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India has fast-tracked fertiliser imports to safeguard supplies for the kharif sowing season as the West Asia crisis disrupts gas shipments, and shipping routes, government sources said on Saturday. India has brought forward a global tender for urea imports and ordered 13.5 lakh tonnes of fertiliser by mid-February. About 90 per cent of this order is expected to arrive by the end of March, the sources said. Urea, India's most consumed and heavily subsidised fertiliser, is produced domestically at around 30-31 million tonnes annually, with imports of 6-10 million tonnes bridging demand shortfalls. Production is heavily dependent on natural gas. India also imports phosphatic fertilisers, including Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) and NPK compounds. A five-year supply contract with Saudi Arabia for 3 million tonnes of DAP remains intact with "no force majeure," the sources said. Supplies of urea, DAP and NPK from Russia and Morocco are flowing uninterrupted via the Cape of Good Hope ...
VOC Port Authority has made an arrangement of additional 90,000 square meter of space for shipping lines to keep their containers in the wake of the ongoing West Asia crisis, its Chairman Susanta Kumar Purohit said on Thursday. The official made the remarks while replying to a question on the sidelines of PHDCCI conference on shipbuilding and ship recycling. "We have given additional land to our customers where they can keep their goods safely beyond the time limit," Purohit said, sharing preparations made to deal with the situation of container diversions. However, the land remains unutilised as of now as operations and business at the port have not been affected, he said. He said all major ports are in constant touch of the Ministry of Shipping, terminal operators and shipping lines. Speaking further, the Chairman said the government is taking efforts to develop India as a hub of shipbuilding and ship recycling. The move will help save resources and increase availability of raw
A joint Iranian military command said on Wednesday that banks and financial institutions are now a target in the Middle East. The Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters issued a statement identifying the targets. It came after Iranian media reported staff at a bank in Tehran had been killed in Israeli-American airstrikes. The threat would put at risk, particularly Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, which is home to many international financial institutions, as well as Saudi Arabia and the island kingdom of Bahrain.
Hotel and restaurant operations in the city are likely to be affected starting March 10, following a sudden and total halt in the supply of commercial gas cylinders, the Bangalore Hotels Association said on Monday. This development comes amid rising energy costs and supply constraints caused by the West Asia conflict. "Since the gas supply has stopped, the hotels will be closed from tomorrow," the association said in a release. Noting that the supply of commercial gas cylinders stopped today, it said, since the hotel industry is an essential service, common people, students, and medical professionals, who rely on the hotels for daily meals, will be affected. "In addition, our hotel industry will also face difficulties until the gas supply returns to normal," it added. The association said oil companies had guaranteed an uninterrupted gas supply for 70 days, making the sudden stoppage a "big blow" to the hotel industry. "Therefore, we expect the concerned Union Ministers to take .
The Lok Sabha on Monday could not take up a resolution seeking the removal of Speaker Om Birla amid repeated adjournments, as opposition members demanded a debate on the West Asia situation. The government and the Chair accused the opposition of holding the House proceedings "hostage" to its demands. The House was adjourned for the day shortly after it reassembled at 3 pm, following an earlier adjournment due to relentless protests by opposition members. As proceedings resumed, opposition MPs continued raising slogans. Jagadambika Pal, who was chairing the proceedings, urged them to maintain decorum and allow the House to take up the resolution against Birla. Pal reminded the opposition that the no-confidence resolution against the Speaker was already on the House agenda, and their adjournment notice seeking debate on the West Asia crisis could not be taken up. He accused the opposition of wasting taxpayers' money -- about Rs 9 crore per day -- by holding the House "hostage" to its