At India’s flagship industry event, entrepreneurs present solutions to fuel energy transition

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Updated 14 February 2025
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At India’s flagship industry event, entrepreneurs present solutions to fuel energy transition

At India’s flagship industry event, entrepreneurs present solutions to fuel energy transition
  • Local and international exhibitors display their new technology at India Energy Week 2025 in New Delhi
  • Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister highlights adoption of biofuels, renewables and hydrogen

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of Indian entrepreneurs and innovators have presented their inventions and new solutions at India Energy Week 2025 in New Delhi, displaying their efforts to contribute to the country’s energy transition programs.

Tens of thousands of visitors, officials and delegates took part in the Indian government’s flagship annual energy event, which ran at the Yashobhoomi convention from Tuesday through Friday, featuring exhibitions by 700 local and international industry players.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who opened India Energy Week, highlighted the country’s vision of transformation and decarbonization, as the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases seeks to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070

“What we are seeing today is a recalibration of strategy — prioritizing near-term profitability while keeping long-term transition efforts in play ... the primary focus remains on increasing the adoption of biofuels, renewables and hydrogen,” he told the event’s participants.

“The transition isn’t about eliminating hydrocarbons overnight but leveraging them strategically while scaling renewables to mitigate emissions ... Even when renewables become the dominant energy sources, oil and gas will continue to play a pivotal role — not just in power generation but in stabilizing grids, industrial hydrogen and energy storage innovations.”

India aims to generate 500 GW of electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, under its nationally determined contributions to the Paris Agreement.

The solar power sector is the dominant contributor to the country’s renewable energy growth, accounting for 47 percent of the total installed renewable energy capacity. It has observed a 3,450 percent increase in capacity over the past decade, rising from 2.82 GW in 2014 to 100 GW in January 2025, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The country is also heavily investing in green hydrogen — and emerging future alternatives to fossil fuels. Developing technologies to produce it is part of India’s flagship initiatives.

Also known as renewable hydrogen, green hydrogen can be used as fuel and is produced from the electrolysis of water. The process does not generate polluting carbon emissions but is currently very expensive.

India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission launched in 2023 aims to reduce production costs and increase the scale of the industry by 2030, as it targets the production of 5 million tons of green hydrogen generating 125 GW of power a year.

Renewable energy growth is fueled by local production and inventions, with India’s private sector being a top contributor to the transition process.

“There is a green hydrogen mission from the government of India to produce 5 million metric tons of green hydrogen by 2030 ... there are incentive programs run by the government,” said Rohish Kalvit, vice president of Pune-based h2e Power Systems, one of India Energy Week’s exhibitors, told Arab News.

His company is manufacturing electrolyzer stacks and fuel cell stacks, which are critical components in the production and use of hydrogen energy,

“We are helping in the national green hydrogen mission in terms of manufacturing that particular molecule ... as well as doing a lot of R&D (research and development) activities on the material part and the technology part (to) produce cheap and affordable hydrogen in the near future,” Kalvit said.

“India Energy Week is a platform which is being set up by the government of India to bring all the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), vendors, suppliers as well as offtakers to come and understand at what level each company is working in the hydrogen sector ... people are coming with open minds in order to join hands together at multiple levels to grow in this particular business.”

Raj Process Equipments and Systems, one of the leading process equipment manufacturers in India, was presenting its biogas-based solutions.

“The future is completely about biogas, compressed natural gas. We will be replacing petrol and diesel with this CBG — compressed Biogas ... it is the same as CNG (compressed natural gas), but in case of compressed biogas we get the gas from waste. From municipal waste we make biogas, we upgrade it we make it equivalent to CNG and this we use for vehicles,” said Binu Panickar, the company’s vice president.

“Biogas will be the future. It will completely replace the oil, petrol, diesel. People will completely rely on this technology.”

For him, India Energy Week was like “Maha Kumbh Mela” of the country’s energy sector — a reference to the country’s biggest religious pilgrimage, which draws millions of worshippers.

