Mopa airport: Agrawal to expedite compensation
The state cabinet on Friday appointed former collector N D Agrawal as advisor to the director of civil aviation for four months to expedite the disbursal of compensation against acquisition of land for construction of the Mopa airport. Chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar told reporters that the government had to pay Rs 54.79 crore as compensation. Though the entire amount has been deposited with EDC Limited, the sum disbursed, including deposits made in court, is Rs 13.09 crore. Jared Veldheer Jersey
More international connectivity is need of the hour
Traders and industrialists have for long been demanding more international flights from Madurai. At present, Dubai and Sri Lanka are the only two foreign countries connected directly by Madurai airport. Although many foreign operators are willing to launch flights from the city airport, especially in the backdrop of international cargo facility, they could not do so in the absence of a bilateral treaty. The traders want the ministry of civil aviation to take steps to ensure more flights connecting various international destinations. According to Madurai Travel Club’s estimation, more than three lakh people travel every year between Dubai and Madurai. Two lakh people working in Dubai hail from Madurai and southern districts. In all, 20 to 30 per cent of international passengers from Chennai are from Madurai and southern districts. Around 30 to 40 per cent of international passengers using Trichy Airport are from nine districts around Madurai. Club also says that Dubai being one of the topmost tourist destinations in the world for sightseeing and shopping, direct flights would facilitate more leisure travellers from south Tamil Nadu. Paul Pierce Womens Jersey
Vellore may soon be on civil aviation map
Vellore’s long-felt need for an airport might soon become a reality. On Friday, senior officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Chennai, inspected the airport at Abdullapuram to test the landing and study the infrastructure requirements to start commercial operations. According to officials, the senior AAI officials and a private operator flew to the airport in a six-seat private flight. “The officials visited the airport to test the flight landing. They wanted to see the state of the runway and if it was possible to land on the airstrip or not. The plan is to start commercial operations in the existing place,” an officer said. AAI owns nearly 50 acres of land here. The runway was 750 metres long, he said and added that the authorities looked at the various infrastructure requirements for passengers. “As of now, there are no facilities at the airport. They studied the buildings and amenities that would be required for passengers,” he added. Evander Kane Womens Jersey
Aviation ministry likely to introduce biometric screening at airports
Your thumb could soon be all the documentation required to enter an airport. And once the government is able to achieve this the second phase could see you flashing your thumb to board the aircraft, at least for domestic flights. While it may sound as science fiction, the aviation ministry has already started work on the first part and Hyderabad airport has successfully completed a pilot project on using biometric identification for allowing entry into the terminal there. “Over a billion (100 crore) Aadhar cards have been issued so far. At the time of issuing these cards, biometrics, fingerprints and iris scans, are taken and fed into a national digital registry. Presently, air travellers have to show their air ticket and a valid identity card to enter airports. Wayne Gretzky Jersey
Centre will go by State’s decision on Dabolim airport: Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today said that Centre would be guided by the State government in deciding whether the existing Dabolim airport in the coastal state will continue after commissioning of new greenfield airport at Mopa in North Goa. “If the state government wants Dabolim airport to remain functional then it will continue. I would say Centre would be guided by the state in this regard,” Raju told reporters at Dabolim airport here where he was present for art gallery inauguration. On continuing with Indian Navy managed Dabolim airport as a civil facility (airport), Raju said it is for everyone to decide locally. “In some states they would like to have exclusive airports (for civil operations) because they (airports) also start giving returns in future,” he said. “The Centre is of the view that when an airport is coming within 150 kms of existing airport it is for the operator to decide because this divides the business and could make it financially unviable,” he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently laid foundation stone for new greenfield airport at Mopa which is within 100 kms radius of the existing Dabolim airport. Responding to a question on whether the Indian Navy’s activities would be curtailed at Dabolim airport to make way for more civil aircrafts, the minister said, “Country should never give up its defence preparedness. Most of our countrymen will never like it. We need civil activity but it is not at the cost of defence preparedness.” Talking about Goa, Raju said the number of domestic flights have gone up in the coastal state which is an indication that a lot of Indians are coming to Goa now. “Last year the number of charters came down, we hope it picks up this year because it helps the economic activity. This place has a tourism culture,” he added. “Country’s military needs are one thing and civil needs are another. We have realised that initially it helps to make use of military facility but when you grow to your potential, that becomes inadequate,” he said referring to Dabolim airport. Andy Janovich Jersey
