India's net oil import bill could widen to $101-104 billion in current fiscal from $96.1 billion in 2023-24 and any escalation in the Iran-Israel conflict could impart an upward pressure on the value of imports, ICRA said on Tuesday. The domestic rating agency said based on its analysis, lower value of Russian oil imports is estimated to have led to savings of $7.9 billion in 11 months (April-February) of 2023-24, up from $5.1 billion in 2022-23.
'Any escalation that may hit the oil production of Iran or affect the oil transit through the Strait can result in a spike in oil prices.'
Oil and LNG prices are likely to shoot up if Iran is to block Strait of Hormuz, through which countries like India import crude oil from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and UAE, leading to a spike in inflation, analysts said on the Iran-Israel conflict. The Iran and Israel conflict has escalated over the last few days. Iran first launched drone and rocket attacks on Israel, which retaliated by firing a missile. Crude oil prices have hovered around USD 90 per barrel since the conflict.
The latest flashpoint in West Asia has derailed India's preliminary plans to resume crude oil imports from Iran, officials said. In January, officials of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had told Business Standard that the government had been studying proposals for the same, given that India was trying to expand sources of imports. "We are always monitoring the situation when it comes to crude flows.
Top government officials in New Delhi have started discussions with stakeholders ranging from shipping and container companies to export promotion councils to understand the impact of the Iran-Israel tensions and plan ahead. Inter-ministerial talks are also being lined up amid the crisis situation in West Asia, sources confirmed. While the crude flows are not directly under any threat, elevated oil prices remain a concern, according to officials.
Australia spinner Adam Zampa said he withdrew from the Indian Premier League (IPL) because he felt drained after last year's heavy schedule and that he wanted to be rested ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup in June.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes experienced all-rounder Ben Stokes made the "right decision" to withdraw from the T20 World Cup.
Stimac has prioritised qualification to the third round and secure a direct entry into the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
Andrew McDonald backs Mitch Marsh for Australian captaincy
Talking on the Wisden Cricket Monthly Podcast, Grave said that he is sick of the phrase that the 'world cricket needs a strong West Indies' team', especially when it is doing all it can to weaken it.
The World Photography Organisation has revealed the winners for the Sony World Photography Awards 2024.
Gopakumar said all of them were hopeful that they would step out of the prison "if Modiji intervened" but had no idea how long it would take.
'Interim Budget has ignited the entrepreneurial spirit.'
Three men, originally from Tamil Nadu, arrested by the Mumbai Police started their boat journey from Kuwait on January 28 and claimed to have taken the Saudi Arabia-Dubai-Pakistan route before entering Indian shores illegally, as per the police remand note.
Notably, the husband of Dipika Jogi on Monday claimed in Durg that she was held captive by her employer in Oman.
Mancini slams Saudi players who opted to leave Asian Cup squad
Indian shooters' gold rush continued in the Asia Olympic Qualifiers with Yogesh Singh winning the top prize in individual as well as team event of the men's 25m centre fire pistol competition in Jakarta on Monday.
India have been the FIH's top market in the last decade or so in terms of sponsorships and monetary benefits, and the world body official stressed that the country will continue to hold its significance despite the sport spreading its wings to other parts of the world.
Qatar returns to the spotlight on Friday little more than a year after the first World Cup held in the Arab world when the relocated and delayed 2023 Asian Cup gets underway amid a seismic shift in football's global order.
Hosts USA will face Canada in the opening match on June 1, the ICC announced.
Simranjeet Singh and Rajni Etimarpu will lead the men's and women's sides respectively as Hockey India on Sunday named the Indian teams for the upcoming FIH Hockey5s World Cup to be held in Muscat, Oman.
India then went on to clinch the Jharkhand Women's Asian Champions Trophy Ranchi 2023 with a dominant 4-0 win over Japan in the Final and achieved their best-ever FIH World Rankings (No. 6 with 2368.83 points) in November.
'Due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, a faction operating in the Red Sea -- which is a typically safe area - has been firing projectiles arbitrarily.' 'Additionally, there have been two incidents involving Somali pirates, and one vessel has been hijacked.'
Singh said India has intensified patrolling of the seas after the recent attacks on merchant navy ships.
'Given that the situation is quickly escalating, such attacks will affect the flow of crude in the short term from West Asia' Subhayan Chakraborty and Dhruvaksh Saha report.
India is expected to be the top recipient of remittances in 2023 as inflows increase 12.4 per cent to $125 billion, said a World Bank report on Tuesday. Mexico will come next by receiving $67 billion and China will follow it at $50 billion. The key drivers for remittance growth in 2023 are a tight labour market in the United States, high employment growth in Europe reflecting extensive leveraging of worker retention programs, and a dampening of inflation in high-income countries. India's growth in remittances is expected to halve to 12.4 per cent in 2023 from a historic peak of 24.4 per cent in 2022.
Conflict forces Palestinian team Jabal Al Mukaber to withdraw from AFC Cup
CIDCA is headed by Luo Zhaohui, the former vice foreign minister and ex-ambassador to India.
After the results of the Africa Qualifier, the slots for the 20 participating teams have been filled.
Chhetri also added that India will rely more on teamwork than individual flair to give a tough fight to their rivals.
Maharashtra government on Wednesday decided to acquire the iconic Air India building at Nariman Point in Mumbai for Rs 1,601 crore. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet in Mumbai. The meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, also decided to waive off around Rs 250 crore unrealised income and interest on the property, an official said.
'There is a view that there is a Pakistan angle to this.' 'Pakistan has a large presence in Qatar and would want India to be blacklisted.'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu termed it the 'largest cooperation project in our history', one that would 'change the face of the Middle East, Israel, and impact the entire world'.
This would be the second cyclonic storm in the Arabian Sea this year.
It is when one looks away from the immediate song and dance and at the granular detail of what has been going on since 2014 that one realises what the quality and competence of thinking and execution is in this project we call New India, asserts Aakar Patel.
Almost all will say no. Then ask them why they don't push back at those who rise the slogan of Khalistan. Somebody would confront you with a counter-question: If people can talk of a Hindu Rashtra, why get so upset if others talk of a Sikh Nation, points out Shekhar Gupta.
US authorities have been scrambling to establish how many Americans have been killed or taken hostage in the conflict.
The details that have been shared include identification, account and financial information, including name, address, country of residence and tax identification number, as well as information concerning the reporting financial institution, account balance and capital income.
'Israel has received an extremely hard and rude reminder that it cannot go ahead and talk of normalisation of relations with other Arab countries without addressing the issues pertaining to Palestine.'
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