Airport curb to cabin in a flash of your eye
Clear, the biometric screening firm long hobbled by a limited network, is landing in several major US airports soon, including New York’s LaGuardia, marking the start of an era that could radically accelerate your trip from curb to cabin. But there are some bumps to smooth out first. Clear, which started at JFK International Airport earlier this month, will open screening lanes at LaGuardia and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson in the next few days, followed by Los Angeles International and Minneapolis-St. Paul by April. All told, the expansion will put Clear at 22 major airports, covering the majority of domestic American flights, according to the company. Clear doesn’t replace TSA PreCheck so much as complement it. It checks travellers’ identities with a fingerprint or iris scan, eliminating the boarding pass and identity checks. That lets Clear members proceed directly to bag and body screening. The company says about 65% of its users at the busiest airports have also enrolled in PreCheck, allowing them to retain their shoes, belts, and laptops during the screening. Clear is a reincarnation of the verified-identification idea begun by journalist Steven Brill in 2003. That company ran out of money and shut down in 2009. It was purchased in bankruptcy the following year for about $6 million by investors including Clear’s current CEO, former hedge fund manager Caryn Seidman-Becker. Other stakeholders include T. Rowe Price Group Inc., Sterling Equities, investor Bill Miller, and former executives of Priceline Group Inc. (Clear also offers security checks at various professional sports arenas.) The New York-based company, in which Delta Air Lines Inc. holds a 5% stake, has been working hard to expand its network to the point where veteran air travelers would view it as comprehensive. Glaring omissions at some major hubs, such as Chicago O’Hare and Newark Liberty, have made some frequent fliers disinclined to consider paying for the service. “In order to provide the best service and to meet the expectations of our members, we have to be in all the right airports,” said David Cohen, Clear’s chief administrative officer. “That’s really important.” There are other obstacles still facing Clear. Its lanes, for one, aren’t always located in the same terminals that have the bulk of an airport’s traffic. At both Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston-Bush airports, for example, Clear’s lanes are in terminals not used by the dominant carriers at those hubs, American Airlines Group Inc. and United Continental Holdings Inc., respectively. Cohen said each airport has different needs and requirements about where Clear can establish screening. Clear charges $179 annually, with new enrollees receiving a one-month trial for free. The company has also experimented with a variety of pricing promotions, such as $29 for a three-month enrolment last summer. Members of Delta’s SkyMiles frequent flier program get discounted memberships, while Delta covers the cost for its top-level elite members. Clear members can add a spouse or domestic partner for $50, and children 17 and younger are free. Clear says it has more than 700,000 members nationwide and will surpass 1 million in the next few months, with annual enrollment growth of 110%. If Clear reaches critical mass and becomes a viable option for all who wish to enroll, it may face a bigger problem: success. More travelers using Clear may spell longer queues at airports that already face space constraints. Isn’t Clear useful to its customers precisely because its audience is limited? Cohen said the company hasn’t yet faced this problem, even as it processes upwards of 2,000 travelers each day at its busiest locations. And the tech firm has an advantage when it comes to that issue, he said: By using technology like automated kiosks, it can expand without hiring more employees. Andre Tippett Jersey
Listen to Airlines to make the Regional Connectivity Scheme a Success
Modi government’s ambitious regional connectivity scheme is a laudable initiative that can help transform India’s aviation sector like never before. While the move is praiseworthy, airlines and government need to arrive at a consensus on how to make it work and they need to do this quickly. Under the regional connectivity scheme, UDAN, government is offering a subsidy to participating airlines that operate to airports where either no scheduled flight operates as on date or where the frequency of flights is very limited. Fares on RCS routes have been capped at Rs 2,500 per hour of flying. The scheme – and herein lies the problem – would be funded through a regional connectivity fund (RCF) created from levy of Rs 7,500 – Rs 8,500 charged to the airlines on a per-flight basis. The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), which represents Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo – has opposed the levy. “Members of the FIA believe that the objective of the civil aviation policy is and, as has been stated in the policy itself, is to reduce costs. Already, 50% of an airline ticket cost goes in various forms of direct and indirect taxes and fees and so on. Here is something that adds to that cost for consumers and that’s what we oppose,” a senior airline official said as he explained on why they had opposed the move. The government, airlines say, should make every effort to bring down the cost of aviation, bring down fares and stimulate the market. The airlines seem to have a valid point here. Airlines feel there are other ways in which the scheme can be paid for – either as a budgetary grant or in terms of Airports Authority of India, which with its large deposits and