Bangalore airport turns into a ‘Playport’ for travellers
Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) has announced the commencement of ‘Playport’, a fun customer engagement activity, designed specifically for the holiday passengers who pass through the airport in larger numbers during this time of the year. The concept revolves around turning Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB) into a playground where children have fun and experience the airport in a whole new way. Based on the theme of ‘Then & Now’, Playport strives to enhance the experience of travellers through a series of fun activities and visuals that showcase the games of yesteryears combined with the latest digital gadgets. Passengers can enjoy a life-size Hopscotch, Snakes & Ladders alongside PSP and Xbox games and even send a post card to their loved ones right at the airport. Additionally, magic shows, balloon sculpturing, tattoo artists, upcycled goods workshop and other exciting activities will be a part of Playport. This on-ground activity will be on till 15th May. Tom Seaver Womens Jersey
Airlines have hiked ticket cancellation charges, says Mahesh Sharma
An analysis has showed that there has been an increase in cancellation charges for air tickets, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma said on while emphasising that airfares are not regulated by the government. In a written reply to Lok Sabha, he said cancellation charges are not fixed and varies from Rs 1,500 to 100 per cent fare of the ticket depending upon the class, price level and time before departure. “Analysis on the increase of the cancellation charge was carried out and it was found that there was increase in cancellation charges. Cancellation charges are not fixed,” Sharma said. The Minister of State for Civil Aviation was responding to a query on whether the ministry has taken note of steep hike in cancellation charges by airlines. However, he did not provide details on whether aviation regulator DGCA has taken any action on the matter. “Airfares are not regulated by the government. With the repeal of Air Corporation Act in March 1994, the provision of fare approval was dispensed with by the government, including charges for cancellation,” Sharma said. In recent times, many local carriers have increased the charges for cancellation of air tickets. Last month, taking note of domestic airlines increasing ticket cancellation fees by a significant amount, aviation regulator DGCA last month sought an “explanation” from the carriers on the rationale for such a steep hike. Jamar Taylor Authentic Jersey
India’s domestic air passenger traffic grew by 27% in March: IATA
India’s domestic air passenger traffic grew more than six times of the US’ domestic travel demand in March, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA). The IATA passenger traffic data, released today, for the month of March 2016 shows a growth of 27.4 per cent in India which is over six times more than the growth of the second highest market–the US at 4.1 per cent. Globally, the overall domestic demand rose 3.7 per cent in March this year compared to March 2015, driven primarily by performance in the two largest markets, the US–which accounts for two of every five domestic passengers–and China, it said. However, India accounted for only 1.2 per cent in the over all global domestic traffic. According to IATA, March performance shows a moderate slowdown on the year-on-year growth rates recorded in January (7.2 per cent) and February (8.6 per cent) even after adjusting for the leap-year impact in February. Demand for international traffic grew significantly more quickly (6.2 per cent) than that for domestic travel, it said. “While in line with long-term trends, demand growth in March represented a slow-down compared to January and February. It is premature to say whether this marks the end of the recent very strong results,” IATA Director General and Chief Executive Officer Tony Tyler said. IATA expects further stimulus in the form of network expansion and declines in travel costs, he said, adding however, the wider economic backdrop remains subdued. Although India has been growing constantly, the difference between the two markets is significantly vast for the month of March 2016. Growth in the India’s domestic market is being propelled by the comparatively strong economic backdrop as well as sizable increase in services, it said. According to IATA, the average flight frequencies within India are expected to go up by 11.5 per cent year-on-year in this year. IATA also said India’s annual domestic revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) growth rate has now been in double digits for 19 consecutive months. The combination of such rapid growth in India and slower (even negative) growth in other similarly-sized domestic markets has seen India overtake the others in terms of seasonally adjusted domestic RPKs over the past year or so, most recently Brazil, which it surpassed in March, it said. Riley Dixon Authentic Jersey
