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Google Maps crashes, leaving billions directionless

OpIndia Staff
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Google Maps crashes, leaving billions directionless

Late on Thursday India time at around 9:30 PM, the most used navigation app, Google Maps crashed leaving all its users directionless. With most of the world using google maps to navigate, the problem with the app really threw the routine travel out of gear for people around the world.

The website Down Detector recorded a sharp spike in reports about Google Maps today evening as hundreds of thousands of people suddenly found themselves unable to access the map on the app.

Many of those that tried to access the Google Maps website were greeted by a message saying the ‘server encountered an error’, while several others were just greeted by a blank screen. The wait to see the map getting uploaded kept getting longer and longer as the app stayed down.

Google Maps crashed

Some people got so frustrated that they even resorted to using the Apple Maps

At times like these, Indian attempt to build an alternative to Google Maps becomes all the more important. So that in future, one outage like this doesn’t throw the entire normal life out of gear.

“We will absolutely accomplish all of our plans”: Vladimir Putin at a packed Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, hails the war to ‘de-Nazify’ Ukraine

OpIndia Staff
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“We will absolutely accomplish all of our plans”: Vladimir Putin at a packed Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, hails the war to ‘de-Nazify’ Ukraine

Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, which hosted the final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, was absolutely packed as Russia celebrated the anniversary of annexation of Crimea. Back in 2014, under Barack Obama’s watch, Putin had completed the annexation of the peninsula of Crimea on this day. The event that effectively started the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

In a mega event where several other prominent Russian speakers like Sergey Sobyanin (Mayor of Moscow), Sergey Aksyonov (Head of Republic of Crimea) and Artyom Zhoga (new head of Sparta battalion) spoke, the main attraction was always going to be Vladimir Putin.

Putin started his speech by quoting the preamble of Russian constitution which states, “on our land, united by a common destiny”. He used that line to try to drive home the point that Crimea, Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic are all essentially Russian. Claiming that Ukraine govt was indulged in genocide in Donetsk, he said, “Shelling and attacks were carried out against the Donbas. This is genocide. Stopping this genocide is the main goal of the special operation.”

Putin also said that they are determined to carry out the plans that they made, indicating that all the western sanctions aren’t going to deter him. He is definitely proceeding with his war in Ukraine to achieve the objectives he outlined. “We know what we should do know and how we should do it and we will implement all our plans,” he said. The stage for the event had signs saying “For a world without Nazism / For Russia”.

Putin hailed the ongoing operation in Ukraine, saying it is special operation to ‘de-Nazify’ the country. He also praised the Russian soldiers fighting the war, saying that the soldiers fighting in the “special military operation” in Ukraine have illustrated the unity of Russia.

During his speech, Putin brought up Fyodor Ushakov, a Russian commander who never lost a military battle, much like Bajirao. This is not the only time that Putin has gone back to history to energize support for Russia. He famously agreed with Alexander III’s opinion that Russia has only two allies, its Army and its Navy.

Putin’s speech was very short today, unlike his long speech when he announced the invasion of Ukraine. And the telecast of the speech was interrupted by a technical glitch, however later the full speech was broadcast by Russian state broadcaster. Later, a Kremlin spokesman said a server glitch had caused the interruption of the transmission.

The only thing clear from the speech was that Putin is not going to back down in the face of western sanctions. Fact is, he can not afford to back down in front of NATO and their allies.

Pakistan: 12 PTI workers and 2 legislators arrested for barging into Sindh House where dissidents had sought refuge

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: 12 PTI workers and 2 legislators arrested for barging into Sindh House where dissidents had sought refuge

On Friday 18th March 2022, PTI (Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf) workers forcefully entered the Sindh House in Islamabad after protesting for hours outside against the dissident Members of National Assembly(MNAs) staying in the building.

Around two dozen dissident PTI MNAs had moved into the Sindh House to seek refuge from the government’s wrath for going against Prime Minister Imran Khan earlier this week.

The PTI workers climbed the wall and broke the door gates of the Sindh House to enter the premises. While protesting against the turncoats, these workers carried lotas in their hands. Lota is a derogatory term used for turncoats. The protestors also smashed the lotas with their feet. MNA Ataullah Niazi also joined these protests.

PPP leader Sharjeel Memon has called this attack a failure of the Islamabad police and the interior ministry. He said, “We consider the attack on Sindh House an attack on the Sindh province.” The police later took control of the situation.