high profitability, can step in. “It’s their airports which will get populated and a lot of their dead assets will become viable again once the scheme takes off. Perhaps there could be another way of funding this scheme. We feel we should not put another additional charge on passengers. Every additional charge is limiting our ability to reduce fares,” said another airline official. India is the fastest growing aviation market in the world today. Growth happens when you stimulate. This has been India’s experience in the telecom sector as well. “How much can the fares go up? Our ATF prices are already the most expensive in the world,” the official said. What airlines are saying, it seems, makes sense. The high taxes and fuel prices have seen many airlines fold up in the past and a great initiative like the RCS shouldn’t add to the passenger’s and airline’s misery. Ricardo Louis Womens Jersey
British Gas to pay 9.5 million stg for customer billing failings-Ofgem
Centrica-owned British Gas has to pay 9.5 million pounds ($11.9 million) in compensation to customers who faced billing problems after the household energy supplier upgraded its system in 2014, UK energy market regulator Ofgem said on Tuesday. Ofgem said British Gas, Britain’s biggest energy supplier, had shown failings in its registrations, complaints handling and billing processes for business customers and over 6,000 new customers had experienced delays registering with the supplier. The 9.5 million pounds comprises payments to affected customers and payments to a charity to help energy customers in need, Ofgem added. British Gas said it voluntarily reported the issues to Ofgem after it introduced the new IT billing system. “We invested in a new billing system so we could improve the service we provide to our business customers,” British Gas said in a statement. “At the time, this was a major undertaking – merging nearly 100 different systems into one. It didn’t go as smoothly as we would have liked so we reported this to Ofgem as a priority,” it added. British Gas said the issues have now been resolved and it has restored a “very good quality of customer service”. ($1 = 0.8009 pounds) Vita Vea Jersey
State-owned gas utility GAIL planning to raise Rs 750 crore through bonds
State-run gas marketer GAIL (India) Ltd is planning to raise Rs 750 crore in bonds via private placement to finance its ongoing projects. The company has decided to issue non-convertible bonds of up to Rs 750 crore with an option to double the issue size via private placement in one or more tranches, GAIL said in a statement on Friday. “The issue of the rupee bonds would help in funding the growing capex requirements for the future growth of the Company,” Chairman B C Tripathi said. The board also recommended issuance of one bonus share for every three equity shares held by shareholders. Following the issue, the paid-up share capital of the company will expand from Rs. 1,268 crore to Rs. 1,691 crore. “The decision has been taken in order to enhance shareholders’ value and acknowledge their support to the company over the years,” Tripathi said. The last time GAIL had issued a bonus share was in October 2008. GAIL has also decided to pay an interim dividend of Rs 8.5/share, or 85% of the paid-up equity share capital, for 2016-17. The record date for this is February 3. All state enterprises, especially the profitable oil companies, are facing increased demand for big dividends from the government aiming to generate enough resources to expand public spending. Mason Cole Jersey
Russia’s Gazprom Calls For Urgent Gas Investment Decisions In Europe
Long-term gas demand in Europe means immediate investment decisions are needed to build new infrastructure, Alexander Medvedev, a deputy chief executive officer at Russian gas giant Gazprom, said on Tuesday. Last year, Russia supplied Europe and Turkey with a record 179.3 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas as consumers capitalised on low gas prices, which follow the prices of oil with a lag of six to nine months. Its share of the EU gas market rose to an all-time high of 34 percent from 31 percent in 2015. Russia plans to boost supplies further and remain the dominant player on the European gas market. “In order to cater for the growth (in Europe’s gas demand) tomorrow, large-scale investment decisions are required already today. This is a stimulus for us to invest in new fields and gas pipelines,” Medvedev told a European Gas conference in Vienna. “According to a consensus forecast of the world’s leading energy agencies, thanks to new spheres of growth, Europe will need some additional 90 bcm of gas by 2025 from the current level of supply and more than 120 bcm by 2035,” he said. Nord Stream-2 Gazprom has been pushing for the Nord Stream-2 underwater gas pipeline project, which would double the existing annual capacity of the current two pipelines from 55 bcm. The project has faced resistance from some European countries, notably from Poland, which want to cut their reliance on energy supplies from Moscow amid political tensions. “Gazprom is ready to create a powerful infrastructure for gas supplies, which will cost European taxpayers not a single euro cent,” Medvedev said. He added Nord Stream-2 was on schedule as new pipelines were being commissioned in Russia to supply gas from Siberia. “The Nord Stream-2 project is being implemented in full compliance with the schedule. The Bovanenkovo-Ukhta-2 gas pipeline has been launched recently, this is a part of our Nord Stream-2 schedule,” Medvedev said about a pipeline in Siberia. Geoffroy Hureau, the general secretary of data provider CEDIGAZ, said Russia would be able to keep its market share in Europe thanks to lower production costs and have the upper hand in the battle with an expected influx of liquefied natural gas from the United States over the coming years. “They have a lot of gas they can put on the market at relatively low cost because they have developed some fields in view of a growing European market,” he said on the sidelines of the conference. Mitch Richmond Jersey
