Agra-Lucknow Expressway to open for commuters on Dec 23
The new Agra-Lucknow Expressway is all set to open for commuters on December 23. The country’s longest expressway will offer a smooth ride to Agra and bring down travel time from 7 hours to 3.5 hours for commuters, an official said. Chief secretary Rahul Bhatnagar held a preparatory meeting with UP Expressways Industrial Development (UPEIDA) and police officials here on Monday to ensure that the necessary traffic management system, road safety and emergency services are in place along the 302-kilometre expressway for road users before the D-Day. The highway police have been asked to maintain a vigil and restrict road-users to a speed limit of 100 kilometres per hour. The six-lane expressway, which can be expanded up to eight-lanes, was inaugurated by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on November 21. “Police officers have been told to provide one police van (Dial 100) and one ambulance (108 service) on every 30 kilometre stretch of the expressway and also set up requisite check posts,” said Bhatnagar. The expressway passes through four national highways and spans 10 districts connecting Agra-Lucknow via Shikohabad, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya, Kannauj, Kanpur, Unnao and Hardoi. The UPEIDA has been asked to set up base stations in each district and also set up an integrated automatic highway traffic management system to coordinate with emergency services, patrol cars and police check posts to keep a watch on road users. The traffic system will reduce accidents and help commuters during fog when visibility is very low, according to officials. “They (UPEIDA and police) have also been asked to put up proper road signs, milestones and other road-safety precautions along the route,” said the chief secretary. Patrol cars will be equipped with speed radars and breath analysers. Mitch Morse Jersey
Despite Gadkari’s Tall Claims, Road Construction Is Way Behind Target
Union Road and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has lowered his target of building new roads in the country. Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Gadkari conceded that his ministry will fall short of building 40 kilometres of new roads each day. A Long Way To Go But Gadkari maintained the National Highways Authority of India’s FY17 target of awarding new road projects to build 15,000 kilometres even though the road authority’s own data draws a very different picture. The NHAI has awarded contracts to build only 2,360 kilometres in the first seven months of this financial year, that’s 16 percent of the target. According to a senior official in NHAI’s planning and statistics department, a total of 2,597 kilometres have been awarded between April and November this year, indicating that another 237 kilometres were added in November, . The total cost of these projects stands at Rs 31,265 crore. The projects have been awarded under three categories- engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC); build, operate, and transfer (BOT); and hybrid annuity model (HAM). Nearly two thirds of the projects have been awarded in the HAM category, the data reveals. Road construction has also fallen short of the target by a very long stretch. The data sourced by BloombergQuint from the NHAI website shows that a mere 1,417 kilometres have been built so far this year, translating to an average of 6 kilometres per day versus the targeted 40 kilometres. That’s just 15 percent. Gadkari claimed it will go up substantially by the end of this year, though it’s not clear how such a big shortfall can be covered in just four months. The minister acknowledged the backlog by trimming the target a wee bit. Will definitely be able to build 30-35 kilometres of roads every day, if not more. Nitin Gadkari, Road and Highways Minister Challenges Analysts say land acquisition continues to be one of the biggest hurdles for new road projects. “NHAI’s performance is slower than expectation and its own target itself due to regulatory hurdles and delays in land acquisition,” said Teena Virmani, vice president of research at Kotak Securities. “It has to acquire 80 percent of the land before awarding the project. Due to delays in acquiring this much land, awarding activity is slower than NHAI’s own target,” she added. Ashish Agarwal, director at Equirus Capital Pvt. Ltd. concurred. “That is (land acquisition) one of the reasons why project awards that he (Nitin Gadkari) has targeted have not taken place,” said Agarwal. He believes that part of the problem lies in awarding the projects under the hybrid annuity model. “They have gone a little slow on HAM. Given that the financial closures at HAM have not yet happened at a rapid pace,” Agarwal said. With just four months till the financial year end analysts are not hopeful that the targets will be achieved. Agarwal said it would be challenging for the authority to even complete half of the target. “They are definitely not going to (meet the target). I mean it will be challenging for them to even achieve 6,000-7,000 kilometres (this fiscal),” he said. “There is a strong bid pipeline for next quarter but we still believe that achieving the target of 15,000 kilometres is difficult,” said Virmani. Alex Okafor Jersey
We will spend Rs 10,000 crore to decongest Gurgaon: Nitin Gadkari
