Page 163 - Russia

GAIL Q2 net falls 46% as Russian gas supply snag hurts petchem business

State-owned gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd on Thursday reported a 46 per cent drop in its September quarter net profit as it slashed petrochemical output after a former unit of Russian energy giant Gazprom stopped gas supplies. Net profit stood at Rs 1,537.07 crore in July-September compared with Rs 2,862.95 crore profit in the same period a year back, according to a stock exchange filing of the company. The profit for the firm that transports and sells natural gas to users like fertiliser plants and CNG retailers was sequentially down 47.2 per cent from Rs 2,915.19 crore profit in the April-June quarter. GAIL's mainstay natural gas marketing business saw revenues doubled but profitability declined 66 per cent as higher gas prices, resulting from a global surge in energy rates following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, hurt margins. It posted a pre-tax loss of Rs 346.22 crore in the petrochemical business in Q2 as compared to a pre-tax profit of Rs 363.29 crore a year back and Rs 35.16

IAEA finds no evidence of undeclared nuke activities, materials in Ukraine

The UN nuclear watchdog sent its experts to Ukraine nation at the request of the Ukrainian govt after Russia made allegations about activities related to the possible production of "dirty bombs."

Beaver Blood Moon lunar eclipse on November 8; here's all you need to know

Commonly known as the Blood Moon, a total lunar eclipse occurs when the full moon moves into the deep umbral shadow of the Earth and receives light only first filtered by Earth's atmosphere

EAM S Jaishankar to visit Russia on Nov 7; to hold talks with Sergey Lavrov

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will pay a two-day visit to Russia beginning November 7 during which he will hold wide-ranging talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced Jaishankar's visit on Thursday. During visit to Moscow, Jaishankar will hold talks with Lavrov focusing on bilateral, regional and international issues, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing. The visit is taking place amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. In the last few months, India has increased the import of discounted crude oil from Russia notwithstanding increasing disquiet over it by several Western powers. Jaishankar and Lavrov have already met four times after the Ukraine conflict began in February. The Russian foreign minister visited India in April during which he held extensive talks with Jaishankar and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India in December last year to attend the .

India abstains on Russia-sponsored UNSC resolution involving Ukraine

Only China voted with Russia on resolution calling for an inquiry into what Moscow alleged was a joint bio-warfare programme run by the US and Ukraine in violation of the Biological Weapons Convention

G20 host Indonesia waiting to see if Russia's Putin will attend summit

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told Reuters in an interview that Putin's attendance at the meeting might only become clear at the last minute

Russian troops try to subdue Ukrainian towns by seizing several mayors

Not long after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, soldiers broke down the office door of Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov. They put a bag over his head, bundled him into a car and drove him around the southern city for hours, threatening to kill him. Fedorov, 34, is one of over 50 local leaders who have been held in Russian captivity since the war began on Feb. 24 in an attempt to subdue cities and towns coming under Moscow's control. Like many others, he said he was pressured to collaborate with the invaders. The bullying and threats did not stop for a minute. They tried to force me to continue leading the city under the Russian flag, but I refused, Fedorov told The Associated Press by phone last month in Kyiv. They didn't beat me, but day and night, wild screams from the next cell would tell me what was waiting for me. As Russians seized parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, civilian administrators and others, including nuclear power plant workers, say they have been abducted, ...

Grain yield hits new record this year, says Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin

'There were notable increases in the yield of potatoes, greenhouse vegetables, fruits, soybeans and rapeseed compared to the same period last year'

Russian invasion has uprooted 14 million Ukrainians: UN refugee chief

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has driven some 14 million Ukrainians from their homes in the fastest, largest displacement witnessed in decades, sparking an increase in the number of refugees and displaced people worldwide to more than 103 million, the UN refugee chief said Wednesday. Filippo Grandi, who heads the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told the UN Security Council that Ukrainians are about to face one of the world's harshest winters in extremely difficult circumstances, including the continuing destruction of civilian infrastructure that is quickly making the humanitarian response look like a drop in the ocean of needs. Humanitarian organisations have dramatically scaled up their response," he said, but much more must be done, starting with an end to this senseless war. But given the likely protracted nature of the military situation," Grandi said his agency is preparing for further population movements both inside and outside Ukraine. In his wide-ranging briefing, Grand

