Mysuru Dasara's centrepiece jumbo Arjuna killed by wild tusker
Bengaluru, Dec 4: The majestic elephant Arjuna, who carried the golden 'howdah' during the famous Mysuru Dasara procession, died in a fight with a wild tusker during a capture operation in Karnataka's Hassan district on Monday, officials said.
Sixty four-year-old Arjuna, who served the forest department for almost 52 years and had participated in many elephant capture operations, died near Yeslur in Sakaleshpur, they said.
According to forest officials, the elephant capture operation was carried out after a number of human deaths were reported in Hassan and Chikkamagaluru belt.
Owing to the pressure from the locals to tame the wild elephants, an operation was launched in the Hassan district's in Belur taluk on November 24, they said.
"Five elephants were captured from November 24-30, of which three have been left in other forest areas after fixing radio collars on them. Two of the female elephants which were also darted were radio collared and reunited with their families. All these five elephants are being monitored," said Kumar Pushkar, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife).
"Today, the operation shifted from Belur to Yeslur where we have some troubling elephants, therefore we wanted to capture and place radio collars on them so that we could note their movement and then alert the people accordingly. But unfortunately, we lost our best elephant Arjuna in a fight. He was inducted into the forest department in 1972 and served us for almost 52 years," Pushkar added.
Arjuna carried the 750-kg 'howdah' during the Dasara procession in Mysuru eight times until 2019.
Taking to microblogging site X', Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed grief over the death of the famed elephant.
"It was sad to hear the demise of Arjuna', the elephant who was loved by the people and who was the centrepiece of the historic Mysuru Dasara, Jambu Sawari (parade of caparisoned elephants) for eight years successfully," he said in the post in Kannada.
"Arjuna, who served mother Chamundeshwari by carrying a golden howdah weighing exactly 750 kg, marching with utmost restraint, died in a fight with wild elephant. Arjuna walking majestically among millions of people will forever remain in the minds of Kannadigas like me," his post added.
Karnataka Environment and Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre expressed grief over the death of Arjuna, saying it was very unfortunate that the famed elephant died after being attacked by a rogue tusker.
"The rouge elephant attacked Arjuna and hit him with its tusks, causing his death," Khandre said in a statement.
"Even after the staff opened fire in the air, the tusker attacked the tamed elephant. While the other three tamed elephant withdrew, Arjuna fought alone. The veterinarian and the mahout somehow escaped," he added.
Khandre said the forest officials have fixed radio collars on five wild elephants so far.
ಐತಿಹಾಸಿಕ ಮೈಸೂರು ದಸರಾದ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಬಿಂದುವಾದ ಜಂಬೂಸವಾರಿಯನ್ನು ಎಂಟು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಕಾಲ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಯಶಸ್ವಿಯಾಗಿ ನಡೆಸಿಕೊಟ್ಟು ಜನರ ಪ್ರೀತಿಪಾತ್ರವಾಗಿದ್ದ ಆನೆ ‘ಅರ್ಜುನ’ ಇನ್ನಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬ ಸುದ್ದಿ ಕೇಳಿ ನೋವಾಯಿತು.
— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) December 4, 2023
ಬರೋಬ್ಬರಿ 750 ಕೆ.ಜಿ ತೂಕದ ಚಿನ್ನದ ಅಂಬಾರಿ ಹೊತ್ತು, ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಸಂಯಮದಿಂದ ಮೆರವಣಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಗುವ ಮೂಲಕ ತಾಯಿ ಚಾಮುಂಡೇಶ್ವರಿಯ… pic.twitter.com/RA2cJka6kH
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Rs 30,000 cr loss a month: Oil companies bleed as fuel prices on hold amid global energy spike
New Delhi (PTI): About Rs 700-1,000 crore loss per day. Rs 30,000 crore every month. India's state oil companies are quietly absorbing a massive financial hit to keep petrol, diesel and LPG prices unchanged even as global energy markets face a turmoil that is bigger than all previous crises combined.
