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Indonesia candidates: Metal fan, cleric, soldier, tycoon

Indonesia's presidential election Wednesday pits incumbent Joko Widodo against former special forces Gen. Prabowo Subianto in a repeat of the 2014 contest. Widodo, a furniture exporter and heavy metal fan who had a meteoric rise in Indonesian politics, chose a conservative Muslim cleric as his vice presidential candidate. Subianto's running mate is a self-made tycoon.

A look at the presidential and vice presidential candidates:

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JOKO WIDODO

Usually known as Jokowi, Widodo's political career began in the central Javanese city of Solo and hit the big time when he became governor of Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, in 2012. A down-to-earth style and reputation for clean governance helped propel him to the presidency in 2014.

Widodo, 57, was likened to Barack Obama, and progressive voters hoped that as the first Indonesian president from outside the Jakarta elite he would address a catalog of major human rights abuses in the country. But while in office, he has been unwilling to press for accountability that threatens powerful institutions such as the military. Instead he has emphasized nationalism while also fending off attacks that he is insufficiently Muslim.

Widodo's signature policy has been improving Indonesia's poor infrastructure. He also continued the poverty alleviation policies of his predecessor.

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MA'RUF AMIN

One of the most important religious figures in Muslim-majority Indonesia, Amin was selected as Widodo's running mate to shore up his support among pious Muslims. He was chairman of Majelis Ulama Indonesia, the country's council of Islamic leaders, and supreme leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, the world's largest Muslim organization. An avuncular, almost Yoda-like appearance belies Amin's reactionary beliefs.

Amin, 76, has been a vocal supporter and drafter of fatwas against religious minorities and LGBT people. Human Rights Watch says the fatwas, or edicts, have legitimized increasingly hateful rhetoric by government officials against LGBT people, and in some cases fueled deadly violence by Islamic militants against religious minorities.

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PRABOWO SUBIANTO

Subianto, a former special forces general who was dismissed from the military in 1998, is making his second run at the presidency after narrowly losing to Widodo in 2014. A strident nationalist, he has run a fear-based campaign, highlighting what he sees as Indonesia's weakness and the risk of exploitation by foreign powers or disintegration.

Subianto, 67, has sometimes highlighted a novel about a future world war that briefly mentions Indonesia as part of the basis for those fears. He was a star officer during the Suharto era and married the dictator's daughter. After Suharto was forced from office by social and economic chaos in 1998, Subianto was dismissed from the military. Soldiers under his command had kidnapped student activists, some of whom remain missing.

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SANDIAGA UNO

A self-made tycoon and deputy governor of Jakarta, Uno — commonly known as Sandi — has reportedly spent millions of his own money on the campaign. Articulate and youthful looking at 49, he has been more active on the campaign trail than his running mate and has been the ticket's way of appealing to the burgeoning number of young voters.

Nearly a decade ago, Uno was profiled by CNN as an inspirational entrepreneur from humble roots who claimed to have the ear of then Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. His role in the 2019 campaign has raised his profile nationally and he is already talked about as a possible 2024 presidential candidate.

Source: Fox News World

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DOJ Official: Mueller Said 3 Weeks Ago He Wouldn't Decide on Obstruction

Special Counsel Robert Mueller informed top U.S. Justice Department officials three weeks ago that he would not be reaching a conclusion on whether President Donald Trump had obstructed justice during the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, a U.S. Justice official said Monday.

The decision by Mueller not to reach a determination was "unexpected," the person added, speaking anonymously in order to discuss private conversations involving U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who received the news.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Lady Gaga And Jeremy Renner Spotted Spending Time Together. Here’s What We Know

Katie Jerkovich | Entertainment Reporter

Lady Gaga and actor Jeremy Renner have been spotted out lately spending a lot of time together and it’s got everyone wondering if there’s a new power couple in Hollywood.

Sources close to the 32-year-old singer shared with E! News Thursday that while, yes, she “has been spending time with” the 48-year-old “Avengers” star, they are just friends, and it’s not “romantic.” (RELATED: Take A Look Back At Adriana Lima’s Career With Victoria’s Secret)

US singer-songwriter Lady Gaga arrives for the 61st Annual Grammy Awards on February 10, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Photo credit: VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)

US singer-songwriter Lady Gaga arrives for the 61st Annual Grammy Awards on February 10, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Photo credit: VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)

“[Gaga] has been friends with Jeremy Renner for a while. They often hang out when they are both in town,” a source shared. “She’s been spending time with him recently, but it’s not romantic.” (RELATED: Mel B Criticizes Lady Gaga For Oscars Performance With Bradley Cooper)

The news comes just one month after reports surfaced that the “Shallow” hitmaker and her fiancée Christian Carino had called off their engagement. (RELATED: Artist Goes After Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus With ‘We All Knew’ Posters Ahead Of Grammys)

Sources close to the “A Star Is Born” actress explained at the time that things just “didn’t work out”: “It just didn’t work out. Relationships sometimes end. There’s no long, dramatic story.”

The insider added, “But things just became serious very fast. Christian is a good, grounding force and understands her career.”

Gaga finally confirmed rumors that she and Carino were engaged in October 2018 after months of speculation.

The “Born This Way” hitmaker recently made headlines following her and co-star Bradley Cooper’s rather steamy performance of their film’s hit song “Shallow” at the Academy Awards, leaving people to wonder if the two had been intimate in real life.

As previously reported, she later addressed the rumors during her appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and said people saw love and that was the whole point.

