BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Fears of a global energy crisis rose Monday as the war in the Middle East raged on, with more U.S.-Israeli strikes on the Iranian capital and Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon. An Iranian drone strike temporarily shut Dubai’s airport, a crucial global travel hub, underscoring the threats to the world economy. Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran more than two weeks ago, Tehran has regularly fired on Israel, American bases in the region, and Gulf Arab countries’ energy infrastructure with drones and missiles. Iranian strikes on commercial ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz

New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI) City gas distribution companies have rolled out incentives to encourage consumers to shift from LPG to piped cooking gas (PNG) as part of the government plan to ease pressure on LPG supplies, a senior petroleum ministry official said on Monday. Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) – the CNG and piped cooking gas (PNG) retailer in Delhi and adjoining cities – is offering domestic consumers free gas worth Rs 500 if they take a PNG connection and start using it before March 31, while Mumbai-retailer Mahanagar Gas Ltd has announced incentives, including waiver of Rs 500 registration

New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI): Wholesale price inflation rose to a 11-month high of 2.13 per cent in February, driven by an uptick in prices of food and non-food articles, even though vegetable prices eased on a month-on-month basis, government data showed on Monday. This is the fourth straight month of rise in Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation. It was 1.81 per cent in January and 2.45 per cent in February last year. Economists said the WPI inflation is likely to pick up pace further if the oil price rise persists, and spills over to other goods (fertilisers, aluminium) given

New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI) The interim trade agreement between India and the US will be signed once the new global tariff architecture of America is in place, a senior government official said on Monday. “Because at the end of it, each country is doing a deal as a part of a package where one is at comparative advantage…vis a vis competitors,” the official said. India and the US last month announced finalisation of a framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement. According to that framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18