The Evening Wrap: Kharge, Tharoor among three contestants in Congress presidential election

Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Shashi Tharoor and K.N. Tripathi filed their nomination papers for the party’s president post on Friday. Nominations closed at 3 p.m. on the day. Kharge, a party veteran from Karnataka, filed his papers in the presence of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, former Union Minister Anand Sharma and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan among others. Sharma and Chavan are members of the ginger group that has written to party president Sonia Gandhi, seeking internal reforms. Tharoor was also a signatory to the 2020 letter. Among the signatories to Kharge’s nomination are G-23 leader Manish Tewari and senior leaders A. K. Antony, Gehlot, Ambika Soni, Ajay Maken and Salman Khurshid. After filing his nomination, Kharge said, “I thank senior leaders from all States for supporting me in the Congress presidential election,” and appealed to delegates to vote for him in the election, and added that he was “fighting for big change”. Tharoor filed his nomination after a visit to Raj Ghat. M.K. Raghavan was the only MP from Kerala to sign Tharoor's nomination form. When asked about Sharma and Chavan signing Kharge’s nomination papers, Tharoor said, "This tells you a story.” If the delegates want a status quoist, then they must vote for Mr. Kharge, and if they want to vote for reforms, they must vote for him, he added. However, Tharoor said he will go by the assurance of neutrality given by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi Meanwhile, Tripathi, a Congress leader from Jharkhand, said, “I belong to a farmer’s family. The country is seeing that the son of a farmer who has experience serving with the Indian Air Force, a Minister in the State government and deputy leader of Jharkhand Assembly, can also contest for the post of AICC president,” before filing his nomination. Putin declares annexation of four Ukrainian regions in Kremlin ceremony Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed four territories in Ukraine controlled by his army at a grand ceremony in the Kremlin and urged Kyiv to lay down its arms and negotiate an end to seven months of fighting. The lavish ceremony at the Kremlin, a turning point in recent post-Soviet history, came hours after shelling killed 25 people in Ukraine’s southern region of Zaporizhzhia, one of the worst attacks against civilians in months. Putin was defiant during his address to Russia’s most senior political elite, telling the West the land grab was irreversible and calling on Ukraine’s emboldened army to give up and negotiate a surrender. “I want to say this to the Kyiv regime and its masters in the West: People living in Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are becoming our citizens forever,” he said. “We call on the Kyiv regime to immediately stop fighting and stop all hostilities... and return to the negotiating table,” he added. The packed hall erupted to chants of “Russia! Russia” after the four leaders inked the deal, and Putin — rarely seen making physical contact since the pandemic — joined hands with his proxy leaders and was shown shouting along in unison on state TV. Ukraine’s closest backer, the U.S., said it would “never” recognise Russia’s authority in the four regions. On Thursday, President Joe Biden said the United States would “never, never, never” recognise Russian sovereignty over the territories set for annexation. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his country is submitting an “accelerated” application to join the NATO military alliance. “We are taking our decisive step by signing Ukraine’s application for accelerated accession to NATO,” he said. It wasn’t immediately clear what an “accelerated” application would mean, as joining the NATO requires the unanimous support of the alliance’s members. U.S. imposes sanction against Indian petrochemical company for ‘clandestine’ Iran oil purchases In the first such move against oil shipments to India, the U.S. Treasury department announced it had imposed sanctions against a Mumbai based petrochemical company amongst several entities accused of selling Iranian petroleum products. The company, Mumbai based Tibalaji that was accused of purchasing shipments that were then sent to China, is the first Indian entity to face the U.S. designation under unilateral sanctions passed in 2018-19, after the Trump administration’s decision to walk out of the nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. While India has officially refused to endorse the “unilateral sanctions” of the U.S., the Modi government agreed to end all oil imports from Iran in 2019, that made up about 11% of India’s intake, rather than face the sanctions. Announcing the move, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it had sanctioned the “international network of companies” that were involved in the sale of “hundreds of millions of dollars” worth Iranian petrochemical products to South Asia and East Asia. The U.S. claimed that the Indian company had worked with sanctioned entities like Triliance, a petroleum and petrochemical brokerage firm, as well as Iran Chemical Industries Investment Company and Middle East Kimiya Pars Co., for oil orders which were “ultimately shipped to India”. According to the Treasury department, the sanctions against Tibalaji and other companies could be reversed if Iran returns to compliance under the JCPOA agreement. Iran and International Atomic Energy Agency officials held a round of talks in Vienna this week to discuss the possibility of Iran’s agreement to re-allow inspectors back to Iran for oversight