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Crisis may prompt India to re-start Iran oil import

August 27, 2013
New Delhi, Aug 27: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sought USD 25 billion cut in oil import bill to narrow current account deficit, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily today said.

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India, which paid about USD 170 billion last fiscal for importing oil, is renewing imports of the fuel from Iran as unlike imports from other countries, it pays the Persian Gulf nation in rupees.

"Oil (imports) is one of the components responsible for CAD. Prime Minister has told us to save USD 25 billion in import bill. As of today, we have pieced together a plan to save USD 22 billion in import bill," Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily told reporters here.

A large part of the plan includes restarting import of oil from Iran. As US and western sanctions blocked all payment routes, India pays Iran in rupees in a Uco Bank branch in Kolkata.

Officials said if India was to import 10 or 11 million tonnes oil from Iran this fiscal, it could save a minimum of USD 10 billion in foreign exchange outflow. India had last fiscal imported 13.1 million tonnes of oil from Iran.

India has been, since July 2011, paying in euros to clear 55 per cent of its purchases of Iranian oil through Ankara- based Halkbank. The remaining 45 per cent due amount was remitted in rupees in accounts Iranian oil company opened in Kolkata-based Uco Bank.

Payments in euro through Turkey ceased from February 6 this year and now Iran is paid only in rupees. Rupee payment helps save foreign exchange outgo, thereby reducing CAD.

Moily refused to divulge details of his plan to cut oil import bill but said the savings planned will be 1 per cent of the GDP.

India, which in June won another 180-day waiver from the US sanctions after it cut crude oil imports from Iran by over 27 per cent, did not buy any oil from the Persian Gulf nation in first four months of current fiscal as insurance firms refused to provide cover to refiners processing Iranian oil.

Imports have, however, resumed this month with Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) getting the first shipload on August 17.

Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) are likely to follow suit shortly while private sector Essar Oil, the other customer of Iranian oil, has continued to import oil from Tehran.

India had in 2012-13 imported 13.14 million tonnes of crude oil from Iran, down from 18.11 million tonnes of 2011-12. Iran was till 2010-11 India's second largest supplier after Saudi Arabia but has since slipped to the sixth place.

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Agencies
August 8,2020

New Delhi, Aug 7: With the highest single-day spike of 62,538 cases, India's COVID-19 count rose to 20,27,075 on Friday, said Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total cases include 6,07,384 active cases, 13,78,106 cured/discharged/migrated, and 41,585 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

The country's COVID-19 positive cases crossed the 10 lakh mark on July 17 when the total positive cases stood at 10,03,832 in India.

Maharashtra with 1,46,268 active cases and 3,05,521 cured and discharged patients continues to be the worst affected. The state has also reported 16,476 deaths due to the infection.

Tamil Nadu has 54,184 active cases while 2,14,815 patients have been discharged after treatment in the state. 4,461 deaths have been reported due to COVID-19 in the state.

Total COVID-19 cases in Andhra Pradesh are 1,96,789 including 1,12,870 recoveries, 82,166 active cases, and 1,753 deaths, as per the last health bulletin.

Delhi reported 1,192 new COVID-19 cases and 23 deaths on Friday. The total count of cases in the national capital has risen to 1,42,723. 

According to the Health Department, a total of 1,108 recoveries have been reported in Delhi in the last 24 hours.

The total number of cases includes 1,28,232 recoveries, 10,409 active cases, and 4,082 deaths.

According to the official data, 5,612 RT-PCR/CBNAAT/TrueNat tests and 17,773 rapid antigen tests were conducted today.

A total of 11,43,703 test has been conducted so far. The Union Health Ministry said that India continues its track record of testing more than 6 lakh COVID-19 samples each day for the fourth successive day.

"Expanded diagnostic lab network and facilitation for easy testing across the country have given a boost, and with 6,39,042 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, India has done 2,27,88,393 tests presently. The Tests Per Million (TPM) has seen a sharp increase to 16,513," the ministry said.

As many as 473 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Jammu and Kashmir today; 128 from Jammu division and 345 from Kashmir division.

The total number of cases stood at 23,927 including 7,260 actives cases, 16,218 recoveries, and 449 deaths.

The government of Mizoram informed that 19 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state, taking the total number of cases to 558.
The number of active cases is 270 while 288 people have been discharged. No death reported in the state to date.

Bihar Health Department said, 3646 new cases reported in the state on August 6. Total tally reaches 71,794.

Similarly, 244 new COVID-19 cases, 77 recoveries, and five deaths were reported in Puducherry on Friday, taking the total number of cases to 4,862, including 1,873 active cases, 2,914 recoveries, and 75 deaths.

1,063 new cases of COVID-19 cases, 381 recovered and 23 deaths reported in Punjab in the last 24 hours. State tally rises to 21,930 including 7,351 active cases, 14,040 cured/discharged and 539 deaths.

Meanwhile, 1,074 new cases of COVID-19 and 22 deaths reported in Gujarat in last the 24 hours. State tally rises to 68,885 including 14,587 active cases, 51,692 cured/discharged and 2,606 deaths, the State Health Department said.

According to the Union Health Ministry, West Bengal has 23,829 active cases with 1,902 deaths so far while, Karnataka has 75,076 active cases of the virus with 80,281 recovered and 2,897 deaths so far.

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News Network
March 21,2020

New Delhi, Mar 21: A couple was deboarded from a Delhi-bound Rajdhani train on Saturday after co-passengers observed a home quarantine seal on the husband's hand, the Railways said Saturday.

Officials said the Delhi-based couple boarded the Bangalore City-New Delhi Rajdhani at Secunderabad on Saturday morning.

When the train reached Kazipet in Telangana at 9:45 am, a co-passenger noticed the quarantine mark authorities are putting on suspected coronavirus cases —on the husband's hand when he was washing his hands. Other co-passengers then informed the TTE onboard.

The train was briefly detained and the couple was taken to a hospital. The coach was completely sanitised in Kazipet and was locked, officials said.

The air conditioning was also switched off.

The train left for its destination at 11.30 am.

People fleeing quarantine has been a common problem reported from different parts of the country.

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News Network
June 15,2020

Palghar, Jun 15: A 22-year-old man who got married three days ago tested positive for novel coronavirus on Monday leading to the bride and 63 others who attended the function being quarantined in Palghar district in Maharashtra, an official said.

Jawhar Tehsildar Santosh Shinde said the man is a laboratory assistant.

"He got tested before marriage and the report had returned negative. However, his samples tested positive after marriage. The bride and 63 others who attended the ceremony have been quarantined," he said.

Palghar currently has 1,911 COVID-19 cases and 61 people have died of the infection so far.

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