Initially, the protests were peaceful but the situation soon turned violent. The interior minister Sheikh Rasheed issued orders to arrest the PTI workers involved in the protest. According to social media posts, 12 PTI workers were arrested by police for attacking Sindh House. Two PTI MNAs namely Attaullah Niazi and Faheem Khan were also arrested.

The voting on a no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan government will take place between March 26-30. The Speaker of the National Assembly is expected to call the session on March 22.

Prime Minister Imran Khan and some cabinet ministers had accused the opposition of indulging in horse-trading ahead of the crucial vote on the no-confidence resolution, disclosing that Sindh House in Islamabad had become a center for buying and purchasing members. After this, several MNAs from the ruling PTI had revealed that they were hiding at the Sindh House. The claims of the opposition having won over the members of the ruling party had thus appeared to be true.

Tamil Nadu: Islamists issue death threats to Karnataka HC judges over hijab order, use children for shouting violent slogans

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: Islamists issue death threats to Karnataka HC judges over hijab order, use children for shouting violent slogans

Two days after the Karnataka HC upheld that hijab is not an essential practice in Islam, an Islamist organisation named Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath (TMTJ) issued death threats to the judges during an event conducted in Madurai on Thursday (March 17).

In a video shared by Indu Makkal Katchi, TMTJ leader Covai R. Rahmatullah announced that if judges get killed over the hijab case verdict, then, they will themselves be responsible for their death.

The Islamist insinuated that the Judiciary has sold itself to the BJP and that the court’s decision is invalid and illegal. Rahmatullah alleged that the Karnataka High Court pronounced the verdict on the behest of Amit Shah.

While casting aspersion on the intent of the High Court, the Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath leader said that judges should be ashamed of themselves for their ‘biased’ judgment. He claimed that court verdicts must be based on the constitution and not on the personal beliefs of the judges.

A Twitter user named Vishwatma (@HLKodo) pointed out how young children were made to give death threats and raise violent slogans.

A longer version of the contentious video was posted on Youtube by a channel named ‘Online Dhava 24X7’. At about 17 minutes and 40 seconds into the video, Covai R. Rahmatullah is heard saying that while sadhus could roam naked in India, Muslim girls were being prevented from wearing modest clothing like the hijab.

A little later in the video, he warned, “If you attack on Muslims, we will get on the ground.” The TMTJ Islamist said, “We are not afraid of Modi, yogi and Amit shah. We are only afraid of Allah. Don’t make us lose patience. If we lose patience, then, you won’t exist.”

Hijab row and the verdict of the Karnataka High Court

Last month, some Muslim students from a PU College in Udupi filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court to allow them to attend classes wearing Hijab. They were denied entry into classes after the college management made it clear that the hijab is not part of the uniform. Since then, the ‘students’ launched protests while being dressed in burqas.

The Muslim students had started wearing hijab and burqa to their school, college in defiance of the uniform rules since December 2021 after coming in touch with the Campus Front of India (CFI), the student wing of the Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) in October 2021. The students had admitted being in consultation with the CFI.

Subsequently, the lawyers representing the Muslim students had cited Sharia in the secular court to make a point on hijab, claiming that it is an essential religious practice and is mandatory for Muslim women.

Karnataka HC upholds hijab ban in educational institutes

However, on Tuesday (March 15), the Karnataka High Court held that Hijab is not an essential practice in Islam and that uniform is a reasonable restriction on the Right to Religion. The court further stated in the order that no case is made out for invalidating the Government Order of February 5, 2022.

Following the verdict, liberals and Islamists took to Twitter to cast aspersions on the independence of the Judiciary.

Gujarat AAP president Gopal Italia attacks minor son of Gujarat minister Harsh Sanghvi for singing rap song on Gujarati pride

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat AAP president Gopal Italia attacks minor son of Gujarat minister Harsh Sanghvi for singing rap song on Gujarati pride

The president of Aam Aadmi Party’s Gujarat unit, Gopal Italia, has targeted the son of Gujarat’s MOS home Harsh Sanghavi, for political brownie points. Harsh Sanghvi, on 16th March 2022, had shared from his Twitter handle a video of his son Aarush in which the kid is seen performing a rap song.

