The daily death toll of 149 was reported by Iran’s Health Ministry on Wednesday, taking the national fatality rate past the 55,000 mark.
The daily death toll of 149 was reported by Iran’s Health Ministry on Wednesday, taking the national fatality rate past the 55,000 mark.
The Iranian Cabinet on Wednesday approved a bill to pay $150,000 or its equivalent in euros to the families of victims in the Ukrainian airliner accidentally shot down by Iran last year.
Oil gained ground on Wednesday on the back of a weaker dollar, a decline in US crude oil inventories and as Britain approved another coronavirus vaccine, but both benchmark contracts were set to end the year about 20% lower. Brent crude futures rose 45 cents to $51.54 a barrel, having started the year above $66, CNBC reported.
According to the Climate Change Performance Index, Iran is third out of 61 countries that had the worst performance in fighting global warming in 2020.
Placed 59th, Iran is among the worst performers just above Saudi Arabia (60th) and the United States (61st), Bargh News reported.
Iran’s position has declined slightly compared to last year’s CCPI when it was one notch lower. Details of the unacceptable performance show a grim picture similar to last year in the very low-rated areas of greenhouse gas emissions and renewables.
Strikingly, Iran performs very low in all indicators of both categories, indicating very poor current levels and no sign of improvement in the foreseeable future.
The LNG market enters 2021 with reports of a South Korean company planning to use LNG-cooled warehouses for bulk storage of Covid-19 vaccines as conventional cold distribution chains could be stretched.
Kavian Petrochemical Company in the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in Asalouyeh, Bushehr Province, is the main injector of ethylene to the West Ethylene Pipeline and plays an important role in supplying feedstock to petrochemical complexes in the western and northwestern regions to complete the value chain of ethylene.
One of the largest ethylene producers, Kavian annually produces 2 million tons of ethylene that is supplied to Lorestan, Kermanshah, Ilam, Kurdestan, Mahabad, Miandoab and Tabriz petrochemical plants through the WEP. Moreover, the surplus production is used in the petrochemical companies located in Mahshahr Special Economic Zone, the National Petrochemical Company news website Nipna reported.
The West Ethylene Pipeline--a 1,200-kilometer pipeline that runs from Asalouyeh in the south all the way to West Azarbaijan Province in the northwest, feeds a string of petrochemical facilities.
Majlis Research Center, the research arm of Iranian Parliament, cast serious doubt over a 25% pay increase for civil servants proposed by the government in the budget bill for the next fiscal year (March 2021-22).
Data regarding household income and expenditure in the year ending March 2020 show around 80% of government workers fall in top five income deciles and 60% in top three deciles, MRC said in a recent report.
“The fierce competition for grabbing positions at governmental organizations is a testament to this fact. Statistics also show 80% of families with government employee as the head of the household own a car whereas the ratio stands at less than 45% for other families,” the report said.
Imam Khomeini International Airport City Company has received 2,000 billion rials ($7.84 million) in coronavirus loans at the lending rate of 12%, says Mohammad Mehdi Karbalaei, the airport’s managing director.
“The government-backed financial assistance package was supposed to be paid to transportation companies hit by the pandemic, but IKIA was found eligible to receive these loans as well due to the sharp decline of revenues. Following the Ukraine plane crash and the outbreak of coronavirus, IKIA’s revenues slumped by 85% from last year’s 7,000 billion rials [$27.45 million],” he was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
“As per the budget bill for the next year [March 2021-22], Imam Khomeini International Airport City will receive 50 billion rials [$196,078]. It also has 10,000 billion rials ($39.21 million) in unpaid credits. Following their allocation, they will be spent on improving the airport’s infrastructures such as runway renovation and completing the airport’s free trade zone to attract foreign investors,” he said.
“Negotiations are ongoing with three foreign investors to complete the capacity of Terminal II [formerly called Iranshahr]. Once completed, the capacity of the airport will increase from 10 million to 40 million passengers per year.”
A total of 308,970 tons of bananas worth $210.32 million were imported during nine months ending Dec. 20 compared with 334,252 tons worth $226.06 million in the last fiscal year (March 2019-20), according to Rouhollah Latifi, spokesperson of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.
“Despite the ban on order registration for banana imports [since the Iranian month ending May 20], overall imports do not show a significant difference compared with last year. The main exporters of bananas to Iran include Turkey, India, Philippines, Ecuador, Pakistan, the UAE, Russia, and Vietnam,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.