over reactors. The U.S. and Iran have also exchanged their stands indirectly via the European Union for a “final draft” on rejoining the JCPOA. Natural gas prices hiked by 40% to record levels; CNG, PNG to cost more Prices of natural gas, which is used to generate electricity, make fertiliser and is converted into CNG to run automobiles, were hiked by a steep 40% to record levels, in step with global firming up of energy rates. The rate paid for gas produced from old fields, which make up for about two-thirds of all gas produced in the country, was hiked to $8.57 per million British thermal units from the current $6.1, according to an order from the Oil Ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). Simultaneously, the price of gas from difficult and newer fields like the ones in Reliance Industries Ltd and its partner bp plc operated deepsea D6 block in KG basin, was hiked to $12.6 per mmBtu from $9.92, the order said. These are the highest rates for administered/regulated fields (like ONGC's Bassein field off the Mumbai coast) and free-market areas (such as the KG basin). Also, this will be the third increase in rates since April 2019 and comes on the back of firming benchmark international prices. The government sets the price of gas every six months -- on April 1 and October 1 -- each year based on rates prevalent in gas surplus nations such as the U.S., Canada and Russia in one year with a lag of one quarter. So, the price for October 1 to March 31 is based on the average price from July 2021 to June 2022. This is the period when global rates shot through the roof. As higher gas prices can potentially further fuel inflation, which has been stubbornly above the RBI's comfort zone for the past eight months, the government has set up a committee to review the pricing formula. The government wants to more than double the share of natural gas in the primary energy basket to 15% by 2030 from the current 6.7%. Sources said the increase in gas price is likely to result in a rise in CNG and piped cooking gas rates in cities such as Delhi and Mumbai. It will also lead to a rise in the cost of generating electricity but consumers may not feel any major pinch as the share of power produced from gas is very low. Similarly, the cost of producing fertiliser will also go up but as the government subsidises the crop nutrient, an increase in rates is unlikely. For producers, it will bring in higher revenues. Xiaomi India case: FEMA authority confirms ED’s seizure order of ₹5,551.27 crore The competent authority appointed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act has confirmed the seizure order of ₹5,551.27 crore issued by the Enforcement Directorate against Xiaomi Technology India Private Limited on April 29. Stating that it was the highest ever seizure amount-related order confirmed till date, the ED said, “The authority, while confirming the seizure..., held that the ED is right in holding [that] foreign exchange equivalent to ₹5,551.27 crore has been transferred out of India by Xiaomi India in an unauthorised manner and is held outside India on behalf of the group entity in contravention of Section 4 of the FEMA...” “The competent authority also observed that payment of royalty is nothing but a tool to transferring the foreign exchange out of India and the same is in blatant violation of provisions of FEMA,” the ED added. Earlier, the ED had seized the amount lying in the bank accounts of Xiaomi Technology India under the Act. The agency has alleged that the company remitted the amount without any authorisation, in the guise of royalties abroad. According to the ED, the company had launched its operations in India in 2014 and started remitting the money from 2015. It had sent foreign currency equivalent to ₹5,551.27 crore to three overseas entities, including one Xiaomi group entity. The amounts remitted to the two other U.S.-based unrelated entities were also for the ultimate benefit of the group’s concerns, as alleged. The agency further alleged that Xiaomi India had not availed itself of any service from the three entities to which the funds were transferred. In Brief: The Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India increased the policy repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 5.9% making loans expensive. The MPC also lowered the growth projection of FY23 from 7.2% to 7%. Growth for the second quarter has been projected at 6.3%, for the third quarter at 4.6%, for the fourth quarter at 4.6%, and 7.2% for the first quarter of the next financial year. The inflation projection for FY has been retained at 6.7%. While the projection for the second quarter is 7.1%, the projection for the third quarter and fourth quarter is 6.5% and 5.8% respectively. For the first quarter of the next financial year, inflation has been projected at 5%. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 30 SEPTEMBER 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Congress president polls | Mallikarjun Kharge, Shashi Tharoor, K.N. Tripathi file nominations Congress leaders [Mallikarjun Kharge, Shashi Tharoor and K.N. Tripathi filed their nomination papers]( for the party’s president post on Friday. Nominations closed at 3 p.m. on the day. Kharge, a party veteran from Karnataka, filed his papers in the presence of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, former Union Minister Anand Sharma and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan among others. [Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge files his nomination papers for the post of party president at AICC headquarters in New Delhi on September 30, 2022. ] Sharma and Chavan are members of the ginger group that