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Study: Smoking During Pregnancy Increases Obesity Risk of Baby

Using foreskin tissue from newborn circumcisions, a group of researchers have identified a potential cellular mechanism that connects a mother’s smoking while pregnant with an increased risk of offspring obesity later in life.

Obesity is considered an epidemic in the U.S., with nearly 35 percent of adults and 20 percent of children six to 19 years old deemed obese. Obesity is a serious economic burden as well: more than $150 billion is spent annually on obesity-related healthcare costs in the U.S. alone.

“It has been consistently shown that mothers who smoke during pregnancy confer increased risk of obesity to their baby, but the mechanisms responsible for this increased risk are not well understood,” said the study’s principal investigator Kevin Pearson of the University of Kentucky (UK). “These data mark a first step towards defining those mechanisms with an eye toward potential interventions in the longer term.”

In collaboration with UK’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a total of 65 new mothers were recruited for the study in two different cohorts: 46 in Cohort 1 (2012-2013) and 19 in Cohort 2 (2015-2016). All of the infants were full-term; approximately half of all new mothers reported smoking during their pregnancies. DNA and RNA were isolated from foreskin tissue which would otherwise be discarded after routine circumcisions and analyzed with a focus on chemerin gene expression.


New York officials are now admitting that the measles epidemic began after foreigners visited the area.

Chemerin is a protein that is produced by fat cells and appears to play a role in energy storage. Previous research had determined that chemerin is present in higher levels in the blood of obese people. However, Pearson said, it has not been measured in neonates exposed to cigarette smoke.

(Photo by Centophobia/Flickr)

Results showed that chemerin was more prevalent in the skin and isolated cells of infants whose mothers smoked during pregnancy, suggesting that smoking in pregnancy could be leading to changes in the regulation of the genes that play an important role in fat cell development and, by extension, obesity.

“Our work demonstrated that expectant mothers who smoke cigarettes during pregnancy induce distinct changes in chemerin gene expression in their offspring,” Pearson said.

The next step is to reproduce their findings in females since they were not represented in the study. Pearson et al propose to use cells from umbilical cords to do so. The group also hopes to study smoke exposure during pregnancy in genetically modified mice as both chemerin and its receptor can be removed to highlight this pathway more directly. The current and future results could provide a springboard for the development of effective treatments against pediatric and adult obesity in babies born to smokers as well as those exposed to other in utero environmental exposures.


Mike Adams joins Alex Jones to break down this dystopian development.

Source: InfoWars

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India declines comment on NASA’s anti-satellite criticism

India has declined comment on a statement by U.S. space officials that India's recent test of an anti-satellite weapon has created debris that could threaten the International Space Station.

India's Defense Ministry spokesman Aman Anand says there is no official response to NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine's statement at a town hall event in Washington on Monday.

Bridenstine said in shooting down one of its own satellites with a rocket last week, India had left debris high enough in orbit to pose a risk to the International Space Station.

India's External Affairs Ministry in a statement after the March 27 test said that whatever debris generated would decay and fall back to Earth within weeks as the test was in the lower atmosphere.

Source: Fox News World

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Spurs retire Ginobili’s No. 20

NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers at San Antonio Spurs
Mar 28, 2019; San Antonio, TX, USA; Former San Antonio Spurs player Manu Ginobili addresses the crowd during his jersey retirement ceremony at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

March 29, 2019

The San Antonio Spurs retired the jersey of guard Manu Ginobili in a ceremony that recognized both his contribution to the Spurs and his Argentinian heritage.

Former teammates returned to San Antonio to take part in the emotional ceremony Thursday night at AT&T Center, where a full house had to wait until 25 minutes after the Spurs 116-110 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers to celebrate Ginobili. Fans had lined up outside the arena more than four hours before game time to make sure they didn’t miss a minute of the festivities.

Former longtime teammates Tony Parker and Tim Duncan spoke, as did coach Gregg Popovich and Fabricio Oberto, a fellow Argentinian who was a Spurs teammate from 2005-09.

