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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Drought may hit rural Indian economy, aggravating poverty

MATHURA, India India’s farm economy could contract this fiscal year for the first time in over a decade because of drought, threatening Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to lift millions in the countryside out of poverty and bolster his party’s support. Roughly half of India’s farmland lacks irrigation and relies on monsoon rain, but this year’s rainfall is officially forecast to be only 88 percent of the long-term average and, for the first time in nearly three decades, farmers face a second straight year of drought or drought-like conditions. That comes on top of a crash in commodity prices, unseasonable rain earlier this year and delayed sowing late last year because of scanty monsoon rain. "Farmers are already reeling under heavy losses … and now they don’t have money to irrigate their fields or use an optimum level of inputs like fertilizer," said Ashok Gulati, an agricultural economist who […]

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Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum to Buy Crude from Iraq

Hindustan Petroleum Corp. said it a statement it has been in touch with Somo, the oil-marketing company of the Iraq government, to seek an allocation of 2 million barrels of crude oil in the coming month. The procurement comes after India’s oil ministry asked Hindustan Petroleum and Indian Oil to purchase 4 million barrels of Basra light crude oil on behalf of Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. said in a filing to stock exchanges Thursday. Indian Oil Corp. separately said it acted as a facilitator for the import of crude from Iraq on behalf of the Indian government. The crude is meant for the strategic reserves, the company said in a filing to stock exchanges. India, the world’s fourth-largest petroleum consumer, is setting up three centers at Vishakhapatnam, Mangalore, and Padur, in the southern part of India, to store crude to meet its needs in times of […]

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Coal mining must continue, no matter what the human costs

This post was inspired by a recent article about coal mining in India by David Rose in the Guardian about coal mining. In India, people are dying in the streets because of excessive heat caused by global warming, but Rose reports that “ …across a broad range of Delhi politicians and policymakers there is near unanimity. There is, they say, simply no possibility that at this stage in its development India will agree to any form of emissions cap, let alone a cut. ” In other words, coal mining must continue in the name of economic growth, no matter what the human costs.I think it is hard to see a more evident example of the senility of the world’s elites. It is, unfortunately, not something that pertains only to India. Elites all over the world seem to be nearly totally blind to the desperate situation in which we all […]

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Faster than China? India’s road, rail drive could lay doubts to rest

NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reformist, but hard-up government has begun a splurge on road and rail building that analysts say could remove doubts over whether economic growth in India really is overtaking China. Having roughly doubled spending allocations for roads and bridges in fiscal 2015/16, and raised the rail budget by a third, Modi is banking on India going faster. "They have acknowledged that infrastructure is the big elephant in the room," said Vinayak Chatterjee, head of infrastructure services company Feedback Infra. "Once these measures are implemented, the elephant would start dancing, and with it the overall economy." Modi’s chief economic advisor, Arvind Subramanian, reckons growth could increase by more than one percentage point this year provided ministries don’t underspend, though the central bank saw it adding just half a point. Data released on Friday showed the economy grew 7.5 percent in the quarter ending in March, […]

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Reliance Petrol Stations Are Back in Business in India

ENLARGE A woman walks past a Reliance petrol and gas station in Navi Mumbai, India, in 2012. Photo: Bloomberg News NEW DELHI— Reliance Industries Ltd. EQRELIANCE -0.73 % plans to fully resume retail sales of fuel—a business it exited in 2008—by next March, as India’s move to end diesel subsidies provides it a level playing field to compete with state-run operators. The Mumbai-based refiner of crude oil had ventured into selling gasoline and diesel in 2006 through its nearly 1,400 petrol stations across the country. But it had to shut operations as it wasn’t getting subsidies extended to state-run operators. The subsidies were to compensate retailers for losses incurred on mandatory fuel sales below market prices, aimed at shielding the poor from inflation. However, the government ended subsidies on gasoline in 2012 and diesel last October , paving the way for private operators’ entry. The move “has presented an […]

