Aviation ministry likely to introduce biometric screening at airports
Your thumb could soon be all the documentation required to enter an airport. And once the government is able to achieve this the second phase could see you flashing your thumb to board the aircraft, at least for domestic flights. While it may sound as science fiction, the aviation ministry has already started work on the first part and Hyderabad airport has successfully completed a pilot project on using biometric identification for allowing entry into the terminal there. “Over a billion (100 crore) Aadhar cards have been issued so far. At the time of issuing these cards, biometrics, fingerprints and iris scans, are taken and fed into a national digital registry. Presently, air travellers have to show their air ticket and a valid identity card to enter airports. Wayne Gretzky Jersey
Centre will go by State’s decision on Dabolim airport: Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today said that Centre would be guided by the State government in deciding whether the existing Dabolim airport in the coastal state will continue after commissioning of new greenfield airport at Mopa in North Goa. “If the state government wants Dabolim airport to remain functional then it will continue. I would say Centre would be guided by the state in this regard,” Raju told reporters at Dabolim airport here where he was present for art gallery inauguration. On continuing with Indian Navy managed Dabolim airport as a civil facility (airport), Raju said it is for everyone to decide locally. “In some states they would like to have exclusive airports (for civil operations) because they (airports) also start giving returns in future,” he said. “The Centre is of the view that when an airport is coming within 150 kms of existing airport it is for the operator to decide because this divides the business and could make it financially unviable,” he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently laid foundation stone for new greenfield airport at Mopa which is within 100 kms radius of the existing Dabolim airport. Responding to a question on whether the Indian Navy’s activities would be curtailed at Dabolim airport to make way for more civil aircrafts, the minister said, “Country should never give up its defence preparedness. Most of our countrymen will never like it. We need civil activity but it is not at the cost of defence preparedness.” Talking about Goa, Raju said the number of domestic flights have gone up in the coastal state which is an indication that a lot of Indians are coming to Goa now. “Last year the number of charters came down, we hope it picks up this year because it helps the economic activity. This place has a tourism culture,” he added. “Country’s military needs are one thing and civil needs are another. We have realised that initially it helps to make use of military facility but when you grow to your potential, that becomes inadequate,” he said referring to Dabolim airport. Andy Janovich Jersey
New business models can improve efficiency in aviation sector: Report
New business and process models will help the aviation sector in optimising cost and improving efficiency, says a report. Titled ‘Impact of ICT on Indian Aviation’, the report said digital solutions could also revolutionise the way talent is skilled and groomed to enter the sector. The country’s aviation sector is on the cusp of aggressive growth and technology disruption, it said. Prepared by leading consultancy KPMG and technology solutions provider for the airlines industry SITA, the report emphasised that key to success for airports and airlines would be to create a carefully crafted digital strategy and road map. “The right approach to re-thinking aviation in the digital paradigm is to design new business and process models rather than simply automation/ digitisation of the various process areas for ease of traversing customer journeys/ increasing efficiencies and cost optimisation,” it noted. As the outlook for demand in the sector for the next five years, the report also said both airports and airlines need to smartly deploy cutting edge digital solutions such analytics and artificial intelligence. This would help to increase operational efficiency as well as enhance revenue generation, it added. Timmy Jernigan Authentic Jersey
Andhra Pradesh power utility bags top spot in energy conservation in India
City-based Eastern Power Distribution Company of AP Limited (APEPDCL) bagged the top spot in energy conservation among all 44 distribution companies in the country. The union ministry of power, coal, new and renewable energy and mines announced the results at the National level Energy Conservation Day celebrations held in New Delhi on Wednesday. APEPDCL CMD MM Nayak received the prize from union minister of power Piyush Goyal. Speaking to TOI, Nayak said the discom received the award due to the several energy conservation schemes and measures it has implemented in its jurisdiction. “We have been able to save nearly 626.18 MU (million units) of power since the introduction of those schemes from 2015-16 fiscal. We hope that the savings will cross more than 1,000 MU from the next fiscal. This year, we consumed nearly 12,006 MU of power from April to November against