“I’m telling you, I’m one of the lucky ones,” Ginobili, 41, said during his words to the crowd. “I’ve been dealt amazing cards. I just had to play them OK. That was all I had to do.”

Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan wore Nikes in the color of Argentina’s flag – light blue with a gold swoosh – during the game, and the country’s national anthem also was played. At halftime, seven of Ginobili’s former teammates from Argentina’s national team took part in a roundtable discussion about his career.

“I would not be the player I became without you being my teammate,” Parker told Ginobili during the ceremony. “You were such an inspiration to me every day that it was just contagious. You helped me become a better player just playing with you.”

In 16 seasons with the Spurs before retiring last summer, Ginobili captured four NBA championships (2003, 2005, 2007, 2014) while posting a career winning percentage of .721 (762-295). According to the Spurs, that is the best winning percentage in NBA history among players who have been in at least 1,000 games.

Selected by San Antonio with the 57th overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft, Ginobili appeared in 1,057 career games, averaging 13.3 points, 3.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.32 steals in 25.4 minutes. He is the Spurs all-time leader in three-pointers made (1,495) and steals (1,392).

He is credited with introducing the Eurostep to the NBA and won an Olympic gold medal in 2004 and a bronze in 2008, representing Argentina.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Florida officer goes on trial for killing black motorist

For the first time in 26 years, a Florida police officer is standing trial for an on-duty killing — and one of his defenses will be the state's controversial "stand your ground" law.

The trial of fired Palm Beach Gardens officer Nouman Raja begins with jury selection Thursday. He is charged with manslaughter and attempted first-degree murder for the 2015 shooting of Corey Jones. Jones, a 31-year-old black musician, had just gotten out of his broken-down SUV when he was confronted by Raja, who was dressed in plainclothes and driving an unmarked white van. The shooting happened amid several highly publicized killings of black men by police officers nationwide, some leading to prosecutions. Raja, 41, could face a life sentence if convicted.

Prosecutors say an audio recording shows Raja never identified himself. They say that caused Jones, who had a concealed-weapons permit, to pull a handgun because he feared he was being robbed. They say Raja kept firing after he saw Jones throw away his gun, and lied to investigators about it.

"Absolutely nothing about him (Raja) provided any indication that he represented a law enforcement agency," prosecutor Brian Fernandes wrote in court documents, calling Raja a "rogue officer."

Raja's attorneys argue he identified himself and feared for his life when Jones pulled his gun. They argued that Raja should be protected under the stand your ground law, which says anyone with a legitimate fear of imminent danger can use lethal force. The law also says it is up to prosecutors to prove the person's fear was lacking or unreasonable. One exception is that the person cannot be the initial aggressor.

"Officer Raja was definitely not an aggressor," lead defense attorney Richard Lubin wrote in court filings. "The inescapable fact is that Mr. Jones pointed his gun at Officer Raja."

Raja's attorneys have requested Judge Joseph Marx move the trial. They say the coverage by local news outlets has included prejudicial material, including a grand jury's finding that the shooting was unjustified; that investigators concluded Raja lied; and that the case's previous judge rejected his initial stand your ground claim.

Marx says he will consider the request if the six-person jury cannot be seated. In Florida criminal case, only first-degree-murder trials get 12 jurors.

The last Florida officer tried for an on-duty killing was Miami's William Lozano in 1989. The Hispanic officer fatally shot a black motorcyclist who he said tried to hit him. A passenger died when the motorcycle crashed. The deaths resulted in three days of rioting.

Lozano was convicted of two manslaughter counts in a Miami trial, but an appeals court dismissed the verdict, saying the case should have been moved because of racial tensions. Lozano was acquitted at a 1993 retrial in Orlando.