While countries from Japan to United Kingdom have raised petrol and diesel prices by up to 30 per cent since the start of the West Asia conflict, fuel prices in India continue at two-year-old levels.
The war disrupted India's import of 40 per cent of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel), 90 per cent cooking gas LPG and 65 per cent natural gas (used to generate electricity, make fertilizer, turned into CNG and piped to household kitchens for cooking), but state-owned oil companies have maintained uninterrupted fuel supplies with no rationing or shortage at any point in the last 10 weeks.
But this has come at a cost - Rs 30,000 crore under-recovery or loss every month for the three oil marketing companies - Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The under-recoveries - the gap between input costs and realised retail prices - rose sharply in March/April before tapering a bit. Daily under-recoveries during April were estimated at about Rs 18 per litre on petrol and Rs 25 per litre on diesel, translating into average losses of Rs 700-1,000 crore a day for OMCs, they said.
At a news briefing on developments in West Asia, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said prices in the international markets, on which India relies to meet 88 per cent of its oil needs, have been volatile and supplies impacted.
Crude oil prices which were around USD 70 per barrel two months ago, are now at USD 120, she said. "It has been government's endeavour to keep prices stable so far and that there is no price increase for consumers," she said. "This has hit finances of OMCs... monthly under-recoveries are of the order of Rs 30,000 crore."
She, however, refused to say if retail petrol and diesel prices will continue to hold.
"As I said, the endeavour so far has been to see that there is no price increase," she said.
The three oil marketing companies (OMCs) have worked overtime to keep the supply lines running even when demand spiked due to panic buying.
The government intervention included excise duty reductions and absorption of part of the fuel cost burden. The special additional excise duty on petrol was cut to Rs 3 per litre from Rs 13, while excise duty on diesel was reduced to zero from Rs 10 per litre.
The under-recoveries would have swelled to nearly Rs 62,500 crore had the government not cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per litre each.
The government, Sharma said, has taken a hit of Rs 14,000 crore a month in cutting the excise duty.
The Centre's effective absorption at peak crude prices was estimated at around Rs 24 per litre for petrol and Rs 30 per litre for diesel.
The February 28 strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran triggered a sharp escalation in West Asia tensions. Energy prices surged as the conflict widened and shipping risks intensified in the Strait of Hormuz - the shipping lane through which India and other countries imported crude oil, LPG and natural gas from Gulf countries. Tanker movement was disrupted.
The companies also faced additional costs from emergency crude sourcing, higher freight charges due to vessel diversions, elevated marine insurance premiums and refinery optimisation expenses. Despite these pressures, fuel and LPG supplies remained uninterrupted across the country.
The surge in crude prices and the decision to shield consumers from higher retail prices placed significant strain on OMC balance sheets and refining margins, sources said.
They added that the measures reflected a policy decision to prioritise consumer stability and economic continuity during a global energy shock.
Sources warned that a prolonged period of elevated crude prices could lead to higher working capital borrowings and force some recalibration of capital expenditure plans. However, investments linked to refining expansion, energy security infrastructure, ethanol blending, biofuels and transition fuels would continue with government backing, they said.
India's approach contrasted with measures adopted by several other economies, where fuel prices rose sharply after the conflict-driven energy shock.
Petrol prices increased by about 34 per cent in Spain, 30 per cent in Japan, Italy and Israel, 27 per cent in Germany and 22 per cent in the United Kingdom, according to estimates. Several countries also introduced rationing, conservation advisories, emergency relief packages or fuel caps.
In India, petrol prices remained Rs 94.77 per litre and diesel at Rs 87.67, with no rationing, mobility restrictions or supply disruptions, they added.
Sharma said the revenues that OMCs earn are used to buy crude oil, build infrastructure to process it into fuel and create channels that will take the fuel to consumers.
Their capex spending is all dependent on the revenues they earn, she added.