Russia rejoins deal on wartime Ukrainian grain exports to global markets

Russia agreed Wednesday to rejoin a wartime agreement that allows Ukrainian grain and other commodities to be shipped to world markets. The UN's refugee chief, meanwhile, put the number of Ukrainians driven from their homes since the Russian invasion eight months ago at around 14 million. It is the fastest, largest displacement witnessed in decades, said Filippo Grandi, who heads the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In announcing that Russia would rejoin the grain pact, President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had received assurances that Ukraine would not use the humanitarian corridors to attack Russian forces. He warned that Russia reserves the right to withdraw again if Kyiv breaks its word. Putin praised Turkey's mediation efforts to get the deal back on track, as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's neutrality in the conflict as a whole and his efforts at ensuring the interest of the poorest countries. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he also

Russia blinks, says will resume participation in Ukraine grain deal

Moscow calls vote on unfounded Ukraine bio weapons claims

Soluble and relevant: The focus of India's G20 agenda

The government may be tempted to showcase its own achievements. But it must resist this temptation

White House accuses North Korea of covertly shipping artillery to Russia

The White House on Wednesday accused North Korea of covertly shipping a significant number of artillery shells to Russia in support of its invasion of Ukraine. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US believes North Korea is trying to make it appear as though they're being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa. He declined to provide a specific estimate on the quantity of ammunition being sent to bolster the Russian effort. Kirby said North Korea is covertly supplying the ammunition to Russia, but that, we're still monitoring this to determine whether the shipments are actually received." Kirby insisted that the North Korean shipments are not going to change the course of the war," citing Western efforts to resupply the Ukrainian military. The White House would not specify the mode of transportation or whether the U.S. or other nations would attempt to interdict the shipments to Russia.

Pakistan seeks explanation from Russia on senator's nuclear claim

Pakistan has sought an explanation from Russia after one of its senators claimed that Pakistan and Ukraine recently discussed the technologies for developing nuclear weapons. Senator Igor Morozov, a member of the Federation Council's defence committee, claimed that Ukrainian experts travelled to Pakistan and met with a delegation to discuss nuclear weapons technology, Russia's state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported. Morozov made the allegations during a press conference that was part of the Ukrainian dossier special project. The Foreign Office said the senator's reported statement was "without any rationale and is entirely inconsistent with the spirit of Pakistan-Russia relations. "We are surprised by such an unfounded and baseless statement," Foreign Office said in a statement late Tuesday night. "We are seeking clarification on this from Moscow, the statement added.

Special court grants bail to Russian 'hacker' who manipulated JEE last year

A special court has granted bail to Russian national Mikhail Shargen, who was arrested by the CBI for allegedly hacking the JEE examination software which had benefitted over 800 aspirants, officials said Wednesday. Shargen, 25, who was arrested on October 3, had allegedly tampered with the iLeon software, the platform on which the JEE (Main)-2021 examination was conducted and also helped other accused in hacking the computer systems of suspect candidates during the examination, they said. The special CBI court took note of the fact that all other co-accused in the case were granted bail, including those who directly got in touch with the candidates and their parents to obtain money and documents among others, the officials said. The arguments of the CBI that Shargen's role was not at par with other accused as he was instrumental in hacking the software was rejected by the court. The special court also did not find weight in the CBI's argument that certain mobile chats of the accus

Russia to China: 40 yrs later, Bappi Lahiri's 'Jimmy Jimmy' is still a rage

In 2022, the song composed by Bappi Lahiri and sung by Parvati Khan for the Mithun Chakraborty-starrer Disco Dancer has emerged as a tool for protest in China

India continues with Russian oil buys, cuts shipments from Saudi

Saudi Arabia's decline in India's oil market has coincided with Russia's rise, and ironically occurred amid growing diplomatic ties between Riyadh and New Delhi

Iran signs contracts worth $6.5 billion in gas sector with Russia

Iran and Russia have signed contracts worth around $6.5 billion for cooperation in the gas sector, a Minister announced here.

Russia warns it will not allow ships with Ukraine grain without consent

Russia's UN ambassador on Monday accused Ukraine of using the Black Sea shipping corridor to get grain to world markets for military and sabotage purposes against its fleet, saying this is why it suspended implementation of the deal and warning that it will not allow the unimpeded passage of vessels without its consent which is currently taking place. Vassily Nebenzia told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called by Russia that the Black Sea remains an area of hostilities and we cannot allow an unimpeded passage of vessels without our inspection. He said Russia will undertake our own measures to control the ongoing ship movements but gave no details. Nebenzia accused Ukraine, with help from the West, especially the United Kingdom, of carrying out massive aviation and sea strikes on Russia's Black Sea fleet and infrastructure in Sevastopol in the early morning hours of October 29, under the cover of the humanitarian grain corridor which was established under the July 22

Wheat price climbs nearly 6% after Russia withdraws from Black Sea pact

80% of Kyiv without water, residents asked to stock up