Currency note ban sends electricity bill collection in UP through the roof
Ever since they announced they will be accepting banned currency notes, their coffers have spilled over with cash collection going up 10 fold in many districts of UP, including Agra, Bareilly, Badaun, Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur. Bareilly zone, where average daily collection of bills used to be Rs 2-3 crore, saw over Rs 25 crore deposited just on Friday. The corporation, which has over Rs 1000 crore in unpaid electricity bills across the state, has set up 154 special camps in Bareilly zone to deal with people making long queues to pay their pending power bills. Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) started accepting payment in old currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 after Piyush Goyal, union minister of state with independent charge for power, coal, new and renewable energy and mines, tweeted about it. However, no advance payment is allowed for it and individuals and households can pay current and pending bills. Chief engineer Rajkumar Agarwal said that this is the first time that the department has set up such a large number of special camps for collection of power bills. The power department is collecting payment of power bills from 9 am to 12 midnight and it will continue till the midnight of November 14. Considering the huge rush at these special camps, UPPCL has deployed all office staff here. “For the convenience of people, we have set up a total of 154 camps inside power substations of 33 KV in Bareilly zone which has four districts. Besides, we have deployed 15 mobile vans in Bareilly to facilitate consumers. Though both online and offline payment modes are available, we set up camps to help people residing in rural areas,” Agarwal added. The daily collection of the department has gone up 10 times. “On Friday, we collected Rs 25 crore from Bareilly zone. Before the demonetisation, we used to collect around Rs 2-3 crore every day. Looking at the huge rush, we believe that we will collect similar amount on Saturday also,” he said. Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (DVVNL) superintendent engineer Rajeev Jain told TOI, “On Friday, we accepted bill payments till midnight which will continue up to November 14. Our collection on Friday in Agra and Fatehabad circle was around Rs 7.5 crore.” On an average day, DVVNL collects around Rs 8-10 lakh from the region. Of the total Rs 25 crore, the highest amount of Rs 10 crore was collected from Bareilly. Daniel Alfredsson Jersey
Discom claims daily loss of Rs 25 lakh due to power theft by e-rick owners
One of Delhi’s power distributors, BSES has claimed about Rs 25 lakh daily revenue loss due to power theft by e-rickshaw owners while proposing the need to have a institutional mechanism for charging batteries of these electric vehicles. In its letter addressed to both Delhi government and Union transport ministry, the discom has given details of 26 localities where the practice of illegal tapping of electricity to charge battery is rampant. These include Okhla Vihar, Batla House, Sangam Vihar, Dakshin Puri, Matiyala, Mahavir Enclave, Tihar Village, Tilak Nagar, Uttam Nagar and Bindapur. Sources said the discom has highlighted how in the absence of proper charging stations and metering mechanism, the crisis will get bigger and hence there is a need to find a way out. It has also sought the details of registered e-rickshaws from the government. Though for the past 2-3 years, both Centre and Delhi government have talked about the need to expedite proper charging facilities for electric vehicles across the country, nothing much has happened. L.C. Greenwood Womens Jersey
Law- Nagaland – PIL
The ongoing case regarding the PIL filed against the Nagaland Petroleum and Natural Gas (NP&NG) Rules and Regulation witnessed a new development as the Union Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, filed a counter affidavit as one of the respondents in the case. According to a report received today, as respondent number 8, the Government of India filed a counter affidavit at the Kohima Bench of Guwahati High Court and the affidavit provided the Centre’s interpretation of Article 371(A) and said the Nagaland Legislative Assembly has no jurisdiction to make laws over oil fields in the state. The Ministry, in its affidavit disagreed that the State of Nagaland has any power to make law for development of oil fields and mineral resources. It further submitted that the Parliament has “exclusive power” to make laws on the said subject. It claimed that Article 371(A) “does not even restrict the Parliament to apply any of its laws on oil fields and mineral resources in Nagaland and no resolution from the State of Nagaland is required to apply the Parliament’s law on oil fields and mineral resources in the state.” The Ministry hence stated that any existing law made by the State of Nagaland on oil fields and mineral oil resources is “liable to be struck down, the same being without jurisdiction and ultra vires to the Constitution of India.” It stated that “the exploration of oil and natural gas is a subject covered by entry 53 (regulation and development of oil and mineral oil resources; petroleum and petroleum products; other liquids and substances declared by Parliament by law to be dangerously inflammable) List 1 of the Union List and therefore, the Parliament alone has the powers to legislate laws on this subject.” The Ministry also questioned whether the subjects mentioned under Article 371 (A) as “existing customary and religious laws of Nagaland” and subject for which the state is empowered to make law under state or concurrent list includes development of oil fields and mineral resources, “considering the fact that the said subject does not fall under state or concurrent list.” It further stated that the “plain words of Article 371 (A) and the constitutional history of amendments would show that 371 (a) was meant to be a restriction of application of Laws of Parliament and not a source of Legislative Power of the State.” It may be noted that the PIL against the Nagaland Petroleum and Natural Gas (NP&NG) Rules and Regulation, was filed by the Lotha Hoho (LH) and 2 others against the State of Nagaland and 7 others against the state Government’s attempt for exploration of petroleum oil from various spots of Wokha district. UNI AS KK 1342 Christine Michael Sr Jersey
Chinese ship opens new trade route via Pakistani port