“Various technology providers are taking participating in it and we have seen a good platform to show the people what we can provide. We can see good number of visitors coming. They are getting knowledge from this event.”


Russia launches drone attack on Ukraine port providing access to Black Sea, officials say

Russia launches drone attack on Ukraine port providing access to Black Sea, officials say
Updated 26 March 2025
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Russia launches drone attack on Ukraine port providing access to Black Sea, officials say

Russia launches drone attack on Ukraine port providing access to Black Sea, officials say
  • The US reached separate deals on Tuesday with Ukraine and Russia to pause their attacks over the Black Sea
  • The mayor of Mykolaiv said there were emergency power outages early on Wednesday in the city

Russia launched an overnight drone attack on the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv, which provides the country with access to the Black Sea, and struck Kryvyi Rih in what Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday was the war’s biggest drone attack on the city.
The United States reached separate deals on Tuesday with Ukraine and Russia to pause their attacks over the Black Sea and against each other’s energy targets, but it was not clear when and how the deals would come into force.
The mayor of Mykolaiv said there were emergency power outages early on Wednesday in the city, following a report by the region’s governor that seven drones were destroyed overnight over the region.
It was not immediately clear whether the power cuts were precautionary or a result of the overnight attack on Mykolaiv.
Russia also attacked the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, igniting fires and damaging buildings but causing no deaths, the head of the city’s military administration said.
The Ukrainian military said its air defense units had shot down 56 of 117 drones launched by Russia in the overnight attack. It noted that 48 drones were lost, referring to the Ukrainian military’s redirecting them with electronic warfare.
“Apparently, this is how the occupiers ‘want peace’,” Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the military administration, wrote on the Telegram messaging app, describing it as the war’s biggest drone attack on the city. “Most importantly, there were no deaths or injuries.”
Reuters could not independently verify the reports from Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih. The size of the attack on Kryvyi Rih and what was targeted there were not immediately clear.
Vilkul had reported at least 15 explosions in Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown and a frequent target of Russian attacks.
There was no immediate comment from Russia, but the Russian defense ministry said that its air defense units destroyed nine Ukrainian drones overnight, including two over the waters of the Black Sea.


Kenyan UN peacekeeper missing in Haiti following gang attack

Kenyan UN peacekeeper missing in Haiti following gang attack
Updated 26 March 2025
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Kenyan UN peacekeeper missing in Haiti following gang attack

Kenyan UN peacekeeper missing in Haiti following gang attack
  • Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed
  • Gang violence has left more than one million people homeless in the Caribbean country

NAIROBI: A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said on Wednesday.
The Kenyan officers were on their way Tuesday to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” according to the mission’s statement, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer.
Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media.
Gang violence has left more than one million people homeless in the Caribbean country in recent years, according to the UN, with many crowding into makeshift and unsanitary shelters after gunmen razed their homes.
The Kenya-led force was launched last year and tasked with fighting gangs trying to seize full control of Haiti’s capital. Kenya had promised to send 1,000 officers to Haiti. Since June, 800 have been deployed.
Another Kenyan officer who was shot and killed by the gangs in Haiti in February was buried in Kenya last week. Opposition leaders in the east African country called for the mission’s officers to be better equipped.
The mission has been struggling with a lack of personnel as gangs that control 85 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, keep seizing more territory. The force’s funding has also been dealt a blow after the US, its biggest backer, froze some of its funding, part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping freeze on foreign assistance.


South Korea’s wildfires kill 24, wreak ‘unprecedented damage’

South Korea’s wildfires kill 24, wreak ‘unprecedented damage’
Updated 26 March 2025
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South Korea’s wildfires kill 24, wreak ‘unprecedented damage’

South Korea’s wildfires kill 24, wreak ‘unprecedented damage’
  • More than a dozen fires broke out over the weekend, scorching wide swathes of the southeast
  • The blazes forced around 27,000 residents to urgently evacuate

ANDONG, South Korea: One of South Korea’s worst-ever wildfire outbreaks has killed at least 24 people, officials said Wednesday, with multiple raging blazes causing “unprecedented damage” and threatening two UNESCO-listed sites.