The lyrics of the song underlined the pride of being a Gujarati, and the song described Gujarati culture and Gujarati food. It said, “I roamed in the world, visited best of the hotels, even went to America, but no food can compete with the Gujarati theplas. I am a Gujarati and will always remain one.”

Gopal Italia, Gujarat state president of AAP, somehow took offense to this song by a child. He went on to attack this kid in his reply on 17th March 2022. In his reply, he said, “Hello dear!! You’ll go to America, eat thepla, go to the best hotels in the world. It is all right, but will you study in a government school in Gujarat or not? Will you join the queue of government jobs or not? Will you rush to the government office to draw up income or caste certificates? Or will you have fun like this because your father is a minister?”

Netizens did not like this attack on a young kid by Gopal Italia. They had called this post a highly inappropriate act where a politician is targeting a child. A Twitter user Rajan Thakkar wrote, “Don’t make such a comment on anyone’s family Gopalbhai. If you do it today, tomorrow someone else will do it on you, so please don’t bring down the level of politics altogether.”

Another Twitter user Dipak sheth tweeted, “Gopal, How many leaders’ children, including Kejriwal and AAP workers, are studying in government schools? In which school do the boys of Gopalbhai and Isudanbhai study? How many elected corporators of AAP are there whose children study in government schools? Weren’t you ashamed to tweet such a sarcastic tweet on a child? Do you have such low thinking?”

It is notable that Pulkit Kejriwal, son of the AAP president and Delhi’s CM Arvind Kejriwal has studied in a private school. And this while Manish Sisodia and Arvind Kejriwal often keep claiming that the AAP government in Delhi has improved the situations of the government school.

PM Ujjwala Yojana reduced air pollution deaths by 13 per cent, prevented over 1.5 lakh deaths in 2019: Study

OpIndia Staff
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PM Ujjwala Yojana reduced air pollution deaths by 13 per cent, prevented over 1.5 lakh deaths in 2019: Study

On Friday, an independent research report for the World Resources Institute (WRI) India revealed that the government’s flagship Ujjwala programme had reduced the indoor air pollution deaths by 13% in one single year. It stated that the scheme had prevented 1.5 lakhs of pollution related premature deaths in year 2019 alone. The study also stated that the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) had helped in avoiding at least 1.8 million tonnes of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) emissions that year.

According to a report by the Indian Express, the recent research report by Ajay Nagpure, Ritesh Patidar and Vandna Tyagi is being reviewed while the researchers have claimed that the numbers put up by them are estimates and that the actual beneficiaries could be higher in number. “The avoidance of premature deaths, for example, has been estimated only for indoor air pollution. Also, the benefits have been estimated for the year 2019 only. Similar benefits would have accrued in subsequent years as well, though we do not have full data as of now”, Nagpure was quoted.

He maintained that PM Ujjwala Yojana was one of the most effective government schemes that helped improve air quality and reduce health risks from air pollution. The research team had considered the households that had no access to the LPG and claimed that about 6.1 lakh deaths in 2019 could be attributed to the household air pollution.

The team further estimated that, if the households using secondary sources were taken into account, the indoor air pollution related deaths in 2019 had surged to 10.2 lakh. “However, in absence of the scheme, the number of deaths could have been as high as 11.7 lakhs”, the report mentioned. The survey by Nagpure also brought to notice that only 65% of the rural households were using LPG as the primary cooking fuel.

The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was introduced by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOPNG) in year 2016 to make clean cooking fuel such as LPG available to the rural and deprived households in the country. These rural and under priviledged households were otherwise using traditional cooking fuels such as firewood, coal, cow-dung cakes and others.

It is important to note that the government had achieved the target of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in September 2019 by giving access to over 28 crore households in India. The numbers had upsurged from 61.9% in year 2015 to 99.8% in year 2019. According to the Indian Oil Corporation, over new nine crore beneficiaries are also now availing the benefits of the government’s flagship Ujjwala 2.0 scheme.

Earlier, a research carried out by the IIT Kanpur, commissioned by the Health Ministry had releaved similar findings as that of the research carried out by Nagpure and team. The report had recorded 50% health improvement of members of households those who had adopted LPG. Also, the World Health Organisation in its report on air pollution had appreciated the Indian government’s efforts to curb air pollution through its flagship scheme of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.