India’s road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari has a grand plan to decongest Gurgaon with a series of projects worth close to Rs 10,000 crore, among them building bypasses and introducing an ambitious pod taxi plan, which would be the country’s first. To ensure there’s no repeat of the massive traffic jam and waterlogging that plagued Gurgaon in the last week of July, Gadkari says the National Highways Authority of India will work on a comprehensive drainage system. What’s your plan to decongest the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway and make travel between Delhi and Gurgaon easy? We have prepared a massive plan to decongest Gurgaon. If we put together all our projects in Gurgaon, we would be spending close to Rs 10,000 crore to decongest the Millennium City. We have an all-new national highway called Dwarka Expressway that is an alternative to the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway. The highways authority has started acquiring land in Delhi from private owners for the same. Land for the Gurgaon side of the expressway has already been acquired. Apart from the road, the NHAI will also build roadside amenities and border posts for which, too, the land is needed. There’s also a plan to build India’s first pod taxi system… It’s one of our most ambitious and innovative plans. It would completely transform the way we see urban transportation. Gurgaon will be the first city to have it and I think the city needs it the most. If the pilot run is successful, we’ll take permission from the Haryana government and would extend it within Gurgaon, connecting it with points like Cyber City. It would solve the lastmile connectivity problem. I’ll lay the foundation stone for the project soon. We have already invited bids for setting up the pod taxi project on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis. The metrino, as it’s called, would be small, battery-operated, driverless vehicles running on elevated tracks. It would have a passenger-carrying capacity of 4-6 persons with a maximum speed of 40 km per hour. The construction cost for it would be Rs 50 crore per km as compared to Rs 200 crore per km of metro. It will start from the Delhi-Gurgaon border on the expressway and extend till Badshahpur on Sohna Road via Rajiv Chowk. The construction cost of the project is Rs 835 crore in phase one. In phase two, it will go till Manesar and the total project cost would be Rs 4,000 crore. The monsoon rains caused heavy traffic jams on National Highway 8 and waterlogging in Gurgaon, which was no less than a flood situation. How would you ensure that there’s no repeat of such a situation, at least on the national highway? Gurgaon is one of the most prestigious cities of the country with so many companies having their base in the city and such vibrant population from across the country and world. It’s an expat city as well, with so many heads of Indian subsidiaries of foreign companies living there. In such a town, we cannot afford to have traffic jams and waterlogging as we have seen in recent past. It could dent our international image… To make permanent arrangements to prevent the repeat of such a situation, the NHAI along with the Haryana government will construct the Badshahpur drain along with several outfall drains. Once these outfall drains are constructed, the issue of waterlogging would never recur. I have already asked NHAI to make necessary arrangements so that there’s no work left on our part. What are the other innovative ways you’re looking at to improve the commuters’ experience between Delhi-Gurgaon? We are working with the state govt to live up to the expectations that investors would have in terms of infrastructure in the city. Loui Eriksson Womens Jersey
Airlines to pay fine if their planes empty human waste mid-air
The menace of human waste being splattered on houses from airplanes while landing, today led the National Green Tribunal to slap a fine of Rs 50,000 on the airline whose aircraft empties toilet tanks on air. The NGT directed aviation regulator DGCA to issue a circular to all airlines, whose planes are involved, to pay Rs 50,000 as environmental compensation. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Swatanter Kumar passed a slew of directions while disposing of a plea of a retired army officer alleging dumping of human excreta by aircraft over residential areas near the IGI Airport here. Normally, the waste in the aircraft tanks are disposed of by ground handling personnel once the plane lands. However, there are cases where lavatory leaks occur in the air. The tribunal asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to issue circular to all ground handling services and airlines to ensure that they do not release waste from human waste tanks while landing or anywhere near the terminals of the IGI Airport. “DGCA shall also issue directions that aircraft on landing shall be subjected to surprise inspection to see that human waste tanks are not empty. If any aircraft is found to be violating such circular or (their) tanks are found empty on landing, they shall be subjected to environment compensation of Rs 50,000 per default,” the bench said. The direction came on the plea of Lt Gen (Retd) Satwant Singh Dahiya who has sought action against the airlines and levy of hefty fines on them for endangering the health of residents, terming their act as violation of the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’. While issuing directions, the green panel also said it was “surprised” to note the stand taken by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) that on analysing the samples taken from the petitioner’s house, it could be ascertained that it was excreta but its source could not known. “We are surprised to note the stand of CPCB to the extent of coliform and the kind of splashes created on the houses of the petitioner as well as others clearly demostrate that it was human excreta,” the bench said. It added that the amount collected shall be deposited with CPCB for using it for environment protection and a quarterly report shall also be submitted by DGCA before it. Michael Johnson Authentic Jersey