Jones, who also worked as a housing inspector, was returning home from a nightclub performance early on the morning of Oct. 18, 2015, when his SUV broke down on an off-ramp of Interstate 95. His drums, valued at $10,000, were in back. Jones, the brother of former National Football League player C.J. Jones, had just purchased a .38-caliber handgun for protection.

Raja spotted Jones' SUV about 3:15 a.m. He was wearing jeans, a T-shirt and a baseball cap because he was investigating auto burglaries. His sergeant testified at a hearing that he told Raja to don a vest marked "police" if he confronted anyone, but the vest was found inside the unmarked van.

Raja drove up the off-ramp, blocking Jones' SUV. He told Palm Beach County sheriff's investigators that when Jones got out, he identified himself, but then fired because Jones pulled a gun. He said Jones ran down an embankment and pointed the gun again, so he fired more shots. Jones died at the scene.

Investigators have said that Raja didn't know Jones was speaking to a tow truck dispatcher on a recorded line. Raja is never heard identifying himself.

Jones is heard first, saying, "Huh?" just before Raja yells, "You good?" Jones says he is. Raja twice replies, "Really?" with Jones replying "Yeah."

Suddenly, Raja shouts at Jones to raise his hands, using an expletive. Jones replies "Hold on!" and Raja repeats his demand. Prosecutors believe it was then that Jones pulled his gun. Raja fired three shots. Ten seconds later, Raja fired three more shots.

Prosecutors say Raja saw Jones throw down his gun but kept firing, which is why he is charged with attempted murder. Investigators were unable to determine when the fatal shot was fired, but it struck Jones in the back.

Raja then used his personal cellphone to call 911 with the operator picking up 33 seconds after the last shot. Raja is recorded yelling orders to drop the gun; prosecutors say he was trying to mislead investigators into believing he hadn't seen the gun thrown. Jones' body was found 200 feet (60 meters) from the SUV and 125 feet (38 meters) from his unfired gun.

Palm Beach Gardens fired Raja, who was in his employee probation period after transferring there months earlier from a neighboring city. He was charged in 2016 and has been under house arrest.

The trial is expected to last three weeks.

Source: Fox News National

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Chinese social media star vanishes as Internet fame soars

China’s latest Internet sensation, The Washington Post reported, has been called the Vagrant Master and Master Shen on the Chinese Internet.

His real name is Shen Wei; he is 52 and a vagabond.

And now, as his social media star has risen, he has vanished. The Post said he's been offline for more than a week, after being spotted guided into a white Mercedes and declaring that he was going "to seek refuge."

TRISTA SUTTER SAYS THERE WAS TOO MUCH EMPHASIS ON COLTON UNDERWOOD’S VIRGINITY ON ‘THE BACHELOR’: ‘IT GOT OLD’

The Post reported that his every word has been recorded by live-streamers, shared across social media in the form of 15-to-30-second videos and closely watched and analyzed by millions.

He wasn’t a fan of his fame.

“I hate the Internet,” Shen said. “The Internet has brought me nothing but trouble.”

Shen was found on social media by an audience a bit too shocked someone like him was capable of quoting Aristotle, Confucius and Dante.

He was homeless and appeared with uncombed hair, soiled clothes and unwashed beard.

He became an antihero to an audience attempting to climb social and economic ladders.

Touched by fame, Shen quickly rejected the spotlight.

“I know people are treating me like a monkey,” Shen said. “Nobody came to see me with a pure heart.”

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China has almost 830 million Internet users, and more than 70 percent of them now use short-video or live-streaming applications.

By 2020, the short-video sector is expected to exceed $5 billion in market value.

So alas, for now, in the world’s second-largest economy, Shen will no longer contribute.

Source: Fox News World

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U.S. offers $10 million reward for information to disrupt Hezbollah finances

A man holds a Hezbollah flag at Meis al-Jabal village
FILE PHOTO: A man holds a Hezbollah flag at Meis al-Jabal village in south Lebanon, December 9, 2018. REUTERS/Aziz Taher

April 22, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Monday offered a reward of up to $10 million for information that could help disrupt financing of Hezbollah, the armed Shi’ite group backed by Iran.

The announcement by the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program comes amid growing concerns by Washington about Hezbollah’s growing role in the Lebanese government.

Hezbollah’s regional clout has expanded as it sends fighters to Middle East conflicts, including the war in Syria, where it has fought in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Tom Brown)

Source: OANN

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Prosecutors: Man had more than 56,000 child porn files

A Philadelphia man who worked at a suburban pediatric center has admitted collecting thousands of child pornography videos and images.

Federal prosecutors say 27-year-old Cameron Carlucci pleaded guilty Tuesday to possessing and distributing child porn. He now faces at least five years in prison and could receive a life term when he's sentenced this year.

Prosecutors say that from 2015 until his arrest last year, Carlucci amassed more than 56,000 images and videos of mainly prepubescent boys, including infants, being sexually abused.

During this time, Carlucci worked as a medical technician at a pediatrics center. Prosecutors say he falsified his job application by denying his criminal background, which included a 2011 Pennsylvania conviction for possession of obscene materials.

Source: Fox News National

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Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London
Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London, Britain, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Gerhard Mey

April 26, 2019

By Hanna Rantala

LONDON (Reuters) – Irish rockers The Cranberries are saying goodbye with their final album released on Friday, a poignant tribute to lead singer Dolores O’Riordan who died last year.

“In the End” is the eighth studio album from the band that rose to fame in the early 1990s with hits likes “Zombie” and “Linger”, and includes the final recordings by O’Riordan, who drowned in a London hotel bath in January 2018 due to alcohol intoxication.

Work on the album began during a 2017 tour and by that winter, O’Riordan and guitarist Neil Hogan had penned and demoed 11 tracks.

With O’Riordan’s vocals recorded, Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler completed the album in tribute to her.

“When we realized how strong the songs were, that was the deciding factor really… There was no point… trying to ruin the legacy of the band,” Noel Hogan said in an interview.

“It was obvious that Dolores wanted this album done because when you hear the album, you hear the songs and how strong they are, and she was very, very excited to get in and record this.”

The Cranberries formed in Limerick in 1989 with another singer. O’Riordan replaced him a year later and the group went on to become Ireland’s best-selling rock band after U2, selling more than 40 million records.

O’Riordan, known for her strong distinctive voice singing about relationships or political violence, was 46 when she died.

“She was actually in quite a good place mentally. She was feeling quite content and strong and looking forward to a new phase of her life,” Lawler said.

“A lot of the lyrics in this album are about things ending… people might read into it differently but it was a phase of her personal life that she was talking about.”

The group previously announced their intention to split after the release of “In The End”.

“We are absolutely gutted we can’t play (the songs) live because that’s something that’s been a massive part of this band from day one,” Noel Hogan said.

“A few people have said to us about maybe even doing a one off where you have different vocalists… as kind of guests of ours. A year ago that’s definitely something we weren’t going to entertain but I don’t know, I think it’s something we need to go away and take time off for the summer and have a think about.”

Critics have generally given positive reviews of the album; NME described it as “(seeing) the band’s career go full-circle” while the Irish Times called it “an unexpected late career high and a remarkable swan song for O’Riordan”.

Their early songs still play on the radio. This week, “Dreams” was performed at the funeral of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead in Londonderry last week as she watched Irish nationalist youths attack police following a raid.

“We wrote them as kids, as a hobby and 30 years later they are on radio and on TV, like all the time… That’s far more than any of us ever thought we would have,” Noel Hogan said.

“That would make Dolores really happy because she was very precious about those songs. Her babies, she called them and to have that hopefully long after we’re gone… that’s all any band can wish for.”

(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; additoinal reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Source: OANN

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2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston, Texas, U.S. April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

April 26, 2019

By Joshua Schneyer and M.B. Pell

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce a bill Friday that offers new protections for U.S. military families facing unsafe housing, following a series of Reuters reports revealing squalid conditions in privately managed base homes.

The Reuters reports and later Congressional hearings detailed widespread hazards including lead paint exposure, vermin infestations, collapsing ceilings, mold and maintenance lapses in privatized base housing communities that serve some 700,000 U.S. military family members.

(View Warren’s military housing bill here. https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dy5aht)

(Read Reuters’ Ambushed at Home series on military housing here. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/usa-military)

The Massachusetts Democrat’s bill would mandate both regular and unannounced spot inspections of base homes by certified, independent inspectors, holding landlords accountable for quickly fixing hazards. The military’s privatization program for years allowed real estate firms to operate base housing with scant oversight, Reuters found, leaving some tenants in unsafe homes with little recourse against landlords.

The bill would also require the Department of Defense and its private housing operators to publish reports annually detailing housing conditions, tenant complaints, maintenance response times and the financial incentives companies receive at each base. The provisions aim to enhance transparency of housing deals whose finances and operations the military had allowed to remain largely confidential under a privatization program since the late 1990s.

The measure would also require private landlords to cover moving costs for at-risk families, and healthcare costs for people with medical conditions resulting from unsafe base housing, ensuring they receive continuing coverage even after they leave the homes or the military.

“This bill will eliminate the kind of corner-cutting and neglect the Defense Department should never have let these private housing partners get away with in the first place,” Warren said in a statement Friday.

The proposed legislation comes after February Senate hearings where Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 U.S. presidential election, slammed private real estate firms for endangering service families, and sought answers about why military branches weren’t providing more oversight.

Her legislation would direct the Defense Department to allow local housing code enforcers onto federal bases, following concerns they were sometimes denied access. Warren’s office said a companion bill in the House of Representatives would be introduced by Rep. Deb Haaland, Democrat of New Mexico.

In response to the housing crisis, military branches are developing a tenant bill of rights and hiring hundreds of new housing staff. The branches recently dispatched commanders to survey base housing worldwide for safety hazards, resulting in thousands of work orders and hundreds of tenants being moved. The Defense Department has pledged to renegotiate its 50-year contracts with private real estate firms.

Congress has been quick to take its own measures. Earlier legislation proposed by senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California, along with Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, would compel base commanders to withhold rent payments and incentive fees from the private ventures if they allow home hazards to persist.

(Editing by Ronnie Greene)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London
FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London, Britain, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar

(Reuters) – Deloitte quit as Ferrexpo’s auditor on Friday, knocking its shares by more than 20 percent, days after saying it was unable to conclude whether the iron ore miner’s CEO controlled a charity being investigated over its use of company donations.

Blooming Land, which coordinates Ferrexpo’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, came under scrutiny after auditors found holes in the charity’s statements.

Ferrexpo on Tuesday said findings of an ongoing independent investigation launched in February indicated some Blooming Land funds could have been “misappropriated”. It did not provide any details or publish its findings.

Shares in Ferrexpo, the third largest exporter of pellets to the global steel industry, were 23.4 percent lower at 206.1 pence at 1022 GMT following news of Deloitte’s resignation.

“Ferrexpo’s shares are deeply discounted vs peers … following the resignation of Deloitte, we expect downside risks to dominate Ferrexpo’s shares near term.” JP Morgan analyst Dominic O’Kane said in a note on Friday.

Swiss-headquartered Ferrexpo did not provide a reason for the resignation of Deloitte, which declined to comment, while Blooming Land did not respond to a request for comment.

Funding for Blooming Land’s CSR activities is provided by one of Ferrexpo’s units in Ukraine and Khimreaktiv LLC, an entity ultimately controlled by Ferrexpo’s CEO and majority owner Kostyantin Zhevago, Ferrexpo said on Tuesday.

Ferrexpo’s board has found that Zhevago did not have significant influence or control over the charity, but Deloitte said it was unable reach a conclusion on this.

Reuters was not immediately able to contact Zhevago.