has written to party president Sonia Gandhi, seeking internal reforms. Tharoor was also a signatory to the 2020 letter. Among the signatories to Kharge’s nomination are G-23 leader Manish Tewari and senior leaders A. K. Antony, Gehlot, Ambika Soni, Ajay Maken and Salman Khurshid. After filing his nomination, Kharge said, “I thank senior leaders from all States for supporting me in the Congress presidential election,” and appealed to delegates to vote for him in the election, and added that he was “fighting for big change”. Tharoor filed his nomination after a visit to Raj Ghat. M.K. Raghavan was the only MP from Kerala to sign Tharoor's nomination form. When asked about Sharma and Chavan signing Kharge’s nomination papers, Tharoor said, "This tells you a story.” If the delegates want a status quoist, then they must vote for Mr. Kharge, and if they want to vote for reforms, they must vote for him, he added. However, Tharoor said he will go by the assurance of neutrality given by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi Meanwhile, Tripathi, a Congress leader from Jharkhand, said, “I belong to a farmer’s family. The country is seeing that the son of a farmer who has experience serving with the Indian Air Force, a Minister in the State government and deputy leader of Jharkhand Assembly, can also contest for the post of AICC president,” before filing his nomination. Putin declares annexation of four Ukrainian regions in Kremlin ceremony Russian President[Vladimir Putin annexed four territories in Ukraine]( controlled by his army at a grand ceremony in the Kremlin and urged Kyiv to lay down its arms and negotiate an end to seven months of fighting. The lavish ceremony at the Kremlin, a turning point in recent post-Soviet history, came hours after shelling killed 25 people in Ukraine’s southern region of Zaporizhzhia, one of the worst attacks against civilians in months. [Russian President Vladimir Putin joins hands with Moscow-appointed head of Kherson Region Vladimir Saldo, Moscow-appointed head of Zaporizhzhia region Yevgeny Balitsky, Denis Pushilin, leader of self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Leonid Pasechnik, leader of self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, as they celebrate at the Kremlin during a ceremony to sign the treaties for four regions of Ukraine to join Russia, in Moscow on September 30, 2022. ] Putin was defiant during his address to Russia’s most senior political elite, telling the West the land grab was irreversible and calling on Ukraine’s emboldened army to give up and negotiate a surrender. “I want to say this to the Kyiv regime and its masters in the West: People living in Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are becoming our citizens forever,” he said. “We call on the Kyiv regime to immediately stop fighting and stop all hostilities... and return to the negotiating table,” he added. The packed hall erupted to chants of “Russia! Russia” after the four leaders inked the deal, and Putin — rarely seen making physical contact since the pandemic — joined hands with his proxy leaders and was shown shouting along in unison on state TV. Ukraine’s closest backer, the U.S., said it would “never” recognise Russia’s authority in the four regions. On Thursday, President Joe Biden said the United States would “never, never, never” recognise Russian sovereignty over the territories set for annexation. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President [Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his country is submitting an “accelerated” application to join the NATO]( military alliance. “We are taking our decisive step by signing Ukraine’s application for accelerated accession to NATO,” he said. It wasn’t immediately clear what an “accelerated” application would mean, as joining the NATO requires the unanimous support of the alliance’s members. U.S. imposes sanction against Indian petrochemical company for ‘clandestine’ Iran oil purchases In the first such move against oil shipments to India, the [U.S. Treasury department announced it had imposed sanctions against a Mumbai based petrochemical company]( amongst several entities accused of selling Iranian petroleum products. The company, Mumbai based Tibalaji that was accused of purchasing shipments that were then sent to China, is the first Indian entity to face the U.S. designation under unilateral sanctions passed in 2018-19, after the Trump administration’s decision to walk out of the nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. While India has officially refused to endorse the “unilateral sanctions” of the U.S., the Modi government agreed to end all oil imports from Iran in 2019, that made up about 11% of India’s intake, rather than face the sanctions. Announcing the move, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it had sanctioned the “international network of companies” that were involved in the sale of “hundreds of millions of dollars” worth Iranian petrochemical products to South Asia and East Asia. The U.S. claimed that the Indian company had worked with sanctioned entities like Triliance, a petroleum and petrochemical brokerage firm, as well as Iran Chemical Industries Investment Company and Middle East Kimiya Pars Co., for oil orders which were “ultimately shipped to India”. According to the Treasury department, the sanctions against Tibalaji and other companies could be reversed if Iran returns to compliance under the JCPOA agreement. Iran and International Atomic Energy Agency officials held a round of talks in Vienna this week to discuss the possibility of Iran’s agreement to re-allow inspectors back to Iran for oversight over reactors. The U.S. and Iran have