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For Modi’s year-old government, storm brewing in rural India

KHANNA/KAMARGAON, India Just one year after taking office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing a challenge that could come to haunt him – the farm sector that sustains three-fifths of the population is in deep trouble, and he is being blamed for not doing enough. Promising good governance and a stronger economy, Modi romped to power in elections last May by the biggest margin any prime minister has got in three decades. But the rural crisis has dented his popularity and the vanquished opposition is finding new vigor in his discomfort. From the start of the crop season last October through March, India’s farm exports have fallen more than 11 percent to $15 billion, as the impact of the global commodities glut has been sharpened by events like Iran’s nuclear talks and a currency dip in Brazil. The fall in exports has depressed domestic farmgate prices just as unseasonal […]

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Indian Prime Minister Prods Coal Monopoly

State-run Coal India has failed to keep pace with the country’s demand for electricity. Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to whip the giant mining outfit into shape. Photo: Sanjit Das/Bloomberg News BEJDIH, India—Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to end decades of crippling electricity shortages and turn this country into a manufacturing dynamo. At the state-run behemoth’s mine here, men still move coal in baskets on their shoulders. At another project, electricity is so unreliable miners descend in a steam-powered elevator. One giant mine that opened last year runs at a fraction of capacity because a rail line to haul its coal is mired in bureaucracy. Committees and economists have long studied how to whip Coal India, the world’s largest producer of the fuel, into shape. Labor unions and their allies oppose ideas such as breaking the company into smaller units or privatizing it. Mr. Modi is taking a gradual […]

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El Nino has emerged, Asia braces for crop damage

SINGAPORE In 2009, the El Nino brought the worst drought in four decades to India. It razed wheat fields in Australia and damaged crops across Asia. Food prices surged. A closely watched forecast by Japan on Tuesday confirmed its return this year. A strong El Nino will roil economies that are heavily dependent on agriculture, particularly India which is already reeling from bad weather. It would also unhinge supply chains of commodities such as rice, corn and palm oil. In fact, the heat is already up in some places in the Asia Pacific. "We’ve already been hit by a three-month dry spell. We could not plant anything since January. All of us here in Taculen are praying for more rains," said Benny Ramos, a rice farmer in North Cotabato in southern Philippines. Prayers for rains in Asia, however, may not be answered as weather forecasts show an intensifying El […]

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World’s Worst Air Spurs Modi’s $25 Billion Utility Clean-Up Push

Barely 16 miles from central Delhi, a 40-year-old coal-fired power plant run by NTPC Ltd. stands testament to the bargain struck by India’s capital city: The world’s dirtiest air for electricity. The state-owned utility is now seeking to cut emissions across its facilities in India, starting with its oldest — the one in Delhi. NTPC plans to spend 12 billion rupees ($189 million) annually on technology upgrades, a company official said, asking not to identified as the person isn’t authorized to speak on the subject. “Their Badarpur plant is running way beyond its life,” said Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general at Centre for Science and Environment , a lobby group based in the city. “The result is its coal consumption is very high and so are the emissions.” NTPC’s clean-up attempt is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s $25 billion spending proposal to revamp aging utilities as he seeks […]

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China’s President Heads to Pakistan With Billions in Infrastructure Aid

Photo President Xi Jinping of China will sign accords for projects worth $46 billion during a visit to Islamabad on Monday. Credit Anjum Naveed/Associated Press BEIJING — China ’s president, Xi Jinping , travels to Pakistan on Monday laden with tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure and energy assistance on a scale the United States has never offered in the past decade of a close relationship, a gesture likely to confirm the decline of American influence in that nation. Mr. Xi, making his first overseas trip this year, and the first by a Chinese leader to Pakistan in nine years, will arrive fortified from the robust reception to the new China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , and is looking to show that China can make a difference in a friendly, neighboring country troubled by terrorism. Pakistani officials say that Mr. Xi will be signing accords for $46 billion […]

