Category:

India Will Be Most Populous Country Sooner Than Thought, U.N. Says

Photo Residents of Maldahiyya basti, a colony of families in Varanasi, India, last year. Credit Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times Demographers have known for some time that the number of people in India would surpass the number in China , the two most populous countries in the world. But they did not anticipate that the change would happen so quickly. The United Nations reported on Wednesday that India’s population will probably surpass China’s by 2022, not 2028, as the organization had forecast just two years ago. In its 2015 revision report , the population division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs said China’s population was now 1.38 billion, compared with 1.31 billion in India. But in seven years, the populations of both are expected to reach 1.4 billion. Thereafter, the report said, India’s population will grow for decades, to 1.5 billion in 2030 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iran Ready to Export Natural Gas to India

After India left the IP Gas Pipeline project, a consortium of some Indian companies headed by South Asia Gas Enterprise Pvt. Ltd. (SAGE) expressed willingness to import Iran’s natural gas, Kameli told SHANA on Saturday. He went on to say that the company is waiting for the termination of anti-Iran sanctions to fund the construction of a 3000 km underwater (deep-sea) pipeline. The history of border conflicts between India and Pakistan made the Indian side opt for using a totally independent pipeline for importing gas from Iran, Kameli added. For years there has been talk of an India-Iran-Oman energy triangle, whereby an under-sea natural gas pipeline would connect Oman and India. As India’s economy grows, demand for gas will continue to exceed supply from domestic sources and imported gas will play an important role in bridging the demand-supply gap in the market. At first, India was supposed to import […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

India quenches gasoline thirst with unusually high imports, shrinking exports

India’s oil product exports plunged nearly 30% to six-year lows in June as refiners diverted diesel to the domestic market to meet surging summer demand, while growing preference for petrol-driven vehicles supported gasoline consumption and triggered unusually high imports of the fuel. The sharp drop in exports occurred despite record runs at state-run and private refiners. "India’s product exports fell despite record refinery runs due to strong domestic demand. Burgeoning gasoline demand has forced Indian refineries to import gasoline. We expect gasoline demand to remain strong and hence imports to continue," said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects. India has imported 488,000 mt of gasoline in the first half of 2015, compared with just 61,000 mt in the same period the previous year, data released recently by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell showed. Article continues below… The Platts Global Energy Awards is a competitive awards program […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iran working to renew gas pipeline interest

Iranian media agency rolls out interviews suggesting renewed interest in natural gas project once dubbed the Peace Pipeline. UPI/Hamid Forotan/ISNA TEHRAN, July 21 (UPI) — A project once dubbed the Peace Pipeline could see new life with Chinese and Indian investors working in a post-sanctions Iran, a Pakistani official said. Salman Shah, a former Pakistani finance minister, told the official Islamic Republic News Agency he expected renewed interest in a gas pipeline running east from Iran. "China and India will probably join the … network," he was quoted as saying in a Tuesday interview. "Once the gas starts flowing, India will like to join it and China has already expressed its willingness for joining the project." IRNA earlier this week quoted Pakistani Energy Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as saying last week’s nuclear deal with Iran meant Islamabad had more options to address lingering energy needs. Pakistan’s aging infrastructure means […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Is Iran’s gas on tap for Pakistan?

Iran’s official media quotes Pakistani energy official as saying gas pipeline between both countries could develop in the post-sanctions era UPI/Hamid Forotan/ISNA ISLAMABAD, July 20 (UPI) — If sanctions are removed in full, Pakistan could in theory move forward with implementing a bilateral natural gas pipeline project with Iran. Once dubbed the Peace Pipeline, and including India as the terminal country, Iran has long held out its gas reserves as an opportunity for Eastern trading partners. Washington and its Western allies, however, have backed a rival project that would stretch from one of the world’s largest natural gas fields in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. For Pakistan, sanctions targeting Iran’s energy sector meant it was time to reconsider the pipeline project. "Removal of sanctions will facilitate us in meeting our commitments and addressing our energy needs," Pakistani Energy Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was quoted as t elling the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Is it end of the line for South Asia’s ship graveyards?

