PM Narendra Modi, during his visit to the US, will be addressing the Indian diaspora at an event called ‘Howdy Modi’ in Houston on September 22.

NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s diaspora event in Houston next week will be a message for the world and it is up to Pakistan what they wish to read, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said here on Tuesday.

Modi, during his visit to the US to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), will be addressing the Indian diaspora at an event called ‘Howdy Modi’ in Houston on September 22, and will be joined by Trump as a special gesture.

Addressing a press conference on the achievements of the External Affairs Ministry in 100 days of the Modi government’s second term, Jaishankar spoke about Indo-US relations and said these have come a long way and were in “good health”.

To a question, the minister described as a “matter of great honour” Trump accepting to attend the diaspora event on the invitation of the Indian-American community. “And obviously, we will welcome President Trump in the warmest manner,” he added.

Jaishankar, who has served as Indian Ambassador to the US, said the Houston event is the third time Modi would be doing a major community event in the US. “And I regard this as a great achievement of the India-American community,” he said.

“If today, there is an event of this size and have someone like President Trump coming there, this shows where the community has reached, how it is regarded in the US, the respect it commands out there. It is obviously the achievement of the community,” he added.

He said with such events, the community definitely stands more motivated, united, inspired by the fact that Modi is the Prime Minister.

Asked whether Trump’s presence at the event would be a message for Pakistan, the External Affairs Minister said there are going to be multiple messages there. “And obviously it will be up to Pakistanis to read what they wish to read and the same applies to other parts of the world.”

Noting that communities and countries develop a reputation, he said, “In my sense, it’s not just Pakistan, the whole world will be watching the Houston event and take lessons from there what Indian-Americans have achieved, what India-US state of relations are today.”

The minister said India-US relations have gone through repeated changes with administrations like that of former US President Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

“The India-US relationship has come a long way and if we look today at the quality of the relationship, amount of the trade, amount of political comfort, amount of security cooperation, amount of movement of people, students, research, there is no facet of relationship today which hasn’t sort of gone upwards over the last 20 years,” the former diplomat said.

“The trajectory was always upwards. Even today if we are planning an event like Houston, the thinking from our part is very bi-partisan. And from their (US) side also the approach is bi-partisan. I want to reassure all of you people India-US relationship is in very good health,” he said.

Jaishankar also said he was very satisfied about what has happened in the last few years. “And I am very optimistic about where we are going,” he said.

Talking about trade issues with the US, he said, “As the relationship grows, there will be some issues. The only thing there will be no problem if you don’t trade. And the trade problem happens with the people who are closest too because those are the ones with whom you do most of the trade.”

Jaishankar noted that the trade issues are in fact normal, in many ways reflective of very substantial relationship.

Asked what would happen if the issue of Kashmir comes up during Modi’s US visit, he said, “Don’t worry much about what people will say on Jammu and Kashmir… Let me tell you one thing, there is complete predictability about my position. My position has been clear since 1972 and my position is not going to change. At the end of the day it is my issue. So on my issue my position has prevailed and will prevail. So don’t worry about those aspects.”

The leaders are learnt to have discussed the current political situation, including Kashmir, upcoming elections and the economic situation in the country, during the half-hour meeting.

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel met former finance minister P Chidambaram at Tihar Jail on Wednesday morning, sources said.

They were accompanied by Chidambaram’s son and Congress MP, Karti.

The leaders are learnt to have discussed the current political situation, including Kashmir, upcoming elections and the economic situation in the country, during the half-hour meeting, the sources added.

Chidambaram has been lodged in Tihar jail since September 5 on charges of corruption in the INX Media case.

The senior Congress leader, who celebrated his 74th birthday on Monday, is in good health, sources said.

The proposed Rs 3 lakh crore refinery at Nanar in the state’s Ratnagiri district was scrapped earlier this year after the Shiv Sena put up a stiff resistance.

THANE: Asserting that development should not be at the cost of citizens and environment, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray has said his party opposed the Nanar refinery project in Maharashtra as “sons of the soil” were against it.

The proposed Rs 3 lakh crore refinery at Nanar in the state’s Ratnagiri district was scrapped earlier this year after the Sena put up a stiff resistance.

Justifying his party’s opposition to the project, Thackeray said its proposed location would have adversely affect the environment.