Air India joining UDAN party to take longer on Dornier approval time
With the government preparing for the take off of UDAN, Air India might take longer to play an active part in the ambitious scheme as regulatory approval for the 19-seater Dornier aircraft is likely to happen only by July next year. The national carrier is expected to be a vital clog in the government’s efforts to make flying more affordable by connecting unserved and under-served airports as well as capping fares for one-hour flights at Rs 2,500 under UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik). To be part of the scheme, Air India is mulling induction of around 10 to 12 Dornier aircraft by its wholly-owned subsidiary Alliance Air. Dornier planes, made by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), are yet to be utilised for general passenger services and hence would require relevant approval from aviation regulator DGCA. A senior Air India official said a committee has already submitted its report that examined feasibility of inducting Dornier planes into Alliance Air fleet. While a final decision on the report and further moves are expected soon, the official said around 10-12 such aircraft are likely to be inducted. “Once it gets type certified, we may look into it for regional connectivity (scheme)… The report has been submitted but the aircraft is yet to be type certified. By June or July, it would be type certified,” the official said. While the government expects to start the first flight under UDAN from next month, the longer time likely to be taken for type certification of Dornier planes would mean that Air India might take more time before operating higher number of flights under the scheme. Type certification is a process whereby the regulator certifies that a particular model of plane is air worthy. The 19-seater Dornier 228 aircraft are being made by HAL under licence from Swiss technology company RUAG for the armed forces and the European market. Last week, the government told the Lok Sabha that Alliance Air is examining the induction of Dornier aircraft. Alliance Air, which mostly connects Tier-II and -III cities to metro hubs, currently flies to 34 destinations and has 39 daily departures. Under UDAN, the government has listed three categories of aircraft – those having less than 20 seats, 21-80 seats, and 80 seats or more. Paul Carey Womens Jersey
Government convenes meeting with airlines to discuss GAGAN system
With the domestic airlines not showing any keenness to avail the over Rs 700-crore GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system even after nearly 18 months of its official launch, the Government would now hold discussions with all stakeholders for its mandatory enabling. Aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has convened a consultation meeting with all stakeholders including airlines here tomorrow to discuss the issue. GAGAN system, which is said to make airline operations more efficient and cut down costs as it reduces separation between aircraft, increase air safety and fuel efficiency, was officially launched by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju in July last year. The National Civil Aviation Policy, announced by the Government in June this year, makes it mandatory for all aircraft being registered in India from January 1, 2019 to be GAGAN enabled. However, most aircraft currently registered in India are not equipped to utilise this technology. “A stakeholder consultation has been planned on the subject on December 21 to plan implementation and address bottlenecks, if any (in the effective use of Gagan system),” a Public Notice issued by the DGCA last week said. Jointly developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Airports Authority of India (AAI), at an investment of Rs 774 crore, the new system offers seamless navigation to the aviation industry. However, for availing the system, airlines are required to make their fleet the system compliant, which entails huge investments. Sources say that while smaller aircraft like ATRs and Bombardiers which are currently in the Indian carriers’ fleet are already equipped with such a system, bigger planes like Airbus A320, A330, Boeing 737, B777 and B 787s, among others, need to be retrofitted. Eight major domestic carriers — Air India, Air India Express, Jet Airways, JetLite, IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, Vistara and AirAsia — together have 427 such planes currently in operations. “An airline will have to shell out as much as Rs 1-2 crore per aircraft to install such a system. Going by the total of number of these type of planes with the Indian airlines, it requires a minimum investment of over Rs 400 crore,” they said. The issue assumes significance as many airlines/ operators have ordered more aircraft which may not necessarily be equipped with the required airborne equipment, the DGCA notice said adding, equipped operators may also not have trained pilots/ obtained necessary approvals to utilise this technology. The benefits of GAGAN include improved efficiency, direct routes, increased fuel savings, approach with vertical guidance at runways, significant cost savings due to withdrawal of ground aids and reduced workload of flight crew and Air Traffic Controllers. At the time of launch, the Government had claimed that the implementation of GAGAN technology would immediately benefit 50 operational airports in the country. Currently, there are 75 airports which handle scheduled flight operations.
