Obama says world oil supply enough to crack down on Iran

                                                                      
President Barack Obama vowed on Friday to forge ahead with tough sanctions on Iran, saying there was enough oil in the world market - including emergency stockpiles - to allow countries to cut Iranian imports.
 
In his decision, required by a sanctions law he signed in December, Obama said increased production by some countries as well as "the existence of strategic reserves" helped him come to the conclusion that sanctions can advance.
 "I will closely monitor this situation to assure that the market can continue to accommodate a reduction in purchases of petroleum and petroleum products from Iran," he said in a statement.
 Obama had been expected to press on with the sanctions to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear program, which the West suspects is a cover to develop atomic weapons but which Iran says is purely civilian.
 
The overt mention of government-controlled stockpiles may further stoke speculation that major consumer nations are preparing to tap their emergency stores this year.
 
"I do think it was interesting that it was laid out there," said David Pumphrey, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
 "It was sort of like a reminder that yes, this is part of the tool kit," said Pumphrey, a former Energy Department official.

NO DECISION ON STRATEGIC RELEASE

Oil markets remain tight, the White House said. Surging gasoline prices have become a major issue in the presidential election campaign.

"A series of production disruptions in South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Nigeria, and the North Sea have removed oil from the market," the White House said in a statement.

France is in talks with the United States and Britain on a possible release of strategic oil stocks to push fuel prices lower, French ministers said on Wednesday.


Senior Obama administration officials told reporters that the United States views releasing emergency stocks as an option, but said no decision has been made on specific actions.

Oil prices briefly rallied by about 70 cents on the announcement, but later reversed gains to end almost flat as traders turned mindful of the possible use of reserves.

Acharya's role surfaces in Jagan case too

                                                                    

The role of suspended IAS officer B.P. Acharya came into sharp focus even in the case against Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy as the CBI has charged him with allotting 150 acres of land to pharma companies Aurobindo and Hetero at Jadcherla in a “clandestine” manner.

After receiving the formal approval of SEZ from the Central government, the request of Aurobindo and Hetero was considered without assessment of the requirement of land. These assessments were actually to be done by the plot allotment and price fixation committees of the government. However, Mr. Acharya issued offer letters in-principle to both these companies on the day they submitted applications in the presence of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

Mr. Acharya is already arrested and lodged in jail in the Emaar Hills township scandal which resulted in a huge loss to Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC). He was the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of APIIC from 2005 to 2010.

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The CBI said in its charge-sheet to the court in Mr. Jagan's case on Saturday that the proposal of APIIC to develop a special economic zone for pharma companies at Jadcherla in Mahabubnagar over 250 acres was kept in the dark to interested entrepreneurs by not issuing newspaper advertisements as required by APIIC rules.

The rate of Rs. 7 lakh an acre as suggested by the companies was conceded instantly though the price fixation committee recommended Rs. 15 lakh to 20 lakh an acre.

Mr. Acharya decided the rate at the instance of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. The extent and rates were not even discussed at the meetings of the committees.

The work had not even commenced on the 26 acres of land allotted to APL Healthcare which is the subsidiary company of Aurobindo.

Kiran-Botcha ‘tussle' gets a new twist

                                                                 

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) came out with a press release on Saturday giving details of the fraud committed in auction of liquor shops in Vizianagaram district from where Minister for Transport Botcha Satyanarayana hails.

They had accomplished their object of gaining control over more than 50 per cent shops in the district with active assistance and collusion of officials' right from the stage of auction and through all these months of running business.

Financial investigation was in progress to unravel the flow of money, the press release said.

Interestingly, the ACB said that investigation so far revealed that these were not ordinary cases of corruption, but several ingredients of organised crime observed. Hence, the ACB is determined to act against all those involved in these cases.

It is committed to take action against any one against whom adequate evidence had been gathered and would never act under duress.

The ACB release gives a new twist to the ongoing tussle between Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and Mr. Satyanarayana as the latter has been complaining that attempts are being made to fix him in the liquor scam. He has indirectly accused the Chief Minister of encouraging the ACB officials to malign him.