Air India scandal: Officials, ex-minister Praful Patel were paid bribes
Even as the scandal of AugustaWestland VVIP chopper involving bribery and corruption by high-level officials for purchasing a new fleet of helicopters continues to rock Parliament, new details have emerged in a similar scandal involving a Union minister under the UPA rule who was let off by the office of then Prime Minister on flimsy grounds. An investigation by Zee News (sister concern of dna) has thrown new light into the bribe and bid rigging scandal involving former civil aviation minister Praful Patel and a contract for Air India’s facial recognition software with Canadian firm Cryptometrics. The Ontario court in Canada in 2014 convicted India-born Candian businessman Nazir Karagir for offering bribes to Air India officials and Patel to win the contract worth US$ 100 million. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2012 cleared Patel’s name after examining the matter at the minister’s behest. According to the letter written by Patel to the PM, the tender remained “inconclusive and was scrapped virtually at the inception and no follow-up action was taken in this regards”. Documents obtained by Zee News reveal that the deal with the Canadian firm was taken forward in meetings and communication, almost a year after the tender in question was allegedly scrapped, and that money was paid from foreign shores to Air India officials to influence the contract in favor of the Canadian firm. The case dates back to 2006, when Air India floated tenders for Biometrics Passenger Indetification System for Air India flights. M/s Cryptometrics, Canada was one of the two parties who qualified in the technical bid and even called for price negotiation discussions with Air India officials. Contrary to Patel’s defence that the project was scrapped and never followed up, Zee News has found that the tender in question was recommended by Air India Tender Committee in September 2006 to award the contract to Cryptometrics Canada at the cost of US $105,000,000. A copy of the tender available with Zee News shows that the Cryptometrics was to recover the cost of the $100 million project from flight passengers (approximately 50,000,000 for period of five years) at no extra cost to Air India. Even before the tender was floated in February 2006, Karigar approached officials from Cryptometrics posing as a businessman whose firm has done business in India, and discussed the passenger identification solution for Air India using the company’s technology. Karigar indicated that he and his associates had the necessary connections with Air India management and politicians to win the contract, the judgment by Ontario court notes. The judgment also points out that after convincing officials at Cryptometrics of the deal, Karigar played his role as an agent between the Candian firm and Air India officials as well as the miniser of civil Aviation to help the firm win the contract. Email communication between Karigar and Mario Berini, the chief operating officer for Cryptometrics Canada, reveals that as a part of the deal $200,000 were transferred from Cryptometrics USA to the bank account of Deputy Director of Security, Air India Captain Mascarenhas who was also the co-chair of the selection committee for the project in Mumbai on 21 June 2006. After Cryptometrics was shortlisted in August 2006, Karigar sought another $5000 for the Chairman and Managing Director, Air India who was to be in New York. Vasudevan Thulasidas who was the CMD at the time, told Zee News that he never asked or received any money in New York or elsewhere from Karigar or his representatives. “After a detailed examination (of the biometric proposal), it was I who decided to not go in for such a system,’’ he said in an email reply. The project it seems was, however, not dropped. The court judgment further details events in 2007 where Karigar sent an email to the Berini saying that he had `met with PP’ (Praful Patel) and they discussed the ìncrements’ that the project would be cleared right away. Around May, Karigar admitted to have paid Minister Patel a bribe through an agent in order to clear the process and obtain the Air India contract for Cryptometrics. Although the amount or the identity of the agent is not known, Karigar has said that government figures would get “up to 8 per cent of the value of a contract as a bribe payment.’’ When the file did not move forward, on July 12,2007, in an email sent by Karigar to Berini, he wrote: “After PP took the money, I thought all was done and went ahead… I guess by now you know why Patel has the Cryptometrics project on hold.’’ Finally in August, Karigar decided to report the case annonymously to the Fraud Section (FCPA) of the US department of Justice informing them about US citizens paying bribes to foreign officers. Karigar was sentenced to three years in prison for arranging bribes to public officials in India by the Ontario court in 2014. When contacted by Zee News for his response that contrary to the information given by him that the bio metric project was scrapped and the evidence by the judgment of the Candian court that bribes were paid to win the contract, Patel dismissed the allegation as “bogus.’’ Once again reinforcing that the tender was “scrapped’’, Patel said that such tenders are dealt by Air India and never come to the ministry. “This gentleman (Karigar) has misused my name and may be of others to cheat his company and court verdict says it could not be proved or verified about my involvement.’’ Patel added that when the matter first came to light in media had written to the PM and asked him to investigate the matter with any agency including the CBI. “The PM wrote back to me after due examination that he was satisfied there was no wrongdoing on my part.’’ Kyler Fackrell Jersey
More than 31 lakh households connected with piped natural gas, says government
Besides the households, 29,993 industrial and commercial units are also currently given piped natural gas across the country. Over 3.1 million households are connected with piped natural gas across the country and efforts are on to expand the city gas distribution networks (CGD), Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday. “Government has prioritised domestic gas allocation for CGD entities and has issued guidelines wherein the entire requirement of CGD entities for PNG (domestic) segment is being met through domestic gas,” Sitharaman, replying on behalf of Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, said in Lok Sabha during Question Hour. Ivan Provorov Authentic Jersey
Auction of 67 small oil and gas fields to kick off on May 25
India will kick off an auction of 67 small oil and gas fields on May 25 that will test the response of investors to recent policy measures such as the revenue-sharing model and gas pricing freedom. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), the technical arm of the oil ministry, has announced on its website that oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan will launch the discovered small fields bid round on May 25 in Delhi. “A total of 67 discovered small fields will be offered in 46 contract areas through the new revenue sharing model,” the DGH said in its notice inviting interested parties to register for the launch. Separately, the DGH has sought bids from consultants for promoting the auction at international roadshows meant to showcase fields to potential investors. It has also sought event managers for the roadshows. The auction, the first in about five years in the country, comes after months of delay due to low oil prices, which officials feared may curb interest among potential bidders. Oil prices have dropped about two-thirds in two years, forcing many oil companies to shelve projects and cut jobs. Crude oil prices have increased about 50 per cent in the past three months to trade at about $46 a barrel on May 9 afternoon. Last year, the government unveiled a new policy for 69 small fields that had remained undeveloped for years due to their limited reserves, high development cost and technological constraints. These fields were owned by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India Ltd, before being taken away by the government for auction under the new policy. Two fields in the Northeast will not be part of the auction while the balance have been organised into 46 clusters to make them financially attractive as potential investors can build common infrastructure for these fields, keeping costs low. The auction will test some of the key policy changes introduced by the government in the exploration and development sector such as marketing freedom for gas and revenue-sharing, instead of profit sharing, between the operator and the government.
