Air passenger traffic rises by 44 per cent in State
The number of air passengers from the State has witnessed a growth of around 44 per cent from April to November this year. While the number of total air passengers stood at 16.91 lakh during the corresponding period last year, it swelled to 24.28 lakh during the same time period. Interestingly, the passenger traffic growth stood at only 19 per cent between April and October this year. Gannavaram airport near Vijayawada witnessed 76 per cent passenger growth with industrialists and eminent persons from different parts of the country as well as abroad coming to Amaravati. While Tirupati airport registered a growth of 43 per cent, Visakhapatnam recorded 39 per cent and Rajahmundry airport witnessed a growth of 21 per cent. The number of passengers to the newly-inaugurated Kadapa airport stood at 65,444. C.J. Anderson Authentic Jersey
Wake-up call for DGCA
The Jet Airways aircraft skidding off the runway in Goa and the near-collision of SpiceJet and Indigo planes at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Tuesday is symptomatic of the ills that are plaguing the functioning of the directorate-general of civil aviation, the country’s airline regulator. The DGCA is headed by an officer belonging to the elite Indian Administrative Service, who is usually clueless on aviation, and by the time he get somewhat familiar with his job he is moved out after completing his three-year tenure. The outfit is also grossly understaffed, and given the global boom in aviation, the infrastructure needed for safety and regulation is sorely lagging. Air Traffic Control, the most important link in this sector, is like the DGCA also hugely understaffed. This is a scary situation as ATC staff have to be alpha alert at all times. In the case of the two aircraft literally nose to nose on Tuesday, it were the pilots who realised the near-fatal situation and informed the ATC, that had merrily given both aircraft permission to move on the same runway. Mason Cole Authentic Jersey
Gujarat government to unveil new integrated solar-wind hybrid policy
Considering the advantages of integrated solar and wind power projects, the Gujarat state government has decided to announce a new policy for such hybrid plants. It will be called Solar-Wind Hybrid Policy 2017. The government intends to invite suggestions from interested companies and other stakeholders for the proposed policy within a month. “The decision of the new policy for solar and wind hybrid projects has been taken by chief minister Vijay Rupani as the concept of such hybrid power plants has been gaining momentum off late across the country,” said an official statement from the government. Under the proposed policy, power sector players can install solar power generation units in existing wind parks and vice versa so that infrastructure utilization can be maximized. Oskar Sundqvist Jersey
Discoms recover Rs 3000 crore till mid-December post notes ban
The collection of power distribution companies across the country increased by a whopping Rs 3,000 crore post demonetization till December 15, according to government data. “Distribution companies’ collections increased by more than Rs 3,000 crore from November 10 to December 15, 2016 compared to last year,” the data showed. The Ministry is of the view that this will help achieve affordable tariffs. The Power Ministry had launched UDAY scheme for revival of the debt stressed power distribution companies last year in November. The scheme is expected to turn around these utilities by 2019, which would eventually help in increasing demand of electricity and boost the sector. According to statement, North Bihar Power Distribution Company saw a 204% increase, NESCO in Odisha saw a 251% increase, APDCL in Assam saw a 97% increase and TANGEDCO in Tamil Nadu saw a 97% increase in revenues. Besides, the power generation grew by 8.53% to 93.23 billion units (BU) in November as against 85.90 BUs in same month year ago. Rob Gronkowski Womens Jersey
No need for landowner’s nod to lay power line: Supreme Court
Removing roadblocks in reaching electricity to every village, the Supreme Court has ruled that no prior consent of landowners was required to lay overhead power transmission lines and erect towers to support these lines. Through the judgment, the SC settled the issue which gave rise to conflicting judgments from various HCs. The SC’s top priority was to enable the government and its agencies to get electricity to the last household in the remotest areas. A bench of Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi said, “It is well known that India is an energy deficient country. There are many households where lighting even an electric bulb is a dream.” The issue was filed by a cement manufacturer from Chhattisgarh and Power Grid Corporation. The cement manufacturer challenged Power Grid’s decision to erect towers for transmission lines on its limestone mine lease area without its consent. The bench said, “As per the provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, unobstructed access to lay down telegraph and/or electricity transmission lines is an imperative in the larger public interest.” Rollie Fingers Authentic Jersey
Draft proposal boosts India’s chances for entry into NSG