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India: Groundwater levels plummet

Scanty rainfall this year could worsen the situation. The average depth to water level was 9.59 mbgl in July this year, against the 7.39 mbgl last year, calculated from 11 locations in the city. The groundwater situation in the city and surrounding areas might become alarming if copious rains do not drench down the city in the coming one month. Water levels are already plummeting in many areas, especially in the core city, if the records are anything to go by. When compared with the data in the corresponding period last year, the subterranean water levels recorded in July this year could be cause for concern. The average depth to water level has shown an increase of 2.2 meters below ground level (mbgl) when compared with the figures in July, 2013. Groundwater is always measured in meters below ground level (mbgl), the higher value of which denotes that much […]

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China to Build Pipeline From Iran to Pakistan

ENLARGE Iranian workers weld two pipes together in 2013, at the start of construction on a pipeline to transfer natural gas from Iran to Pakistan in Chabahar, Iran. Photo: Vahid Salemi/ASSOCIATED PRESS ISLAMABAD—China will build a pipeline to bring natural gas from Iran to Pakistan to help address Pakistan’s acute energy shortage, under a deal to be signed during the Chinese president’s visit to Islamabad this month, Pakistani officials said. The arrival of President Xi Jinping is expected to showcase China’s commitment to infrastructure development in ally Pakistan, at a time when few other countries are willing to make major investments in cash-strapped, terrorism-plagued, Pakistan. The pipeline would amount to an early benefit for both Pakistan and Iran from the framework agreement reached earlier this month between Tehran and the U.S. and other world powers to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The U.S. had previously threatened Pakistan with […]

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Iran Deal Roils Waters For Indian Commodity Exporters

NEW DELHI—The prospect of a phased-in lifting of Western sanctions against Iran raised by last week’s preliminary nuclear agreement with Tehran has created uncertainty over the fate of an oil-for-goods barter agreement involving rice, soymeal and other products. Iran has been India’s leading buyer of high-grade basmati rice and soymeal, which has partly been helped because of the barter deal. That deal evolved as a means for India to keep importing Iranian oil and pay for it in a way that would circumvent trade and financial restrictions on Tehran. “We will have to wait and see,” said Arun Kumar Sampath Kumar, an analyst with Frost & Sullivan. He said the situation could become clearer after June 30 once the details of the nuclear deal between Iran and six Western powers are worked out. If sanctions were lifted on Iran, it is likely to become easier for the nation to […]

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Pakistan says Saudi-led coalition in Yemen wants troops

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s defense minister says a Saudi-led coalition targeting Shiite rebels in Yemen wants it to contribute ground troops. The comments Monday by Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif come as Pakistan’s parliament debates whether to contribute militarily to the campaign against the rebels, known as Houthis. Pakistan has offered its verbal support for the mission. Days of airstrikes have yet to dislodge the Houthis from territory they hold across Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country. That’s led to speculation that there could be a ground operation launched in Yemen. Asif says Saudi Arabia also asked for aircraft and naval ships for the campaign. The Saudi-led campaign entered its 12th day Monday, targeting rebels who took over the capital, Sanaa, in September and eventually forced President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to flee.

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India launches air quality index to give pollution information

Delhi was ranked the most polluted city on Earth in 2014 India has launched its first air quality index, to provide real time information about pollution levels. The index, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will initially monitor air quality in 10 cities. Last year the Environmental Preference Index ranked India 174 out of 178 countries for air quality. The rising and health-endangering pollution has been mainly blamed on a huge increase in vehicles, particularly diesel-driven cars, on Indian roads. Polluting industries, open burning of refuse and leaves, massive quantities of construction waste and substantial loss of forests have also led to high pollution levels in cities. A World Health Organization (WHO) survey last year found that 13 of the most polluted 20 cities in the world were in India. The capital, Delhi, was the most polluted city in the world , the survey said. It is a leading […]