Petrochina Aims To Meet A Third Of China’s Shale Gas Target By 2020
China’s biggest energy giant PetroChina plans to step up shale gas development in Sichuan province this year, aiming to meet a third of a 2020 government target for the unconventional resource, according to state media and a government official. News agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday that PetroChina will step up drilling in southern parts of Sichuan province, China’s top gas-producing region and a key area for early shale gas development. PetroChina’s plan to build 10 billion cubic metres (bcm) of shale gas output capacity by 2020 in Sichuan province would represent a third of Beijing’s production target for the resource that year. Domestic rival Sinopec Corp, which has been leading the sector with China’s largest commercial shale gas discovery in nearby Chongqing municipality, aims for 10 bcm of output by the end of the decade as well. “PetroChina is playing catch-up with Sinopec, as its understanding of the geology deepens and its technology improves,” said a government official who oversees shale gas development. “Longer-term PetroChina has greater potential in tapping shale resources as it operates on a much larger acreage,” said the official, who declined to be named as he is not authorized to speak to press. China, which claims to have the world’s largest technically recoverable shale gas resources, has a much higher development cost compared with North America, however, due to more complicated geology and scarce water resources. Despite Beijing’s push to boost gas use at the expense of coal, natural gas demand has since late 2014 grown much slower compared with the previous decade, mainly because of easing economic growth and competition from cheaper global supplies. PetroChina last year produced 2.3 bcm of shale gas in Sichuan province, mostly from 120 production wells in the Changning-Weiyuan pilot zone, Xinhua said. It also laid 220 kilometres of pipelines. For 2017, the state oil and gas company plans 19 new rigs to drill 110 wells in the area, part of a total 600 wells planned over the coming four years, Xinhua said. Mike Daniels Womens Jersey
Petronas boosts capacity at Malyasian LNG complex
State-run Petronas subsidiary Petronas LNG 9 Sdn. Bhd. (PL9SB) has started commercial operations of the ninth LNG liquefaction train at the Petronas LNG Complex (PLC) in in Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia (OGJ Online, Feb. 24, 2012). Equipped with a nameplate capacity of 3.6 million tonnes/year, the new production train entered commercial operation on Jan. 1, said JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. (JX NOE), Tokyo, which owns a 10% interest in PL9SB. Startup of PL9SB’s liquefaction plant raises total production capacity at PLC to about 30 million tpy from its previous capacity of 25.7 million tpy. Announcement of PL9SB’s official launch of commercial operations follows initial startup, commissioning, and production activities at the train in September 2016, Petronas said in its latest quarterly earnings presentation to investors. JX NOE, which purchased equity interest in PL9SB in June 2016, also holds 10% interest in Petronas subsidiary Malaysia LNG Tiga Sdn. Bhd.’s operations at PLC, according to separate June 3, 2016, releases from JX NOE and Petronas. In 2012, Petronas said Train 9, once completed, will receive its required feed gas of up to 850 MMcfd from various fields off Sarawak and, alongside all associated utilities, include units for the following: • Gas receiving. • Acid gas removal. • Dehydration and mercury removal. • Fractionation and liquefaction. • LNG rundown Marcus Cooper Womens Jersey
Rural Roads Target well within reach- Ministry of Rural Development
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Rural Development will achieve the annual targeted length of 48,812 kilometers of rural roads by 31st March, 2017, as the construction work picks up from January to May every year. As on 27.01.2017, a total of 32,963kms. has been completed which is 67.53% of the annual target. This translates to 111 kms. of roads getting constructed every day. According to the annual target (48,812 kms.), the average per day construction should be 133kms per day. It is important to realize that September to December are lean months for road construction, whereas the construction picks up from January to May every year. It is also important to underline that from April to August, 2016 PMGSY had achieved an average per day construction of 139 kms. per day and therefore by 31st March, 2017 it will achieve the annual targeted length of 48,812 kms. The annual target of habitations in 2016-17 is 15,000 habitations, against which, as on date (27.01.2017) 6,473 habitations have been connected. PMGSY would also by 31st March, 2017, achieve the habitation target also. Another major achievement has been the focus of using “green” technologies and non-conventional materials (waste plastic, cold mix, geo-textiles, fly ash, copper and iron slag etc.) in construction of PMGSY roads because these are locally available, low cost, non-polluting, labour friendly and fast construction technologies / materials. In the first 14 years of PMGSY (from 2000 to 2014), only 806.93 kms. of roads were constructed using these technologies / materials. In the last 2 years (2014-2016), 2,634.02 kms. of PMGSY roads have been constructed using these technologies /materials. In the present year (2016-17) till date (27.01.2017), 3,000 kms. have been constructed using these technologies / materials. Greg Zuerlein Jersey