Pakistan’s top civilian and military leaders traveled to the country’s southwest on Sunday to open a new international trade route by seeing off a Chinese ship that’s exporting goods to the Middle East and Africa from the newly built Gwadar port. The first convoy of Chinese trucks carrying goods for sale abroad has arrived in Pakistan amid tight security using a road linking Gwadar to China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, the government said in a statement. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan will provide best possible security to foreign investors to enable them to use the Chinese-funded port+ for international trade. Amid security concerns for foreign workers, the Pakistani army has created a special force to guard the new trade routes and the port, which is located in insurgency-wracked Baluchistan province where an overnight blast at a shrine killed nearly 50 people. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group and Pakistani officials said it was aimed at harming the Chinese-funded projects in the southwest and elsewhere in the country. China is building a network of roads and power plants under a project known as China-Pakistan Economic Corridor+ that is expected to absorb $46 billion in Chinese investment in the coming decades. China and Pakistan have long maintained close political and military relations, based partly on mutual antipathy toward neighbour India. Gwadar port is located on the Arabian Sea and it occupies a strategic location between South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. The port is also located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, just outside the Straits of Hormuz. China is seeking convenient and reliable access to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Chinese ships now use the Strait of Malacca, a narrow passage between the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia. The proposed new route would give China access to the Persian Gulf region and the Middle East. Todd Gurley Womens Jersey
GAIL scraps USD 7-bn LNG tender
After dragging for more than two years, state-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd has scrapped a USD 7 billion tender for hiring newly built ships to ferry LNG from US after bidders did not agree to ‘Make-in-India’ terms. GAIL, which was forced by the Oil Ministry to add the Make-in-India condition to its tender, will now hire the ships from the global spot or current market to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG), a top official said. Two Japanese bidders — a consortium of Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL)-Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) and Mitsui & Co and a consortium comprising Mitsubishi Corporation-Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd (K Line) and GasLog, had sought several deviations from the tender conditions, which were not agreeable to GAIL. “We discussed with both the bidder the deviations they sought for over six months but when they didn’t agree, we were left with no option but to cancel the tender,” the official said. In the tender, GAIL sought to time-charter nine newly built LNG ships of a cargo capacity of 150,000-180,000 cubic meters to LNG it has tied up from Sabine Pass and Cove Point LNG projects in US, with supplies slated to start from December 2017. Bids were sought in lots of three, with the condition that one of the three ship will be built at an Indian shipyard. The official said since Indian shipyards neither had technology or experience of building the highly specialised LNG ships, the bidder sought sovereign performance guarantee for the ones built in India. After postponing the deadline thrice, GAIL had in February last year scrapped the tender to hire nine LNG carriers to ferry gas from the US, with a caveat that three of them be made in India. At that point, no foreign shipyard was willing to share LNG ship-building technology. Negotiations that followed saw Cochin Shipyard strike a deal with Samsung Heavy Industries to cooperate in construction of the vessels. It has also been licensed by GTT of France to build LNG carriers with the Mark III membrane containment system. However, L&T Shipbuilding, which had a deal with Hyundai Heavy Industries, has pulled out of the bidding as it turns its focus to defence projects. Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering has teamed up with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) of South Korea for ship-building. The tender was re-floated on September 15, 2015. After the deadline was postponed thrice, two consortiums put in bids on March 31 this year. The official said according to the tender condition while two ships were to be built at the shipyards of their foreign collaborators, one carrier has to be built in India. The tender document provides for the Indian shipyard taking 5 per cent to 13 per cent in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier that it will build. This condition was not there in the original tender floated in 2014. Also, GAIL has a right to take up to 10 per cent equity stake in any or all of the nine ships. Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), which is to operate the carriers, will have a right to 26 per cent interest, according to the document. GAIL has tied up 5.8 million tons per annum of LNG from the US which the newly built ships will ferry. Maurkice Pouncey Authentic Jersey
KG-Basin gas migration penalty: Reliance serves arbitration notice on govt
With an arbitration notice from Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) — coupled with having to handle ONGC officers who erred during a period prior to his regime — Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan finds himself in a bind. Contesting the Centre’s compensation notice of $1.55 billion for migrated gas that flowed from ONGC’s adjacent fields in the Krishna-Godavari Basin during the weekend, RIL and its partners have sent an arbitration notice. Based on the recommendations of the Justice AP Shah Committee, the Centre has made a claim against RIL-BP-Niko for gas said to have flown from the neighbouring blocks. Sources told BusinessLine RIL and its partners in the KG-D6 block have sent a notice to the Centre on the grounds that the compensation claim is based on misinterpretation of key elements of the production sharing contract (PSC), and is without precedent in the global oil and gas industry. While government and RIL officials remained non-committal on the arbitration notice, sources associated with the developments