Trump’s 25% tariff threat on Venezuela oil imports may impact India
New York: US President Donald Trump has announced a 25% tariff on exports from countries purchasing oil and gas from Venezuela, a move that could significantly impact India.
Trump made the announcement on Truth Social on Monday, stating, “Any country that purchases Oil and/or Gas from Venezuela will be forced to pay a Tariff of 25 per cent to the United States on any Trade they do with our Country.” The tariff is set to take effect on April 2, coinciding with his plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on all countries, though reports suggest these may be sector-specific.
India, which imported 63,115 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan oil in 2024, had been looking to expand trade with the South American nation. In February, Venezuela’s Vice President and Petroleum Minister Delcy Rodríguez met with India’s Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri during the Energy India Week event. Puri had expressed optimism about increasing imports from Venezuela, citing easing international constraints. However, Trump’s tariff move now threatens these plans.
Trump linked the tariff to his campaign against the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), which he designated as a “foreign terrorist organisation.” He accused Venezuela’s government of deliberately sending gang members to the US, attributing them to crimes across the country.
The tariff would affect multiple nations, including China, Venezuela’s largest oil importer. Ironically, the US itself remains a top buyer, importing 228,000 bpd from Venezuela in 2024. Trump’s administration has also given US oil company Chevron two months to wind down its Venezuelan operations.
Venezuela has been under US sanctions for years over allegations against President Nicolás Maduro. While former President Joe Biden had eased restrictions through a general waiver, it was rescinded last year following claims of unfair elections. Biden’s administration had introduced specific waivers, which Trump has now revoked.
With the new tariff set to take effect in April, India’s plans for deeper energy ties with Venezuela face uncertainty.
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Gurugram Police arrest BJP Yuva Morcha member for spreading fake murder story on social media
New Delhi: Gurugram Police have arrested BJP Yuva Morcha member Hariom Mishra, for allegedly spreading a fabricated and communally sensitive story on social media about the murder of a college student in Gurugram.
Mishra who is also known as Shaurya Mishra had shared a collage of four photographs on his X handle earlier this month. He claimed that a 24-year-old college student, identified as Nikita Agarwal, had been murdered by her classmate Arif Khan in Gurugram. In the post, he alleged that the woman was blackmailed, forced into prostitution, gangraped, and eventually killed. He also claimed that Arif dumped her body in a forest. The claims were presented as being based on police sources.
The post went viral and garnering over 1.5 lakh views, and was amplified by several right-wing social media handles across X, Facebook and Instagram. A verification of the claims revealed that no such incident had taken place in Gurugram. A search of credible news reports showed no record of any such murder. The police said this news would have inevitably attracted media attention if it were true.
On December 11, Gurugram Police publicly refuted the claims through their official X handle. They stated that the information which was being circulated was completely false. The police warned that legal action would be taken against those spreading misinformation. Despite the warning, Mishra neither deleted the post nor issued any clarification.
Police in Gurugram confirmed Mishra's arrest on December 16. The police said a FIR was filed after he continued to spread false information about the alleged murder of a Hindu woman by Muslim man. Police said Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, is now being investigated.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh told The Print that the accused had deliberately misrepresented facts and used objectionable content to spread hatred along religious lines. “Such posts can create serious disturbances in society, and the police take these matters very seriously,” he said.
A reverse image search conducted by fact-checkers at Alt News, revealed that the photographs used in the viral post were unrelated to the claims, while two of the images were traced to a Pinterest account belonging to influencer Maulik Chopra and another image was sourced from an Instagram post by influencer Shivam Thakur featuring a woman named Deepanshi Rawat. The fourth image was found on an unrelated Instagram page. The images depicted different individuals and had no connection to any crime.
Police said they are also investigating Mishra’s motive behind sharing the false and provocative content.