Germany to finance strategic infrastructure projects in India
Germany is set to finance long-term strategic projects in India particularly in the railway, infrastructure and smart cities sectors as part of efforts to support India’s “growth story”, a top German official has said. “Germany is ready to support India’s growth story and become part of India’s DNA in key long term strategic projects for India’s growth,” Matthias Machnig, State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, was quoted as saying by an Indian Embassy statement. During a meeting with visiting Indian CEOs delegation led by CII, he also informed about the German Cabinet’s decision to finance long-term strategic projects in countries like India particularly in railways, infrastructure and smart cities sectors, the statement said. German government has set up a special unit in the Economics Ministry to implement this decision of the German Cabinet, it said. In a meeting with the CII delegation, German Federal Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble said that Germany is committed to working with India for mutual benefit. The CII delegation was led by Shobana Kameneni, CII President-Designate and Vice Chairperson Apollo Hospitals Ltd. This was the largest CII delegation to visit Germany since India’s Participation in the 2015 Hannover Messe where India was a partner country. The 10 members of delegation also included Salil Singhal (PI Industries Ltd), Rajiv Modi (Cadila), Sanjay Kapur (Sona Koyo Steering Systems), Prabhakar Atla (Cyient Ltc), Mohan Murti (Reliance Industries), Mukul Dhyani (Wipro) and Rajesh Menon from CII. They also participated in a roundtable meeting with German CEOs led by Federation of German Industry (BDI) President Dieter Kempf. It was organised by BDI and the Indian Embassy. CII and BDI would be jointly working on a programme, to intensify their engagements in key areas including skill development, the statement said. The Indian delegation also interacted with a number of German industry leaders from German Asia-Pacific Business Association. The CII and The Economic Council also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen economic and trade ties between India and Germany during ‘The Germany-India Economic Dialogue’ event held at the Indian Embassy here yesterday. The MoU will help in jointly promoting Indo-German business by means of frequent exchange visits for business cooperation, facilitating investment and business development, and jointly organising road shows in both countries for promotion of investment opportunities, the statement said. Paul Martin Authentic Jersey
Infrastructure sector seeks higher allocation, tax breaks
The infrastructure sector’s stakeholders expect a rise in budgetary allocation for 2017-18 and tax breaks to reinvigorate the industry. “Over the last few years, the government has been trying to address the impediments to the infrastructure growth story. However, investment in the sector is yet to reach the desired level,” Vishwas Udgirkar, Partner, Consulting, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India, told IANS. “Budgetary allocations are expected to increase and with bank capitalisation taking place due to demonetisation, it would be interesting to see if any announcements are made to facilitate channelising this much needed capital to the sector.” According to Manish Agarwal, Partner Leader Infrastructure with PwC, public sector spending is expected to remain the prime driver for infrastructure build-out over the next year as private sector investment remains subdued. “Financial stress in the banking system remains a key hurdle to private investment coming back into the sector. Addressing this, along with implementation of Kelkar Committee recommendations, could revive PPPs (public private partnerships) faster,” Agarwal said. On the merger of the Railway Budget with the Union Budget, Agarwal noted that the move will help to bring in more focus on the key issues relevant to the budget. “The Finance Ministry will be able to start taking a view on allocation between rail, road, water to optimise logistics costs, and make transport greener,” Agarwal said. “While road and rail are likely to get large allocations, we expect to see growth in allocation to inland waterways and Sagarmala programes.” The provisions for attracting global funds such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds would go a long way in facilitating infrastructure development, said Jaijit Bhattacharya, Partner, Strategy and Economics, KPMG in India. “Along with an increase in budgetary allocation for the infrastructure sector, it is crucial to establish regulatory mechanisms in infrastructure creation, which enables private investment in infrastructure funds such as National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF),” he said. “In addition, a more aggressive adoption of asset recycling is desirable as it would free up a very significant amount of funds which can be further invested into more infrastructure. “This would unleash a virtuous cycle and considerably accelerate infrastructure development. In the road sector, this strategy is termed as TOT (Toll-Operate-Transfer) and is being actively embraced.” Besides higher allocation, the sector is hopeful of tax sops. The Construction Federation of India (CFI) said it anticipates the Union Budget 2017-18 to bring substantial relief in direct and indirect taxation and also remove anomalies in the taxation laws. Filip Chlapik Jersey