Revised charges for non-major airports effective from Dec 16
Revised charges for airport services as well as those related to air navigation at non-major aerodromes will now be applicable from December 16, the government said today. The government, on November 24, in a notification had said the revised rates would be applicable from December 1. Generally, airports serving less than 12 lakh passengers annually are considered as non-major. The charges for these aerodromes are fixed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) whereas for major airports the rates are determined by Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA). The revised charges for airport services at non-major aerodromes and air navigation services at all airports were notified on November 24. It has now come into force from December 16 instead of the earlier date of December 1, 2016, an Aeronautical Information Circular (AIC) issued today said. Most of the non-major aerodromes are owned, managed and operated by government-run Airports Authority of India (AAI). It levies charges for services, including route and terminal navigational landing fee, as well as parking. Other services for which fee is levied are landing, housing, night parking, extension of watch hours apart from passenger service and user development fee. Shaquille O’Neal Jersey
Don’t Differentiate Between APL and BPL Families, Provide Power To All, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal Tells States.
As state governments through their respective distribution companies provide free of cost power connections to families that are sitting Below the Poverty Line (or BPL Families), the union power minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday once again urged states to give “on demand” electricity connections to all consumers who are even above the Poverty Line (or APL Families). Speaking at the launch of the Garv-II mobile App for tracking rural electrification in real-time basis on Tuesday, Goyal said the aim is to give uninterrupted power to all people by 2019 and the pace of release of power connections should not take a hit due to any such distinction of a BPL/an APL family. The Minister said that the Government aims to achieve ‘24×7 Power for All’ and does not distinguish between BPL and APL households. States, he said should give on demand power connections to all including APL and BPL families. He urged State governments to determine an average price for electricity connections for APL (Above Poverty Line) families across the State so that they can be given electricity connections through the option of paying by easy monthly instalments (EMIs). “I have asked all states to provide power connections to APL consumers on demand with the facility of EMI. We are ready to provide funds for the purpose through Power Finance Corp and Rural Electrification Corp for the purpose,” Goyal said, Admitting that there is a lot of work to be done in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for providing electricity to all in the states Goyal said: “Because of this (transparency on GARV app) the village got the power by 4 pm.” According to the GARV-II data, rural electrification programme needs to be stepped up in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand where 47 per cent, 45 per cent and 30 per cent rural households are electrified. At present 70.51 per cent or 12.38 crore rural households are electrified in the country out of 17.57 crore families living in villages in the country. Some of the states where all rural families have access to electricity include Gujarat, Goa, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. The minister said putting rural electrification data in public domain will improve the efficacy of the programme and keep centre as well as state implementing agencies on toes and consumer will be benefited. Victor Rask Womens Jersey
Goyal Launches Citizen Engagement Window `SAMVAD’ As Part of Mobile App Garv II
While Launching the Garv-II mobile App for tracking rural electrification in real-time basis on Tuesday, Union minister of state for power, coal, mines and RE, Piyush Goyal also unveiled the Citizen Engagement Window ‘SAMVAD’ which has been created to enhance participation of public at large. GARV-II also has a citizen engagement window ‘SAMVAD’to enhance participation. People 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. During the Garv-II launch event, the Minister presented awards to the best performing GVAs as well as the Digital India Award 2016 to GARV for featuring in the Top 3 best Apps that have played a pioneering role in bringing Good Governance in the country. Goyal Launches Citizen Engagement Window `SAMVAD’ As Part of Mobile App Garv II While Launching the Garv-II mobile App for tracking rural electrification in real-time basis on Tuesday, Union minister of state for power, coal, mines and RE, Piyush Goyal also unveiled the Citizen Engagement Window ‘SAMVAD’ which has been created to enhance participation of public at large. SAMVAD is part of the GARV-II mobile App and is aimed at enhancing citizen engagement. People 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. During the Garv-II launch event, the Minister presented awards to the best performing GVAsas well as the Digital India Award 2016 to GARV for featuring in the Top 3 best Apps that have played a pioneering role in bringing Good Governance in the country. Over 400 GVAs from 19 States,who interacted with the Minister. State Power Secretaries from 29 States were also connected through video conferencing.