“Yes, people saw love, and guess what? That’s what we wanted you to see,” Gaga explained. “[‘Shallow’] is a love song, ‘A Star is Born’ is a love story. It was so important to both of us that we were connected the entire time … When you’re singing love songs, that’s what you want people to feel.”

“I’m an artist and I guess [Bradley and I] did a good job … fooled ya!” she added.

Source: The Daily Caller

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US Jewish Leaders Slam Netanyahu's Parliament Moves

Jewish-American rabbis, organizations, and donors have lashed out at Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to ensure a racist, far-right party is part of the next parliament.

Netanyahu has pushed for weeks for an election pact between Otzma Yehudit, an extremist party that includes supporters of the racist Rabbi Meir Kahane, and the religious-Zionist Habayit Hayehudi party, Haaretz reported.

He convinced both to join forces Wednesday and run on a joint ticket in the April 9 election, increasing their chances of winning seats in the Knesset.

"This will complicate efforts to advocate for Israel, especially within the Jewish community. What are we supposed to tell our children?" former Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., warned, per Haaretz.

"We, Zionists, and supporters of Israel in America, spend so much effort to rightly expose and highlight incitement on the Palestinain side. So, when the prime minister gives this legitimacy to such an extreme party, it hurts our efforts. I fear that it will introduce some degree of moral equivalence and serve to rationalize incitement. That's not helpful." 

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, head of the Union for Reform Judaism – the largest Jewish organization in North America – called it "deeply distressing to imagine that those who follow in the footsteps of Meir Kahane could be welcomed into Prime Minister Netanyahu's political circle," Haaretz reported.

And Susie Gelman, a major Jewish philanthropist who has supported Jewish and Israeli institutions for decades, told the news outlet she found the efforts "absolutely shocking."

"I have had policy disagreements with Netanyahu before, but this raises a new question: Is there any line of decency and morality that he will not cross?" she added, Haaretz reported.

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt also weighed in on social media.

"There should be no room for racism & no accommodation for intolerance in Israel or any democracy," he tweeted. "ADL previously has spoken out on hate-filled rhetoric of leaders of the Otzma Yehudit party, it is troubling that they are being legitimized by this union."

Source: NewsMax America

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India bursts with color in celebration of Holi

A woman reacts as colour powder is thrown on her face during Holi celebrations in Mumbai
A woman reacts as colour powder is thrown on her face during Holi celebrations in Mumbai, India, March 21, 2019. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

March 21, 2019

(Reuters) – Hindus across India this week celebrate the two-day festival of Holi, which marks the beginning of spring, with an explosion of colors, chanting of devotional songs and prayer.

For many, the festival, also known as the “festival of colors” or the “festival of love,” which began on Wednesday, is a time to laugh, forgive and mend broken relationships.

During the festival, participants sing and dance and shower each other with flower petals and brightly colored powders of pink, yellow, blue and green.

Smiling college students smear their faces with green, yellow and red powder, some in a trance-like state under a cloud of pink.

Inside their temples, priests spray pink and gold colors at hundreds of Hindu devotees with their arms raised in prayer as they sing religious hymns.

(Writing by Diane Craft; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Source: OANN

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Ireland publishes no-deal Brexit bill it hopes it won't need

The Irish government has published legislation designed to ease the damage if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal — but says it hopes the law will never be needed.

The government plans to fast-track the bill through Ireland's parliament before the U.K.'s scheduled departure on March 29.

As a major trading partner of Britain, and the only EU country sharing a land border with the U.K., Ireland faces a huge economic hit if a "no-deal" Brexit introduces tariffs, customs checks and other barriers.

Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney said Friday that the bill would try to "offset the worst effects of a disorderly Brexit" by supporting businesses and ensuring citizens can access services.

But he said "my only desire is to see this legislation sit on the shelf."

Source: Fox News World

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California man arrested after trying to kidnap girl on her way to school, police say

California cops arrested a man Saturday after he allegedly exposed himself before trying to kidnap a teenage girl on her way to school last week.

The Sacramento Police Department said in a news release that 20-year-old Joseph Dumarce was arrested after an "extensive follow-up investigation and diligent work" by patrol officers and detectives.

The 13-year-old girl was walking to school around 7:30 a.m. on Friday when a man driving a silver 4-door sedan pulled up next to the girl and began to ask for directions.

TEENAGER ARRESTED IN 2 DEATHS AT EASTERN WISCONSIN HOME

"As the victim started to answer the suspect’s questions, she noticed the suspect was masturbating," police said.

Joseph Dumarce, 20, was arrested Saturday after he allegedly exposed himself to a girl in his car when asking for directions before trying to kidnap her.

Joseph Dumarce, 20, was arrested Saturday after he allegedly exposed himself to a girl in his car when asking for directions before trying to kidnap her. (Sacramento Police Department)

After the girl tried to walk away, Dumarce allegedly drove past the girl, pulling his car in front of her. He then got out of the vehicle and tried to pull the girl into the back seat of the vehicle, according to police.

POLICE: MAN FLEEING POLICE LEFT CHILD TO DIE IN BURNING CAR

Dumarce's vehicle was reportedly captured on surveillance footage and prompted a plea from authorities to the public for information.

Police were later able to arrest Dumarce due in part to the surveillance video and the description given by the victim.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Neighbor Sofia Nyothson told FOX40 she used to feel safe letting her kids play alone outside of her home until she learned the incident happened just across the street.

“It’s a wake-up call. It’s unbelievable,” she told the television station. “Kids should feel safe. We should be safe for our kids to walk to school, walk home from school, walk with their friends. I’m at a loss for words. It’s scary.”

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)

Source: OANN

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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)

Source: OANN

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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)

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