On Ukraine, India May Be Tilting Towards West; Monsoon Likely To Be ‘Below Normal’ This Year: Skymet

Another Adani man quits NDTV board, Gujarat govt lavishes Rs 1.18 trillion on unknown entities, record oil import from Russia, top statistics prize for CR Rao, hottest Dec–Feb since 1901

Snapshot of the day

April 10, 2023

Vinay Pandey

India is likely to get a “below normal” monsoon in 2023 with an increasing likelihood of El Niño, which typically brings dry weather to Asia, private weather forecasting agency Skymet said on Monday, reports PTI. “Likelihood of El Niño is increasing and its probability to become a dominant category during the monsoon is growing large. El Nino return may presage a weaker monsoon,” Jatin Singh, managing director, Skymet said in a statement.

Delhi Police on Monday detained a 25-year-old man who was deboarded by Air India for allegedly physically harming two cabin crew members on board a Delhi-London flight, which returned to the national capital shortly after departure, officials said. The man has been identified as Jaskirat Singh.

It is not possible to discuss key global issues like food and energy insecurity without making a reference to the war in Ukraine. As the leader of the G20, India cannot run the show while sitting on the fence. In fact, the Modi government now seems to be tilting towards the west, an impression conveyed by foreign minister S Jaishankar at the recent Quad meeting, says Sushant Singh.

Last week, the Ukraine war took its toll on an online client conference on geopolitics called by Bank of America (BofA), which apologised to attendees after complaints over pro-Russia comments made by certain speakers when discussing the war, the Financial Times reported.

In a record high, India imported 1.64 million barrels per day of crude oil from Russia in March alone, which is double the purchases from Iraq. According to the energy cargo tracker Vortexa, Russia remained the sole largest supplier of crude oil for a sixth consecutive month by providing more than one-third of all the oil India purchased. Prior to the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Russia had a market share of less than 1% in India's imports; by March 2022, that had increased to 34%.

In a counter to Rahul Gandhi’s Rs 20,000 cr allegation, Adani Group said on Monday that while investors like Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Company (IHC) invested $2.59 billion in group firms like Adani Enterprises and Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL), promoters sold a stake in Adani Total Gas Ltd and AGEL to raise $2.78 billion, reports PTI. The group asked the Financial Times to take down this March 23 report “immediately”. In a press statement, it called the report a mendacious, deliberate effort to paint the group in the worst possible light.

Adani Group corporate brand custodian and head of corporate affairs Aman Kumar Singh, who is facing a corruption charge in Chhattisgarh, has resigned from the board of NDTV because of “other preoccupations”. Singh, a former Indian Revenue Service official, was a powerful bureaucrat in the erstwhile Raman Singh-led BJP government in Chhattisgarh and was the principal secretary to the chief minister. He is also the second nominee of the Adani group to have resigned from the NDTV board.

India has just experienced its hottest December and February since 1901. In March the Meteorological Department and its counterpart in Pakistan warned of above-average temperatures and heat waves until the end of May. The Economist digs deeper into how India’s deadly heat waves are consequences of climate change, which will turn out to be horrific for the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Here’s the heat map projection: 

While Prime Minister Modi has said that India does not believe in conflict between ecology and economy, the Indian government is yet to develop a heat wave action plan. 

Replying to an RTI filed by Janata Dal (S) functionaries, the Karnataka government admitted that it spent Rs 9.49 crore for the inauguration of the new campus of IIT Dharwad, which was presided over by Prime Minister Modi. While the grand function was attended by over two lakh people, JD(S) claimed that BJP used the occasion as a party convention at the government’s cost. 

The Bihar police have arrested Kundan Kumar, convenor of the Bajrang Dal’s Nalanda district unit in connection with the violence during Ram Navami at Bihar Sharif town. “Kundan is the Bajrang Dal chief of Nalanda district. He is accused of gathering a huge crowd in the name of a Ram Navami procession in Bihar Sharif without proper permission. That mob went out of control and violence started,” said the Nalanda SP.

The noted Indian-American statistician CR Rao, 93, has been awarded the 2023 International Prize in Statistics, often referred to as the Nobel prize of statistics.

P Sainath pays tribute to one of the last freedom fighters from a generation who has passed away. Thelu Mahato, was one of the last survivors of the historic – though now forgotten – protest march on 12 police stations in Purulia in 1942,

“Agar aapko pyaas lag rahi hai, toh paani pehle pee leejiye (Do you want to start off with a sip of water, in case you’re thirsty).” That’s how Karan Thapar intends to start his interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, if – and that is a big if – Modi grants him one.