“Wherever else it is suitable and does not affect the environment and locals welcome it, the Sena will never oppose it. The Sena is not against development, but not at the cost of citizens. We are against the Nanar project as ‘sons of the soil’ are opposed to it,” he said.

Incidentally, Thackeray has been quite vocal against the proposed felling of over 2,600 trees to make way for a Metro car shed in Aarey Colony of Mumbai.

Environmentalists and activists are also opposing the Metro car shed project and have been demanding its relocation.

The Yuva Sena chief, who is the son of Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, was talking to reporters here on Tuesday night on the sidelines of his ‘Jan Ashirward Yatra’, a public outreach programme, ahead of the upcoming state polls.

Asked about rumours that former state chief minister and Maharashtra Swabhiman Party leader Narayan Rane may join the ruling BJP, the Yuva Sena leader said, “We don’t discuss such small issues. We have a big dream of creating a new Maharashtra.”

“I want to build a new Maharashtra, which is the dream of every citizen, and bring ‘Mantralaya’ (secretariat) at the doorsteps of citizens,” said the young Sena leader, whose party is an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in the state.

He said the relevant issues for them are the recent abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, and their party’s demand for construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Asked about the numerous potholes in Thane, he said such road conditions were seen in many parts of the state, including the Mumbai-Goa highway.

“There is a dire need to have a relook into the tendering system where contract is given to the lower bidder. This affects the quality of construction,” he said.

He said time has come when the Centre, the state government and local bodies should think over it and bring about a change in the process to improve the quality of roads.

This year there has been heavy rainfall and also due to the ongoing Metro work, roads have become bad, he noted.

Incidentally, Sena supremo late Bal Thackeray had once during an election rally in Thane prostrated before the audience and sought their blessings.

Replicating his grandfather’s action, the Yuva Sena chief also prostrated before the gathering during his rally here on Tuesday and sought their blessings for his party in the upcoming state polls.

He said the Sena has a special love and affection for Thane as it gave his party a political fillip in 1960s.

“The same love I want throughout the state. Whatever development work has happened (in Thane), I want to replicate it in the entire state. Hence, I have come to this city to seek your blessings,” he told the gathering.

In last one month, changes in party units reflect Sonia reposing her trust in old hands. In Jharkhand, Rahul appointee Ajoy Kumar was replaced by Rameshwar Oraon. 

NEW DELHI: Is the Congress old guard returning to party’s power centre? Since Sonia Gandhi took over as party chief, many members of Rahul Gandhi’s young brigade are slowly being replaced with veterans.

The latest to join is Tripura PCC chief Pradyot Debbarman, who had quit over differences with AICC in-charge for Northeast Luizinho Faleiro.

In last one month, changes in party units reflect Sonia reposing her trust in old hands. In Jharkhand, Rahul appointee Ajoy Kumar was replaced by Rameshwar Oraon. 

Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar was shown the door and Kumari Selja replaced him while Hooda was made the CLP leader. In Maharashtra, Sonia accepted Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora’s resignation and Eknath Gaikwad was brought in

Rahul during his two-year tenure as party chief had appointed many young leaders as state in-charges but things seem to change with Sonia at helms of affairs.

However, a senior party functionary said young leaders could be given bigger responsibilities in the central office. 

“A balance would be maintained between young and old leaders,” said the leader.

The state lagged behind other states in effectively implementing the management framework for tiger conservation.

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh’s performance on tiger conservation management has been miserable as the big cat population has dwindled by 59% since 2014, revealed the official findings.

The state forest department didn’t hesitate to admit that the situation is really depressing.

The state lagged behind other states in effectively implementing the management framework for tiger conservation.

The state, which initially had 26 tigers in 2006 touched the figure of 46 in 2014 but plummeted to 19 tigers in 2018 — a decline of 59 per cent.

Interestingly the neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, which is rightly referred to as tiger state of India, had 308 tigers in 2014 and has risen to 526 in 2018.

Chhattisgarh, which has 3 tiger reserves, was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in November 2000.

The Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) process, was first initiated in 2006, now being done every fourth year, was conducted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) ministry of environment forest and climate change.

In 2006, there were 28 tiger reserves which rose to 50 in 2018 in the country.

Going by the extensive assessment report clubbing all 50 tiger reserves, the Chhattisgarh state has been cited as the least performing state.

The mean percentage derived out of MEE score of 4 cycles (of four years each) from 2006-2018 in tiger reserve management in Chhattisgarh was 45.62 percentage.