A draft proposal for accepting new members into the Nuclear Suppliers Group may have boosted India’s chances while requiring Pakistan to take additional steps to engage in civil nuclear trade with the 48 member states. As per the draft, circulated by India’s point person, former NSG chairman Rafael Mariano Grossi, at the group’s meeting in Vienna last month, India’s commitments on nonproliferation to the NSG in 2008 that won it an exemption for civil nuclear trade will suffice for its entry into the group, people familiar with the matter said. India got an unconditional waiver from SG in 2008. India is seeking membership of the NSG on the grounds that it is already doing business with the members of the group and that it has an impeccable nonproliferation record. India had applied for NSG membership earlier this year, with Pakistan following soon thereafter. NSG, a nuclear technology control organisation formed in 1975 in response to India’s maiden nuclear tests, requires countries to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty before applying for membership of the group. However, India remains one of only three countries, along with Israel and Pakistan, not to have signed the NPT. Under the formula described in Grossi’s note, India could theoretically claim that it has already undertaken all of the steps necessary for membership, which could then lead to a decision on membership for India, said one of the persons, who did not wish to be identified. At the meeting in Vienna, NSG discussed nine general commitments that India and other countries that have not signed the NPT would need to make in order to receive the fullest atomic trading privileges, according to Grossi’s draft. Grossi was acting on behalf of the current NSG chairman, Song Young-wan of South Korea. Grossi, an expert on nuclear issues, circulated a “revised version of a draft ‘Exchange of Notes’ for non-NPT applicants” among the NSG members. The draft proposes “one non-NPT member state should reach an understanding not to block consensus on membership for another non-NPT member state”, the person said Paul Thompson Jersey
Sale of petrol, diesel grew 9 per cent in Delhi last financial year
The sale of petrol and diesel in Delhi increased to 902,000 tonne during 2015-16 compared to 831,000 tonne in 2014-15 fiscal. As per latest data released by the city government, the sale of CNG also went up from 717,000 tonne in 2014-15 to 738,000 tonne in 2015-16. For LPG, the figures stood at 732,000 tonne and 777,000 tonne for 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively. According to the city government’s Delhi Statistical Handbook 2016, number of consumers of domestic light and fans in 2015-16 stood at 40,94,647 while the figure was 42,89,124 in 2014-15. The number of commercial light, fans stood at 8,51,410 and 8,71,330 in the year 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively. Joel Heath Authentic Jersey
BP buys Woolworths fuel business in Australia
Oil company BP says it has agreed to buy the fuel business of Australian supermarket chain Woolworths Ltd. for $1.3 billion as part of its efforts to rebuild itself. The deal includes 527 fuel convenience sites and 16 other development sites across Australia. That adds to the 350 BP-owned gas stations in the country, and some 1,000 other BP-branded outlets owned by independent business partners. The deal, announced Wednesday, is subject to approval from Australian authorities and is expected to be complete over the next year.
Modi strikes gold on Ujjwala Yojana, 30% LPG connections given to UP
Making it one of the most successful social sector projects of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has achieved its target of giving LPG connections to 15 million families in 2016-17 within seven months of its launch in May. The scheme was launched on May 1 this year at Billie in Uttar Pradesh with a target of providing connections to 50 million below poverty line families in three years time, with a government support of Rs 16 billion per connection. Though the target for the current financial year was 15 million connections, Dharmendra Pradhan-led petroleum ministry was able to achieve the target with more than three months to spare. As per the PMUY website, the ministry crossed 1,51,07,561 families on Thursday. Interestingly, about 30 per cent of these connections are given to the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. The government has allocated Rs 80 billion for the scheme in which connections are issued in the name of the women in those families. According to industry sources, the minister himself is overseeing Modi’s pet project, along with a team of officials in the marketing division led by joint secretary Ashutosh Jindal and deputy secretary K M Mahesh, with oil marketing companies reporting the developments of PMUY to the team on a daily basis. Poll-bound Uttar Pradesh has got the maximum number of connections with more than 4.5 million people benefitting from the scheme, followed by West Bengal with 1.95 million, Bihar with 1.9 million, Madhya Pradesh with 1.7 million and Rajasthan with 1.45 million connections. The ministry is likely to revise the target for this fiscal now. The government is also looking to invite the participation of private sector and other individuals to the scheme through PMUY Plus. The Pradhan team’s plan is that PMUY is set to get an image makeover, with the participation of private corporates and other individuals through a scheme called PMUY Plus. As per the concept floated by Pradhan, private parties can pay for the subsidy of below poverty line families. According to the plan, the three oil marketing companies (OMCs) — Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation – will form a society to run this programme. While companies like Saudi Aramco had shown interest in being a part of the project, even individuals like Minister of State for Tourism and Culture Mahesh Sharma had offered his one month salary for PMUY. The scheme is followed by the success of “Give it Up” campaign launched by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas through which about 10.5 million people gave up their LPG subsidy. Gathering impetus from PMUY scheme, the government has already added more than 20.5 million LPG customers this year. “In last two-and-a-half years, the government was successful in adding 60 million LPG connections, while in the 60 years before that, only 130 million connections were added,” said a source close to the development. According to the petroleum ministry data, India currently has 191.1 million LPG connections, while OMCs added 16 million consumers in 2014-15 and 20 million in 2015-16. Ryan Murray Authentic Jersey
Securing our energy future