Two days ago, an ACB Inspector of Police, Vizianagaram, sent a legal notice to the Additional Director, ACB, K. Srinivasa Reddy, alleging that he was forced by the senior official to name Mr. Satyanarayana in the liquor scam. The PCC chief is in New Delhi ostensibly to meet the central leadership and apprise them about the developments.

Issued by the ACB DG, the press release said a case pertaining to the fraud had been registered in Vizianagaram on March 27 after verification of records.

The DG said 103 out of the 202 licence holders in Vizianagaram possessed white ration cards, three cards issued under Antyodaya scheme, and another nine temporary ration card-holders. Among them, 33 licence-holders were working as petty employees/casual labourers/employees in the wine shops, which they were supposed to own.

Several wine shops bearing similar trade names indicated that they were controlled by one or more groups of persons or syndicates.

Bye-bye Manmohan; Hello Rahul

                                                                       
New Delhi: India has deputed two senior election officials and its Ambassador to Myanmar to oversee elections in that country.
Indian Ambassador to Myanmar VS Sheshadri, Manipur Chief Electoral Officer PC Lawmkunga and his Assam counterpart Maninder Singh will be observing the elections in Myanmar, the External Affairs Ministry said.
Voters in Myanmar are on Sunday casting ballots in historic polls seen as a test of the military-dominated regime's reforms, in which opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is standing for the first time.

Under one of the many scenarios being worked out, Manmohan Singh will likely step down as Prime Minister right after the Budget session of Parliament and be elevated to the post of President, making way for a younger leader – most likely Rahul Gandhi – to take over.

In fact, by some accounts, Manmohan Singh is believed to have already offered to resign, but has been urged by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to hold on until after the Budget session so as to put an effective succession plan in place. “Madam sees this as a chance to revive the party’s fortunes,” a senior leader who is privy to the imminent changes told Firstpost on condition of anonymity. “And you know what, she might just be able to pull it off.”

He, therefore, sounded out Sonia Gandhi and offered to resign, the source added. “He feels he’s played the role of Casabianca to perfection – you know, the boy who stood on the burning deck whence all but he had fled.” But now, Manmohan Singh evidently feels it’s time for him to bail out and “salvage what he can of his reputation that has been tarnished “ – particularly over the past three years since an avalanche of scams overran the government under his watch.

Sources close to 10, Janpath confirm that Manmohan Singh did meet Sonia Gandhi on Saturday. But they have a different account of what transpired at that meeting.

“It was Madam who, with the power of suggestion, gently steered the Prime Minister into offering to resign,” said the source. “The fact of it is that Madam realises that Dr Manmohan Singh’s utility as a front-office man who can be the shock absorber – for the party and the First Family – is past its sell-by date.”

From that account, Sonia Gandhi commiserated with Manmohan Singh’s angst, and agreed that a man so erudite ought not to have his name dragged into every petty corruption scandal. When Manmohan Singh then offered to resign, she feigned disappointment, but suggested that he hold on until after the Budget session of Parliament so that she could put a succession plan in place.

Disproportionate assets case: TDP demands action against Jagan Mohan Reddy

                                                                          

New Delhi: The CBI on Saturday closed in on YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy, filing its first chargesheet against him and 12 others in an alleged disproportionate assets case. Sources tell CNN-IBN that the CBI is unlikely to arrest Jagan this week. 

The CBI, meanwhile, also issued notices to eight ministers from YSR Reddy's Cabinet and 8 IAS officers asking why they should not be investigated in the case.
Jagan Reddy is the son of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy. His party issued a statement on Saturday, saying, "How can the CBI file a charge sheet when the investigation process is not complete? The Supreme Court has recently issued notices to the ministers, senior bureaucrats and CBI seeking explanation and even before giving a reply to the notice, the charge sheet is filed."

The 68-page chargesheet was filed in Hyderabad on Saturday. It also names suspended IAS officer and Jagan's auditor, BP Acharya.
The former Congress leader, however, hit back at the central probe agency, saying why no Congress leader was named in the chargesheet.

The Opposition TDP, meanwhile, has demanded that all ministers involved in the case be sacked.
"This is a collective responsibility... All those related to these ministers... why are they not taken into judicial custody...? Already some ministers have been issued notices... they are to give reply within one month... That is the stipulation... all the ministers must be suspended."