Kerala having 2 tiger reserves has been judged as the best state on performance scale with 82 per cent followed by Madhya Pradesh with 6 tiger reserves scoring 80.25 % in the state-wise comparison of MEE Tiger Reserve cycles.

“It’s really disheartening indeed. We believe there are lack of dedicated efforts among the staff, lack of monitoring and effective control. The element of fear has also vanished, so we ended up with such discouraging figures on tigers in Chhattisgarh”, the principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) Atul Shukla said.

A wildlife enthusiast Nitin Singhvi shared, “According to the wild animal anti-poaching database after 2010 over 20 hides of tigers were recovered, suggesting poaching as one of the major reasons behind a major decline of tiger population”.

PCCF told that the department has begun damage control exercise and strict instruction being issued from the top to the grass-root level to ensure there is no dereliction of one’s duties.

“Those found reckless will face the music”, the PCCF averred.

Among the reasons and constraints that MEE cited include inadequate trained manpower, biotic interference in core and buffer areas, issues of connectivity and corridors, relocation of villagers, poor infrastructure and communication, no effective monitoring and timely management actions.

“The officers are not in accordance with the sanctioned strength, they lack appropriate training on wildlife management and some shortage of funds”, the MEE further highlighted the reasons behind various limitations.

The Noida Authority said it has also approached the police with a complaint against people concerned over illegal occupation on the land.

NOIDA

Noida Authority CEO tweeted images of illegal constructions being cleared.
 

Two plots of land in Noida measuring over 20,000 sq metres and valued together at Rs. 317 crore were cleared of encroachment and reclaimed by the Noida Authority, officials said on Monday.

About 18,570 sq metre land in Sector 73’s Sarfabad village valued at Rs. 295 crore had got encroached with 150 shanties, four furniture showrooms and four animal shelters coming up in that area illegally, the officials said.

Another 1,680 sq metre plot worth Rs. 22.80 crore was in Sector 110’s Gejha Tilpatabad where 20 shanties had come up illegally, the Noida Authority said in a statement.

“All the area in these two plots is notified area belonging to the Noida Authority. The encroachment was removed on instructions of Noida Authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari,” it said.

The authority said it has also approached the police with a complaint against people concerned over illegal occupation on the land.

Indian fuel marketing companies fix the price of petrol and diesel at retail outlets based on an average of last 15 days of benchmark price of petrol and diesel in the Middle East.

By  Reuters| Published: 39 minutes ago A continued high crude price is not sustainable, says M K Surana, chairman of HPCL

India’s Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd has said that price of petrol and diesel at retail outlets might go up if the price of crude stays at current levels.

“Price of product at fuel outlets might be impacted if crude price continues to go up by 10%,” M K Surana, chairman of HPCL told Reuters on Monday.

Indian fuel marketing companies fix the price of petrol and diesel at retail outlets based on an average of last 15 days of benchmark price of petrol and diesel in the Middle East.0Comments

Surana, however said, that a continued high crude price is not sustainable.

Indian oil refiners may have to increase retail fuel prices Rs 5-6 per litre over the next fortnight if crude oil price rises by $10 a barrel

NEW DELHI: Saturday’s drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s largest crude oil processing facility may see petrol and diesel prices shoot up to Rs 4 per litre over the next fortnight. However, the overall impact on Indian interests is likely to be muted unless the disruption lasts for longer than three months. Kotak Institutional Securities analysts say Indian oil refiners may have to increase retail fuel prices Rs 5-6 per litre over the next fortnight if crude oil price rises by $10 a barrel. 

While crude prices have moderated after opening a whopping 20 per cent higher on Monday, Brent crude is still trading 10 per cent higher ($66.25 per barrel) than pre-attack levels.  However, an extended delay in restoring the 5.7 million barrels a day shortfall could see crude prices shoot up to $75-80 per barrel, warns Goldman Sachs and S&P Global Platts, especially since tensions in the region could escalate.

“A geopolitical risk premium will return to the oil price,” said Alan Gelder, V-P, Wood Mackenzie. This could disturb India’s fiscal math, with every $1 increase in crude oil prices adding $2 billion to its import expenditure. 

India’s oil import bill during FY19 was $111.9 billion, compared to just $87.8 billion the previous year.
“Depending on how long (the crude price rise) persists, it will have some impact on the current account deficit and further perhaps on the fiscal deficit if it lasts longer,” RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in a TV interview on Monday.

