International News
Bangladesh High Court orders high-level probe into power deals with Adani group amid supply cuts
Bangladesh’s High Court ordered the formation of a high-level enquiry committee comprising international energy and law experts to reevaluate all electricity-related agreements with the Adani group, The Business Standard, a local news portal, reported on Tuesday, November 19.
The bench of Justices Farah Mahbub and Debasish Roy Chowdhury has reportedly ordered the cabinet secretary to form the committee within a month and submit the report to the court in the next two months.
Adani Power shares closed 0.47 per cent lower at ₹524.10 on Tuesday’, compared to ₹526.60 at the previous market close.
The court, while hearing a petition, asked why instructions should not be given to cancel the uneven agreements made with the Adani group. It also asked for the documents related to the signing of the deal within a month.
Barrister M Abdul Qayyum, representing the petitioner, filed the writ in the High Court asking for the cancellation of all electricity deals with Adani group. Adani signed the 25-year power purchase agreement in 2017; at that time, no imported coal-based power plants were operational in Bangladesh, as per the report.
Adani’s Bangladesh power supply
Adani group’s Bangladesh power is supplied from Jharkhand’s 1,600 MW power plant. The cost of power is $0.1008 per unit or Tk12 per unit, a Bangladesh Power Development Board official was quoted as saying in the report.
This rate is 27 per cent higher than the rate of India’s other private producers and as much as 63 per cent more than the Indian state-owned plants.
After Adani Power cut the Bangladesh power supply by half over the unpaid dues, the company also set a deadline of November 7 to switch off the flow of electricity if there was no clarity on the settlement of the outstanding amount.
Bangladesh reportedly owes Adani almost $850 million. Adani group later clarified that it had not demanded the full payment in seven days, as per the report.
Shortage of Power
Bangladesh continues to face a shortage of electricity, increasing the risk of blackouts, even after making a partial payment to Adani group, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday.
Adani Power has received a letter of credit for $170 million, easing pressures from lenders, reported the agency, citing two people aware of the development. The partial payment doesn’t resolve the crisis, but the company won’t halt supplies for now, pending talks with the lenders of the Godda thermal plant in Jharkhand, the officials said.
“Payments should have been made by this time,” Ahsan H Mansur, governor of Bangladesh Bank, said in a phone interview on Friday as per the report. The central bank “issued an instruction for the payment”, Mansur had said earlier this week.
The Adani electric supply accounts for nearly 10 per cent of Bengladesh’s total supply. The power company reduced its supply further to 500 megawatts on Thursday after cutting it to 700 megawatts earlier, as per the data collected from Power Grid Bangladesh cited in the news report.
disaster
Passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan; survivors reported
Aktau (Kazakhstan), Dec 25: A passenger plane carrying over 100 people crashed near Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, according to reports from the country’s Emergencies Ministry.
Local media outlet Kazpravda.kz reported that the crash caused a fire at the site.
“A total of 52 rescuers from the Kazakh Emergencies Ministry and 11 pieces of equipment arrived at the scene. Upon arrival, they found the plane engulfed in flames. Firefighters are currently working to extinguish the blaze. Preliminary data suggests there are survivors,” the Ministry stated.
Initial reports indicate that at least 105 passengers and five crew members were on board. While the exact toll remains unclear, at least 25 survivors have been reported, with 22 hospitalised.
Rescue operations are ongoing, and details about the victims are being verified.
The plane, an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer ERJ-190, was flying from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny in Russia’s Chechnya. It was rerouted to Aktau due to dense fog.
Online flight tracking website FlightRadar24 data shows the plane flying over the Caspian Sea and heading towards its destination, in Chechnya. As the plane entered Russia’s territorial borders, it started circling near the airport. Following this, it requested an emergency landing.
At 6:28 am local time, the plane crashed a few kilometres away from the airport.
According to FlightRadar24, the plane was exposed to “strong GPS jamming, which made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data.” Authorities have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the crash.
Unverified videos circulating on social media show the moment the plane crashed, bursting into flames, with thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
An operational headquarters has been established at the Command Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, with a hotline made available for inquiries.
Further updates on the incident are awaited.
International News
Pak airstrikes in Afghanistan claim 15 lives; Taliban vows to retaliate
Kabul, Dec 25: At least 15 people, including women and children, have been killed in Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan, with the death toll expected to rise further, according to local media reports.
The strikes carried out late on Tuesday, targeted multiple areas in the Barmal district of Paktika province, dismantling a Taliban training facility .
Seven villages were bombed, including Laman, where five members of a single family lost their lives, and Murg Bazaar village, which was completely destroyed.
The airstrikes have deepened Afghanistan’s ongoing humanitarian crisis, causing significant destruction and civilian casualties, further straining relations between the two nations.
Afghanistan care-taker government condemned the attack and pledged retaliation.
“The Barmal district of Paktika was bombed by the Pakistan Army yesterday. Most of the victims were civilians, including Waziristani refugees. Several were martyred or injured, including children,” the country’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement.
Calling the incident a “barbaric act,” the MoD added, “This clear aggression is contrary to all international principles. The Pakistani side should understand that such actions will not solve any problems. The Islamic Emirate will defend its territory and consider this its inalienable right.”
Pakistan has yet to officially claim responsibility for the strikes, which have heightened tensions between the two neighbours.
The attacks come amidst deteriorating relations between Islamabad and Kabul over the presence of Pakistani militants in Afghanistan. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has intensified its operations against Pakistani forces in recent months, with Islamabad accusing the Afghan Taliban of sheltering the group.
While Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Afghan Taliban to take action against the TTP, Kabul denies harbouring the militants. The latest escalation adds another layer of complexity to an already fragile relationship.
International News
One child killed every hour in Gaza: UN agency
Gaza, Dec 25: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said that one child gets killed every hour in the Gaza Strip.
“No place for children. Since the beginning of the war, 14,500 children have been reported killed in Gaza according to UNICEF. One child gets killed every hour. These are not numbers. These are lives cut short,” UNRWA said in a press statement.
“Killing children cannot be justified. Those who survive are scarred physically and emotionally. Deprived of learning, boys and girls in Gaza sift through the rubble,” it added.
“The clock is ticking for these children. They are losing their lives, their futures and mostly their hope,” it said.
Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.
The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 45,338, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Tuesday.
Earlier on Monday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “there has been progress” in efforts to secure a ceasefire-for-hostages deal with Hamas, but cautioned that the timeline for reaching an agreement remains unclear.
Speaking before the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, Netanyahu said, “I do not know how long it will take,” while vowing to “continue to act in every possible way until we bring everyone home.”
Earlier on Monday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar outlined parts of the deal during a closed meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, describing it as “a phased, gradual framework.”
Israeli and Palestinian media reported that efforts led by Qatari, Egyptian, and US mediators have shown progress, though a breakthrough remains elusive.
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