In a qualified opinion, a statement addressing an incomplete audit, Deloitte said it had been unable to conclude whether $33.5 million of CSR donations to Blooming Land between 2017 and 2018 was used for “legitimate business payments for charitable purposes”.

Deloitte said on Tuesday that total CSR payments made to Blooming Land by Ferrexpo since 2013 total about $110 million.

Ferrexpo, whose major mines are in Ukraine, has said that the investigation was ongoing and new evidence pointed to potential discrepancies.

Zhevago, 45, who ranked 1,511 on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires for 2019 with a net worth of $1.4 billion, owns the FC Vorskla soccer club and has been a member of Ukraine’s parliament since 1998.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev; editing by Gopakumar Warrier, Bernard Orr)

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Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba
Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba, Mozambique April 26, 2019 in this still image obtained from social media. SolidarMed via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

April 26, 2019

By Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer

JOHANNESBURG/LUANDA (Reuters) – Cyclone Kenneth killed at least one person and left a trail of destruction in northern Mozambique, destroying houses, ripping up trees and knocking out power, authorities said on Friday.

The cyclone brought storm surges and wind gusts of up to 280 km per hour (174 mph) when it made landfall on Thursday evening, after killing three people in the island nation of Comoros.

It was the most powerful storm on record to hit Mozambique’s northern coast and came just six weeks after Cyclone Idai battered the impoverished nation, causing devastating floods and killing more than 1,000 people across a swathe of southern Africa.

The World Food Programme warned that Kenneth could dump as much as 600 millimeters of rain on the region over the next 10 days – twice that brought by Cyclone Idai.

One woman in the port town of Pemba died after being hit by a falling tree, the Emergency Operations Committee for Cabo Delgado (COE) said in a statement, while another person was injured.

In rural areas outside Pemba, many homes are made of mud. In the main town on the island of Ibo, 90 percent of the houses were destroyed, officials said. Around 15,000 people were out in the open or in “overcrowded” shelters and there was a need for tents, food and water, they said.

There were also reports of a large number of homes and some infrastructure destroyed in Macomia district, a mainland district adjacent to Ibo.

A local group, the Friends of Pemba Association, had earlier reported that they could not reach people in Muidumbe, a district further inland.

Mark Lowcock, United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, warned the storm could require another major humanitarian operation in Mozambique.

“Cyclone Kenneth marks the first time two cyclones have made landfall in Mozambique during the same season, further stressing the government’s limited resources,” he said in a statement.

FLOOD WARNINGS

Shaquila Alberto, owner of the beach-front Messano Flower Lodge in Macomia, said there were many fallen trees there, and in rural areas people’s homes had been damaged. Some areas of nearby Pemba had no power.

“Even my workers, they said the roof and all the things fell down,” she said by phone.

Further south, in Pemba, Elton Ernesto, a receptionist at Raphael’s Hotel, said there were fallen trees but not too much damage. The hotel had power and water, he said, while phones rang in the background. “The rain has stopped,” he added.

However Michael Charles, an official for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said heavy rains over the next few days were likely to bring a “second wave of destruction” in the form of flooding.

“The houses are not all solid, and the topography is very sandy,” Charles said.

In the days after Cyclone Idai, heavy inland rains prompted rivers to burst their banks, submerging entire villages, cutting areas off from aid and ruining crops. There were concerns the same could happen again in northern Mozambique.

Before Kenneth hit, the government and aid workers moved around 30,000 people to safer buildings such as schools, however authorities said that around 680,000 people were in the path of the storm.

(Reporting by Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer; Writing by Emma Rumney; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Alexandra Zavis)

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A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai
FILE PHOTO: A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai, India, May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

April 26, 2019

By Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Surging global oil prices will pose a first big challenge to India’s new government, whoever wins an election now under way, especially as domestic prices have been allowed to lag, meaning consumers are in for a painful surge as they catch up.