But, industry representatives and oil ministry officials both downplayed the impact. “Saudi Aramco officials informed Indian refiners that there would be no shortage of supplies to them,” an oil ministry spokesperson said. Indian refiners say they have enough stock to tide over short-term supply disruptions. 

“Refiners generally keep a 3-month stock of inventory precisely for these kinds of disruptions,” said Gaurav Moda, energy lead, Accenture India.  According to Moda of Accenture India, the impact in terms of available crude volumes for Indian refiners is minimal, since the attacked facility processed heavy crude into light crude.

“Most Indian refiners can process both and actually prefer heavy crude because it enables them to derive more petrochemical products,” Moda noted. According to industry sources, Saudi oil officials have already begun talks with Indian importers to tweak the mix of heavy and light crude supply in favour of the former. 

“Even retail petrol and diesel prices, which are linked to international benchmarks, should not see a sharp rise in a purely market-driven scenario, since refiners will make up for the impact by making more from petrochemicals,” Moda observed.

Andhra Pradesh boat tragedy: Most of those on the boat were from Telangana. Officials said 22 of the tourists were from Hyderabad and 14 from Warangal.

HYDERABAD

The accident took place around 1:20 pm near Kacchuluru village in Devipatnam Mandal.

A day after a boat carrying 73 people capsized in Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh, killing 12 onboard, rescue officials — who managed to rescue 27 people yesterday — resumed operation early this morning to locate the remaining people. At least 30 people are still missing in the boat tragedy which took place near Kacchuluru village, about 200 km from Amravati. The search operation to locate them was called off late Sunday because of low-light conditions.

Two helicopters and eight boats with deep divers from the Indian Navy began search operation at 5:45 am today. They are being assisted by a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). A specialized deep divers team with “Side Scan Sonar” equipment from Uttarakhand will join the search operation later in the day.

The tourist boat “Royal Vasishta” had started off for the picturesque Papikondalu hill range, a prime tourist destination, from Gandi Pochamma Temple near Devipatnam.

The accident took place around 1:20 pm near Kacchuluru village in Devipatnam Mandal, about 200 km from Amravati. 

Though life jackets were available on the boat, many passengers were not wearing life jackets. The driver it appeared was not familiar with the dangers of Kachchluru  area where the accident took place as he was not a local, officials said. The crew appeared untrained in dealing with the emergency.

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy has undertaken an aerial survey of the area and will also visit the injured in the hospital. He has announced a compensation of Rs. 10 lakh to family of those killed in the tragedy.

Most of those on the boat were from Telangana. Officials said 22 of the tourists were from Hyderabad and 14 from Warangal.

Jana Sena party leader Pawan Kalyan has blamed the government for failing to issue instructions not to allow any tourist boats in the Godavari River, which has swelled in the past few days with over 5 lakh cusecs of floodwater flowing on Sunday afternoon when the incident took place.

Others criticised the driver for taking that route. State tourism minister Muthamsetty Srinivasa Rao said the capsized boat did not have necessary permissions. The boat owners, however, claim that they had all requisite permissions. They also added that the boat was not overcrowded and all the people were provided with life jackets.

Eyewitnesses said though there were life jackets available, some of them took it off as it was very hot.

People who managed to wear a life jacket were able to save themselves, they said.

A woman from Tirupati said she survived as her husband had passed on a life jacket to her when the danger struck. However, her husband and her 12-year-old daughter has been missing since.

” What is the point of my living without the two of them,” she cried.COMMENT

Officials said that the boat may have sunk to a depth of at least 300 feet and some bodies may be stuck inside.

Top court allowed CPI-M leader Mohd Yusuf Tarigami to go back to his home state J&K

The Supreme Court this morning asked the Centre to restore normal life in Jammu and Kashmir as soon as possible. “Every move should be made keeping in mind national interest,” said the top court. The bench, which included Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, justices SA Bobde and SA Nazeer, said as the shutdown was in the Kashmir Valley, it could be dealt with by the Jammu and Kasmir High Court.

The court also sought a response from the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir government on a plea seeking to produce before the top court former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, who is under detention since last month when the Centre scrapped special status from the state and divided it into two union territories. The top court also allowed CPI(M) leader Mohd Yousuf Tarigami to go back to his home state Jammu and Kashmir.