More than a dozen fires broke out over the weekend, scorching wide swathes of the southeast, forcing around 27,000 people to urgently evacuate, with the fire cutting off roads and downing communications lines as residents fled in panic.

The death toll jumped to 24 on Wednesday, as wind-driven flames tore through neighborhoods and razed an ancient temple.

“Twenty four people are confirmed dead in the wildfires so far,” with 12 seriously injured, a ministry of interior and safety official said, adding that these were “preliminary figures” and the toll could rise.

Most of those killed were local residents, but at least three firefighters were killed, and a pilot in a firefighting helicopter died when his aircraft crashed in a mountain area, officials said.

According to the interior ministry, the wildfires have charred 17,398 hectares (42,991 acres), with the blaze in Uiseong county alone accounting for 87 percent of the total.

The extent of damage already makes it South Korea’s second largest, after the inferno in April 2000 that scorched 23,913 hectares across the east coast.

The government has raised the crisis alert to its highest level and taken the rare step of transferring some inmates out of prisons in the area.

“Wildfires burning for a fifth consecutive day... are causing unprecedented damage,” South Korea’s acting president Han Duck-soo said.

He told an emergency safety and disaster meeting that the blazes were “developing in a way that is exceeding both existing prediction models and earlier expectations.”

“Throughout the night, chaos continued as power and communication lines were cut in several areas and roads were blocked,” he added.

In the city of Andong, some evacuees sheltering in an elementary school gym said they had to flee so quickly they could bring nothing with them.

“The wind was so strong,” Kwon So-han, a 79-year-old resident in Andong said, adding that as soon as he got the evacuation order he fled.

“The fire came from the mountain and fell on my house,” he said.

“Those who haven’t experienced it won’t know. I could only bring my body.”

Authorities had been using helicopters to battle the blazes, but suspended all such operations after a helicopter crashed Wednesday, killing the pilot on board.

Authorities said changing wind patterns and dry weather had revealed the limitations of conventional firefighting methods.

The fires are “the most devastating” yet in South Korea, acting president Han added.

By Wednesday, two UNESCO-listed sites popular with tourists — historic Hahoe Folk Village and Byeongsan Seowon — were under threat.

Authorities said late Wednesday that the fire was just five kilometers away from Hahoe, a village where some houses were covered with thatched roofs.

Firefighters were also on standby at nearby Byeongsan Seowon, known for its pavillion-style ancient academies.

Huge plumes of smoke turned the sky over the village grey and huge chunks of ash floated in the air, with fire trucks spraying water and fire-retardants onto the historic site in a desperate bit to save it.

Last year was South Korea’s hottest year on record, with the Korea Meteorological Administration saying that the average annual temperature was 14.5 degrees Celsius — two degrees higher than the preceding 30-year average of 12.5 degrees.

The fire-hit region had been experiencing unusually dry weather with below-average precipitation, authorities have said, with the South experiencing more than double the number of fires this year than last.

Some types of extreme weather have a well-established link with climate change, such as heatwaves or heavy rainfall.

Other phenomena, such as forest fires, droughts, snowstorms and tropical storms can result from a combination of complex factors.

“We can’t say that it’s only due to climate change, but climate change is directly (and) indirectly affecting the changes we are experiencing now. This is a sheer fact,” Yeh Sang-Wook, professor of climatology at Seoul’s Hanyang University, said.

“Wildfires will become more frequent,” he added.

“As the atmosphere becomes warmer due to climate change, the water vapor in the ground evaporates more easily, so the amount of moisture contained in the ground decreases. So, all this creates the conditions wildfires can occur more frequently.”

The major fire in Uiseong was reportedly caused by a person tending to a family grave who accidentally ignited the blaze.

Apple farmer Cho Jae-oak said that he and his wife had sprayed water around their house all day to protect it.

