London: Global demand for oil this year is on track to rise to a record 101.9m barrels per day as China leads an economic surge among developing nations, the world’s leading energy body has forecast, a media report said.
The International Energy Agency’s predicted daily average for 2023 is 2m bpd higher than last year’s figure. The price of a barrel of oil rose from $85.62 to $86.10 on Friday morning after the IEA’s report was published, The Guardian reported.
The agency warned that a recent decision by the world’s biggest oil exporters to cut their production could drive oil prices higher, in a blow to efforts to reduce inflation and reset economic growth in developed countries, The Guardian reported.
“This augurs badly for the economic recovery and growth,” the IEA said. “Consumers confronted by inflated prices for basic necessities will now have to spread their budgets even more thinly.”
Oil market prices soared by $7 a barrel earlier this month after OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, and other allied oil-producing nations, led by Russia, agreed to deepen their production cuts to 2m bpd this year despite concerns that China’s economic rebound could drive higher demand for oil, The Guardian reported.
The move has angered western leaders because higher oil prices would make it harder for major economies to return to growth, and would provide extra revenues for the Kremlin as its war against Ukraine continues.
The expected increase in global oil demand has also dashed hopes among climate campaigners that the Covid-19 pandemic had hastened the end of the world’s rising oil demand.
BERLIN — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is heading to China to represent Berlin, but she’ll likely have more explaining to do about Paris in the wake of French President Emmanuel Macron’s explosive comments on Taiwan.
As Baerbock embarked on her two-day visit Wednesday evening, officials in Berlin were eager to stress that Germany and the EU care about Taiwan and stability in the region, arguing it’s mainly China that must contribute to de-escalation by refraining from aggressive military maneuvers close to the island nation.
Baerbock’s trip comes amid international backlash against Macron’s comments in an interview with POLITICO, arguing Europe should avoid becoming America’s follower, including on the matter of Taiwan’s security. Although German government spokespeople refused to comment directly on the French president’s remarks, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry specifically called out Beijing when expressing “great concern” over the situation in the Taiwan Strait.
“We expect all parties in the region to contribute to peace. That applies equally to the People’s Republic of China,” the spokesperson said, adding: “And it seems to us that actions such as military threatening gestures are counter to that goal and, in fact, increase the risk of unintended military clashes.”
Nils Schmid, the foreign policy spokesperson for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), said he expects Baerbock to “set the record straight” during her trip to China, which will involve meetings with Beijing’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang, Vice President Han Zheng and top diplomat Wang Yi.
“We clearly defined in the [government] coalition agreement that we need a changed China policy because China has changed. The chancellor made that clear during his visit. Above all, Scholz also issued clear warnings about Taiwan during his visit [last year],” Schmid wrote in a tweet. “I assume that Foreign Minister Baerbock will repeat exactly that and thus set the record straight and make a clarification after Macron’s botched visit.”
Berlin traditionally has been much more in sync with the U.S. on foreign and security policy than France has, which is why many politicians and officials in the German capital reacted with horror to Macron’s comments. The French president said Europe should not take its “cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction,” suggesting the EU stood between the two sides, rather than being aligned with its longtime democratic partners in Washington.
Macron gave the impression to some in the U.S. that Europeans see Beijing and Washington as “equidistant” from Brussels in terms of values and as allies, said SPD foreign policy lawmaker Metin Hakverdi, who is currently on a parliamentary visit to the U.S.
“That was foolish,” Hakverdi told POLITICO, adding that “Macron potentially damaged the peaceful status quo around Taiwan” by giving “the public impression that Europe has no particular interest in the conflict over Taiwan.
“The issue of Taiwan is not an internal matter for the People’s Republic of China. Anything else would virtually invite Beijing to attack Taiwan,” Hakverdi added. “I am confident that our foreign minister will make that clear during her trip to Asia — both to Beijing and to our Asian partners.”
Katja Leikert from the main German opposition party, the center-right CDU, criticized Macron’s comments as “extremely short-sighted,” and added: “Should China decide to strike Taiwan militarily, either by invading it or by starting a maritime blockade, this would have significant political and economic repercussions for us. We cannot just wish that away.