According to the WHO estimates, 9 out of 10 people around the world breathe air containing high levels of pollutants. Around 3 billion people cook using polluting open fires or simple stoves fueled by kerosene, biomass (wood, animal dung and crop waste) and coal and around 7 million people die every year from exposure to polluted fine particles which is referred as PM 2.5 which causes noncommunicable diseases including stroke, ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. Ambient air pollution alone caused some 4.2 million deaths in 2016, while household air pollution from cooking with polluting fuels and technologies caused an estimated 3.8 million deaths in the same period.

Hindu boy narrates real-life incident happened with him after watching ‘The Kashmir Files’, video goes viral

OpIndia Staff
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Hindu boy narrates real-life incident happened with him after watching ‘The Kashmir Files’, video goes viral

In a video that has now gone viral on social media, a Kashmiri Hindu boy recounted how the opening scene of ‘The Kashmir Files’ resembled an incident that he experienced as a child in the Valley.

“You might have seen the movie opens with a kid right? A kid is caught by a mob and hit. That was me,” he exclaimed. The opening scene of the movie showed child actor ‘Prithviraj Sarnaik’ (who played the character of ‘Shiv’) being assaulted by Islamists for cheering for India’s victory against Pakistan.

“That was you? oh my God,” a woman in the crowd inquired. “I was 10 years old at that time,” the boy recounted.

He emphasised, “They (The movie makers) kind of stiched different stories and made a story because it is not possible to make a story on each and every (child) right?”

“And I remember that it was a match between Pakistan and India. And Pakistan had won it. I was going through the streets and the mob surrounded me. There was some money in my pocket. They took the money to buy crackers,” the boy narrated while choking under the weight of his childhood trauma.

A woman, who was seen consoling the boy, remarked, “It is not possible to show the gruesomeness that has occurred. This was probably the mildest way of depicting what has happened to the Kashmiri Pandits. The actual stories are much more gruesome. “

‘The Kashmir Files’ movie narrates the 1990 genocide of Kashmiri Pandits

The Kashmir Files’ is inspired by the true stories of Kashmiri Pandits. It takes viewers back to 1989, when conflict erupted in Kashmir due to rising Islamic Jihad, forcing the great majority of Hindus to flee the valley.

According to estimates, roughly 100,000 of the valley’s total 140,000 Kashmiri Pandit inhabitants migrated between February and March 1990. More of them fled in the years that followed until just about 3,000 families remained in the valley by 2011.

The movie based on video interviews with first-generation Kashmiri Pandit victims of the Kashmir Genocide was released in India on March 11 and is open to watch in theatres.

Pakistan: Imran Khan govt staring at crisis as rebellion strikes his coalition and opposition continue to mount attack

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: Imran Khan govt staring at crisis as rebellion strikes his coalition and opposition continue to mount attack

Three years after storming into power in Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan is facing an existential crisis as the opposition alliance is all set to move a no-confidence motion against his government that was elected in August 2018.

For last few months, there has been a significant shift in Pakistan’s political scene with the two main opposition parties — the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party, joining hands with Maulana Fazal Ur Rehman, who is fondly known as Maulana’ Diesel’ of the radical Islamic outfit Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam to stitch a coalition of parties – Pakistan Democratic Movement to bring down the Imran Khan-led coalition government.

Recently, Imran Khan had mounted an attack on these opposition leaders and had referred to opposition leaders such as PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and Pakistan People’s Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari as “three stooges”. Imran Khan had also claimed the united opposition has joined the west, especially the US, to remove him from power through a no-confidence vote.

For Imran Khan’s worry, the Pakistan military that had once stood behind him and made him the premier of the country, has now distanced itself from the government, which has given a further boost to the opposition coalition.

The opposition parties have accused the cricketer-turned-politician of mishandling the country’s economy and foreign policy. It is interesting to know that no Pakistani Prime Minister has ever completed his term in office. The joint opposition consisting of PML-N and the PPP has more than 160 seats in the National Assembly.

But, it is not just the opposition parties that want Imran Khan to quit. The ruling coalition-led by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is heavily dependent on six other smaller parties Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (7 seats), Balochistan Awami Party (5 seats), Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid e Azam) (5 seats), Grand Democratic Alliance  (3 seats), Awami Muslim League Pakistan (1 seat), Jamhoori Wattan Party (1 seat) and 2 Independents.

Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, has 155 seats in the lower house, 17 short of the 172 needed to retain power in the 342-member Pakistan’s National Assembly.