Workers carry a rope line to fasten a decommissioned ship at the Alang shipyard in Gujarat, India, in this March 27, 2015 file photo. In the world’s biggest ship recycling center of Alang on India’s Arabian Sea coast, workers with blow torches cut segments of steel stripped from the rusting hull of a towering cargo ship, sold for scrap by its Japanese owner. But in this town – located in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat – more than half of the ship-breaking yards have shut in the past two years and the future of the trade in India and neighbors Bangladesh and Pakistan is bleak. The industry has been hit by a flood of cheap Chinese steel and new European Union environmental rules due later this year threaten to push business to more modern yards in places like China and Turkey – in turn devastating local […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Rains rally Asia crops in El Nino year, but relief seen short-lived

SINGAPORE Surprisingly strong rains in an El Nino year, typically marked by droughts in parts of Asia, have eased concerns of a lower crop output in the region. But weather forecasters are not convinced, warning of severe dryness in the autumn months. The last El Nino in 2009 had brought the worst drought in four decades to India. It hit Australian wheat crop and also reduced oil palm yields across Southeast Asia. While the forecast is for an equally severe dryness this year, recent rains have buoyed farming in India, China and Australia. "Indian monsoon (started in June) is on track, in fact it has been better than expected, and we haven’t seen any decline in rainfall in a serious manner in Malaysia or Indonesia yet," an Australia-based commodity fund manager said, declining to be identified to avoid speculation over the fund’s investments. "Australia is dry but we have […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Death Toll From Karachi, Pakistan, Heat Wave Tops 800

Photo Pakistanis took shelter in the shade outside a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, on Wednesday. Credit Shakil Adil/Associated Press KARACHI, Pakistan — The temperature was still searingly high on Wednesday — 98 degrees Fahrenheit, or 37 degrees Celsius — but at least it was dropping. It had been as high as 113 degrees Fahrenheit, or 45 degrees Celsius. Health and rescue officials said the number of deaths, which surpassed 800 during the four days that the merciless heat wave gripped this southern port city, had also fallen on Wednesday. “Today was a lot better,” said Anwar Kazmi, a spokesman for the Edhi Foundation , which runs an ambulance service and Karachi’s largest morgue. “We’ve had 58 deaths today, compared to yesterday when the death toll rose to 300.” Meteorologists said Karachi’s weather should improve in the days ahead. “There won’t be heavy rains, but there are chances of light […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Karachi Heat Wave Death Toll Tops 650 During Ramadan Fast

KARACHI, Pakistan — Karachi’s poor learned long ago to cope with the many adversities that afflict Pakistan’s most crowded and chaotic city, including flooding, street violence and political crises. But since a suffocating heat wave descended on Karachi three days ago, killing at least 650 people, they have found no respite and no escape. “It’s so hot,” said a security guard, Shamim ur-Rehman, 34, as he sat on a cot, looking beleaguered. “There is no fan, there is nothing. I can’t sleep at night or during the day.” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared an emergency on Tuesday as the death toll from the heat wave soared, with overwhelmed hospitals struggling to treat a surge of casualties and morgues filling to capacity. The army set up emergency treatment centers in the streets and the provincial government closed schools and city offices. The Edhi Foundation , which runs an ambulance service […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Pakistan calls for urgent measures as heatwave toll tops 450

Pakistan’s prime minister called for emergency measures as the death toll from a heatwave in southern Sindh province topped 450. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said it had received orders from Nawaz Sharif to undertake immediate response measures. The army has also been deployed to set up heat stroke centres and assist the NDMA, it added. Many of the victims are elderly people from low income families. The death toll from the heatwave has risen above 450 Health officials say many deaths have been in the largest city, Karachi, which has experienced temperatures as high as 45C (113F) in recent days. Hundreds of patients suffering from the effects of the heatwave are being treated at government hospitals, provincial health secretary Saeed Mangnejo said. The demand for electricity for air conditioning has coincided with increased power needs over Ramadan, when Muslims fast during daylight hours. Hot weather is not […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple