Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am


Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Waters’ layup lifts No. 3 seed LSU over Maryland

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-Second Round-Maryland vs LSU
Mar 23, 2019; Jacksonville, FL, USA; LSU Tigers guard Tremont Waters (3) fights for a loose ball with Maryland Terrapins forward Ricky Lindo Jr. (left) and guard Anthony Cowan Jr. (1) during the second half in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. The LSU Tigers won 69-67. Mandatory Credit: Matt Stamey-USA TODAY Sports

March 24, 2019

Tremont Waters made a tie-breaking layup with two seconds left as third-seeded LSU held off sixth-seeded Maryland 69-67 in an NCAA East Regional second-round game Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla.

Waters’ basket created the final separation in a tight game in which the score was tied six times in the last 6½ minutes. Defense dominated the game as both teams shot below 40 percent from the floor.

The Tigers (28-6), who edged 14th-seeded Yale 79-74 on Thursday, will face the winner of Saturday’s later game between No. 2 seed Michigan State and No. 10 seed Minnesota in a regional semifinal next weekend in Washington D.C.

Skylar Mays added 16 points for LSU, Naz Reid scored 13, Waters had 12 and Darius Days 10.

Jalen Smith scored 15 points, Aaron Wiggins and Anthony Cowan Jr. scored 11 each, Bruno Fernando had 10 points and 15 rebounds and Darryl Morsell scored 10 for the Terrapins (23-11).

Smith’s 3-pointer tied the score with 28 seconds left and the Tigers called timeout eight seconds later. Waters, a sophomore guard who is LSU’s leading scorer, drove to the basket and made a scoop shot.

LSU led by as many as 15 in the first half, nine at halftime and rebuilt the margin to 15 early in the second half.

Waters had two baskets and an assist among the Tigers’ first eight points before the Terps made a move.

Cowan made two 3-pointers during a 13-3 run that pulled Maryland within 49-44.

LSU made just one field goal during a span of more than six minutes after Reid’s three-point play increased the lead to 54-45.

The Terps went on a 12-1 run to grab a 57-55 lead before the score was tied four times.

Mays’ 3-pointer gave the Tigers a 67-64 lead with 40 seconds left, but Smith’s 3-pointer tied the score 12 seconds later.

Days, Javonte Smart and Kavell Bigby-Williams did most of the scoring as the Tigers opened a 30-15 lead.

LSU led by 15 once more before Wiggins made consecutive 3-pointers to cut the lead to 38-29 at halftime.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

0 0

UN says expert arrested in Tunisia has diplomatic immunity

The United Nations says a member of the U.N. panel of experts monitoring sanctions against Libya has been arrested in Tunisia despite having diplomatic immunity.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Mocef Kartas, who reportedly has dual German-Tunisian citizenship, was arrested following his arrival in Tunis on March 26.

Haq told reporters Friday that the U.N. has asked Tunisian authorities about the reasons for his arrest and the conditions under which he is being held.

He said the U.N. also informed authorities that "experts on mission for the United Nations, as Mr. Kartas is, are covered by the convention on the privileges and immunities of the United Nations."

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will be attending the Arab League summit in Tunis this weekend.

Source: Fox News World

0 0

Attorney: Fake German heiress had ‘ambitious’ business plans

A defense attorney says fake German heiress Anna Sorokin was merely "buying time" and intended to pay back the friends and banks she's accused of swindling.

Attorney Todd Spodek told a Manhattan jury in his closing argument Tuesday that Sorokin had ambitious business plans and never intended to commit a crime.

He said Sorokin led an unethical and unorthodox lifestyle but was "enabled every step of the way by a system that favors people with money."

Prosecutors say Sorokin bilked people and businesses out of $275,000 over a 10-month period.

They say she peddled bogus bank statements in applying for a $22 million loan to fund a private arts club.

Deliberations are expected later Tuesday.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

Trump administration announces new Iran crackdown targeting oil revenue

The Trump administration on Monday targeted Iran’s energy sector by announcing the U.S. would no longer exempt any countries from sanctions for importing Iranian oil.

“This decision is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue,” the White House said in a statement.

TRUMP DESIGNATES IRGC A TERROR ORGANIZATION

The decision means sanctions waivers for five nations, including China and India and U.S. treaty allies Japan, South Korea and Turkey, won't be renewed when they expire on May 2.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in formally announcing the move, described it as part of the “pressure campaign” to choke off funding to the regime and incentivize Iran to act like a “normal country.”

“It’s the regime’s number one source of cash,” Pompeo said of oil revenue. “We will no longer grant any exemption [to sanctions for importing Iranian oil] … We’re going to zero across the board.”

According to a State Department official, the decision to end waivers for countries importing Iranian oil was made by Trump and Pompeo.

The crackdown on Tehran’s oil revenue comes as the administration toughens its already strict penalties on Iran. The administration earlier this month labeled Iran's Revolutionary Guard a "foreign terrorist organization," in Washington’s first such designation for an entire foreign government entity.

The oil-sanction waivers had been in place since November, when the administration re-imposed sanctions on Iran after Trump withdrew the U.S. from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. They were granted in part to give those countries time to eliminate their purchases of Iranian oil but also to ease any impact on global energy markets with the abrupt removal of Iran's production.

IRAN HITS BACK AT IRGC DESIGNATION

U.S. officials now say they do not expect any significant reduction in the supply of oil given production increases by other countries, including the U.S. itself and Saudi Arabia.