said: “The contractors are within their rights to opt for arbitration as per the PSC, but, it does not close the dialogue process between the government and the contractors. While the issue can be challenged, work on further development of the fields can simultaneously continue.” A tougher challenge for the Centre is how to fix accountability of those in ONGC and the Directorate General of Hydrocarbon (DGH), who were supposedly in the know on the gas migration, which is being contested now. Pradhan had, on November 10, said he is bound by the law. The Shah panel had also pulled up ONGC for not making proper disclosure when it first came to know about the gas migration. “It is not easy, as the period involved is six-seven years back. How do you fix responsibilities for those who have already retired? None of the current set-up of ONGC or DGH is involved,” pointed out another official. “Whatever action is taken, it has to be ensured that the current set-up is not demotivated.” Confirming the continuity of reservoirs, the Shah committee had said US-based independent consultant DeGoyler & MacNaughton’s report must form the basis for the migration of gas till 2015. Ryan Murray Authentic Jersey
Aban Offshore in discussion with lenders on repayment issues
The company has nine out of 18 rigs working while others are idle at the end of September. Aban Offshore is in talks with its lenders to settle the issues related to repayment of loans, at a time when the offshore drilling contract business has been highly competitive and almost half of its rigs are idle at present. Outstanding payments from Iran is around $250 million as of September, this year, said senior management officials of the company. It is expected to repay $120 million this year and plans are to pay back $130-140 million in FY18. According to reports in September last year, the company had a total debt of around $2.2 billion. Responding to a question by analysts in an earnings call, on whether there is a need to restructure the company’s debt repayment obligation to manage the debt given that it is very low principal payments, S Srinivasan, senior vice president, Aban Offshore Ltd, said the company is in constant discussion with its lenders on how to address the issue. There has been some delay in repayments because the collection has also been delayed from Iran, the market size is down, among other issues. “We have been discussing with the bankers to see how it can be done,” he said. However, he refused to reveal more on the talks, stating that nothing has been finalised yet. The company has nine out of 18 rigs working while others are idle. The market continues to be sluggish because of the oil prices and the company is facing extreme competition in terms of bidding, he added. “We are incurring some losses on idle rigs, which is less than $10,000 per rig for idle rig. We have on cycled the rigs, so it can go for any work, small or long term at the earliest possible opportunity,” he said. This year, the company is repaying debt of about $120 million and in FY18, it is expected to pay around $130-140 million. While it is getting some amount of payments from Iran, which was earlier facing a sanction, but still it has to receive a large sum from that country, he added. Sam Reinhart Jersey
Airlines increase cancellation charges
The airline industry, on Wednesday, have issued circulars informing their respective ticket counters that in case of cancellation of tickets, the amount will be refunded through bank accounts. Soon after they received the circular, the counters were requesting bank account details of commuters buying tickets for travel in the next three days. The airline industry has been given an exemption of 72 hours for accepting the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. In a ripple effect, all the private airliners have doubled the cancellation charges for domestic flights from Rs 2,250 to Rs 5,000. Expecting an increase in the purchase of air tickets by black-money hoarders, the airline industry has made it mandatory for people to submit a photocopy of PAN card or AADHAR card for cash payments above Rs 50,000. Warren Sapp Jersey
Air tickets bought using old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes to be ‘strictly non-refundable’
The great Indian ‘jugaad’ has failed this time. People were lining up at airport counters of airlines to buy tickets using their stack of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes+ . On Thursday evening, airlines said that the tickets being sold like this will be “strictly non-refundable and won’t be cancelled”. SpiceJet confirmed this move and Vistara tweeted about it. “We got instructions from the DGCA to do so. They, in turn, got their orders from the highest level of government (read PMO) as the relaxation was meant to ensure genuine travellers do not face hardships. This was not meant to be misused as a old-to-new note conversion trick,” said a senior airline official. The mad frenzy among people to get rid of their ‘unaccounted’ notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 has seen airlines witness a mad rush at airport counters from soon after PM Modi’s dramatic announcement on Tuesday night. Airline counters at airports were among the few places allowed to accept these high denomination currency till Friday-Saturday midnight. Rob Kelley Jersey
Green signal to new Lohegaon airport road
The defence ministry has approved the construction of another road leading to the Lohegaon airport, paving the path to ease congestion on the approach path to the terminal. The 400m road would pass through a private land. It would stretch towards the VIP Road in one direction and towards Vimannagar on the other, running parallel to the existing road through defence land. The road will originate from the Parking number-2 of the airport, said MP Anil Shirole, the chairman of the Pune Airport Advisory Committee. Serious discussions on constructing the new road were on for quite sometime. The office of the Union defence minister has now given a go-ahead to the construction of the road along the perimeter wall of the Indian Air Force (IAF). It has been decided that the IAF would give land not exceeding 20m in width from its existing boundary wall. The security wall would be constructed exactly at a distance of 20m from the wall. The new security wall would have to be constructed before the demolition of the existing boundary wall. The IAF has sought proper security measures during the construction of the road. Deion Sanders Jersey