02 September, 2013

Ignore US ire, import Iran oil to save $8.5bn, Veerappa Moily suggests

The Manmohan Singh government will have to tread on a diplomatic tightrope with oil minister M Veerappa Moily suggesting India may save nearly $8.5 billion (around Rs 57,000 crore) by importing cheaper crude from Iran which faces UN sanctions in the wake of its nuclear programme.

In a note to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister P Chidambaram, Moily has said that so far this year, India has imported 2 million tonnes of crude from Iran and an additional 11 million tonnes would pare the forex outgo by almost $8.5 billion, assuming oil price at $105.

Last year, India had imported a little over 13 million tonnes from Iran and Moily has suggested that state-run oil companies should be asked to maintain their overall crude imports at last year's level.

Telangana state may be reality by year-end

The Centre is set to give a final push to the formation of Telangana after the end of the monsoon session of Parliament on Friday, with Union Cabinet's decision to divide Andhra Pradesh opening the door for a flurry of action on the fraught issue.

Sources said the Cabinet will attest the Congress decision by formally deciding on a proposal from the home ministry for creation of the new state. It will be accompanied by the constitution of a group of ministers, likely to be headed by defence minister A K Antony, to draft the legislation for statehood.

Also, the Cabinet will forward a resolution to the Andhra Pradesh assembly seeking its nod. The assembly assent is not mandatory and Congress is firm on going ahead with statehood irrespective of how the bitterly divided state House reacts to the resolution.

Sources said the process will not be protracted like the formation of Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand in 2000, and may be clinched before the year-end. An optimistic senior leader said, "There will be two chief ministers by November-end."

The Congress Working Committee's decision last month triggered a wave of protests in Coastal Andhra, largely because Hyderabad would be in Telangana and would be a shared capital till Andhra finds an alternative. But the ruling camp is undeterred by the hostility and is no mood to do a volte face like December 2009.

The move for Telangana is dictated by concerns over the party's prospects in 2014, given the challenges of Jaganmohan Reddy's rebellion, statehood and anti-incumbency.

Congress hopes statehood will give it an upper hand in Telangana that accounts for 17 Lok Sabha seats and could go up to 21 seats if two districts of Rayalaseema are included in it.

Army chief heads for Australia to build strategic ties

Army chief General Bikram Singh left for Australia early on Monday morning as part of the ongoing process to step up the "strategic partnership" between the two countries, which gained fresh momentum after defence minister A K Antony made his first-ever visit to the country last June.

The Army chief's visit to Australia, from September 3 to 6, will "contribute significantly to the consolidation of the existing ties" between the two nations. Gen Singh will hold talks with "various high-level political and military dignitaries" in Australia, apart from visiting military establishments and the Australian Staff College. "The enhanced military contact will prove to be mutually beneficial to the strategic interests of both the countries," said an official.

"A structured mechanism with Australia is already in place both at the ministry of external affairs and defence ministry levels and the bilateral cooperation, based on a shared partnership and mutuality of interest, has seen a significant expansion to include all areas of mutual interest," he added.

C-17 heavy-lift transport plane inducted into IAF

Giving a major thrust to IAF's capability to swiftly move troops and tanks to battle fronts, defence minister A K Antony on Monday formally inducted its biggest 70-tonne C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft into service at the Hindon Air Base.

The plane's induction is a giant stride for the force and it will perform tactical and non-traditional operations also, he said.

The C-17 Globemaster III aircraft has been procured from the US under a deal expected to be over Rs 20,000 crore. A symbolic key of the plane was presented by the Minister to the unit's commanding officer to mark its induction.

Speaking on the occasion, IAF chief NAK Browne said the plane will be operated from the advanced landing grounds in the northeastern states as well as from high altitude bases in north and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The C-17, with a capability to carry around 70 tonnes of load and around 150 fully geared troops, will replace the Russian IL-76 as the biggest aircraft in the IAF inventory till now.

The IL-76 has the capability to carry loads upto around 40 tonnes.

The IAF has placed orders with the US for ten C-17 aircraft under the deal signed in 2011 and three of them have already been delivered.

The US Air Force is scheduled to complete the delivery of all the 10 planes by the end of next year.

Hyderabad Hotshots clinch inaugural Indian Badminton League crown

Saina Nehwal-led Hyderabad Hotshots crowned themselves as the champions of the inaugural Indian Badminton League when they downed Awadhe Warriors 3-1 in the finals at the NSCI Stadium on Saturday.

Indian shuttle queen Saina brought the Hotshots on level terms by trouncing her young challenger PV Sindhu in straight games (21-15, 21-7) in 35 minutes after K Srikanth gave the Warriors an unexpected 1-0 lead by stunning top-20 rival S Tanongsak in straight games, 21-12, 21-20.

Hotshots surged ahead again after Saina's thumping win when their top Malaysian men's doubles team of Goh V Shem and Wah Lim Khim got the better of the scratch Danish-Indonesian pair of Mathias Boe and Markis Kido in three games 21-14 13-21, 11-4.

India remain at top in ODI rankings

India have retained their top position in the ICC ODI team rankings table while Virat Kohli remained the highest-ranked Indian batsman at the fourth spot in the latest list issued on Sunday.