“What we actually need to do right now is strengthen our defense against aggressive measures from Beijing,” Leikert said.
For Berlin, Macron’s comments also come at a particularly bad moment for transatlantic ties. The German government is keen to mend cracks in its relationship with Washington that have emerged over the controversial benefits for U.S. businesses under Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Europe hopes to reach an agreement so that its own companies may also be eligible for these subsidies.
Macron’s comments “will not help in renegotiations on the Inflation Reduction Act, nor will they help Joe Biden in the election campaign against populist Republican candidates,” said the SPD’s Hakverdi.
The German foreign ministry spokesperson was quick to stress that both France and Germany were involved in shaping a joint EU-China policy | Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images
The German foreign ministry spokesperson was quick to stress that both France and Germany were involved in shaping a joint EU-China policy, which was also done in cooperation “with our transatlantic partner.”
During her trip to China, Baerbock plans to raise the situation in the Taiwan Strait; Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine; the human rights situation in China; as well as the fight against climate crisis, the spokesperson said.
Baerbock’s foreign ministry is also currently drafting Germany’s first China strategy. A draft of this seen by POLITICO last year vowed to take a much harder line toward Beijing. Baerbock and her Green party are at the forefront of pushing such a tougher position, while Scholz has long preferred a softer approach.
Incidentally, however, the German government said Wednesday it is reassessing whether to potentially take a firmer stance and ban Chinese state company Cosco from going through with a highly controversial move to buy parts of a Hamburg port terminal.
Scholz had strongly pushed for the port deal ahead of his own trip to Beijing last year, but the future of the transaction is now in doubt after German security authorities classified the terminal as “critical infrastructure.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
Srinagar, Apr 10: With highest numbers of tourists visiting Kashmir, the builders of shikaras in Kashmir say that demand is on rise as unemployed youth are earning their livelihood by signing up as a boatman in Dal Lake.
A third generation shikara maker, Ghulam Nabi of Baba Mohalla Dal Lake told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that since last 35 years, he has been making Shikara but demand has picked up since last year.
“As last year there was a good tourism season, the demand for Shikara has increased as more and more unemployed youth are starting Shikara so as to at least earn some money for themselves,” he said as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).
According to him, they too have to face many challenges as timber is not easily available and rates are high.
“It usually takes a person around 15-20 days to make one Shikara and mostly deodar strongest timber is used in making it,” he said.
A Shikara costs around 2.5-3 lakhs and around 35 ft of timber is required to make a boat.
His Shikaras are in use in Mansar and Tawi in Jammu, Hyderabad, Bengal, Rajasthan and other places as well.
But he complained that the government has never supported them while requesting the authorities to give them timber for continuing their craft—(KNO)
Dubai: The vehicle number plate P7 was sold for a record Dh55M at the ‘Most Noble Numbers’ auction in Dubai.
Starting at a bid of Dh15 million in the action on Saturday night, the bids rose within seconds to over Dh30 million. The bid stagnated for several minutes at Dh35 million which was bid by Pavel Valeryevich Durov, the French-Emirati businessman, the founder and owner of the app Telegram.
The price rose quickly until it reached the amount of Dh55 million (INR1,226,144,700) by bid panel seven who wished to remain anonymous. The crowd cheered and applauded as each bid was placed.
Many other VIP number plates and phone numbers were auctioned at the same time and the auction process raised nearly Dh100 million ($27 million) for a Ramzan food appeal. In total, Dh97,920,000 ($26662313) was raised from the sale of car plates and exclusive mobile phone numbers at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jumeirah.
The event was organised by Emirates Auction, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority, Etisalat and Du.
‘P 7’ topped the list after a bidding war between several people who wanted to break the existing record set in 2008, when a businessman paid Dh52.2 million for Abu Dhabi’s number 1 plate.
All proceeds from the noblest numbers auction will go to the One Billion Meals campaign, which was launched to boost efforts to combat global hunger. The One Billion Meals Endowment was launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, in line with the generous spirit of Ramzan.
Hyderabad: The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) produced 671 lakh tonnes of coal in the fiscal year 2022–2023 and set a record for the highest annual amount of production.