There have been faultlines within the ruling party that may mark the end game for Imran Khan. Since the last few weeks, the rebellion within the ruling coalition, especially in the PTI, has grown, inviting more trouble for Imran Khan. Several lawmakers from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ruling party have withdrawn their support for him on Thursday ahead of a no-confidence vote.

“We have differences with the prime minister,” Raja Riaz, one of the PTI lawmakers, adding he would vote according to his conscience. As per Raja’s claims, at least 20 PTI lawmakers are expected to defect ahead of the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan.

Without the coalition partners and the dissidents, Imran Khan will no longer be the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Even as Imran Khan’s party struggles to keep his flock together, there has been growing animosity between the ruling and opposition parties. At a time when Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan needs all the support he can muster ahead of the no-confidence motion, some of his motormouth ministers have stepped up attacks against the united opposition.

One even threatened to destroy the opposition parties if they did not reconsider their decision to move a no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan government. A few days back, Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan had threatened the opposition parties that he would turn into to become a suicide bomber and blow up the entire opposition. Several Pakistan ministers, including Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, have threatened the opposition leaders that PTI workers would surround their houses to prevent them from voting on the motion.

The voting on a no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan government will take place between March 26-30. The Speaker of the National Assembly is expected to call the session on March 22.

Arnold Schwarzenegger issues a video message for Russians about the truth of war in Ukraine, gets called out: Here is what he said

OpIndia Staff
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Arnold Schwarzenegger issues a video message for Russians about the truth of war in Ukraine, gets called out: Here is what he said

Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger has issued a video message for Russians from his Twitter handle. In this video message posted on 17th March 2022, he has told the Russians about what he calls the truth of war in Ukraine. However, the actor was called out by the netizens pointing out that the USA had attacked many countries in the past.

Arnold Schwarzenegger said in his video address, “I have a message for my Russian friends, and for the Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine: There are things going on in the world that have been kept from you, terrible things that you should know about. I hope that you will let me tell you the truth about the war in Ukraine. No one likes to hear something critical of their government. I understand that. But as a longtime friend of the Russian people, I hope that you will hear what I have to say.”

He further said, “I know that your government has told you this is a war to de-Nazify Ukraine. This is not true. De-Nazify Ukraine? It is a country with a Jewish president—a Jewish president, I might add, whose father’s three brothers were all murdered by the Nazis. Ukraine did not start this war. Neither did nationalists or Nazis. Those in power in the Kremlin started this civil war; this is not the Russian people’s war.”

Citing the voting done in United Nations he said, “One hundred forty-one nations at the United Nations voted that Russia was the aggressor and called for it to remove its troops immediately. Only four countries in the entire world voted with Russia. That is a fact. The world has turned against Russia because of its actions in Ukraine. Whole city blocks have been flattened by Russian artillery and bombs, including a children’s hospital and a maternity hospital. Three million Ukrainian refugees, mainly women, children, and the elderly, have already fled the country, and many more now seek to get out. It is a humanitarian crisis. Russia, because of its brutality, is now isolated from the society of nations.”

Informing the Russians about the loss Russia is bearing due to this war, he said, “You’re also not being told the truth about the consequences of this war for Russia itself. I regret to tell you that thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed. They’ve been caught between Ukrainians fighting for their homeland and the Russian leadership fighting for conquest. Massive amounts of Russian equipment have been destroyed or abandoned. The strongest global economic sanctions ever enacted have been imposed on Russia.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger also claimed that Russian soldiers were not knowing that they are going to war. He said, “The Russian government has lied not only to its citizens but also to its soldiers. Some were told that they were simply going on exercises—they didn’t even know that they were going into war. And some were told that they were there to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine. None of this was true.”

He also addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin in his video message saying, “To President Putin, I say: You started this war. You’re leading this war. You can stop this war now.”

The actor-cum-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger was called out by netizens after he had issued this video. Social media users reminded him how he was silent when the United States launched war against various countries. A Twitter account Batsman Academy has replied to him saying, “We missed you during the American war on Afghanistan. You should have posted a video like that.”

Another Twitter user Igor Rocket has posted, “Illegal War? Any war is outlawed and the U.S. dictates terms to us, we will no longer bow to the West.
Better tell us how the United States bombed Iraq, Iran, Libya, and other countries. The United States is always trying to blame the Russian Federation for everything, to make my country look bad. There is no faith in America.”