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Exclusive: India makes first crude oil purchase for strategic reserve

LONDON (Reuters) – India has bought the first oil for its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), trade sources said on Monday, marking the start of a round of purchases by the world’s fourth-biggest oil consumer to build up emergency stockpiles. Oil prices have almost halved in the past year due to excess global production, leaving traders looking for any signs of new demand to help absorb the surplus. The sources said state-refiner Indian Oil Corp bought a 2 million barrel cargo of Iraqi crude from Chinese trader Unipec, which will load in May for shipping to the first stage of India’s SPR on the country’s east coast. In addition, state-refiners IOC and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd will buy another three Very Large Crude Carriers between them for the Vizag SPR storage site in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. While the first 8 million barrels for Vizag are relatively small […]

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Exclusive: India to import first oil to fill strategic reserves – source

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India is set to import 8 million barrels of Iraqi oil to fill its first strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), taking advantage of cheap prices and lending some support to a market suffering from oversupply. India’s SPR purchases could temporarily help offset the impact of an expected pause in China’s strategic stocks build and the start of spring maintenance at Asian refiners. India’s oil ministry on Tuesday instructed state refiners Indian Oil Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd to each seek two very large crude carriers (VLCC) of Basra oil for arrival in May-June, totalling 8 million barrels, two sources familiar with the matter said. The tenders are to be issued this month and plans call for the federal cabinet to approve issuing tenders at its meeting next week, said one of the sources, who declined to be identified. A committee of directors suggested Basra oil […]

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Plan to Verify Delhi Pollution Data Raises Suspicions

Photo A thick blanket of smoke at a garbage dump in New Delhi. The government says it will authenticate pollution levels before releasing the information to the public, a plan that critics say will deprive residents of the opportunity to protect themselves against bad air. Credit Altaf Qadri/Associated Press NEW DELHI — This megacity’s modest effort to warn residents about unhealthy spikes in air pollution levels in real time may soon end, after a decision to first send the data to be authenticated by the central government. Some experts and activists immediately questioned the need for such checks, accusing the government of trying to hide — or worse, alter — data that shows Delhi’s air to be the world’s most toxic at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pushing for greater industrialization. Recent high readings, which consistently exceed Beijing’s pollution readings, have alarmed the city’s Indian elites […]

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Outcry and fears grow as Pakistan builds new nuclear reactors

Outcry and fears grow as Pakistan builds new nuclear reactors thumbnail The Karachi Nuclear PowerComplex is on an earthquake-prone seafront less than 20 miles from downtown Karachi. (Max Becherer/Polaris Images for The Washington Post) KARACHI, Pakistan — World leaders have fretted for years that terrorists may try to steal one of Pakistan’s nuclear bombs and detonate it in a foreign country. But some Karachi residents say the real nuclear nightmare is unfolding here in Pakistan’s largest and most volatile city. On the edge of Karachi, on an earthquake-prone seafront vulnerable to tsunamis and not far from where al-Qaeda militants nearly hijacked a Pakistan navy vessel last fall, China is constructing two large nuclear reactors for energy-starved Pakistan. The new reactors, utilizing a cutting-edge design not yet in use anywhere in the world, will each provide 1,100 megawatts to Pakistan’s national energy grid. They are being built next to a much […]

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Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline not abandoned

Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline not abandoned thumbnail The Pakistani commerce minister says the country has not abandoned the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project, which is scheduled to provide Pakistan with Iranian natural gas. Pakistan will pursue the IP project after the removal of anti-Iran sanctions, the Express Tribune quoted Khurram Dastgir Khan as saying in a Saturday report. “A gas pipeline that is going to be laid from [the Pakistani port city of] Gwadar to [the port city of] Nawabshah can be extended by 11 kilometers to Iran,” the minister said. Iran and Pakistan signed an agreement for the construction of the gas pipeline in 1995. Later, Iran made a proposal to extend the pipeline from Pakistan into India. In February 1999, an accord between Iran and India was signed. But due to the US pressure, India withdrew from the project in 2009. Iran has already built its 900-kilometer share […]