nearly 16,000 MU in previous fiscal,” he said. Meanwhile, a senior official from APEPDCL said, “Distribution of 79.20 lakh LED bulbs to 39.60 lakh consumers in five districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari helped us save energy up to 644.10 MU from February 2015 to November 2016. This apart, the discom saved nearly 0.88 MU by distributing 38,730 five-star rated fans to its consumers in Narsapuram in West Godavari district on a pilot basis.” “We now plan to distribute five-star rated fans to eligible consumers in the remaining areas under the discom’s jurisdiction from the next financial year,” Nayak added. Coming to the Rooftop Solar Net Metering programme, Nayak said APEPDCL saved 7,78,320 units of power per month by synchronising 5.405MW of power to the AP Grid. Similarly, the discom saved 20.65 MU by installing 2,978 solar agriculture pump sets in the discom limits. “By installing 1,93,540 LED street lights in five districts, the discom saved 25.35 MU of power in a year,” Nayak said, adding that the discom was still continuing to incur only 5.48% transmission and distribution losses, which is the best in the country. Hines Ward Authentic Jersey
India needs aggressive energy policy for sustained 9-10 per cent GDP growth: Amitabh Kant
India requires an aggressive energy policy that promotes domestic manufacturing and cuts down import dependence to ensure sustained 9-10 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate over years, NITI Aayog Chief Executive Amitabh Kant said. Such a policy is essential to boost the share of the manufacturing sector in the country’s GDP to 25 per cent, he said speaking at an oil and gas industry event. “The need is to grow at 9-10 percent year-on-year for three decades to lift the young above the poverty line. For this, we will have to drive manufacturing sector to about 25 per cent of GDP. We will need a very aggressive energy policy for this,” Kant said. He added the nation needs to work on a consistent, predictable and clear policy framework which stands the test of time to attract investments in the oil and gas sector. “The key pillars of Make in India initiative in the energy sector is discovering oil and gas rather than importing, indigenously manufacturing the equipment used in the sector and developing in-house expertise in our own companies to provide the necessary services, technology and manpower required in this high-tech industry.” India’s indigenous crude oil production fell 3.3 percent to 713 Thousand Tonne (TMT) in the first seven months of the current fiscal as compared to the corresponding period last fiscal. Crude oil imports rose more than 8 per cent to 125 Million Tonne (MT) in the April-October period. Kant also pointed out India’s approach for promoting Make in India in the petroleum sector is to bring global companies to India and make it rewarding to discover oil and gas in the country. “Unless we allow these companies to create wealth, India will not be able to create wealth in this sector,” he said, adding it is very important to create an incentive structure which is at par with international standards. India’s hydrocarbon sector received Rs 677 crore worth of foreign investments last financial year, according to data available with the oil ministry. The investment inflows are expected to grow tenfold in the present fiscal primarily due to the acquisition of Essar Oil and its Vadinar refinery by Russia’s oil major Rosneft. The acquisition is estimated to be around Rs 72,800 crore in value. The NITI Aayog CEO also expressed pleasure at Mumbai developing into an Information Technology centre for global petroleum players including Schlumberger and CGT Petroleum. He said the idea of Make in India for the oil and gas sector will fructify when foreign and Indian companies come together to explore, discover, refine and market oil and gas and tap India’s potential based on suitable and consistent policy framework. Darqueze Dennard Authentic Jersey
State slips to 3rd position in solar power generation
After losing its top rank to Rajasthan last year, Gujarat has now slipped further to end at third position in commissioned solar power capacity. Rapid capacity addition by Tamil Nadu helped the state to topple both Rajasthan and Gujarat from their respective top ranks. According to the Union ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), Tamil Nadu has topped the list with solar power capacity of 1,555.41 MW as on October 31, 2016, while Rajasthan stands at second position, with 1,301.16 MW and Gujarat third with 1,138.19 MW. “The capacity addition in Gujarat has slowed down because the state already has surplus power and it has also been able to meet its renewable purchase obligation (RPO) target,” said Pranav Mehta, co-chairman, Global Solar Council. “On the other hand, Tamil Nadu has aggressively installed solar capacity to promote green energy and meet its RPO target,” Mehta said. RPO mandates states to purchase specified amounts of power from solar plants. The RPO for Gujarat is 1.75% of total power demand in state. Tamil Nadu has jumped to top from the fourth position in January 2016 when its capacity at 418.94 MW. The Adani group commissioned a 648 MW solar power plant, said to be the world’s largest at a