also exchanged their stands indirectly via the European Union for a “final draft” on rejoining the JCPOA. Natural gas prices hiked by 40% to record levels; CNG, PNG to cost more Prices of natural gas, which is used to generate electricity, make fertiliser and is converted into CNG to run automobiles, were [hiked by a steep 40% to record levels]( in step with global firming up of energy rates. The rate paid for gas produced from old fields, which make up for about two-thirds of all gas produced in the country, was hiked to $8.57 per million British thermal units from the current $6.1, according to an order from the Oil Ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). Simultaneously, the price of gas from difficult and newer fields like the ones in Reliance Industries Ltd and its partner bp plc operated deepsea D6 block in KG basin, was hiked to $12.6 per mmBtu from $9.92, the order said. These are the highest rates for administered/regulated fields (like ONGC's Bassein field off the Mumbai coast) and free-market areas (such as the KG basin). Also, this will be the third increase in rates since April 2019 and comes on the back of firming benchmark international prices. The government sets the price of gas every six months -- on April 1 and October 1 -- each year based on rates prevalent in gas surplus nations such as the U.S., Canada and Russia in one year with a lag of one quarter. So, the price for October 1 to March 31 is based on the average price from July 2021 to June 2022. This is the period when global rates shot through the roof. As higher gas prices can potentially further fuel inflation, which has been stubbornly above the RBI's comfort zone for the past eight months, the government has set up a committee to review the pricing formula. The government wants to more than double the share of natural gas in the primary energy basket to 15% by 2030 from the current 6.7%. Sources said the increase in gas price is likely to result in a rise in CNG and piped cooking gas rates in cities such as Delhi and Mumbai. It will also lead to a rise in the cost of generating electricity but consumers may not feel any major pinch as the share of power produced from gas is very low. Similarly, the cost of producing fertiliser will also go up but as the government subsidises the crop nutrient, an increase in rates is unlikely. For producers, it will bring in higher revenues. Xiaomi India case: FEMA authority confirms ED’s seizure order of ₹5,551.27 crore The competent authority appointed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act has [confirmed the seizure order of ₹5,551.27 crore issued by the Enforcement Directorate against Xiaomi Technology India Private Limited]( on April 29. Stating that it was the highest ever seizure amount-related order confirmed till date, the ED said, “The authority, while confirming the seizure..., held that the ED is right in holding [that] foreign exchange equivalent to ₹5,551.27 crore has been transferred out of India by Xiaomi India in an unauthorised manner and is held outside India on behalf of the group entity in contravention of Section 4 of the FEMA...” “The competent authority also observed that payment of royalty is nothing but a tool to transferring the foreign exchange out of India and the same is in blatant violation of provisions of FEMA,” the ED added. Earlier, the ED had seized the amount lying in the bank accounts of Xiaomi Technology India under the Act. The agency has alleged that the company remitted the amount without any authorisation, in the guise of royalties abroad. According to the ED, the company had launched its operations in India in 2014 and started remitting the money from 2015. It had sent foreign currency equivalent to ₹5,551.27 crore to three overseas entities, including one Xiaomi group entity. The amounts remitted to the two other U.S.-based unrelated entities were also for the ultimate benefit of the group’s concerns, as alleged. The agency further alleged that Xiaomi India had not availed itself of any service from the three entities to which the funds were transferred. In Brief: The Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India [increased the policy repo rate by 50 basis points]( to 5.9% making loans expensive. The MPC also lowered the growth projection of FY23 from 7.2% to 7%. Growth for the second quarter has been projected at 6.3%, for the third quarter at 4.6%, for the fourth quarter at 4.6%, and 7.2% for the first quarter of the next financial year. The inflation projection for FY has been retained at 6.7%. While the projection for the second quarter is 7.1%, the projection for the third quarter and fourth quarter is 6.5% and 5.8% respectively. For the first quarter of the next financial year, inflation has been projected at 5%. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.  Today’s Top Picks [[Kharge represents status quo, I represent change: Shashi Tharoor] Kharge represents status quo, I represent change: Shashi Tharoor]( [[Mallikarjun Kharge’s possible elevation could be asset to Congress ahead of 2023 Karnataka Assembly polls] Mallikarjun Kharge’s possible elevation could be asset to Congress ahead of 2023 Karnataka Assembly polls]( [[‘We need both: Gandhi and Ambedkar’, says Bezwada Wilson, who crusades against manual scavenging] ‘We need both: Gandhi and Ambedkar’, says Bezwada Wilson, who crusades against manual scavenging]( [[‘Ponniyin Selvan: 1’ movie review: Epic story gets Mani Ratnam’s royal treatment] ‘Ponniyin Selvan: 1’ movie review: Epic story gets Mani Ratnam’s royal treatment]( Copyright @ 2022, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [try here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](