and COVID-19 three Cs that threaten to wipe out any progress that has been made against hunger in recent years, it added.