single location, at Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu in September this year. Gujarat had been the leader in solar power generation for years. It lost the first spot to Rajasthan in 2015. With states such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Rajasthan having solar plants with huge capacity under pipeline, Gujarat is unlikely to retain at the top much longer. “Solar power plants with capacity of 3,376 MW are under planning in Karnataka as on date. The capacity of pipeline plants in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan is 2,418 MW, 1,494 MW, and 1,206 MW respectively. While the same is 300 MW for Gujarat,” said KK Bajaj, a city-based energy expert. Experts feel Gujarat can do a lot more in solar space. “Gujarat needs to be more ambitious in this segment of renewable energy as the state has potential to export green power to other states,” said Mehta. James Hurst Jersey
Power Ministry to launch GARV-II app to ensure power access to all
To ensure transparency in implementation of rural electrification programme, the Power Ministry will launch a new app, GARV-II, to provide real time data of all six lakh villages of the country. “Earlier version of GARV mobile phone application used to provide data about rural electrification regarding 18,452 un-electrified villages. The new version GARV-II to be unveiled on Tuesday will provide real time data for all six lak villages in the country,” a senior official told PTI. The official further said, “Besides, the GARV-II will enable the commoners to participate in the development work and can give their input about rural electrification programme. Thus, the rural electrification work would be open to public scrutiny.” Under this facility, village-wise; habitation-wise base line data on household electrification for all states provided by them has been incorporated. Further, village-wise works sanctioned under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) have also been mapped to monitor progress of works in each village. The progress on various works will be updated by the implementing agencies of the states on day to day basis, the official said that a dashboard for Managing Directors and Superintending Engineers of DISCOMs has been provided for online monitoring. In ‘GARV’ the data of only 18452 un-electrified villages has been mapped and 12-stage milestone based monitoring mechanism has been put in place. Under ‘GARV-II’, the data in respect of all villages (about 6 Lakh) with more than 15 lakh habitations has been mapped for tracking progress on household electrification in each of the habitations of these villages. Further, the status of release of funds to the states for projects sanctioned under DDUGJY has also been incorporated in ‘GARV-II’, he added. GARV-II will have a citizen engagement window ‘SAMVAD’to enhance participation. They can contribute in the programme by providing their feedback and suggestions which shall be automatically forwarded to the concerned Managing Directors and Superintending Engineers of DISCOMs through SMS & Email on their dashboard. The official said that the objective of GARV-II is to ensure electricity access to all households as government has already electrified over 11,000 villages out of 18,452 un-electrified villages. Harold Landry Jersey
Power for all in Odisha by March 2019, says CM Naveen Patnaik
Even though around 40% families in the state are yet to get electricity connections, the state government on Friday announced to ensure 24×7 uninterrupted power supply for all households by March 2019. Reviewing the status of rural electrification here, chief minister Naveen Patnaik directed the energy department to complete electricity connections to remaining 1,318 habitations by May 2017. Then power will be supplied to individual households. He also directed the department to ensure electricity connections to all BPL households in next two years. Officials of the energy department informed the chief minister that electricity connection to all villages in Nuapada, Kandhamal, Nabarangapur and Malkangiri districts (the four highly-focused districts of the state government) would be ensured within the next six months. The energy department is working to ensure electricity connections to primary and community health centres and ST/SC hostels on a priority basis, said an official, who attended the meeting. As the state government has already launched a scheme worth Rs 2,600 crore to set up 500 new 33/11 kv substations to strengthen the power distribution network and to provide seamless electricity supply across the state, the chief minister emphasized on timely completion of the sub-stations. Of total 500 sub-stations, 433 are proposed in rural areas, the officer said. Naveen also reviewed the status regarding development of special feeder line for fisheries and agriculture sectors and directed to complete the task by next six months. Dustin Hopkins Jersey
ONGC allowed loot, plunder of equipment: Parliament panel report