Government’s drive to widen LPG customer base faces twin hurdles
The government’s plan to offer cooking gas to 5 crore poor households and expand the overall consumer base by 60% over the next three years may run into twin hurdles: inadequate distribution capacity and low purchasing power. Hoping to drive out smoke-generating fuels from kitchens, mainly in rural areas, the government plans to add 10 crore cooking gas consumers, half of them from poor families – an ambitious target for a country that has 16.5 crore liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumers after decades of efforts at taking clean fuel to homes. In the first year, state-run Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum are expected to add 3 crore consumers. “It’s a very stiff target,” said a state oil company executive who didn’t want to be identified. “The biggest challenge will be the logistics needed to serve so many new consumers, especially in the remote areas. Oil companies just don’t have enough distributors for this,” said Deepak Mahurkar, Leader-Oil & Gas Industry, at PwC. State companies currently serve consumers through about 18,000 LPG distributors and plan to add 10,000. Executives at state oil companies say appointing so many distributors quickly wouldn’t be easy. “The hard part will begin now. It will be a challenge for our distributors to reach out to the deeper rural and tribal areas, where we don’t have much presence today and which is where most new consumers will come from,” another state oil company executive said. The purchasing power of potential new consumers could be another hurdle and many of the poor families likely to be provided subsidised gas connections may not necessarily use it much, said Satwant Singh, a former executive director (LPG) at Indian Oil, the country’s top distributor of cooking gas. “In our experience, lower-income rural consumers do not seek more than 4 refills a year, while the government provides for 12 subsidised refills. This means many of these cylinders meant for the poor will end up on the black market,” he said. A commercial LPG cylinder costs about a third more than a non-subsidised domestic cylinder in Delhi due to customs duty and sales tax. The taxes vary from state to state. This difference in prices can become an incentive for consumers and distributors to divert cylinders to the black market, Singh said. Some poor families might be encouraged to give away their existing regular connections to opt for fresh subsidised ones, while some others who have already benefitted in the past under another scheme might seek a fresh subscription as the new one is being issued in the name of women, Singh said. The executives said it would be a headache for oil companies to filter data of poor families eligible for Rs 1,600 subsidy on fresh connections and is putting in place an elaborate system for that. James Bradberry Jersey
ONGC crude oil output up in FY16
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp’s (ONGC) crude oil production has risen for the second consecutive year in 2015-16 but natural gas output continues to decline. ONGC produced 22.37 million tonne of crude oil in the financial year ended March 31, 2016, a notch higher than 22.26 MT in the previous fiscal, a senior company official said. In 2014-15 it had reversed a 7-year declining trend in crude oil production as it brought small and marginal fields in western offshore to production. Output of 22.263 MT of crude oil from April 2014 to March 31, 2015 was higher than 22.247 MT in the previous fiscal. “Most of our major fields are three to four decade old where natural decline has set it. So the challenge before us is to arrest this by investing in enhanced and increased oil recovery schemes and bring newer deposits into production,” he said. ONGC used to produce more than three-fourth of country’s oil needs but that share has slipped down to 60 per cent now. It had produced 26.05 million tons of crude oil in 2006-07, which dipped to 25.94 MT in the following year. That year its share in nation’s oil production of 33.51 MT was 75.7 per cent. ONGC’s production fell to 25.37 MT in 2008-09; 24.67 MT in 2009-10; 24.42 MT in 2010-11; 23.71 MT in 2010-11; 22.56 MT in 2012-13 and to 22.25 MT in 2013-14. Its 22.37 MT of output in 2015-16 is 60.5 per cent of country’s 36.95 MT of production. The company has been under critical scrutiny ever since the BJP government took office in May 2014. Oil Ministry has been monitoring its performance on a monthly basis. The official said output has increased primarily due to about 1 MT of additional production from offshore fields. Natural gas production however continues decline, falling to 21.17 billion cubic meters (BCM) in 2015-16 from 22.02 bcm in the previous fiscal. ONGC, which produced 22.49 bcm of gas in 2008-09, saw output peak to 23.55 bcm in 2012-13 but has since then been falling. Its current output makes up for 65.6 per cent of the country’s production of 32.25 bcm. “We are in the process of developing a series of gas fields on both western and eastern offshore and production will start to look up from this fiscal,” the official said. Alex Mack Womens Jersey