“We kept spraying and guarding it. When the fire was burning on the mountain, fireballs flew here,” he said, adding that the encroaching flames eventually forced them to leave.


America’s allies alarmed by a leaked group chat about attack plans

America’s allies alarmed by a leaked group chat about attack plans
Updated 26 March 2025
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America’s allies alarmed by a leaked group chat about attack plans

America’s allies alarmed by a leaked group chat about attack plans
  • The European diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, suggested the security breach could make allies question the reliability of the US as a partner

LONDON: As wake-up calls go, the alarms don’t get much louder.
Allies of the United States see the group chat between top US officials about a planned attack in Yemen that accidentally included a journalist as a jaw-dropping security breach which casts doubt on intelligence-sharing with Washington and the security of joint military operations.
“Scary” and “reckless” was the verdict of one European diplomat about the discussion on the Signal messaging app about strikes on Houthi rebels. Neil Melvin, a security expert at defense think tank the Royal United Services Institute, called it “pretty shocking.”
“It’s some of the most high-ranking US officials seeming to display a complete disregard for the normal security protocols,” he said.
Beyond the security concerns raised by the leaked chat, US officials addressed the country’s trans-Atlantic allies with disdain as Vice President JD Vance complained about “bailing out” Europe and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth slammed “pathetic” European “freeloading.”
The criticism is another blow to a long-standing relationship already strained by President Donald Trump’s blunt “America First” approach and disregard for friendly nations.
Melvin said that for America’s allies, “the alarm clock’s been ringing for a long time.”
In public, however, European officials insisted all was well in the trans-Atlantic relationship.
“We have a very close relationship with the US on matters of security, defense and intelligence,” said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman, Dave Pares. “They are our closest ally when it comes to these matters, have been for many years and will be for many years to come.”
France’s Foreign Ministry said “the United States is our ally, and France intends to continue its cooperation with Washington, as well as with all its allies and European partners, in order to address current challenges — particularly in the area of European security.”
A growing divide
Since taking office, the Trump administration has halted government funding for programs that support democratic principles around the world and presented a less welcoming face to visitors.
US embassies in at least 17 countries have posted warnings for would-be travelers that engaging in behavior deemed harmful by the government could get them deported. Several European countries have issued warnings about visiting the United States after international tourists were caught up in Trump’s border crackdown.
Trump has appalled allies with his repeatedly stated aim of taking over Greenland — an autonomous Danish territory that Vance and second lady Usha Vance are due to visit this week — and his desire to make Canada the 51st state.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country has to “take greater ownership” of its own defense in the face of threats: “We have to look out for ourselves.”
Nathalie Loiseau, a member of the European parliament, told the BBC that she was “flabbergasted” by the breach.
“If I was (Russian President) Vladimir Putin, I would feel jobless. Russia has nothing more to do. … You don’t even need to spy on the US administration. They leak by themselves,” she said.
US reliability questioned
The European diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, suggested the security breach could make allies question the reliability of the US as a partner.
The diplomat expressed hope that the Signal lapse was due to a lack of experience in government rather than a deliberate disregard for security.
Asked if he had concerns about sharing intelligence with the US after the Signal incident, Carney said “it’s a serious, serious issue and all lessons must be taken.” He said it would be important to see “how people react to those mistakes and how they tighten them up.”
Britain could be particularly exposed by US security breaches. Its intelligence network is entwined with the US in the Five Eyes alliance, and the countries’ militaries work more closely than those of almost any other nations.
Britain’s Royal Air Force provided air-to-air refueling for US planes during the strike on the Houthis, but UK Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard insisted British personnel had not been put at risk by the breach.
“We’ve got high confidence that the measures that we have got with our allies, including the United States, remain intact,” he told lawmakers.
Ed Davey, the leader of Britain’s opposition Liberal Democrats, said the lapse showed the Trump administration can’t be trusted to protect its own intelligence and “it could only be a matter of time until our own intelligence shared with them is also leaked.”
“This could put British lives at risk,” he said.
Alex Clarkson, a lecturer in European and international studies at King’s College London, said “the professionals and old hands” who “contained the damage” during Trump’s first term are largely gone.
“So what we’re having now is … a manifestation of tendencies that were held in check that we already saw in the first round,” he said.
American frustration
The US has underpinned European security since World War II, and Trump is not the first president to bristle at the burden.
“From the Obama administration (onward), there’s been quite some frustrations in the US security apparatus about the failure of the Europeans … to step up,” Melvin said.
Trump has gone much further than his predecessors in upending the decades-old security arrangements. He has long contended the US needs to completely rethink its relationship with the rest of the world, saying other countries have been “taking advantage” of the nation’s military might by not paying enough for their own defense.
Trump has praised autocrats including Putin and sent chills through NATO during last year’s election campaign with his comment that Russia should “do whatever the hell it wants” to members that don’t meet military spending targets.
“There’s a real sense of divorce, that America is not just disinterested in the trans-Atlantic alliance but views Europe fundamentally as an adversary,” said Max Bergmann, a former State Department official who now works at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“It’s very clear at this point, abundantly clear, that it will be next to impossible to count on the United States for the cause of defending democracy in the world,” said Kevin Casas-Zamora, secretary-general of the pro-democracy group International IDEA.
NATO leaders point out that Trump’s criticism and the war in Ukraine have led to a majority of member states meeting the target of spending at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense.
Trump’s reelection and rapprochement with Putin has hastened European military plans, with nations scrambling to ramp up weapons production and create their own security structures – including a UK- and France-led “coalition of the willing” to help guarantee a future ceasefire in Ukraine.
Clarkson said Europe has more strength than many give it credit for, and severing the trans-Atlantic bond would hurt the US, too.
“One shouldn’t underestimate European military industrial capacity,” he said. “There are all kinds of things that can go wrong … but there is an element here also that the Americans are awakening a sleeping giant.”
 