“The main producers of banana in the world, i.e. Ecuador and Philippines, are not the top exporters of the fruit to Iran. Turkey ranks first among banana exporters to our country. Prices of bananas purchased from the neighboring country are cheaper than those imported from Ecuador.”
A total of 201,600 tons of non-oil commodities worth $51.3 million were exported from North Khorasan Province during the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 20-Dec. 20), registering an 18.7% and 30.7% decline in weight and value respectively compared with the similar period of last year.
Iranian tourists or those with resident permits can travel to Turkey under certain conditions, IranAir, the country’s flag carrier airline, has announced.
The average costs associated with childhood cancer treatment have increased by 27% in the eight months to Nov. 20 compared with the corresponding period of last fiscal year, says Arasb Ahmadian, managing director of Mahak, which supports children suffering from cancer in Iran.
Those engaged in transportation, tourism and handicraft industries, as well as sports and culture and arts will receive a new round of coronavirus loans worth upwards of 80,000 billion rials ($307 million), says Isa Mansouri, deputy minister of cooperatives, labor and social welfare.
“The transportation sector will receive 35,000 billion rials [$134.61 million], tourism and handicraft industries 20,000 billion rials [$76.92 million], sports 8,000 billion rials [$30.76 million] and culture and arts will receive 18,000 billion rials [$69.23 million] in financial support dedicated to people and businesses affected by Covid-19 crisis. Applicants need to initiate the process by registering at Kara.mcls.gov.ir,” he was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
Noting that women account for 70% of people who lost their jobs to the virus outbreak, the official said, “According to statistics, 62% of jobholders in recent years are not covered by insurance.”
A total of 7.77 billion cigarettes were smuggled into Iran during the eight months to Nov. 20, indicating a 4.8% decrease compared with the corresponding period of last year.
According to an ISNA report, citing the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade’s data, an estimated 43.33 billion cigarettes were smoked in the country during the period.
Cigarette exports stood at 81 million, indicating a 3.8% year-on-year increase.
Production stood at 35.64 billion during the same period, registering a 1.1% growth year-on-year.
Tobacco production decreased by 39.2% to hit 1,011 tons, but the number of factories established for tobacco production quadrupled to 105.
Cryptocurrency could be used to import electronic devices, says Shahab Javanmardi, a member of the Iran Chamber of Commerce Industries Mining and Agriculture, noting that a change in government approach is necessary for such deals.
"Repatriating revenue from exporting gas and electricity is not possible under the present [US sanctions]. The government can promote use of excess electricity output or power generated by small-scale plants to mine cryptocurrencies and make up for the locked resources," Eximnews quoted him as saying.
He proposed creating a central market, like the secondary forex market, through which cryptocurrency would be sold to local companies wanting to import machinery and goods.
Javanmardi, who is CEO of FANAP Company, a well-known provider of financial solutions, believes that the money raised from selling cryptocurrencies could be used for importing electronics.
The weekly bond auction held by the Central Bank of Iran tumbled on Tuesday after doing relatively well last week.
Total sale this week reached 16.4 trillion rials ($66 million), down 66% compared to last week. Bonds were sold to three banks who put in bids worth 8.1 trillion rials ($32m) at yields varying from 20.5% to 21.5%, respectively, for two and three-year maturity bonds.
Outside the auction process, retail and institutional traders bought 8.3 trillion rials at the stock market, according to data seen on the Central Bank of Iran website.
Iran’s road accident death count has declined by 14% in the eight months ending Nov. 20, as Covid-19 has curbed road travels.
Data released by the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization reveal that 10,775 people died in road accidents during the period. Figures show a 13.96% decline compared with the corresponding time of last year, during which 12,523 individuals died in road accidents.
According to the report, men account for 8,832 mortalities and the remaining 1,943 were women.
LMO’s charts indicate that the southern province of Fars tops the provinces with 821 traffic-related deaths, followed by Tehran Province with 796 and Isfahan with 709 lost lives.
A closer review of numbers demonstrates that the road fatality rate in Fars was down 13.85% compared with the period last year, dropping from 953 to 821.
Similarly, figures in Tehran show a 9.55% decline, from 880 road deaths reported last year to 796. The death rate in Isfahan registered a 16.39% decline, from 848 a year ago to 709.
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