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.

Shahjahanpur : BJP leader and former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand has been quizzed by the SIT for around seven hours in connection with a law student’s allegation that he raped her, his counsel said on Friday.

The special investigation team, formed on the orders of the Supreme Court, summoned Chinmayanad to the police lines on Thursday night, his counsel Om Singh said.

Later, he was brought back to his residence Divya Dham in Mumukshu Ashram under heavy security, he said.

The SIT team also inspected the bedroom of the BJP leader at the ashram but since it was very late they sealed the room. They are expected to continue their inspection on Friday, he said.

The postgraduate student has alleged that she was raped and “physically exploited” for a year by the BJP leader, whose organisation runs several colleges.

In a letter on the SIT on Wednesday, the woman had alleged that some vital evidence was removed from her hostel room by Chinmayanand’s supporters before it was sealed by the police.

 The driver and the owner of a truck were slapped a total fine of over Rs 2 lakh in the national capital, perhaps the highest in the country so far, for various offences under the tweaked Motor Vehicles Act, including overloading and driving without a proper licence, a Delhi Transport Department official said on Thursday.

The truck, having a Haryana registration number, was challaned by an enforcement team of Transport Department on the GT Karnal Road on Wednesday evening, the official said.

Since the implementation of the amended MV Act on September 1, this is the highest amount of fine imposed for violation of norms in Delhi. Earlier, a truck from Rajasthan was challaned with a fine of Rs 1.41 lakh for overloading and other offences.

The enforcement team challaned the truck for a total amount of Rs 2,00,500 for various offences. These included not having a driving licence, pollution under test (PUC) certificate, registration certificate, fitness test, insurance, permit violation and not wearing seat belt, the official said.

The truck was slapped a penalty of Rs 20,000 for overloading, with an additional fine of Rs 36,000 for carrying 18 tonnes above the permissible limit. Each extra tonne of overloading carries a fine of Rs 2,000 under the amended Act, he added.

The total amount of penalty included Rs 1,31,000 for violation of traffic norms and Rs 69,500 on the truck owner. The penalty was paid at the Rohini court on Thursday, the official said.

Ranchi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said development and the fight against corruption and terrorism during the first 100 days of the NDA 2.0 government was just a “trailer” of a fast-paced film, adding “puri film toh abhi baaki hai”, suggesting more concrete steps are on the anvil.

Modi also took a dig at former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, saying some people facing allegations of corruption have already been put in their “rightful place”, a reference to him being sent to jail early this month.

The prime minister was speaking in Ranchi in poll-bound Jharkhand after launching a slew of measures including ambitious pension schemes for farmers, shopkeepers and self-employed persons. He also inaugurated a new building complex for the state Assembly and a multi-modal cargo terminal, which is expected to ease transportation in the mine-rich region.

“Those who thought they are above law and above courts of the country are now approaching courts praying bail; some people have already gone inside (jail) which is their rightful place.

“Development is our pledge and commitment; never has the country seen such acceleration in development,” Modi told a public meeting at Prabhat Tara maidan now renamed as Jagannath maidan here. Chidambaram is lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi after the senior Congress leader was sent to two-week judicial custody by a court in the INX media corruption case filed by the CBI. The former minister has denied the allegations against him.

“In sabhi mamlo mein, desh ne abhi sarkar ka bas trailer dekha hai, puri film toh abhi baaki hai”. (The country has just seen the ‘trailer’ of the functioning of the government(in 100 days), the entire film still remains to be seen.)

The prime minister also reiterated his commitment to securing the dignity of Muslims, citing the passage of the triple talaq bill in the first session of Parliament during the tenure of Modi 2.0 government.

Talking about the two newly formed Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Modi said, “We aim to bring about development in J&K and Ladakh, the work for which has begun in the first 100 days of NDA 2.0.”

Modi also described the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as kaamdaar’ (work oriented) and damdaar’ (strong).

He referred to how Jharkhand earlier lacked transparency and witnessed scams, but Chief Minister Raghubar Das made efforts to bring transparency in the last nearly five years.

Modi’s words of praise of his party government comes ahead of the state assembly elections in Jharkhand due later this year.

Reeling out figures related to different welfare projects launched by the government, he said 44 lakh people availed benefits under the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ health insurance scheme in the last one year.

The world’s largest health insurance scheme was launched by the prime minister from Jharkhand last year.

More than two crore houses were constructed under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and two crore more houses are under construction in the country, besides constructing 10 crore toilets and giving free LPG connections to eight crore beneficiaries under ‘Ujjwala Yozana’, he said.

About the planned schemes in the state, Modi said Jharkhand will get a new identity through the Multi-Modal Terminal at Sahibganj, which will connect Bangladesh, Nepal and the North-East areas.

The prime minister said that pension schemes for the people working in the unorganized sector, farming and small trading units have been introduced.

The government will spend Rs one lakh every year on the tribal students education, he said.