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Pakistan gets ADB loan for LNG port facility

Sign up for our daily Energy Newsletter Asian Development Bank extends loan to Pakistan to help build LNG facility near Karachi. UPI/Stephen Shaver MANILA, Feb. 27 (UPI) — The Asian Development Bank said Friday it was supporting efforts to help Pakistan build its first liquefied natural gas terminal with a $30 million loan. Pakistani company Engro Corp. will get funding from the ADB to build the regasification terminal at a port near Karachi. The plant will be able to convert as much as 3 million tons of LNG per year to gas for use in state power plants. ADB investment specialist Mohammed Azim Hashimi said the loan would help Pakistan build a cleaner, more efficient and more diverse power sector . "Pakistan urgently needs to utilize its existing power generation capacity fully, while reducing its reliance on costly imported diesel fuel for electricity generation," he said in a statement. […]

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A Thirsty, Violent World

Credit Photograph by Mauricio Lima/The New York Times/Redux Angry protesters filled the streets of Karachi last week, clogging traffic lanes and public squares until police and paratroopers were forced to intervene. That’s not rare in Pakistan, which is often a site of political and religious violence. But last week’s protests had nothing to do with freedom of expression, drone wars, or Americans. They were about access to water. When Khawaja Muhammad Asif, the Minister of Defense, Power, and Water (yes, that is one ministry), warned that the country’s chronic water shortages could soon become uncontrollable, he was looking on the bright side. The meagre allotment of water available to each Pakistani is a third of what it was in 1950. As the country’s population rises, that amount is falling fast. Dozens of other countries face similar situations—not someday, or soon, but now. Rapid climate change, population growth, and a […]

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Filthy India air cutting 660 million lives short by 3 years

NEW DELHI (AP) — New research estimates India’s air pollution is cutting 660 million lives short by three years on average. The study published Saturday in the Economic & Political Weekly highlights the extensiveness of India’s air problems after years of pursuing an all-growth agenda with little regard for the environment. Thirteen Indian cities are now included on the World Health Organization’s list of the world’s 20 most polluted. That pollution burden nationwide is estimated to be costing more than half the population at least 3.2 years of their lives. The study’s authors acknowledge their estimations may be too conservative, as they are based in part on satellite data that tend to underestimate levels of fine particulate matter known as PM2.5. India has a sparse system for monitoring air quality.

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U.S. to Monitor Air Quality in India and Other Countries

HONG KONG — The United States says it will expand air-quality monitoring at some overseas diplomatic missions, following several years of reporting pollution data in China. The goal is to increase awareness of the health risks of outdoor air pollution, which easily spreads across borders, Secretary of State John Kerry said in announcing the program on Wednesday. The program is intended to help United States citizens abroad reduce their exposure to pollution and to help other countries develop their own air-quality monitoring through training and exchanges with American experts, he said. “We’re hoping that this tool can also expand international cooperation when it comes to curbing air pollution,” Mr. Kerry said . The program, run in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency , will begin to operate in India in a few months. New Delhi has some of the world’s worst air pollution, and residents there are becoming increasingly […]

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Pakistan Close to Agreement With Qatar Over LNG Supplies for Power Plants

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan is close to striking a long-term deal worth potentially $22.5 billion or more to import liquefied natural gas to help fuel the country’s power stations and ease its crippling electricity crisis, Pakistan’s top energy official said. “We are negotiating with Qatar and a few other sources,” said Pakistani Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “The deal will be very competitive and very beneficial for Pakistan.” An agreement with Qatar is expected by early March, Pakistani officials say. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came to office in May 2013 on a pledge to reduce the country’s electricity shortages, which see power regularly cut to homes and businesses for eight or more hours a day. Tackling the electricity deficit, however, has thus far largely eluded Mr. Sharif’s government. The government has promised to eradicate the electricity shutdowns, known as load shedding, by the […]