Construction of Highways in Himalayan Region
At present, the connectivity through National Highway for Kedarnath in Uttarakhand is up to Gaurikund, beyond which there is pedestrian pathway of 17 km length. The project of widening and improvement of National Highway to two lane with/without Paved Shoulder from Rudraprayag to Gaurikund for 76 km length is being taken up in a phased manner. The start of development & improvement of works is targeted for commencement from 2016-17 with completion by 2020. During last two years, works amounting to Rs. 350 Cr have already been sanctioned on this National Highway. Jason Pierre-Paul Womens Jersey
ONGC may buy 50% in GSPC block amid Cong vs BJP storm over Rs 20,000 cr
The central government-owned ONGC and the Gujarat government-owned GSPC are in advanced talks to negotiate the price at which ONGC will take a 50%+ stake in the latter’s 1,850 square kilometer KG Basin block, KG-OSN-2001/3, which is set to commence commercial production as early as next month. GSPC is the operator for the block and has an 80% share in the consortium. Neither officials at ONGC nor the GSPC-consortium wished to comment on the contours of the likely sale. Nor did petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The deal is likely to be completed within the next few months and ONGC is likely to acquire a 50%+ stake in the deal for a price of anywhere between $2 and $2.5bn. Though ONGC and GSPC have been negotiating the deal since November last year, ONGC is reportedly more confident of the viability of the block after having run its own simulations based on the data provided by GSPC and ratified by reservoir-management firm Gaffney, Cline & Associates. GSPC’s external consultants have also designed a new well —global major BP has also been providing some assistance — likely to start producing by September, and officials are hopeful that the flow will be better than in the previous wells. If so, GSPC can legitimately claim to have cracked the extremely difficult extraction of ‘tight’ gas, made worse by the fact that it is also classified as high-pressure high-temperature. GSPC is in the middle of a political storm with the Congress party alleging that the Rs 20,000 crore spent by it so far has been a waste of resources since there is very little gas in the block. GSPC has, however, stuck to the gas-in-place estimate of 14.4 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of which 7.6 tcf is recoverable. Based on the information provided to it by GSPC on its exploration so far, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, India’s oil regulator, has okayed gas-in-place estimates of over 10 tcf and recoverable reserves of over 2 tcf — see graphic. While the GSPC-consortium has already spent close to Rs 20,000 crore on the project including borrowing costs of nearly Rs 6,000 crore, it does not have the funds needed to develop the block fully — estimates are it will need another $1.5bn to develop the Deen Dayal West (DDW) field, perhaps another $1bn for DDW Extension and anywhere between $4-6bn to develop other areas such as the Six Discoveries. Though GSPC has been talking about selling a stake to global exploration firms as well, officials are more confident about dealing with ONGC since a PSU-to-PSU deal is easier. Apart from the fact that ONGC may be willing to pay more, a stake sale deal of this type entails intense negotiations which could fall foul of the CAG/CVC. While ONGC has nearly Rs 11,500 crore of cash reserves, it is in the process of embarking on its own $5.1bn gas exploration programme in the KG-DWN-98/2 block which it bought from Cairn India — unlike ONGC Videsh which has spent billions to buy discovered blocks. In September last year, OVL sealed $1.25 billion deal to acquire 15% in East Siberian project Vankorneft from Rosneft. It also forked out about $4.125 billion in a back-to-back 16% acquisitions in Mozambique’s Rovuma Area 1. ONGC has so far not spent too much money on domestic merger and acquisitions. Since 98/2 is close to the GSPC facilities, ONGC could utilize some of the facilities already erected by GSPC. GSPC has already set up well-head platform, processing cum living quarter platform, sub-sea pipeline network and onshore terminal. These facilities have a capacity to process anything between 6 and 17 mmscmd of natural gas. Utilising the existing facilities could save ONGC over $1bn in its own project. GSPC started test production from wells DDW-1 and 2 in August 2014 and from DDW-3 from September 2014. These were conventional wells where initial results were positive but did not sustain for a longer period. Currently, only DDW-2 is under test and producing about 0.1 mmscmd of gas. Later, it drilled another well, DDW-4, where it utilised hydro-fracking technology. This well, the sources said, would be put on stream for commercial production this month. The output is expected to rise after a fifth well· DDW-5 would be completed later this year. At the same time, side-tracking model would be implemented to DDW-1, 2 and 3 to hydro-frack and improve gas production from these wells. Damien Wilson Jersey