In a recently held international conference sponsored by Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Mr. Anders Hasselarger, an energy expert from Denmark pointed out in his keynote speech that the share of renewable energy, mostly solar and wind, in the energy mix in Denmark is 30 percent at present with prospect of raising it to 50 percent by 2030. Many other European countries are also forward moving towards an all renewable energy market. What Mr. Hasselarger tried to suggest based on the European energy sector concept, was that Bangladesh should have a diversified future energy mix with a long term perspective towards renewable energy sources with solar energy as the primary source. However, biomass, wind, hydro and wave or tidal water systems could also be relevant. Denmark and other European countries are not rich in sunlight. Sunlight is abundant in Bangladesh, yet the share of renewables (including solar, wind, hydro) in the energy mix in Bangladesh is only 3 percent, way behind a sun poor Denmark. Bangladesh targets to raise the renewable share in the energy mix from 3 percent today to 10 percent by 2020. This implies an increase of renewable based power to 2,400 MW (10 percent of projected generation capacity of 24,000 MW) from the present 450 MW in just four years. The absence of visible projects to fulfil the target led most observers to be sceptical about its success. Solar energy has very small share in the present energy mix in Bangladesh – less than 2 percent. Yet in one count, solar has a successful story. Bangladesh hosts the fastest growing solar home system in the world with 60,000 SHS units being installed per month. In terms of megawatt this may be tiny (solar produces only 190 MW while the national total power production capacity is 13,000 MW), but its contribution is enormous in socially uplifting millions of people, by raising their standard of living, by providing solar electricity to those who would never have grid electricity. Lighting a remote off the grid house with small solar power is one thing; providing energy feed for a large mass of people aspiring for rapid industrialisation is quite different. This is a bigger challenge. Bangladesh at present is energy starved. Its aspiration for entering the club of middle income country requires an increase in per capita energy use to boost the per capita GNI, a prerequisite for the above transition. The core problem Bangladesh faces is a shortage of primary energy to run the rapidly growing industry and power installations. Being a local gas based mono energy nation for the last four decades, Bangladesh was caught unprepared with an energy crisis when the trend of depleting gas reserve was confirmed. Although good amount of coal reserves are known to occur in north Bangladesh, local coal could not be used immediately as an alternative to gas because of the absence of enough coal mining. This leads Bangladesh to look for energy from outside. In the medium to long term future, Bangladesh plans to source its energy needs through imported fuels including coal, liquefied natural gas, LNG and oil. In one estimate, Bangladesh will have 90 percent dependence on imported energy sources by the year 2030. And this would come at a cost. The present downward prices of oil, LNG and coal are likely to be short lived and will bounce back to their original or even higher positions. Therefore, long term dependence on imported fuel for most of its requirement will introduce stress on the economy and will increase prices of industrial products including electricity and import inflation. Introduction of LNG in the short term future to compensate for the immediate gas supply deficit is perhaps justified, but the merit of a long term supply of large volume of costly LNG may be questionable. A rightful alternative is to launch serious gas exploration. Major exploration for hydrocarbon has not been undertaken in the country for more than a decade and a little gas reserve could be added to the reserve base. The gas exploration in Bangladesh may be called anything but serious with less than 10 exploratory wells drilled in the last 10 years. In spite of the fact that a large ocean area has now been claimed by the government as undisputed following the verdict of the international court, there has been too little activity by Bangladesh offshore. Yet, on the other side of offshore boundary, Myanmar has been registering significant gas discoveries since the boundary dispute was settled in 2012. Interestingly, the offshore Rakhaine Basin of Myanmar, where the late gas discoveries are being made, is a geologic continuation of the SE offshore Bangladesh. Geologists are therefore pointedly suggesting that the latter area would be equally gas prospective as the former. Unfortunately the Bangladesh offshore sees little exploration to prove it right. Bangladesh stands at a cross road of transition from an under-developed power and energy sector to a more developed one with projections of attaining a power generating capacity of 39,000 MW by 2030 and 56,000 MW by 2040. A major challenge for its successful implementation is to secure a cost effective sustainable primary energy supply. The government plans major changes in the way Bangladesh runs its energy business. As per the government’s plan and publicity, an energy mix is forthcoming in the mid to long term future with massive imported coal, large volume of imported LNG, imported oil, significant cross border electricity, nuclear energy, renewables and some local gas. This is likely to visibly change the energy and power scenario in the country, but the impact of such large volume of imported energy sources raises one question: how would the economy react to the price shock that comes with the large scale energy imports? Bangladesh should prioritise hydrocarbon exploration especially in the offshore, optimise renewable prospects especially solar and develop local coal to mitigate the energy crisis in the short to mid-term future. For the long term future (beyond 2030 or even 2040)