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power consumption grew 10.7 per cent to 140.49 billion units in September mainly due to increased use of cooling appliances amid unusually humid weather conditions. In the year-ago period, power consumption stood at 126.91 Billion Units (BU), higher than 112.43 billion units in September 2021, according to government data. The peak power demand met — the highest supply in a day — rose to 239.97 GW in September. The peak power supply stood at 199.50 GW in September 2022 and 180.73 GW in September 2021. The power ministry had estimated the country's electricity demand to touch 229 GW during summer.

Tea production across the country declined by around four per cent to 177.95 million kilograms in August this year as compared to the output in the year-ago month. The production volume in August last year was 185.48 million kgs (mkgs). According to Tea Board data, production in north India, primarily comprising the states of Assam and West Bengal, fell to 158.04 mkgs in the month under review from 170.97 mkgs produced in August, 2022.

Met office has warned. «As we go through the week, the high pressure tends to drift further eastwards; we could waft up some warmer air — some significantly warmer air — by the time we get to Friday and in to Saturday,» Met Office forecaster Alex Deakin said. London, the national capital, is expected to approach the mid-20s on Saturday and Sunday.

Click here! US President Joe Biden Sunday vowed to "not walk away" from Ukraine in an attempt to reassure Kyiv as Russia's offensive drags on for a 20th month. “We cannot under any circumstances allow America's support for Ukraine to be interrupted," AP reported Biden as saying after Congress averted a government shutdown by passing a short-term funding package late Saturday that dropped assistance for Ukraine in the battle against Russia.

40 percent duty imposed on the export of onions. The Nashik District Onion Traders’ Association claimed that the duty would severely dampen the wholesale price, thereby affecting their earnings as well as the return on crop expected by the farmers. The duty was imposed in August, when data for the preceding month showed food inflation at an alarming 11.51 percent.

CNBC report. Other than falling trend of travelling in many countries, leisure travelling continues to be popular in countries like China, Mexico, Japan, and Brazil, reported CNBC citing Morning Consult’s “The State of Travel & Hospitality" study published in September. At the global level, the falling interest in travelling in most of the countries can be explained by the fading away of the phenomenon of ‘revenge travelling’.

NEW DELHI : The European Union’s (EU’s) carbon tax—the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)—came into effect on 1 October, causing a wedge between developing and developed countries. Interestingly, it is facing resistance from even within Europe. Mint explains.

malaria vaccine jointly developed by the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India (SII), leveraging Novavax's adjuvant, has now been recommended for use by the World Health Organization's (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group (MPAG), paving the way for a global roll-out soon. The R21/Matrix-M™ malaria vaccine is an easily deployable vaccine that can be manufactured at mass scale and modest cost, enabling as many as hundreds of millions of doses to be supplied to countries which are suffering a significant malaria burden.

COP28 climate talks told an Abu Dhabi oil conference on Monday that the fossil fuel industry would play an essential role in addressing the climate crisis. «For too long, this industry has been viewed as part of the problem, that it's not doing enough and in some cases even blocking progress,» said Sultan Al Jaber, the president-designate of the COP28 talks, who is also the head of UAE state-owned oil firm ADNOC. «This is your opportunity to show the world that, in fact, you are central to the solution,» he told the ADIPEC conference of global industry figures and government officials. «This industry can change the global debate… It is time to silence the sceptics by applying scale, capital and technology to deliver outcomes.» Jaber urged industry leaders to curb emissions associated with energy production and expand use of renewable energy sources. He also encouraged them to embrace «low carbon solutions» like carbon capture and storage, tools that climate experts say distract from the urgent goal of slashing fossil fuel pollution. Climate activists have criticised the appointment of Jaber to lead the COP28 talks which kick off next month in Dubai.

Good morning,

Tim Dean manages a precast factory in the Snowy Mountain town of Cooma, population 7514, and says it is “a great place to work and to live”.

Peter Alexander, the Premier Investments-owned sleepwear brand targeting an overseas expansion is worth between $999 million and $1.59 billion, according to investment bank analysts working to place a valuation on the business ahead of a potential spin-off and ASX listing.