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Pakistan Braces for Major Water Shortages

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Energy-starved Pakistanis, their economy battered by chronic fuel and electricity shortages, may soon have to contend with a new resource crisis: major water shortages, the Pakistani government warned this week. A combination of global climate change and local waste and mismanagement have led to an alarmingly rapid depletion of Pakistan ’s water supply, said the minister for water and energy, Khawaja Muhammad Asif. “Under the present situation, in the next six to seven years, Pakistan can be a water-starved country,” Mr. Asif said in an interview, echoing a warning that he first issued at a news conference in Lahore this week. The prospect of a major water crisis in Pakistan, even if several years distant, offers a stark reminder of a growing challenge in other poor and densely populated countries that are vulnerable to global climate change. In Pakistan, it poses a further challenge to Prime […]

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What is driving Pakistan’s fuel crisis?

Pakistani motorists wait for their turn to fill their vehicles at a petrol station in Islamabad on January 22, 2015 (Photo: AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images) The shortage of imported oil began some two weeks ago, with affected areas almost grinding to a halt. Across the country, many buses have been taken off the streets, and scuffles have broken out at gas stations where people wait in long queues for fuel. Although the situation has eased slightly, the crisis prompted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to pull out of last week’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. Pakistan has to deal with chronic power cuts, and tackling the energy issue was one of Sharif’s main campaign pledges ahead of the 2013 general election. The situation was recently exacerbated by an apparent rebel attack on a key power line which plunged around 80 percent of the South Asian country into darkness over the […]

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U.S., India embrace over renewables

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama face the media at Hyderbad House in New Delhi on January 25, 2015. President Obama is on a three day visit and will be the guest of honor at at India’s Republic Day celebrations. UPI NEW DELHI, Jan. 26 (UPI) — Advancing a renewable energy sector in India is a shared priority for the New Delhi and U.S. governments, the Indian prime minister said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted President Barack Obama in New Delhi to discuss economic, energy and nuclear developments. Obama’s visit comes two weeks after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the signing of billions of dollars worth of clean energy investments in the Indian economy at a New Deli investment conference. "For President Obama and me, clean and renewable energy is a personal and national priority," the prime minister said in a statement […]

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Obama Ends Visit With Challenge to India on Climate Change

NEW DELHI — President Obama pressed India on Tuesday to do more to curb the pollution that is choking its capital and contributing to global climate change , as he wrapped up a visit that yielded no meaningful breakthrough on the issue. While India and the United States agreed to cooperate in promoting cleaner energy, Mr. Obama left after three days without the sort of specific commitment to curbing greenhouse gases that he won in China last year . Instead, he used a farewell speech before his departure to argue that India had an obligation to step up, despite its economic challenges. “I know the argument made by some — that it’s unfair for countries like the United States to ask developing nations and emerging economies like India to reduce your dependence on the same fossil fuels that helped power our growth for more than a century,” Mr. Obama […]

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Rebels Tied to Blackout Across Most of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Towns and cities across Pakistan plunged into darkness early Sunday when what officials said was an attack by militants on a transmission line short-circuited the national electricity grid, presenting a new indictment of the government’s faltering efforts to solve the country’s chronic power crisis. Emergency efforts to end the blackout, widely described as Pakistan ’s worst ever, resulted in a partial restoration of power in the capital, Islamabad, and the most populous city, Karachi, by Sunday evening. Even so, 80 percent of the country remained without power, including the provincial capitals of Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta, an official said. The minister for water and power, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, blamed separatist rebels in the western province of Baluchistan who, he said, had blown up a critical transmission line. But experts said the attack only highlighted the growing vulnerability of Pakistan’s power grid, which has come under severe […]

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Pakistan Fuel Shortage Crisis Forces Sharif to Cancel Davos Trip