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has asked the government to probe the role played by oil ministry officials in delaying a decision on awarding the Ratna and R-Series fields, as well as ONGC executives for allowing “loot and plunder of equipment and take stringent action against them. The PAC report, tabled in Parliament on Friday, said the ministry’s indecision “directly compromised national interest on energy security and stringent action may be taken in this matter”. PAC said ONGC allowed “plundering and looting” of equipment from offshore platforms of fields by not putting in place effective security systems. “Non-maintenance of oil-producing fields by ONGC and subsequent plundering and looting from the sites is a sheer failure of a public sector undertaking in looking after the nation’s property,” the report said. Last year, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had said the 16-year delay in award of Ratna and R-Series fields caused a loss of Rs 26,000 crore to the exchequer. The fields, 90km southwest of Mumbai, were awarded in February 1996 to a consortium of Ruias-promoted Essar group and UK-based Premier Oil through an international bidding process as per then prevailing policy for discovered fields. ONGC retained 40% stake as the original licensee. Subsequently, however, disputes over terms of the award delayed handing over of the fields to the consortium. Last year, the government finally restored the fields to ONGC. But in the 16 years that went by when the field idled, much of the equipment was stolen or became unserviceable. “ONGC’s own inspections reported the facts of ‘plundering and looting’ of platform utilities and equipment… As per ONGC’s own estimate of 2010, cost of repair itself of these facilities would be Rs 1,086 crore,” the CAG had said last year and projected a loss of Rs 26,000 crore to the country due to the 16-year delay in awarding the fields for production. Striking a similar refrain, the PAC report said ONGC “should have maintained the fields as being a PSU it would have anyway recovered all its expenses sooner or later”. Carlos Baerga Womens Jersey
LPG woes: Cash crunch threatens to turn off stoves
The demonetisation effect has entered the family kitchen now as the deadline for paying the scrapped notes for LPG cylinders expired on December 15 and there is ashortage of smaller currenciesin the system. Worse still, the LPG dealers are unlikely to get swipe machines in the near future because there is a shortage of them in the market due to the high demand. The market is flooded with Rs 2,000 notes, thanks to the ATMs full of them. Banks are also giving at least 80 percent of cash in these notes. “The loose change is gone from the market as it is not being replenished by the banks. As there was a hoarding of higher denomination notes, the lower denomination notes are in demand now. Given the situation, we are unable to book the refill cylinder of LPG,” Sushma Jadhav, a teacher in a private school, residing in Pathardi area, said. Similar is the case with Kailas Adhav of Panchavati who had booked a refill cylinder on December 13 and had to send the delivery boy back after he said he had no change. “He came to our house and on December 16 with the cylinder, but my wife had to send him back because she had Rs 2,000 notes and and no change. She tried to get change from a private shop that had a PoS machine, but in vain,” he said. The shortage of change is creating problems for people. “We have change but that is largely being used for important needs like grocery and vegetables. But the LPG dealers can bring the swipe machines,” Sanjay Narkhede, a shopkeeper said. The situation is still bad in rural areas where banks do not have enough branches to dispense cash to farmers. “We have to travel 15 km for an ATM, forget any bank branch. We are not tech savvy and cannot use cards or net banking. How will we buy refills? Till December 15, the Rs 500 notes were allowed, but now that is not the situation. Besides, the internet connection is not friendly,” Abhijeet Kadam, a residnet of a village in Niphad, said. The LPG distributors have their own story to tell. “Some people are paying exact change, but the number those rejecting delivery of cylinders has shot up. The deliveries are being rejected mainly because people do not have cash these days. Most delivery men bring back at least one cylinder per day,” said a distributor. A senior official of a petroleum company said people using smart phones know that they can pay online at the time of booking, but those who not tech savvy are unable to do that. “Requests for swipe machines have been made by distributors and are waiting for the receipt of the same,” the officer said. “It is a major headache to buy a POS machine on rent. The online transactions have grown from 0.5 percent to about 2 percent after demonetization, but are not enough for a distributor to bear the charges of the POS machine. Besides, distributors will have to give one POS to every delivery person, which means at least about five machines per distributor. Who will bear the rents is a major question,” said a distributor. “The USSD code used for money transaction without internet connection is a good option but the problem is that people are not familiar with it. Even we are not aware of it at this point of time. The petroleum companies should conduct some workshops and display boards to create awareness among people,” another dealer from Nashik Road said. Howie Morenz Authentic Jersey