SCCL transported roughly 667 lakh tonnes of coal, which is 2% more than the previous year. In addition to this, it has provided coal to thermal power plants in eight other states and to over 2,000 different sectors nationwide, a press note informed.
SCCL Chairman and Managing Director N Sridhar stated that on March 31, Singareni transported 2.64 lakh tonnes of coal, the most in its history, breaking the previous record of 2.59 lakh tonnes set on March 11, 2016.
The business has set a target of 750 lakh tonnes of coal production for the fiscal years 2023–2024 after being encouraged by the coal production turnover achieved during the current fiscal, he added on Saturday.
According to Sridhar, Singareni has also broken a record by removing 418 million cubic metres of overburden during the current fiscal year, which is 7% more than the 392 million cubic metres attained in 2017–18.
Sridhar stated that five of the total 11 coal mining locations under Singareni had exceeded their goals by a large margin. He added that the underground mines also performed well during the current fiscal, with 8 mines achieving more than 100% production.
He said the performances of open-cast mines were also very encouraging, with 11 out of 18 open-cast mines, which are the main sources of coal production in Singareni, achieving 100% production.
New Delhi: Meta-owned WhatsApp banned a record over 45 lakh bad accounts in India in the month of February, in compliance with the new IT Rules 2021, the company informed on Saturday.
Between February 1 and February 28, “4,597,400 WhatsApp accounts were banned and 1,298,000 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users”, WhatsApp said in its monthly compliance report.
The most popular messaging platform, which has nearly 500 million users in the country, received another record 2,804 complaint reports in February in the country, and the records “actioned” were 504.
“This user-safety report contains details of the user complaints received and the corresponding action taken by WhatsApp, as well as WhatsApp’s own preventive actions to combat abuse on our platform,” said a company spokesperson.
“We will continue with transparency to our work and include information about our efforts in future reports,” the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, in a bid to empower millions of Indian social media users, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar recently launched the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) that will look into their concerns regarding content and other issues.
The newly-formed panel, a move to strengthen the country’s digital laws to tame the Big Tech companies, will look into appeals by users against decisions of social media platforms.
The IT Ministry last month notified to establish three GACs as required under the recently amended IT Rules, 2021.
In a major push towards an open, safe, trusted and accountable Internet, the Ministry of Electronics and IT has notified some amendments aimed at protecting the rights of ‘Digital Nagriks’.
Srinagar, Mar 27: Amid complaints of pesky power cuts during Sehri and Iftaar time from various parts of Kashmir, Kashmir Power Development Corporation Ltd (KPDCL) Monday said that the department was supplying record electricity during the fasting month and the cuts were the result of huge load shedding at peak hours.
Pertinently, the government had promised adequate electricity this Ramadan and issued directions to the department. However, consumers from different parts of the Valley continued to complain of erratic power supply during Sehri and Iftari times.
As per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the locals from Srinagar and other districts of Kashmir said that the Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) has failed to bring respite from the unscheduled power cuts to the people during the holy month of Ramadan.
The people are being pushed to the wall, especially at the peak times, Sehri and Iftaari, they said.
However, the locals rue the absence of the facility, saying that the people are being forced to reel under darkness at Sehri and Iftaar times.
The locals from Prang, Kangan, Akhal, Chattergul, Kachnabal, Najwan, Wayil, Prang, Barwalla Nunner and Main Town Ganderbal said they are getting electricity for merely 5 to 6 hours in a day, thus leaving the consumers here to lurch at large, adding that the concerned department, however, is acting as mute spectator.
Manzoor Ahmad, a resident of Ganderbal, said that despite paying hefty electricity bills, the department has failed to ensure adequate electricity to them, adding that the locals are being pushed to the wall by forcing them to reel under darkness.
Besides Srinagar, South Kashmir areas Pulwama, Shopian, Anantnag, Awantipora, Tral, Keller, Zainapora, Harmain, Pampore, Kakapora, Rajpora, Litter, Dooru, Pahalgam, Ashmuqam, Kokernag, Verinag, Bijbehara, Mattan, Seer and north Kashmir areas including Sopore, Baramulla, Lalpora, Tangmarg, Bandipora and many areas of district also witness the unscheduled power cuts at present.