New business models can improve efficiency in aviation sector: Report
New business and process models will help the aviation sector in optimising cost and improving efficiency, says a report. Titled ‘Impact of ICT on Indian Aviation’, the report said digital solutions could also revolutionise the way talent is skilled and groomed to enter the sector. The country’s aviation sector is on the cusp of aggressive growth and technology disruption, it said. Prepared by leading consultancy KPMG and technology solutions provider for the airlines industry SITA, the report emphasised that key to success for airports and airlines would be to create a carefully crafted digital strategy and road map. “The right approach to re-thinking aviation in the digital paradigm is to design new business and process models rather than simply automation/ digitisation of the various process areas for ease of traversing customer journeys/ increasing efficiencies and cost optimisation,” it noted. As the outlook for demand in the sector for the next five years, the report also said both airports and airlines need to smartly deploy cutting edge digital solutions such analytics and artificial intelligence. This would help to increase operational efficiency as well as enhance revenue generation, it added. Timmy Jernigan Authentic Jersey
Andhra Pradesh power utility bags top spot in energy conservation in India
City-based Eastern Power Distribution Company of AP Limited (APEPDCL) bagged the top spot in energy conservation among all 44 distribution companies in the country. The union ministry of power, coal, new and renewable energy and mines announced the results at the National level Energy Conservation Day celebrations held in New Delhi on Wednesday. APEPDCL CMD MM Nayak received the prize from union minister of power Piyush Goyal. Speaking to TOI, Nayak said the discom received the award due to the several energy conservation schemes and measures it has implemented in its jurisdiction. “We have been able to save nearly 626.18 MU (million units) of power since the introduction of those schemes from 2015-16 fiscal. We hope that the savings will cross more than 1,000 MU from the next fiscal. This year, we consumed nearly 12,006 MU of power from April to November against nearly 16,000 MU in previous fiscal,” he said. Meanwhile, a senior official from APEPDCL said, “Distribution of 79.20 lakh LED bulbs to 39.60 lakh consumers in five districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari helped us save energy up to 644.10 MU from February 2015 to November 2016. This apart, the discom saved nearly 0.88 MU by distributing 38,730 five-star rated fans to its consumers in Narsapuram in West Godavari district on a pilot basis.” “We now plan to distribute five-star rated fans to eligible consumers in the remaining areas under the discom’s jurisdiction from the next financial year,” Nayak added. Coming to the Rooftop Solar Net Metering programme, Nayak said APEPDCL saved 7,78,320 units of power per month by synchronising 5.405MW of power to the AP Grid. Similarly, the discom saved 20.65 MU by installing 2,978 solar agriculture pump sets in the discom limits. “By installing 1,93,540 LED street lights in five districts, the discom saved 25.35 MU of power in a year,” Nayak said, adding that the discom was still continuing to incur only 5.48% transmission and distribution losses, which is the best in the country. Hines Ward Authentic Jersey
India needs aggressive energy policy for sustained 9-10 per cent GDP growth: Amitabh Kant
India requires an aggressive energy policy that promotes domestic manufacturing and cuts down import dependence to ensure sustained 9-10 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate over years, NITI Aayog Chief Executive Amitabh Kant said. Such a policy is essential to boost the share of the manufacturing sector in the country’s GDP to 25 per cent, he said speaking at an oil and gas industry event. “The need is to grow at 9-10 percent year-on-year for three decades to lift the young above the poverty line. For this, we will have to drive manufacturing sector to about 25 per cent of GDP. We will need a very aggressive energy policy for this,” Kant said. He added the nation needs to work on a consistent, predictable and clear policy framework which stands the test of time to attract investments in the oil and gas sector. “The key pillars of Make in India initiative in the energy sector is discovering oil and gas rather than importing, indigenously manufacturing the equipment used in the sector and developing in-house expertise in our own companies to provide the necessary services, technology and manpower required in this high-tech industry.” India’s indigenous crude oil production fell 3.3 percent to 713 Thousand Tonne (TMT) in the first seven months of the current fiscal as compared to the corresponding period last fiscal. Crude oil imports rose more than 8 per cent to 125 Million Tonne (MT) in the April-October period. Kant also pointed out India’s approach for promoting Make in India in the petroleum sector is to bring global companies to India and make it rewarding to discover oil and gas in the country. “Unless we allow these companies to create wealth, India will not be able to create wealth in this sector,” he