Replying to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jane B has tweeted, “There are peaceful Ukrainians, there are pro-Western Nazis. Bandits. Who put their military equipment in civilian neighborhoods to force Russia to shoot at them. Or they shoot at their own people and blame Russia. You do not know, but in Ukraine, the war has been going on for 8 years. Russia will finish it.”

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Russia on 16th March 2022 to immediately suspend the invasion of Ukraine. The court has said in its order that both parties must refrain from any acts which may aggravate the dispute.

‘Russian oil cargoes that could not find European buyers are being bought by India’: Report

OpIndia Staff
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‘Russian oil cargoes that could not find European buyers are being bought by India’: Report

Amid the Western sanctions against Russia, there is a looming energy crisis and inflation issue all over the world. Earlier this week, it was reported that India has bought over 3 million barrels of Russian crude oil at a heavily discounted price. Now, a report in Financial Times has stated that while European buyers avoid Russian cargoes of oil, India has almost quadrupled its purchase of Russian crude in recent days.

The report in FT states that Russia has sent over 360,000 barrels of crude oil per day to India so far in March, nearly 4 times higher than the average per day exports in 2021.

India, which does not have vast reserves of oil and natural gas and imports over 82% of crude oil and 45% of natural gas from other nations, has been considering all options to avoid the sanctions against Russia and get crude oil at a discounted price. India is the world’s third-largest energy-consuming country.

The FT report says, “India has snapped up multiple cargoes of Russian crude oil from traders as buyers in Europe shunned Russia’s commodities market following Western sanctions against Moscow.”

Kpler, a commodities data and analytics firm, has reportedly stated that India is expected to hit 203,000 barrels per day for the whole of March, based on shipment schedules. The report states that export data represents cargo that has been already loaded on ships and is en route to India.

Quoting Alex Booth, the head of research at Kpler, the report mentioned, “India typically buys CPC, a mixture blend of Kazakh and Russian crude, but the major increase in March shipments was for Russia’s flagship Ural crude, showing that India’s buyers have chosen discounts over ‘opinion’.”

“Already committed oil cargoes from Russia that cannot find buyers in Europe are being bought by India. Exports to India surged before any official announcement by New Delhi”, Booth added further.

‘The discounts are significant’, deals beneficial for India

Lars Barstad, the CEO of a New York-listed tanker company has been quoted by the FT report as saying, “the discounts on the Russian Urals for India was about $25-30 per barrel. Freight rates would add only $3-4 per barrel, making the trade economic for India.”

Though tanker and cargo companies may want to avoid Russian shipments to avoid sanctions, many are legally bound to deliver the cargoes under contract, the report says.

It is notable here that India and Russia have long-standing and deep trade ties, especially in the defence sector. Both countries have already decided to explore Rupee-Rouble trades, to reduce dependency on US dollars.

Russian oil company Rosneft owns a 49% stake in India’s Nayara Energy, which runs the nation’s second-largest oil refinery.

Earlier, it was reported that Indian Oil has bought the Russian crude at a significant discount from Vitol, reportedly 3 million barrels for May delivery.

The Western nations’ attempts to directly or indirectly persuade India against maintaining ties with Russia have been largely ignored, arguably because of India’s dependency on energy imports and the government’s commitment to keeping inflation in check. Western nations are already witnessing higher inflation and a steady scarcity of energy supplies, and supplies of other goods, due to their own sanctions against Russia.

“We are always exploring all possibilities in global energy markets because of the situation of importing our oil requirements. I don’t think Russia has been a major supplier,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had stated recently. India gets most of its crude oil from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Russia’s share has been just over 5%.

It is notable here that many Western powers, while themselves buying billions of dollars worth of oil, natural gas, uranium, palladium, wheat and other essential goods from Russia, have been giving statements indirectly condemning India’s trade links with Russia.

Russia asks India to invest in their country

Recently, Russian Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak had talked with the Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri over the phone on March 11.

Deputy PM Novak said, “What we have is a particularly privileged strategic partnership; the leaders of our countries maintain regular contact. Mutually beneficial cooperation is actively promoted, including the Arctic LNG 2 and Sakhalin 1 projects. Gazprom supplies LNG to India, and Rosneft continues its systematic work with its Indian partners.”

“We are interested in further attracting Indian investment to the Russian oil and gas sector and expanding Russian companies’ sales networks in India”, Novak had added.

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