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War test India Inc’s shield to energy shocks

The war in West Asia is a reminder that for a heavily energy-importing economy like India, developments underway in that region can quickly translate into macro variables. Even if energy supplies continue to flow, longer shipping routes, higher insurance premiums and logistical bottlenecks can raise landed costs. Economic transmission doesn't require a complete halt in crude supply. Friction alone can alter cost structures.Oil prices have already shown considerable volatility, crude dropping below $100 a barrel on Tuesday after traders weighed in on the US blockade of Iranian shipping, and Iran and the US reportedly returning to negotiations soon. Markets are still reassessing the duration of supply disruptions. But the larger shift is structural. Trade corridors and commodity flows are increasingly exposed, and stability can no longer be assumed as the base case.Also read: India Inc pulls back a bit from Gulf as cracks widen across operationIndia enters this phase from a position ...

AIADMK says BJP alliance is electoral

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/NOCQcLE

Trump refuses to apologize to 'very weak' Pope Leo

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Iran war may hit govt Rs 75K-cr dividend goal

New Delhi: A prolonged West Asia war could keep global commodity prices elevated and hurt the profitability of state-run firms, potentially weighing on the government's budgeted ₹75,000 crore dividend from central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) and other investments in this financial year, officials said.High oil prices could hurt state-run petroleum firms, which alone accounted for a third of the government's dividend collection of ₹78,438 crore from all CPSEs and other relevant entities last fiscal. Brent crude oil prices on April 10 remained almost 32% above the pre-war levels, despite a fall last week in the wake of a two-week ceasefire agreed between the US and Iran.Also Read: After failed US-Iran talks, what next for Trump?The dividend collection exceeded the budget estimates for a fifth straight year last fiscal. Elevated dividend inflows, apart from reflecting strong performance by CPSEs, have helped cushion the impact of weak disinvestment receipts in recent years. ...

Trump orders Hormuz blockade, warns Iran of ‘hell'

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Tiny hearts, big cardiac concern in India

Raipur: When Dr Pretti Ijardar examined five-year-old Arman Yadav at a primary school in Raipur in December, she deployed the most basic tool in a doctor's kit - a stethoscope. As she listened to the child's chest, an unusual murmur in his heartbeat caught her attention.She and her team took the boy to a nearby hospital for an echocardiogram. The results revealed a serious congenital defect - an 18 mm hole in his heart.Also Read: No cholesterol, no diabetes, other test reports normal: 5,000 heart attack cases in India reveal surprising findings in 'healthy' Indians"After securing his parents' consent, he was operated with the button technique (in which a small device resembling a button is fixed)," Ijardar said.She added that a delay in diagnosis could have made the surgery far more complicated.Arman's case is among several identified under a mass screening programme of schoolchildren across Raipur district in Chhattisgarh over the past nine months. Th...