said, adding it is very important to create an incentive structure which is at par with international standards. India’s hydrocarbon sector received Rs 677 crore worth of foreign investments last financial year, according to data available with the oil ministry. The investment inflows are expected to grow tenfold in the present fiscal primarily due to the acquisition of Essar Oil and its Vadinar refinery by Russia’s oil major Rosneft. The acquisition is estimated to be around Rs 72,800 crore in value. The NITI Aayog CEO also expressed pleasure at Mumbai developing into an Information Technology centre for global petroleum players including Schlumberger and CGT Petroleum. He said the idea of Make in India for the oil and gas sector will fructify when foreign and Indian companies come together to explore, discover, refine and market oil and gas and tap India’s potential based on suitable and consistent policy framework. Darqueze Dennard Authentic Jersey
State slips to 3rd position in solar power generation
After losing its top rank to Rajasthan last year, Gujarat has now slipped further to end at third position in commissioned solar power capacity. Rapid capacity addition by Tamil Nadu helped the state to topple both Rajasthan and Gujarat from their respective top ranks. According to the Union ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), Tamil Nadu has topped the list with solar power capacity of 1,555.41 MW as on October 31, 2016, while Rajasthan stands at second position, with 1,301.16 MW and Gujarat third with 1,138.19 MW. “The capacity addition in Gujarat has slowed down because the state already has surplus power and it has also been able to meet its renewable purchase obligation (RPO) target,” said Pranav Mehta, co-chairman, Global Solar Council. “On the other hand, Tamil Nadu has aggressively installed solar capacity to promote green energy and meet its RPO target,” Mehta said. RPO mandates states to purchase specified amounts of power from solar plants. The RPO for Gujarat is 1.75% of total power demand in state. Tamil Nadu has jumped to top from the fourth position in January 2016 when its capacity at 418.94 MW. The Adani group commissioned a 648 MW solar power plant, said to be the world’s largest at a single location, at Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu in September this year. Gujarat had been the leader in solar power generation for years. It lost the first spot to Rajasthan in 2015. With states such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Rajasthan having solar plants with huge capacity under pipeline, Gujarat is unlikely to retain at the top much longer. “Solar power plants with capacity of 3,376 MW are under planning in Karnataka as on date. The capacity of pipeline plants in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan is 2,418 MW, 1,494 MW, and 1,206 MW respectively. While the same is 300 MW for Gujarat,” said KK Bajaj, a city-based energy expert. Experts feel Gujarat can do a lot more in solar space. “Gujarat needs to be more ambitious in this segment of renewable energy as the state has potential to export green power to other states,” said Mehta. James Hurst Jersey
Power Ministry to launch GARV-II app to ensure power access to all
To ensure transparency in implementation of rural electrification programme, the Power Ministry will launch a new app, GARV-II, to provide real time data of all six lakh villages of the country. “Earlier version of GARV mobile phone application used to provide data about rural electrification regarding 18,452 un-electrified villages. The new version GARV-II to be unveiled on Tuesday will provide real time data for all six lak villages in the country,” a senior official told PTI. The official further said, “Besides, the GARV-II will enable the commoners to participate in the development work and can give their input about rural electrification programme. Thus, the rural electrification work would be open to public scrutiny.” Under this facility, village-wise; habitation-wise base line data on household electrification for all states provided by them has been incorporated. Further, village-wise works sanctioned under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) have also been mapped to monitor progress of works in each village. The progress on various works will be updated by the implementing agencies of the states on day to day basis, the official said that a dashboard for Managing Directors and Superintending Engineers of DISCOMs has been provided for online monitoring. In ‘GARV’ the data of only 18452 un-electrified villages has been mapped and 12-stage milestone based monitoring mechanism has been put in place. Under ‘GARV-II’, the data in respect of all villages (about 6 Lakh) with more than 15 lakh habitations has been mapped for tracking progress on household electrification in each of the habitations of these villages. Further, the status of release of funds to the states for projects sanctioned under DDUGJY has also been incorporated in ‘GARV-II’, he added. GARV-II will have a citizen engagement window ‘SAMVAD’to enhance participation. They can contribute in the programme by providing their feedback and suggestions which shall be automatically forwarded to the concerned Managing Directors and Superintending Engineers of DISCOMs through SMS & Email on their dashboard. The official said that the objective of GARV-II is to ensure electricity access to all households as government has already electrified over 11,000 villages out of 18,452 un-electrified villages. Harold Landry Jersey