States want National Highways converted to urban roads to circumvent SC’s liquor ban order
Several states have approached the union roads transport and highways ministry to find out if it is possible to convert national highways within their borders into urban roads to circumvent the Supreme Court order to shut down liquor vends and bars along highways. Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Goa and Uttar Pradesh have consulted the roads ministry to find out a solution to the unexpected fallout of Supreme Court order banning sale and serving of liquor within 500 meters of highways. “They have reached out to us informally,” a senior government official told ET. “States such as Goa, Maharashtra and even some union territories like Daman, which have strong tourism industry, are the ones who are suffering the most because of this ban,” the official said. After the Centre denotifies some national highways, states along with their local urban bodies would have to renotify them as urban roads or district roads. The official said there have been several cases earlier where national highways were denotified as urban or major district roads. “The Ring Road stretch that passes through areas such as South Extension and Bikaji Cama Place in Delhi was a national highway earlier. Later, we passed it on to the state and it was christened as urban road,” the official said. In Delhi, all hotels in Aerocity near NH 8 are set to be impacted by the SC order. The basic criteria for declaring any road as a national highway is that how critical that road is for connectivity of two cities in major towns. Arterial roads that enable sizeable reduction in travel distance and achieve substantial economic growth are also christened national highways. The conventional standard used is that of passenger car units per day on that road, which should be more than 10,000. Uttar Pradesh has already notified several of its state highways as urban roads or major district roads. Even Chandigarh has moved ahead on the same lines. The idea to ban sale on liquor near national highways was pushed by the roads ministry more than a decade ago when it said that no liquor vends should be allowed within 100 metres of national highways. However, an exception was made for national highways going through cities. Logan Cooke Jersey
In One Of The Biggest Reforms In Road Transport Sector, Cabinet Okays Amendments To Motor Vehicle Bill.
The Cabinet on Friday approved the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016 that provides for linking of driving license and vehicle registration with Adhaar-based platform and proposes heavy penalties for traffic violations. Why it is seen as a big reform is because the move will put enough checks and balances on de-duplication of licenses and registration of stolen vehicles. The government has decided to make an all-India register for driving licenses and vehicles which would be available across the country. “We have proposed an amendment in the Motor Vehicle Act where people need to have Aadhaar number to apply for driving license and need not to visit transport offices to get a learning driving license as it all will be online,” Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told reporters after the Cabinet meeting. “The Bill proposes Aadhaar-based verification for grant of online services including learner’s license. This would ensure the integrity of the online services and also stop creation of duplicate licenses,” he said. Mr Gadkari said the Cabinet has approved various changes in the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016. These include 16 amendments and rejection of three suggestions made by the Parliament Standing Committee. The three major suggestions rejected by the government include registration of vehicles by only RTO and inspection of vehicles by RTO. With the Cabinet approval, now decks are cleared for the government to bring much-needed reforms in the transport and road sector, he said, adding the government may table the bill in Parliament next week. Once the bill is approved vehicle dealers will be authorised to issue vehicle numbers and register them through an all-India electronic register. He said the government has also proposed compulsory vehicle recall, amendments like third party insurance, relief to good Samaritans, stricter punishment and fines to traffic rule violators, etc. The bill introduced in Parliament last year had proposed 89 clauses for amendment out of which only 57 were accepted by the Parliament Standing Committee on Transport, headed by Mukul Roy. The important aspects of the bill are 100 per cent e-governance to be brought in transport sector, the minister said, adding identity verification using Aadhaar will be used, bad roads contractor to be liable for fine, drivers will included in third part Insurance and Claims would be time bond. The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 9, 2016 and was referred to Departmental Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, headed by Mukul Roy. The Motor Vehicle Act 1988 is a 30-year-old instrument which had not kept pace with the change of dynamics of road transport & information technology. The bill specifically targets traffic offenders with stringent penal provisions. The bill has identified priority areas for improving road safety. Stricter penalties are proposed for high risk offences such as drunken driving, dangerous driving, overloading, non-adherence to safety norms by drivers (such as use of seat belt, helmets). The bill provides for facilitating delivery of services to the citizens and transporters. The bill aims to provide for maximum governance with minimum government. This would help in reducing the harassment faced by the stakeholders in the RTO offices. A national data base of vehicles and driving licenses would help in safety and security and avoid malpractices. The minister said it is a largely pro-people initiative and will reform the Motor Vehicle insurance sector. “It provides specific timelines for processing of insurance claims. A tenfold increase has been made in the amount of compensation awarded under a simplified process of claims disbursal wherein the family of an accident victim would get compensation of Rs. 5 lakh as settlement within four months of the accident. Presently it takes at least four to five years for an award,” he said. In the accidental death cases arising from hit and run accidents, the bill proposes an increase of compensation to Rs. 2 lakh, an eight fold increase over current. James Carpenter Womens Jersey