New Delhi: The European Union’s much-debated ‘carbon tax’ on imported goods, which has industrial goods manufacturers worried about a potential dampening of margins on their exports, entered into a transitional phase on Sunday. The EU is seeking to impose this first-of-its-kind tax – called the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism – on the import of carbon-intensive goods as it looks to become a climate-neutral or net-zero carbon economy by 2050. European companies from seven carbon-intensive sectors – steel, cement, fertiliser, aluminium, iron, electricity and hydrogen products – will have to share data about their carbon emissions with the EU.

The highly-mutated Covid variant Pirola has now spread to «most regions in the UK» with experts anticipatinga further surge in infections as the country heads into autumn. UK's Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) said that the strain has been spotted in most parts of the UK. “The BA.2.86 continues to transmit across the UK, with isolated cases being detected in various regions,” a spokesperson for the agency said. UKHSA Chief Medical Advisor Susan Hopkins said, “While this is still very early data and more research is needed before we can be certain, it is encouraging to see an initial indication that BA.2.86 demonstrates similar levels of antibody escape compared to other variants circulating in the UK. Hopkins further said that there was no evidence to suggest that Pirola strain can make people seriously ill. «The data is too limited, but there is so far no evidence to suggest that the strain is more likely to make people seriously ill than other Omicron variants in circulation. She also urged people to take a booster dose for protection against the new variant. “The autumn vaccination programme started this month, and this new data shows once again how important it is that the most vulnerable among us are fully vaccinated in order to receive the greatest possible protection.

rate tightening cycle where depositors are benefiting as banks scramble for funds while borrowers felt the pinch due to the linking of rates to repo rate. But banks could face the heat as margins are under pressure.

Dubai International Airport has spiraled into a harrowing four-month ordeal, resulting from an altercation that led to an American student's placement on the UAE's no-fly list.

Fuel prices consumers pay at the pump will be driven by a willingness to keep investing in fossil fuels, the UAE's energy minister said on Monday, as oil industry leaders reiterated the need for ongoing investment to smooth the energy transition. Speaking at the ADIPEC energy industry event in Abu Dhabi, Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said the OPEC+ producer group cares «that the price is right for consumers, but right for the consumers for a very limited time only is short-sighted». More investment is needed in oil and gas for prices to be «right at the pump», he added. When asked whether high crude prices could threaten the health of the global economy, al-Mazrouei said OPEC+ never targets a certain oil price. The group, which comprises the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia, in June agreed to extend their oil output cuts until the end of 2024. Saudi Arabia and Russia have also extended 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of additional voluntary cuts until the end of the year. That helped push Brent crude prices to above $90 a barrel in early September, with the futures contract last week approaching the psychological threshold of $100 a barrel. OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais said at the same event that he is optimistic about oil demand growth, and that he saw under-investment as a risk to energy security. «We are… running quite low on spare capacity, we have said this repeatedly, and this requires a concerted effort by all of the stakeholders to see the importance of investing in this industry,» he said. Mazrouei said investment by both international and national oil companies was needed, and that «these investments need the financial world to be willing to

Gehlot on Monday said the Centre will have to implement the Old Pension Scheme for employees across the country as done by his government in the state. Sharing the video of a protest held in Delhi on Sunday demanding the implementation of Old Pension Scheme (OPS), Gehlot wrote on X, «OPS was implemented for the first time in Rajasthan on humanitarian ground.

Khaled Khalifa has died of cardiac arrest at the age of 59 at his home in Damascus, a close friend told AFP. Khalifa, who hailed from Maryamin in northwestern Aleppo province, was celebrated for his novels, television screenplays and newspaper columns, and honoured with several of the Arab world's top literary awards. He «died in his home alone in Damascus» on Saturday, said journalist Yaroub Aleesa, who had spent time with the author during his final days. «We called him repeatedly and he didn't respond.

Sky Force', which will chronicle the «untold true story of India's first and deadliest air strike». The 56-year-old actor took to X and shared an announcement teaser of the movie on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, revered freedom fighters and stalwarts of India, both of whom were born on October 2.

earthquake of magnitude 5.2 on the Richter scale hit Assam and Meghalaya on Monday.