Year End Review 2016 – Ministry Of Petroleum And Natural Gas
As the year draws to a close, its time to check the promises versus delivery by the important economic ministries of the government. As one of the most important ministries, the Ministry of petroleum and natural gas under minister Dharmendra Pradhan, one of the most dynamic ministers in the Narendra Modi Cabinet, it is not a surprise when the yearly outcome exceeded expectations on most fronts. While a large number of important policies, activities, decisions and initiatives were undertaken by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas in last one year, what finally scored over every other initiative was empowerment of the rural women under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana program of the petroleum ministry where morethan 1.22 crore new LPG connections were released to BPL women. Lets take a closer look at the year round initiatives by the petroleum ministry Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) Government has approved Rs. 8000 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) for release of 5 crore deposit free new LPG connections to Women of BPL families over three years, i.e. FY 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. The scheme will provide an initial cost of Rs. 1600/- for providing LPG connection to poor households in the name of women of the household. The Prime Minister launched the scheme on 01.05.2016 at Balia, Uttar Pradesh. LPG connection to BPL families is being provided to the BPL family access to clean cooking fuel. The provision of LPG as a cooking fuel helps in addressing health problems caused by use of traditional sources of cooking fuel such as fire wood, coal, cowdung, etc. This will in turn enhance productivity of woman, raise their quality of life by removing drudgery associated with collection of wood and ensure them against non-availability of cooking fuel, at times. Under the scheme, the Government of India provides deposit free LPG connection of BPL families identified through the Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 data, which includes security of one cylinder, pressure regulator, hose pipe, installation charges and DGCC Book. The consumer has to purchase ISI standard gas stove, which is optional. Further, Oil Marketing Companies are also financing purchase of LPG stove and 1st refill to BPL customers on instalment basis, if they so desire. To ensure smooth supply chain of LPG cylinders to meet the demand, Government is in process of setting up of 10,000 new distributorships. Majority of these distributorships will come in rural areas to cater to unserved consumers. As on 09.12.2016, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have released 12288517 new LPG connections under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). A large number of important policies, activities, decisions and initiatives were undertaken by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas in last one year. The achievements were in downstream, midstream as well as upstream sectors. The year was declared as the year and saw launch of a number of people-oriented initiatives. Direct Benefit Transfer in PDS Kerosene Scheme (DBTK) Jharkhand has become first State in the country to implement DBTK and others have been requested to join the Scheme. Under the Scheme, the Kerosene is being sold at non-subsidised price and subsidy, as admissible, is being transferred to consumers directly into his/her bank account. The States would be given cash incentive of 75% of subsidy savings during the first two years, 50% in the third year and 25% in the fourth year. In case the States voluntarily agree to undertake cuts in kerosene allocation, beyond the savings due to DBT, a similar incentive would be given to those States/UTs. The initiative of the Government is aimed at rationalizing subsidies based on approach to cut subsidy leakages, but not subsidies themselves. The scheme will also stop diversion of Kerosene. State Government of Karnataka had volunteered to undertake cut in Kerosene allocation and the similar proposal has also been received from Government of Haryana and Government of Telangana. Further, Government of Haryana has requested to make the State Kerosene free by 31.03.2017. Kerosene Free Delhi and Chandigarh NCT of Delhi and UT of Chandigarh have been declared Kerosene Free cities effective 1st October, 2013 and 1st April, 2016 respectively and hence no PDS SKO allocation is made to them. PAHAL: World’s largest Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme PAHAL (Pratyaksh Hasthantarit Labh) is the world’s largest Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme. Through PAHAL, subsidy given to consumers is directly transferred to the registered account of the consumer without involving any intermediary. More than 16.99 crore consumers are registered to avail subsidy as on 28.11.2016. PAHAL Scheme has been acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest cash transfer programme (households). More than Rs. 38,276 crore of subsidy has been transferred to the LPG consumers through 204 crore transactions since inception of the Scheme. An intensive exercise was carried out for identifying duplicate / fake / ghost / inactive domestic LPG connections and, as of 01/04/2015, 3.34 crore such connections were identified. As a result of implementation of DBTL (PAHAL) mechanism, it became possible to block these 3.34 crore LPG connections as the subsidy was transferred in the accounts of only those consumers who had registered under PAHAL and who have been cleared after de-duplication exercise. For the financial year 2014-15, for 3.34 crore consumers outside the PAHAL net, the estimated savings would be 3.34 crore x 12 cylinders x Rs.369.72 (average subsidy per cylinder for FY 2014-15) equal to Rs.14,818.4 crore. Following a similar principle, the savings estimated for FY 2015-16 is Rs.6,443 crore and total savings for both the years works out to Rs.21,261 crore. Giveitup and Giveback Till date, around 105 lakh households have voluntarily given up their LPG subsidy, Nearly 63 lakh new LPG connections have been released to BPL families in Financial Year 2015-16 linked to Giveback campaign utilizing CSR funds of OMCs Production of Crude oil and Natural Gas Crude oil production during the year 2015-16 is at 36.950 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) as against production of 37.461 MMT in 2014-15, showing a decline of 1.36%. Production of natural