All Roadblocks Cleared, Rajasthan to Finally Have A Nine Million Tonnes Refinery at Barmer
Decks have been cleared for setting up of the much awaited nine million tonne per annum refinery at Barmer in Rajasthan. A new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed shortly for setting up of this Rs 37000 crore refinery project that will come up as a joint venture between central PSU Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and the state government. “Rajasthan Government and HPCL have come together to set up a 9 MT refinery in Barmer…..Modi Government’s gift to people of Rajasthan on Rajasthan Diwas,” union petroleum minister of state (I/C) Dharmendra Pradhan tweeted on Thursday. Earlier in the day, while replying to the Finance and Appropriation Bill, 2017 in the Assembly, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said a lot has been talked about the refinery and the state government will ink an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HPCL with new terms and condition, which will be in interest of the government. Officials confirmed that the state government will soon sign a new MoU with HPCL by next month for setting up of the 9 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) refinery in Barmer at a cost of around Rs 37,000 crore. As per the previous MoU, Rajasthan government had to pay a huge interest-free loan every year for 15 years, which would have added a massive financial burden on the state government. “We started reviewing the project in July 2014 and initiated renegotiation with the HPCL. Though we took time, despite increase in project cost, the expenditure on state will reduce by two-third,” the chief minister said on Thursday. She added that the interest free loan will reduce to Rs 1,123 crore per annum and the financial burden too will reduce to Rs 16,845 crore. This indeed is a massive relieve for the state exchequer. Chief Minister Raje said that after hard negotiations, the state equity in the project has been reduced by Rs 100 crore. “HPCL is happy to partner in progress of Rajasthan by setting 9MMT Barmer Refinery,” HPCL also tweeted on Thursday. The Barmer refinery will mostly consume the locally available Rajasthan crude (from Cairn India’s oil and gas fields) besides other crude varieties. It is important to note here that Rajasthan has become the second largest crude oil producer in the country after the offshore field Bombay High. Oilfields in the state (of ONGC and Cairn India) were producing nearly 90 lakh tones oil annually, which is 24% of the total domestic crude oil production. Terron Armstead Jersey
Renewable India ~ Green Revolution 2.0
Imagine a world where you wake up in a smart green home and go to school in a self-driving electric vehicle to another smart green building. Meanwhile at home, the washing machine automatically turns on when the electricity prices are at the lowest point during the day and turns off when the prices are high. The light bulbs, air conditioner, refrigerator, and any electrical device in your house can be turned on or off from your phone with an app and can be set to operate at the most efficient setting. The house is powered by solar panels on the roof and there is a battery system which gets charged so that the power consumed from the electric grid is minimised at night when no solar power is available. You can also use the battery system to charge your electric vehicle. You can make money when you are not using your electric car by selling power from your electric car to the grid when electricity prices are high. All of this is not in the distant future but is happening right now. The technology has been developed and is in the process of being commercialised and integrated to create smart, green cities. Types of renewable energy Energy efficiency and renewable energy generation are effective solutions to tackle climate change – an issue which affects all of us significantly. There are different types of renewable energy generation possible, of which, the most popular resources in India are wind, solar, hydro and biomass. Wind power is generated by converting air flow into electricity through turbines. Windmills have been in use for centuries to pump water and grind grain but they do not produce electricity. Solar power generation involves conversion of sunlight into electricity. This concept can be employed in calculators, lanterns and water pumps apart from large generating stations. Hydro power is obtained by harnessing the power of moving water in rivers by building dams or small canals to direct the flow of water through a turbine. Biomass is renewable organic waste which would be left in landfills or burned openly if not used. It may include scraps of wood, manure, forest debris and other organic wastes. Biomass is burned to heat water and the steam produced is channelled through turbines to generate electricity. India’s solar power potential is 5000 trillion