The White House on Monday assured that the U.S. and other top oil producers “have agreed to take timely action to assure that global demand is met as all Iranian oil is removed from the market.”

The White House said: “The Trump Administration and our allies are determined to sustain and expand the maximum economic pressure campaign against Iran to end the regime’s destabilizing activity threatening the United States, our partners and allies, and security in the Middle East.”

Fox News’ Rich Edson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Microsoft CEO Defends $479M Pentagon Contract

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella justified the company's $479 million contract with the Pentagon, telling CNN "we're not going to withhold technology from institutions that we have elected in democracies to protect the freedoms we enjoy," CNN reports.

"We were very transparent about that decision, and we'll continue to have that dialogue [with employees]," he added.

The statement comes after a group of more than 50 Microsoft employees have signed on to a letter protesting the contract.

"We are a global coalition of Microsoft workers and we refuse to create technology for warfare and oppression," employees said in a letter sent out Friday. "We are alarmed that Microsoft is working to provide weapons technology to the U.S. military, helping one country's government 'increase lethality' using tools we built."

"We did not sign up to develop weapons, and we demand a say in how our work is used," the workers wrote.

Microsoft is planning to equip the U.S. military with up to 100,000 augmented reality headsets that will be used to "increase lethality by enhancing the ability to detect, decide and engage before the enemy," according to a Department of Defense (DOD) description of the augmented reality program.

Source: NewsMax America

0 0

Secret Service under fire after agent testifies agency inserted malicious thumb drive into computer

The Secret Service is under fire after one of its members testified a fellow agent inserted a malicious thumb drive, found in the possession of a Chinese woman arrested at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago club last month, into an agency computer -- that then began installing unwanted files.

Monday's revelation about the embattled protection unit came the same day its director, Randolph "Tex" Alles, was reported to have been ousted as part of a larger shakeup at the Department of Homeland Security, the government arm to which the Secret Service reports.

Alles departure reportedly was not related to the March 30 incident at Mar-a-Lago in which Yujing Zhang, 32, was arrested and charged with unlawfully entering a restricted area and making false statements to federal law enforcement officers. Prosecutors said she isn’t accused of spying at this time, but noted there are "a lot of questions that remain to be answered."

WOMAN ARRESTED AT MAR-A-LAGO HAD CASH, SIGNAL DETECTOR IN HOTEL ROOM, PROSECUTORS SAY

She had $8,000 in U.S. and Chinese currency in her hotel room in addition to a signal detector meant to spot hidden cameras, a federal prosecutor in Florida said Monday. Zhang also had in her possession four cellphones, an external hard drive and a thumb drive with computer malware loaded into it.

The malicious thumb drive proved to be a particularly troubling piece of evidence.

Secret Service agent Samuel Ivanovich testified in court that another agent inserted the thumb drive into his computer in an effort to analyze it, prompting the drive to install files without the agent's consent and corrupt other files on the computer.

Yujing Zhang being led into federal court in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Monday.

Yujing Zhang being led into federal court in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Monday. (William Hennessy Jr. / CourtroomArt.com)

“That was something that had never happened before," Ivanovich told the judge, adding the agent, who was not identified, then shut down the computer to avoid further damage.

Security experts scolded the Secret Service for failing to follow one of the first rules of cybersecurity.

“Sounds like an agent trying to crack the case before the cyber team got there,” Eric O’Neill, a former FBI surveillance expert, tweeted.

SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR TO STEP DOWN ON HEELS OF NIELSEN RESIGNATION

“You don’t put an unknown USB into your computer,” Chris Wysopal, chief technology officer at Veracode, told the Daily Beast. “That’s in all the training everyone gets, even in your dumb corporate training. You even tell your mom that.”

“You don’t put an unknown USB into your computer. That’s in all the training everyone gets, even in your dumb corporate training. You even tell your mom that.”

— Chris Wysopal, chief technology officer at Veracode

The Secret Service declined to comment to Fox News on Tuesday morning, citing the ongoing investigation.

But a source with knowledge of the investigation told Fox News that the court testimony did not accurately reflect the incident.

The source said the thumb drive’s forensic analysis was conducted on a standalone computer in accordance with protocol and added the Secret Service's network was never at risk of malware introduction, as the computer wasn’t connected to the network.

But some experts questioned this explanation, noting there would have been no reason to stop the spread of malware by shutting down the computer if the drive had been analyzed in accordance with protocol. Instead, letting the malware continue to spread on the standalone computer would have allowed analysts to gather more information about it.

Zhang is currently being held until her bond hearing resumes April 15 in West Palm Beach federal court. Prosecutors said the woman would present a "serious risk of flight" if she was released.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Officials say Zhang approached a checkpoint at Mar-a-Lago and told a Secret Service agent she wanted to use the pool, even though she was not wearing a bathing suit. She was carrying two Chinese passports, which she showed as identification.

Fox News' John Roberts contributed to this report.

Fox News' Samuel Chamberlain, John Roberts and Ivonne Amor and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

Islamic State Plans Next Move After Loss of ‘Caliphate’

Islamic State Plans Next Move After Loss of 'Caliphate'

AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File

In the desert between Iraq and Syria, mostly Kurdish forces have seized the last remaining pocket of the Islamic State's once sprawling dominion. But while the terrorists may have capitulated for now, many have gone underground to plan the next deadly phase.

Read Full Article »

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am



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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist