Centre tells state powers to push reforms, unlock demand
The Centre has put the proposed amendment to the Electricity Act on the backburner, opting instead to work with state governments on measures to open up the power market and unlock latent demand through regulatory reforms. “Do you see any work (reforms) suffer or stalled (in the absence of the amendments)? Our initiatives are progressing well even without the (proposed) amendments to the Act. We are working with states on taking things forward,” power minister Piyush Goyal said in reply to a question whether the amendment Bill would be re-introduced in the next session of Parliament. The amendments seek to segregate the distribution (carriage) and supply (content) businesses. This is expected to bring competition by having multiple distribution licences in an area, giving consumers the freedom to choose their supplier. The amendment Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 19, 2014. It was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy. The panel submitted its report on May 7, 2015. The refreshed amendment Bill, incorporating the committee’s recommendations, will have to be cleared by the Cabinet before it can be reintroduced in Parliament. The Centre’s unwillingness to move the Bill at this juncture is understandable, given the prevailing conditions in the power market where most of the generation units are running at only around 60% due to subdued demand. Besides, the scheme for turning around state discoms has been rolled out only recently and is yet to take root. So the government appears to be gradually prepping the market and the state governments for a full-on competition. As a first step, at last week’s consultations with states at Vadodara, Goyal got them on board to free up unused plant capacity under their contract so that utilities can sell power in the spot market. To supplement this move, Goyal said an hourly purchase framework would also be developed alongside the day-ahead market. “This will help generators recover costs and also increase availability of cheaper power. This is a natural progression as we are moving from an absolute deficit to a power surplus situation,” Goyal said after the conference. Power secretary P K Pujari said the provision allowing generators to sell ‘unrequisitioned’ power in the spot market was there in the tariff policy. But the various levels in state administration reluctant to taking decisions. “The issue is administrative or regulatory, not of policy. We will work out the details,” he said. Boomer Esiason Womens Jersey
Kerala:Soon, power cut alerts on SMS
Complaints about power cuts taking consumers by surprise will soon be a thing of the past with the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) planning to inform citizens about such shut downs in advance through a short messaging service (SMS) facility. Power minister Kadakampally Surendran said here on Tuesday that his department plans to provide more information technology-based services to KSEB consumers as part of efforts to improve efficiency. He said that there are complaints that section officers do not respond to phone calls regarding power failure. To tackle this, the board has come up with a toll-free number — 1912 — where such complaints can be registered. In addition, the consumers can also send complaints to the KSEB’s WhatsApp number, 9496018367. The minister said that the board will provide the option to access the electricity bills through emails and SMS. The board has installed cash deposit machines (CDMs) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kozhikode by which a consumer can pay his electricity bill anytime. Once the facility is found to be successful it will be extended to other places, the minister said. Also, the board has decided to simplify the formalities for availing a new power connection. The application form will hereafter be a one-page document. Along with it, only the identification document and ownership certificate needs to be produced. James van Riemsdyk Womens Jersey
A new lesson in saving energy in Kerala
The students of Government Mappila UP School, Ozhukur here are set to put in all efforts to reduce their domestic electricity consumption and the best part is the luckiest among them would get their power bill paid by the school. As per the new project Vilakkanakkam inaugurated at the school two days ago, electricity bill of those students who have successfully saved energy will be paid by the school management. The initiative is supported by Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). The beneficiaries will be selected through continuous monitoring of the households. A two-member committee has been formed for each class to document power bills and select eligible households every three months. Coordinator of the project, R K Das said the project aimed to make students aware of the importance of saving energy . “We have a strength of 1,500 stu dents and are hopeful that the project will effectively bring down power consumption in the region. We are already getting feedback from parents that their children are now vigilant about saving power,“ he said. The school has also organized a one-day workshop for students and parents on manufacturing of LED bulbs. The institution also has plans to start commercial production of LED bulbs and distribute them among students, with the support of energy management cell (EMC). Brian Robison Jersey
Bill to amend Electricity Act put on back burner
The Centre has put the proposed amendments to the Electricity Act on the back burner, opting instead to work with state governments on measures to open up the power market and unlock latent demand through regulatory reforms. “Do you see any work (reforms) suffer or stall (in the absence of the amendments)? Our initiatives are progressing well even without the (proposed) amendments to the Act. We are working with states on taking things forward,“ power minister Piyush Goyal said in reply to a question whether the amendment bill would be re-introduced in the next session of Parliament. The amendments seek to segregate the distribution (carriage) and supply (content) businesses. This is expected to bring competition by having multiple distribu tion licences in an area, giving consumers freedom to choose their supplier. The amendment bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 19, 2014. It was referred to the parliamentary standing committee on energy. The panel submitted its report on May 7, 2015. The refreshed amendment bill, incorporating the committee’s recommendations, will have to be cleared by the Cabinet before it can be re-introduced. The Centre’s unwillingness to move the bill at this juncture is understandable when most generation units are running at only around 60% due to subdued demand. Torry Holt Womens Jersey
DGCA may act against drunken aircraft engineers
With “shocking” reports that some aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs) were found taxiing planes without undertaking the mandatory alcohol checks, aviation regulator DGCA is planning to summon safety heads of Indian airlines to ensure compliance of rules. “Shockingly, almost all airlines have been found violating this mandatory regulation,” sources in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said, adding that the regulator may consider withdrawing approval to such AMEs of some airlines. Senior AMEs of airlines are licensed to taxi an aircraft from one place to another at an airport during non-operational times, generally during the nights, in the absence of pilots. As per the norms, domestic airlines are required to carry out alcohol test on all such engineers who are approved for carrying out shifting of an aircraft from one bay to another. “During a recent surveillance, the DGCA found that some of the engineers were not made to go through this mandatory alcohol test before undertaking the taxiing of the aircraft from one place to another,” the sources said. This has led the DGCA to seek a months record from all the airlines to check their compliance with norms on this count, they said. Claude Giroux Womens Jersey
Flights now cheaper than trains for most tourist destinations after introduction of surge pricing
Thanks to surge pricing introduced in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Express coaches by the Indian railways, it will be cheaper to take a flight to most winter destinations in the country if the traveler plans the journey a few weeks in advance. Take the case of Goa, the most preferred winter destination in India, for example. Air tickets to the coastal state are as low as Rs.4,100 in the second week of December and even lower in January, when it hovers around Rs.3,600. In comparison, the train journey from Delhi to Goa will cost Rs.6,165 for 1st AC and Rs.5,310 for 2nd AC coach in Rajdhani Express.”Airline companies have introduced smart pricing. Most of the travelers are opting for flight tickets this year,” a travel agent based in Connaught Place told Mail Today. “This gives dual advantage to passengers who save on money as well as time.” Travel trade experts said airline companies were quick to take advantage of the surge pricing introduced by the railways. They point out that a day after railways introduced surge pricing last month, Air India announced their ‘Uro Jee bhar ke’ (Fly to your heart’s content) scheme, which offers flight tickets to waiting-listed train passengers at fares lower than those of two-tier AC tickets. Burdened with financial losses, both the Railways and Air India have been working at strategies to ramp up passenger earnings. The national airliner managed to reach a “break-even” point last year but it still carries an accumulated burden of losses worth approximately `50,000 crore. Losses from passenger earnings to the Railways this year are estimated at Rs.32,000 crore. Da’Ron Payne Authentic Jersey
Land allocated, Aviation Park at Bagodara finally takes off
In what could boost the aviation sector in Gujarat, the state government has set the ball rolling for establishment of Aviation Park, probably the first in India, by allocating 90 hectares of land at Bagodara near Ahmedabad. The project may help Bagodara emerge as an aviation hub just like Tata’s Nano plant transformed Sanand into a Motown, say industry players. “To be developed in a phased manner by the civil aviation department, the project will provide a framework for strengthening the aviation sector and will have a synergy of the best aerospace and avionics technologies. The park aims to raise awareness about the potential of the aviation sector among students, policy makers and people,” said Ajay Chauhan, director civil aviation, Gujarat. The park is envisaged to have a state-of-the-art theatre, a trainingsimulator complex, an aviation and aerospace management school, an aircrew training school, a helipad and an air strip, manufacturing facilities, pilots-aid complex and an info-tech area.It will have facilities for trai ning and incensing of personnel, air operation regulations as well as research and development. Matt Hendricks Jersey
Center approves carrying out environment impact assessment report of modernisation of Chennai airport by AAI
In a push to improving amenities for travelers at Chennai airport, Centre has given go ahead for carrying out environment impact assessment report of Modernisation of Chennai Airport (Phase II) by Airport Authority of India. The project seeking finalization of Terms of Reference (ToR) for conducting environment impact assessment was considered by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) Expert Appraisal Committee (Infra-2) in its meeting held on September 21-22. “After detailed deliberations on the proposal, the Committee recommended for grant of Terms of Reference for the said project/activity,” said a senior ministry official. It was recommended that ‘TOR’ along with public hearing prescribed by the Expert Appraisal Committee (Infrastructure- 2) should be considered for preparation of EIA / EMP report for the above mentioned project. The draft EIA/EMP report shall be submitted to the State Pollution Control Board for public hearing. The issues emerged and response to the issues shall be incorporated in the EIA report. Vincent Trocheck Jersey
Aviation regulator concerned about airport congestion as aircraft deliveries line up
India’s airlines’ plan to seek a larger pie of the passenger traffic by lining up aircraft deliveries over the next few years has raised concerns due to lack of infrastructure at already clogged airports. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has conveyed the concern to the ministry of civil aviation, said an official, requesting anonymity, with the aviation regulator. The official said Indian commercial carriers would add at least 40 new and leased aircraft by March 2017 and 23 more by December 2017. The regulator expects rise in congestion at large airports as Indian carriers have lined up deliveries of at least 550 planes over the next six years. On 4 October, DGCA announced the winter schedule for domestic Indian carriers with at least 21% more domestic flights set to operate compared with the year-ago period. The winter schedule starts from 30 October and runs till 26 March 2017. DGCA approved a total of 16,600 flights per week to be operated by domestic carriers compared with 13,744 flights during the winter schedule last year. Currently, there are 1,504 aircraft registered with DGCA. These include 455 aircraft owned by commercial airlines. The DGCA official pointed out that tepid response to the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) is also a cause of concern. “If RCS works, the congestion witnessed at metro and other large airports in the country would get diverted to smaller unserved and underserved airports which are being developed,” said the official. However the National Democratic Alliance government’s ambitious RCS planned to be operationalised by the year-end has been delayed and is now expected to take off next year. Another DGCA official, who also did not want to be named, said the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been requesting DGCA for runway augmentation, but that is not possible due to current operations at large airports. AAI owns 125 airports, of which 77 are functional. India also has 370 airstrips ranging between 400m and 1km that are partially operational. Brendan Gallagher Womens Jersey
Russia, Turkey Agree to Build Gas Pipeline Under Black Sea
Russia and Turkey agreed to build a natural-gas pipeline under the Black Sea that could be up and running by the end of 2019, capitalizing on a recent improvement in relations between the two nations. Approval for Turkish Stream — a dual pipeline project consisting of one link serving the Turkish market and another one possibly to southern Europe — was signed in the presence of presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Monday. Russia has long sought to cut its reliance on gas shipments through Ukraine, which account for about 40 percent of its exports to Europe. A link to Bulgaria, known as South Stream, was scrapped in 2014 after being opposed by the European Union. An alternative route through Turkey was shelved last year when relations deteriorated following the downing of a Russian military jet by the Turkish air force near the Syrian border. Tensions eased after Erdogan apologized for the incident in June. Putin said after holding talks with Erdogan that a mechanism for providing a discount on gas prices had been agreed upon. Gazprom PJSC, the world’s biggest gas producer, has been ordered to work out precise numbers for a gas discount for Turkey, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters. “The deal is a piece of the puzzle in reducing transit dependence on Ukraine, but does not represent a major coup for Gazprom in terms of European market access,” said Emily Stromquist, a London-based analyst at Eurasia Group, in an e-mail. “This pipeline is a reroute option.” Price Dispute The Turkey gas link, originally designed to make the nation a new gas hub for the EU and replace Ukraine from 2020, has also been held up by gas-supply pricing disputes. Its annual capacity, initially planned at 63 billion cubic meters with four lines, was later halved. Gazprom had agreed to provide a 10.25 percent discount to Turkey’s state-run energy company, Botas Boru Hatlari Ile Petrol Tasima AS, as part of the pipeline deal before the project stalled. Botas filed an arbitration claim last October, seeking price revisions dating back to December 2014. While the link to Turkey could also help Gazprom access southeastern European gas markets, including Greece and Italy, it can only transport a limited amount of gas to the region because only one interconnecting pipeline between those countries — still under construction — allows third party access, according to Sijbren de Jong, an analyst at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies. Securing Deliveries Rather than significantly boosting Russian gas supply into Europe, Turkish Stream benefits Gazprom by keeping its gas from being displaced by competitors, he said. “What Gazprom and Russia are trying to do is pre-empt gas deliveries from Azerbaijan and maybe in the future, Iran,” he said in an e-mail. This “is key, in my view.” Turkey will own an onshore pipeline connected to the first part of the undersea Turkish Stream, while the second onshore line through its territory – possibly toward the EU – could be owned by a joint venture, Novak said. Gas demand in Turkey reached 43.6 billion cubic meters in 2015, according to the BP Statistical Review. Its biggest suppliers last year were Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan. It received its first cargo of U.S. shale gas at the end of September. Stephen Curry Womens Jersey