kWh annually. That’s about 30 times the world’s annual energy needs. Advantages The advantages of renewable energy generation have been reiterated often: zero fuel cost and removing dependence on exhaustible supplies of fossil fuels, which keeps energy prices stable and carbon footprint low. Most importantly, it is environment friendly and leads to sustainable development. The reasons for lacklustre interest in renewable energy until recently can be attributed to relatively higher capital cost (cost in setting up the power plant), ambiguous or absent policies and regulations, inadequate accuracy in forecasting solar and wind output, lower efficiency of power conversion and lack of awareness. There were concerns that the electric grid cannot accommodate a large percentage of renewable resources. These concerns have been invalidated by countries like Germany, Denmark, Uruguay and Scotland which have successfully generated about forty percent or more of their electricity needs through renewable resources. India’s solar power generation quadrupled between 2014 and 2017. 175GW can power an additional 100 crore average Indian homes. Growth in India India’s renewable energy sector is growing at a fast pace. India accounts for 5.8 percent of the world’s total wind power generation and is the fourth largest producer of wind power in the world. By 2022, India plans to add 175 Gigawatt of renewable generation – which is almost 55 percent of the current installed capacity (meaning: the expected full-load output of a power plant). Renewable energy generation was close to 30 percent of the installed capacity as of July 2016, so there is a long way ahead. With Indian cities occupying almost half the spots in the list of most polluted places in the world, the government’s ambitious renewable energy target is justifiable. Your role As a developing country, India does have many challenges in implementing a large amount of renewable energy in the electricity grid. However, with rising pollution levels and increasing energy requirements India needs a focused approach at all levels to ensure that we reduce our carbon footprint. As citizens, we can participate in this process by utilizing LED lights, energy certified refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners, roof-top solar installations wherever possible and preventing wastage of electricity. Every unit of energy saved is energy generated. Be responsible, be smart and go green! Brian Sutter Authentic Jersey
Adequate Power Available To Meet Demand During The Summer of 2017, Union Power Ministry
There is no shortage of power and India’s generation resource is adequate to meet the country’s power demand during this summer season, provided states buy enough power which is available, senior power ministry officials said after a high level review on Friday. With rising temperatures, already at 4-6 degrees higher above normal during March, the Union Ministry of Power undertook a review of the power supply position in the country, especially the northern region, and preparedness of various power utilities during the forthcoming summer season. The meeting was chaired by Mr P.K. Pujari, Secretary, Power and attended by representatives from State Governments, India Meteorological Department (IMD), CEA, POSOCO, various Regional and State Load dispatch Centres (RLDCs/SLDCs). Based on IMD’s report, it was observed that temperatures would be above normal during the March–May 2017. IMD on 27th March 2017 had noted that the temperature during the last week of March was 4–6 degrees above normal, constituting heat wave conditions in many areas. During Friday’s meeting, the present prevailing power demand and the projections were reviewed for each state, region and an All India basis. It was observed that while the power demand in Northern Region would peak to the extent of 56 GW during April to Sep 2017 period, the demand in Southern region has already peaked to 42 GW while Western Region has touched 50 GW and expected to reduce to 46 GW between April–June. The All India peak demand during the summer is expected to be of the order of 165 GW. Officials said that it was noted in the meeting that generation resource was adequate during the period considering enough coal fired capacity available in the country. It was noted that the state utilities of Northern region are required to face the dust storm and thunderstorm related disturbances in the electricity grid during April–June period which often caused 6–7 GW reduction in load. They utilities were advised to coordinate generation reduction in such cases so that the disturbances in the grid are minimized. The State of Uttar Pradesh was advised to augment the intra state transmission systems expeditiously as the shortages reported by the State were primarily on account of lack of the necessary transmission & distribution infrastructure within the state. Principal Secretary, Energy, Government of Delhi informed that the transmission constraints within Delhi system is being resolved. However, there is a need to maintain generation in Badarpur TPS and ensure gas supply to the combined cycle gas stations within Delhi till then. Jammu & Kashmir was also advised undertake planned sub–transmission & distribution system within the state. Given that there is a fall in reservoir levels in Southern Region compared to last year, leading to 700 MU reduction in energy content as on date, the meeting note that certain states may experience constraints due to limitations in the transmission and distribution network at the intra-state level. To combat the same, the State utilities were advised to complete the transmission systems in the pipeline. Further, considering the past instances of transmission tower collapses, the state utilities were advised to keep Emergency Restoration Systems (ERS) ready. CEA would monitor the availability of ERS across different state utilities and transmission licensees. It was also decided that POSOCO and the SLDCs would work closely with IMD for getting tailor made forecasts/web based weather information for better planning and reliability of supply. Jaromir Jagr Womens Jersey
India keen to explore shale gas resources
India has an estimated 96 trillion cubic feet of recoverable shale gas reserves and the government is eager to tap them. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India have already spent Rs 199.47 crore on shale gas exploration in the country. To exploit shale gas and oil in the country, the government on October 14, 2013 announced the policy guidelines for exploration and exploitation of shale gas and oil by ONGC and OIL in their on-land Petroleum Exploration Licence and petroleum mining lease areas awarded under the nomination regimes. “ONGC has drilled a total of 21 wells in 18 blocks for shale gas and oil. OIL has completed geological and geophysical studies and geochemical analysis in its identified areas in its identified areas. Both these entities are carrying out shale gas exploration from their funds. During 2013-16 and 2016-17, ONGC and OIL made an expenditure of Rs 199.47 crore on shale gas exploration. All blocks are is still under exploration stage,” said minister for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan in the Lok Sabha on March 27. In pursuance of the shale gas exploration policy, ONGC has identified and initiated shale gas and oil exploration activities in 50 areas; and OIL has identified and initiated shale gas exploration activities in six regions. In India, shale oil and gas reserves are found mainly in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. “These are positive developments for the natural gas sector. Currently, hope for an increased domestic production is very weak. The scenario may change,” said Sudha Mahalingam, an independent energy analyst and former member of PNGRB. Robert Bortuzzo Jersey
India’s Largest Power Producer NTPC Is Now A 50,000 Mega Watt Plus Entity
India has yet another reason to rejoice as its largest public sector power producer NTPC achieved a major milestone of becoming a 50,000 Mega Watt (MW) plus company. “Proud to announce that NTPC has crossed 50,000 MW of installed power generation capacity today. Another milestone towards 24X7 power for all,” Union Minister of State (I/C) for Power, RE, Coal and Mines Mr Piyush Goyal tweeted on Friday. Power ministry officials said that this milestone was achieved after the 500 MW capacity at NTPC’s Unchahar power plant at Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, was added to the grid. NTPC has been consistently commissioning a series of power projects including solar, wind, and thermal, which continues to be its mainstay portfolio. The company had recently commissioned a 55 MW of Bhadla Solar Power Project in Rajasthan after which, the installed capacity of Bhadla Solar Power project became 260 MW and that of NTPC’s solar power projects at 620 MW. NTPC has planned capacity addition of about 1,000 MW through renewable resources by 2017. Under implementation are projects including the 50 MW Solar PV at Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh, 260 MW Solar PV at Bhadla in Rajasthan, 250 MW Solar PV at Mandsar in Madhya Pradesh and 8 MW Small Hydro Projects. The total installed capacity of NTPC on standalone basis has become 43,532 MW and that of NTPC group after the Unchahar 500 MW unit, has become 50,498 MW. This includes 800 MW of hydro and 620 MW of solar energy. Various projects of NTPC with an aggregate capacity of over 20,000 MW are under implementation at 23 locations across the country. Jeff Locke Womens Jersey
Dharmendra Pradhan launches BS-IV grade fuels across the country, Releases LPG connection to mark the completion of 2 crore connections under PMUY
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan formally launched BS-IV grade transportation fuels across the country from here today. The event coincided with Utkal Divas (formation day of the State) being celebrated in Odisha today. To mark the historic occasion of the launch of BS-IV fuels across the country, the Minister symbolically commenced sale of the eco-friendly and low–emission fuels from 12 different locations across the countrythrough live video links. They were: Varanasi, Vijayawada, Durgapur, Gorakhpur, Imphal, Bhopal, Ranchi, Madurai, Nagpur, Patna, Guwahati and Shillong. At the same event, Minister Pradhan handed over a deposit-free domestic LPG connection under the PradhanMantri Ujjwala Yojana(PMUY) scheme to Swalia Bibi of Shikharchan Basti in Bhubaneswar to mark the completion of release of 2 crore LPG connections to women beneficiaries from below poverty line (BPL) householdsacross the country. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Dharmendra Pradhan reiterated his Ministry’s commitment to the holistic vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. “Today, we begin a new era of clean transportation fuels that will benefit the 1.25 billion citizens of our country by substantially reducing pollution levels everywhere,” he said. From today, India will have “Only BS-IV” fuels, Mr Pradhan reiterated, and complimented the oil marketing companies, IndianOil, HPC and BPC, for working in unison to set up refining infrastructure and logistics in a record time for the launch of BS-IV grade fuels across the country as per schedule. The OMCs are incurring an expenditure of Rs. 90,000 crore on phase-wise upgradation of fuel quality in the country. Mr Pradhan said that even though India is not a major polluting country, we shall stand by the Prime Minister’s commitment at COP-21 in Paris that India will substantially reduce carbon emissions and greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years. Migration to BS-IV fuels shows India’s resolve to cut down emissions. The next step is to usher in BS-VI fuels by 1st April, 2020, to be at par with global standards, he said.Speaking about the new milestone crossed by the PMUY scheme, Mr Pradhan said that the Government is fully committed to providing sustainable, clean and affordable energy as an essential input for economic development of India, which has emerged as the fastest going economy in the world. He said that the resounding success of initiatives like PaHaL, GiveItUp and the ongoing PMUY scheme are ample proof of the effectiveness of these socio-economic welfare schemes, which go a long way in ensuring energy inclusion of the poor. Minister Pradhan expressed his happiness that the journey of PMUY started by the Hon’ble PM to transform the lives of BPL women across the country has crossed the 2 crore mark at Bhubaneswar today, that too on the auspicious occasion of Utkal Divas. In Odisha alone, PMUY has benefited 10 lakh BPL households and freed them from smoke-related hazards, he said. The Petroleum Ministry is vigorously pursuing various other forms of energy such as liquefied natural gas (LNG)for industries and transport sector, compressed natural gas (CNG) and AutoLPG for automobiles, and piped natural gas (PNG) for households, besides ethanol and bio-mass to expand the existing energy basket, he added. KD Tripathi, Secretary (Petroleum), and other senior officials of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, IndianOil, HPC and BPC, besides eminent guests and invitees were present on the occasion. India’s Path to Green Fuels The increasing consumption of oil is directly linked to atmospheric pollution, and the health impact of the deteriorating ambient air quality linked to combustion of fuels is of serious concern in urban areas worldwide. The Government of India has taken several policy measures and significant interventions to reduce vehicular emissions and improve fuel efficiency. India has followed the regulatory pathway for fuel quality and vehicle emissions standards termed as Bharat Stage (BS). The transition has been in phases, considering the time and money that is required at the refinery end and in terms of vehicle production. • India’s fuel quality standards have been gradually tightened since the mid-1990s. The fuel upgradation programme took off with notification of vehicular emission norms for new vehicles in 1991. Patrick Marleau Authentic Jersey
IndiGo sets up subsidiary for airport services
InterGlobe Aviation today said it has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary for airport services. The subsidiary, Agile Airport Services Pvt Ltd, has a paid-up capital of Rs 1 lakh. In a regulatory filing, InterGlobe Aviation said Agile was incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary on February 14 and “is yet to commence its business”. InterGlobe is the parent of no-frills carrier IndiGo. In a separate filing, Jet Airways said it has set up the subsidiary Airjet Ground Services Ltd (AGSL) having a paid-up capital of Rs 50 lakh. It has been incorporated “as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company for providing airline support services,” the carrier said in a regulatory filing today. The subsidiary is yet to start operations, the filing added. Customer Service Jersey
Eyeing regional connectivity, Alliance Air plans to triple its fleet
Alliance Air, the regional arm of Air India, plans to triple its fleet this fiscal by inducting 20 more ATR aircraft amid an increased focus on enhancing connectivity to underserved and unserved airports. Over the next two years, Alliance Air aims to expand its fleet to 50 ATR aeroplanes, Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani said. “We will induct 10 ATR 72-600 planes in September. We plan to lease another 10 ATR aircraft within this financial year. In the following year, we hope to procure another 10 to 20 ATRs,” he said. The 10 new ATRs are being procured on lease for 12 years. At present, the Air India subsidiary has a fleet of eight ATR 72-600 (70 seater) and two ATR 42-320 (48 seater) aircraft. Alliance Air has recently been awarded 15 of the 128 routes under the Centre’s regional connectivity scheme, Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN), wherein fares are capped at Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights and airlines are extended viability gap funding by the government. However, the Air India subsidiary will not be restricted to merely the routes awarded to it and will be flying additional ones to improve connectivity to smaller cities. “We will be operating flights to enhance regional connectivity, and (only) some of them will be part of UDAN. We are very aggressive about this,” Lohani said while interacting with mediapersons. Air India is also procuring a new ATR 72-600 simulator, which will be operational in October, in order to train pilots for flying the new aircraft. This will replace the Airbus A320 simulator at AI’s Central Training Establishment in Hyderabad. “So far, Alliance Air has been sending its pilots for training to Toulouse, Singapore and Bangkok. This is a costly and time consuming exercise. These pilots can now train at our facility in Hyderabad,” Captain Amitabh Singh, Executive Director (Training), Air India told PTI. Alliance Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, currently provides flight services to 34 tier-two and tier-three cities via Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Evgeny Svechnikov Womens Jersey