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif canceled a trip to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as the nation’s worst fuel shortages in memory threatened to revive street protests against him. Since the crisis began last week, he’s suspended five officials, including Pakistan State Oil Co.’s deputy chief, and has sought hourly updates on the situation. The government has sold fuel from its reserves and private companies have boosted supplies as anger grows over long waits at petrol stations. The cash-strapped distributor’s move this month to reduce shipments by 80 percent left it unable to meet a surge in demand after the government cut gas prices to match lower global costs. The Finance Ministry has arranged emergency funding to import oil, Power Minister Khawaja Asif said in a Jan. 21 text message. The crisis is a test of Pakistan’s credibility in the eyes of overseas investors, whose fivefold […]

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State of denial: Power ministry denies fuel shortage for electricity

PSO fuel imports declined 80 per cent, but ministry claims stocks will be enough. STOCK IMAGE ISLAMABAD:  In yet another sign of a lack of coordination within the government, the water and power ministry on Wednesday denied that there was a fuel shortage at power plants, claiming that power generation companies had 10 days’ worth of fuel inventory. A spokesperson for the ministry said that there was little possibility of the power crisis worsening, adding that the ministry was prepared to handle all contingencies. The statement from the water and power ministry appears to be a response to allegations leveled against them by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar at his press conference on Monday. Dar had placed the responsibility for the recent petrol shortages squarely on the petroleum ministry and water and power ministry. The statement from the ministry also contradicts the account that Finance Secretary Waqar Masood gave in […]

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Pakistan’s Sharif pulls out of Davos amid fuel crisis

Politicians are arguing over the cause of the petrol shortages Related Stories Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has pulled out of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Switzerland to tackle nationwide fuel shortages. Petrol stations in most major cities closed temporarily last week, and drivers elsewhere face huge queues. Ministers blame a huge spike in demand for the shortage, but critics say it was caused by government incompetence. Mr Sharif held a crisis meeting earlier and promised to punish those causing the problems. It is the second year running that the prime minister has pulled out of the WEF in Davos. Last year he was forced to cancel the trip because of a Taliban attack. Opposition demonstrations Pakistan has faced intermittent fuel crises for years, and Mr Sharif promised during the 2013 election to resolve the issues. Opposition supporters say government incompetence is the real cause But last […]

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Fuel Shortages Show Pakistani Struggle to Cope With Oil’s Drop

As motorists around the world enjoy the lowest fuel prices in five years thanks to surging production, Pakistanis are struggling to fill up their tanks. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is racing to tackle one of the nation’s worst fuel shortages in recent memory. Since the crisis began last week, he’s suspended five officials, including Pakistan State Oil Co.’s deputy chief, and has sought hourly updates on the situation. The cash-strapped distributor’s move this month to reduce shipments by 80 percent left it unable to meet a surge in demand after the government cut gas prices to match lower global costs. The Finance Ministry has arranged emergency funding to import oil, Power Minister Khawaja Asif said in a text message yesterday. The crisis is a test of Pakistan’s credibility in the eyes of overseas investors, whose fivefold increase in purchases of the nation’s shares resulted in Asia ’s second-highest […]

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India gets $4 billion solar energy promise

India gets $4 billion solar energy pledge on sidelines of major investment conference. UPI/Stephen Shaver AHMEDABAD, India, Jan. 12 (UPI) — With New Delhi praised for its renewable energy role, Indian conglomerate Adani Enterprises said it signed a $4 billion solar agreement with a U.S. company. Adani signed a memorandum of understanding with solar energy services company SunEdison to produce enough solar panels to develop a sustainable green power sector in India. "India has embarked on an ambitious program to become a world leader in power generation from renewable technologies, and sees solar as a key part in realizing that goal," Vneet S Jaain, chief executive officer of subsidiary Adani Power Ltd., said in a statement Saturday. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of an Indian investment conference, attended by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry . From auto giant Ford Motor Co., to companies like SunEdison, the […]