 


Judge rules pro-Palestinian student and permanent US resident cannot be detained

Judge rules pro-Palestinian student and permanent US resident cannot be detained
Updated 26 March 2025
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Judge rules pro-Palestinian student and permanent US resident cannot be detained

Judge rules pro-Palestinian student and permanent US resident cannot be detained
  • Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the administration wrongly conflates their criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian rights with antisemitism and support for Hamas

WASHINGTON: A Korean American Columbia University student, who is a legal permanent US resident and has participated in pro-Palestinian protests, cannot be detained by federal immigration officials for now as she fights the administration of President Donald Trump over attempts to deport her, a judge ruled on Tuesday.
Yunseo Chung, 21, has lived in the US since she was seven, and sued the Trump administration on Monday to prevent her deportation. Her legal team was informed this month that her lawful permanent resident status was being revoked, according to court records in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Trump has pledged to deport foreign pro-Palestinian protesters and accused them of supporting Hamas militants, of posing hurdles for US foreign policy and of being antisemitic.
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the administration wrongly conflates their criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian rights with antisemitism and support for Hamas. Human rights advocates condemn the government’s moves.
The US Department of Homeland Security alleged Chung engaged in concerning conduct, including when she was previously arrested by police during a protest at Barnard College that DHS termed “pro-Hamas.”
Chung has not yet been arrested by federal officials. Immigration agents made multiple visits to her residences looking for her.
US District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order against the government that prevents Chung from being detained, court records showed.
Actions against Chung form part of a pattern of government efforts against pro-Palestinian voices critical of Israel’s military assault on Gaza, her lawsuit said.
Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested this month and is legally challenging his detention, is also a lawful permanent resident. Trump, without evidence, accused Khalil of supporting Hamas, which Khalil denies.
Badar Khan Suri, an Indian studying at Georgetown University, was detained last week. A federal judge barred Suri’s deportation.
US officials have asked Cornell University student Momodou Taal to turn himself in, his attorneys say, adding his visa was being revoked.