Meanwhile, the consumers demanded the government to look into the matter and ensure that the adequate electricity is supplied to them especially during Sehri and Iftaar times.
Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) Chief Engineer, Javaid Yousuf Dar, however, told KNO that the department has supplied the highest ever electricity to the consumers on the first day of Ramadan at 1893 MWs.
“The demand usually remains high during the peak hours and we have been supplying best to our consumers. 1850 MWs are being supplied on a regular basis during the peak hours, but as the demand remains high, the curtailments have to be done,” he said.
He added that less curtailment is being ensured to supply better electricity to people. He, however, said that since people use electricity one time i.e. during Sehri by switching on all appliances, huge load shedding is witnessed in some areas which leads to power cuts. “The situation will improve by Eid,” he said.
SRINAGAR: The strategically important Leh-Manali Highway was was opened for vehicular traffic by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on Saturday in record 138 days.
Quoting officials, KNO reported that even though the road is open and snow clearance is mostly complete only army convoys and essential supply vehicles will be allowed in the initial days.
Accordingly, a convoy of essential supplies has traveled from Manali to Leh after four months of the closure of the Manali Leh Highway.
The BRO officials said that first; a trial army convoy will pass through the road up to Srachu and subsequently by civil traffic movement.
They said that frontline projects Himank and Deepak have made this feat possible as this road will be open in record 138 days. Last year, it took 144 days for the BRO to open the highway for traffic.
With the opening of 427km lomg strategic road, all three roads to Ladakh will be opened by BRO.
Hyderabad: The price of Teja variety chilli reached a record peak of Rs 25,550 per quintal in Khammam on Monday, marking the price as the highest per quintal of chilli fetched in the history of the agriculture market in the district.
Transport minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar who took part in ‘jenda pata’ (price bidding) said that the Khammam Market would be made a hub for chilli in the international market as it has hit a record price in Telangana.
“Entire produce farmers brought to the market would be bought and farmers need not worry about it,” the minister added.
“Chilli grown in Khammam is in demand internationally and Chinese companies procure chilli in Khammam and export it to China,” asserted Ajay Kumar.
Other developments in Khammam:
Following the event, the minister inaugurated the newly constructed 1000-tonne capacity primary agricultural cooperative credit society warehouse at Nagulavancha village of Chintakani mandal in the district.
In addition to the above, Palle Dawakhana set up at a cost of Rs 16 lakh at Proddatur village equipped with new facilities developed under the Mana Ooru-Mana Badi programme at Mandal Parishad Primary School at a cost of Rs 13 lakh and a gram panchayat building at Garlapadu of Bonakal mandal were also inaugurated by the transport minister.
“Telangana government will be releasing Rs 3 lakhs to build houses for those who have their own land,” Ajay Kumar announced.
SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday said that Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing a tourism boom as in just the first two months of the year 2023, 4.70 lakh tourists have visited the UT as the administration expects another record number of tourist arrivals in the ensuing year.
Addressing the gathering after inaugurating Asia’s largest Tulip garden, situated in the foothills of the Zabarwan mountain range, overlooking Dal Lake in Srinagar, the LG said that tourism is picking up and tourists are visiting in large numbers J&K. “In just January and February months, 4.70 lakh tourists visited J&K and the figure excludes Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims,” the LG said, adding that the figure is the highest ever so far compared to past.
He said that in 2022, 1 Crore and 28 lakh tourists visited J&K and the figure is the highest in the past many decades.
He said that this year 16 tulips are in full bloom in the garden with 68 varieties. The garden is spread over 30 hectares of land. “I am glad to announce that we have a second Tulip garden at Patnitop where 2.5 lakh tulips are in full bloom. Efforts are on to keep both the gardens open throughout the year,” the LG said as per KNO. He thanked the gardeners for their hard work and for keeping the garden ready in record time.
He said that EMARR group’s Rs 500 Cr investment in J&K will give confidence to other foreign players to invest in J&K. “I am sure we will see a huge investment in the Healthcare and hospitality sector, tourism, and other sectors,” the LG said.
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed the “Taqdeer and Tasveer” of J&K in the past three years.(KNO)