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Coal India Strike Said to Shut Half of Output, Shipments

A strike by coal miners in India , the nation’s biggest walkout in four decades, shut down about half of monopoly Coal India Ltd.’s production and shipments yesterday, said two company officials, who asked not to be identified. The strike, by all of the company’s five major unions, entered its second day after talks between Coal Secretary Anil Swarup and the unions in New Delhi failed. The unions are protesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s plan to end the state’s monopoly fearing job losses and cuts in benefits. The strike will last for the planned five days as the government isn’t listening to worker concerns, said S.Q. Zama, general secretary at the Indian National Mineworkers Federation. “If this strike continues beyond a couple of days, the situation with respect to coal stock would become critical,” said Debasish Mishra, a senior director at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt.’s energy practice […]

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India’s Nov crude oil imports jump 17.3% on year to 4.2 mil b/d

Singapore (Platts)–15Dec2014/338 am EST/838 GMT India imported 17.25 million mt, or an average 4.21 million b/d, of crude oil in November, up 17.3% year on year, latest data obtained by shipping sources showed. The November crude imports were up 14.9% from October. India imported 1.46 million mt, or an average 356,726 b/d, of crude oil from Iran in the month under review, up 23.7% year on year. Saudi Arabia was India’s top crude oil supplier in November at 4.57 million mt. Article continues below… Platts Global Alert is a complete real-time information service for the global energy industry, providing breaking reports of deals done, price indicators for crude and products and more than 200 end-of-day assessments. The volume was up 55% year on year and also up 79.2% from October. Imports from Venezuela, the UAE and Iraq surged in November, but from Nigeria, Kuwait and Angola dropped. Imports from […]

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Russia sees promise in energy ties with India

Russian President Vladimir Putin sees promise in expanding energy ties with the expanding Indian economy. (UPI Photo/Anatoli Zhdanov) Bilateral efforts to expand cooperation in the oil and gas sector between Russia and India hold "great promise," the Kremlin said Thursday. "We are paving the way for long-term, true and mutually beneficial cooperation," Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a state visit to New Delhi. Russia is examining its energy options as Western sanctions take their toll on its economy. In July, Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin told Indian business newspaper The Hindu the Kremlin was interested in spending as much as $40 billion to build a natural gas pipeline for India. The pipeline would run along the southern border of Russian to India through the Himalayan region or mirror the route of the planned pipeline from Turkmenistan. India’s economy is expected to expand by 5.8 percent next year, […]

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Modi Window to Revamp India Economy Never Wider as Oil Dips

If Prime Minister Narendra Modi is serious about overhauling India ’s economy, 2015 presents a golden opportunity. Oil prices have fallen to a five-year low, inflation is easing, the current account deficit has narrowed and investors are betting the U.S. Federal Reserve won’t raise rates until June. Only two of India’s 29 states will hold an election next year, and Modi holds a majority in the lower house for the first time in three decades after his landslide election win in May. “Very rarely do you see something like this,” Saugata Bhattacharya, a Mumbai-based economist at Axis Bank Ltd., said in an interview last week. “What more can they possibly want?” India’s growth prospects are rising as other emerging markets including China slow down, making its benchmark stock index among the best performers this year. Modi’s ability to raise living standards among India’s 1.2 billion people hinges on engineering […]

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The Next Big Climate Question: Will India Follow China?

Michael Greenstone For more than 20 years, international climate talks have been dominated by a schism between those who created the problem of climate change (largely the United States and nations of the European Union) and those who would greatly contribute to it moving forward (largely China and India). But as climate negotiators meet in Lima, Peru, this week and next, and news reports are full of gloomy predictions that the negotiations will produce little, there are increasing signs that this stalemate may have been broken. This emerging shift is due in large part to China and its decision to break ranks and join the United States in making commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One critical question now is whether India — the country that has stood by China’s side in climate talks and is now the world’s third-largest emitter — will follow suit in a meaningful way […]

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