After its bifurcation from Bihar in 2000, the tribal dominated state of Jharkhand will now have its own well-equipped assembly building to carry out legislative functions.

The three-storey building has been constructed at a cost of Rs 465 crore.

It is dubbed as the first paperless Assembly in the country.

Modi dedicated “Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana” that will help small and marginal farmers by providing a minimum pension of Rs 3,000 per month, on attaining the age of 60 years.

Farmers who are currently between 18 and 40 years of age can apply for the scheme.

The ‘Pradhan Mantri Laghu Vyapari Maan Dhan Yojana’, a pension scheme for shopkeepers and retail traders was also launched.

Another ‘Swarojgar’ pension scheme was also rolled out for self-employed persons.

Under both the schemes, beneficiaries between 18 and 40 years will get Rs 3,000 per month after completing 60 years of age.

The cargo terminal, which was inaugurated online by the prime minister from here, has been built by Inland Waterways Authority of India on River Ganga at Sahibganj.

It has a cargo storing capacity of 30 lakh tonnes per year, a stockyard and parking and berthing space for two vessels.

Modi laid the foundation stones online for 462 Eklavya Model Schools across the country, of which 69 will be established in 13 of Jharkhand’s 24 districts.

The foundation for a new building of Jharkhand Secretariat was also laid by the prime minister.

The new secretariat building in the state capital will come up at an estimated cost of Rs 1,238.92 crore.

A party source said that she also recalled the UPA regime’s achievements in dealing with the economic slowdown between 2007 and 2009.

NEW DELHI: Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday attacked the BJP government over economic slowdown and accused it of indulging in vendetta politics.

According to Congress sources, Sonia said this while addressing the meeting of party general secretaries, state in-charges, state unit chiefs and others here on Thursday.

A party source said that she also recalled the UPA regime’s achievements in dealing with the economic slowdown between 2007 and 2009.

“She told party leaders that our government had taken out the economy from the slowdown during economic recession,” the party source said.

She also recalled how during UPA regime the Congress government was able to generate jobs.

The party source said that slamming the government over the economic slowdown, Sonia Gandhi told the party leaders that the government has been unable to save the jobs in several sectors.

He said, “Sonia Gandhi also said that the resilience and resolve of Congress is being tested today. And we need to go to people.”

This is the first meeting of Sonia Gandhi with senior party leaders, a month after she was appointed the party chief.

Her son and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi stepped down from the top post taking moral responsibility of party’s loss in the Lok Sabha polls.

The scheme called the ‘Nirashrit/Besahara Govansh Sahbhagita Yojana’ was introduced on August 8 for management of stray cattle.

LUCKNOW: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is now offering cows for adoption. This is being done to check the growing problem of stray cows.

The state government will pay a sum of Rs 30 per day to the person who adopts a cow for maintenance. People living in semi-urban and rural areas can adopt up to four stray cows, bulls and calves.

The scheme called the ‘Nirashrit/Besahara Govansh Sahbhagita Yojana’ was introduced on August 8 for management of stray cattle, but the execution order was issued on September 9.

The response has been overwhelming with the Lucknow administration having received 1,500 applications by Wednesday evening.

Chief veterinary officer Tej Singh Yadav said, “We have received 1,500 adoption applications, mostly from farmers and landless daily wage earners. The scheme will add to their income and will help control stray cattle, responsible for damaging crops in villages and causing accidents in city.”

Of the 24,940 animals caught so far in Lucknow district, 9,079 have been ear-tagged and are available for adoption.

Over 4,400 are available with Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC), followed by 895 in Mohanlalganj, 833 in Maal and 789 in Malihabad blocks in the state.

According to LMC director (animal welfare) Arvind Rao, “The process of verification is underway and we will hand over the animals to deserving applicants in 15 days.”

The state veterinary department will also conduct regular inspection of foster homes. “If an animal is sick, the owner will have to inform the department, which will arrange for free treatment. However, in case of death, a post-mortem will be done to ascertain the cause and action will be taken if there is a foul play,” he explained.

Officials denied that Rs 30 per day was insufficient to feed a cow and said that non-crop fields on the outskirts of the city would allow foster homes to easily feed the adopted animal. The money can be saved. It will be an additional source of income for the poor families, they said.

The animals are being ear-tagged for easy identification if abandoned after adoption.

Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: A SpiceJet flight on way from Chennai to Kolkata had to be diverted to Bhubaneswar on Sunday after a 48-year-old passenger fell sick, officials said, adding that he later died.

Ashok Kumar Sharma complained of breathing problem soon after SpiceJet flight SG-623, a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, took off from Chennai and a medical emergency was declared, the officials said.

The pilot requested for an ambulance and a doctor on arrival which was made available, a SpiceJet spokesperson said. He was taken to a medical room at the airport soon after the plane landed, Bhubaneswar Airport Director S C Hota said.

Sharma was then rushed to a private hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, he said. The body has been sent to the Capital Hospital for postmortem.