For oil-import dependent India, higher global prices could lead to a weaker rupee, higher inflation, the ruling out of interest rate cuts and could further weigh on twin current account and budget deficits, economists warned.

But compounding the future pain, state-run fuel suppliers and retailers have held off passing on to consumers the higher prices during a staggered general election, which began on April 11 and ends on May 23, according to sources familiar with the situation.

That delay is expected to be unwound once the election is over. And there could be additional price increases to make up for losses or profits missed during the period of delayed increases, the sources said.

In some major Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea, pump prices are adjusted periodically so they move largely in tandem with international crude prices.

That was what was supposed to happen in India but the election means there have been many days when pump prices have been unchanged.

In New Delhi, for example, while crude oil prices have gone up by nearly $9 a barrel, or about 12 percent, in the past six weeks, gasoline prices have only risen by 0.47 rupees a liter, or 0.6 percent.

State-controlled fuel suppliers and retailers declined to say why they had delayed price increases, or discuss whether there has been any pressure from the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A government spokesman declined to comment.

The opposition Congress party said Modi’s government was violating its own policy of daily price revision by advising the state oil companies to hold prices steady.

“The government should cut fuel taxes otherwise consumers will have to pay much higher oil prices once the elections are over,” said Akhilesh Pratap Singh, a senior leader of the Congress party.

(GRAPHIC: India Polls: Fuel price hike lags crude surge – https://tmsnrt.rs/2XLlxik)

Nitin Goyal, treasurer at the All India Petroleum Dealers Association, representing fuel stations in 25 states, said prices were similarly held down for 19 days in the southern state of Karnataka last year, when it held state assembly elections.

Only for them to surge after the vote.

“Consumers should be ready for a rude shock of a massive jump in retail prices, similar to the level we have seen in the Karnataka state election,” Goyal said.

‘CREDIT NEGATIVE’

Sri Paravaikkarasu, director for Asia oil at Singapore-based consultancy FGE, said retail prices of gasoline and gasoil prices would have been up to 6 percent, or about 4 rupee, higher if they had been allowed to rise in line with global prices.

“Indian pump prices have failed to keep up with the recent uptrend in crude prices,” Paravaikkarasu said.

“With the country’s general elections underway, the incumbent government has been keeping pump prices relatively unchanged.”

India had switched to a daily price revision in June 2017 from a revision every two weeks, as the government allowed retailers to set prices.

But the government faced protests last October when retailers raised prices by up to 10 rupees a liter after the crude oil price went above $80 a barrel, forcing it to cut fuel taxes.

Global prices rose to their highest level in 2019 on Thursday, days after the United States announced all Iran sanction waivers would end by May, pressuring importers including India to stop buying Tehran’s oil. [O/R]

Higher oil prices will mean Asia’s third largest economy is likely to see growth of less than 7 percent rate this fiscal year, economists said. Growth slowed to 6.6 percent in the October-December quarter, the slowest in five quarters.

Rating agency CARE has warned that a 10 percent rise in global oil prices could increase demand for dollars, putting pressure on the rupee and widening the current account deficit.

India’s oil import bill rose by nearly one-third in the fiscal year ending March 31 to $140.5 billion, against $108 billion the previous year.

“The increase in international oil prices is a credit negative for the Indian economy,” ICRA, the Indian arm of the Fitch rating agency, said in a note.

“Every $10/ bbl increase in crude oil prices increases the fiscal deficit by about 0.1 percent of GDP.”

Any big price rise would also build a case for the central bank to keep rates steady, or even raise them.

The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee, which cut the benchmark policy repo rate by 25 basis points this month, warned that rising oil and food prices could push up inflation.

Policymakers are worried that a sustained increase in the oil price in the range of $70-75/barrel or higher can move the rupee down by 3-4 percent on an annual basis.

The rupee has depreciated by 1.24 percent against the dollar since a year high in mid-March.

($1 = 70.1800 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma; Editing by Martin Howell and Rob Birsel)

Source: OANN

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