One dead, four rescued after gas explosion levels Baltimore homes

A fourth house in the row was ripped open, and windows were shattered in nearby homes, leaving the neighborhood strewn with debris and glass

A natural gas explosion destroyed three row houses in Baltimore on Monday, killing a woman and trapping other people in the wreckage. At least four people were hospitalized with serious injuries as firefighters searched for more survivors.

Dozens of firefighters converged on the piles of rubble. A fourth house in the row was ripped open, and windows were shattered in nearby homes, leaving the neighborhood strewn with debris and glass. It’s a disaster. It’s a mess. It’s unbelievable, said Diane Glover, who lives across the street. The explosion shattered her windows and blew open her front door, bending the frame. I’m still shaken up, she said hours later.

Four of the homes’ occupants were taken to hospitals in serious condition, while an adult woman was pronounced dead at the scene, a fire spokeswoman said. Rescuers were painstakingly going through the wreckage by hand. About two hours after the explosion, a line of firefighters removed a person on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance. Baltimore Fire Department spokeswoman Blair Adams said at least five people were inside, maybe more, when the homes exploded…Read More

Coronavirus impact: ONGC to lose Rs 4,000 crore with the new gas price

For every $1 dollar change, the company’s revenues are impacted by Rs 4,400-4,500 crore annually.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) will lose about Rs 4,000 crore in revenue and start making cash losses after the government slashed the natural gas prices by a steep 26 per cent by benchmarking it against rates prevalent in gas-surplus nations.

Prices of natural gas, which is used to produce fertilizer, generate electricity and gets converted into CNG for use in automobiles and piped natural gas for household cooking, was from April 1 cut to $ 2.39 per million British thermal unit – a rate about 37 per cent lower than the cost of production. “These rates are unsustainable for us. We have already told the government that the gas pricing should be freed. There should be complete pricing and marketing freedom,” ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Shashi Shanker told PTI here.

The BJP-led government had in October 2014 evolved a new pricing formula using rates prevalent in gas surplus nations like the US, Canada, and Russia to determine the price in a net importing country. Prices using this formula are calculated semi-annually. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on March 20, 2017, had stated that the cost of production of natural gas in the prolific Krishna Godavari basin is between $ 4.99 -7.30 per mmBtu. The same for other basins is in the range of $ 3.80 -6.59 per mmBtu, he had said…Read More

As coronavirus fails to ease, companies seek defence of ‘force majeure’

Force majeure refers to unexpected external circumstances that prevent a party to a contract from meeting their obligations

With the coronavirus outbreak that originated in Hubei province, China, showing no signs of abating any time soon, some companies that buy and sell goods in the Chinese market are taking interest in the legal defence of “force majeure.”

The death toll in China from the epidemic continues to climb and now stands above 1,000, more than the SARS epidemic two decades ago, with more than 42,000 confirmed cases in China and 319 cases in 24 other countries.

WHAT IS FORCE MAJEURE?

Force majeure refers to unexpected external circumstances that prevent a party to a contract from meeting their obligations. The underlying event must be unforeseeable and not the result of actions undertaken by the party invoking force majeure. Natural disasters, strikes, and terrorist attacks can all be force majeure events. Declaring force majeure may allow a party to a contract to avoid liability for nonperformance.

IS THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK A FORCE MAJEURE EVENT?

Legal experts said that the coronavirus likely qualifies, but any company invoking force majeure would need to show that it is effectively impossible to perform their contractual duties as a result of the outbreak. In other words, a company is not excused from an obligation just because it has become more costly or time-consuming, said John Scannapieco, a Nashville, Tennessee-based lawyer who advises U.S. companies on Chinese transactions. The coronavirus is “not carte blanche to say force majeure,” said Scannapieco, a shareholder at law firm Baker Donelson. “You have look at the facts and circumstances.”

Big bonanza for UP farmers as Adityanath govt cuts urea prices by 10%

State exchequer to take a hit of Rs 1,000 crore in VAT kitty

Economy policy: In a major boost to the farm sector just months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2019, the Yogi Adityanath government has cut the urea prices by more than 10 per cent in Uttar Pradesh.

The state urea prices were higher compared to other states, owing to the policy of slapping additional Value Added Tax (VAT) on natural gas. Acceding to the long-pending farmers’ demand to bring urea prices at par with other states, Yogi Adityanath government has decided to pare the prices. Now, a 45 kg bag of urea that retailed at Rs 299 would sell for Rs 266.50, while the 50 kg urea bag that was earlier sold for Rs 330.50 would be available to farmers for nearly Rs 299.

The new rates would be applicable from Saturday, a state government spokesperson said last night adding that the move was aimed at supplementing the wider roadmap of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.

Earlier, there were three VAT slabs with the piped natural gas being taxed at 26 per cent, including 5 per cent additional levy. Now, the VAT on natural gas has been rationalised from 21 per cent to 14.5 per cent and the additional VAT of 5 per cent waived off. This VAT cut would impact the state exchequer by almost Rs 1,000 crore per annum.

Contain Source: Business Standard or BS