Intra-state air service launched in Rajasthan
The first flight of an intra-state air service from Jaipur to Udaipur via Jodhpur was launched on Tuesday from here. Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje along with Gopaldas Ji Maharaj of Dadu Dayal sect flagged off a 9-seater aircraft of Supreme Airlines from Sanganer Airport State Hangar to Jodhpur. “Bikaner and Kota too would soon be connected by air,” Raje said speaking on the occasion. She said the state achieved another milestone on Monday when Scoot Airlines of Singapore started direct flight from Jaipur to Singapore. The state government has tied up with Supreme Transport Organisation Pvt. Ltd. to operate air services between different cities in the state. A state government statement said that in the first phase, flights have been launched from Jaipur to Jodhpur and Udaipur. For both these flights, minimum airfare has been fixed at Rs 3,499 per passenger. “Afterwards flights would be operated from other cities as well,” a civil aviation department official said. Matt Nieto Womens Jersey
Air India to lease turboprop planes to add wings to regional connectivity scheme
To ensure that the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government’s ambitious regional connectivity scheme (RCS) does not turn out to be a damp squib, state-owned Air India plans to lease five turboprop planes—having 40 to 70 seats—by March next year. The carrier is expected to deploy these planes on unserved and underserved routes the RCS plans to bring to the national aviation grid. According to a senior Air India executive who requested anonymity, the government is now banking on the national carrier as private carriers are yet to commit to join the RCS scheme which is aimed to bring air travel to remote areas of the country. At present, the national carrier has five 70-seater ATR 72-600 aircraft, three 48-seater ATR 42-320 turboprop planes and three CRJ700 planes—all on dry lease. It also has 66 narrow-body planes which largely cater to domestic routes and some nearby foreign destinations, and 41 wide-body aircraft, bringing the total count to 118. The planes to be acquired will be on dry lease, wherein only aircraft is provided by the lessor. However, if crew is also provided by the lessor, then it is called a wet lease. In May this year, Air India chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani said the Air India Group will add 100 planes to its current fleet in the next four years by leasing them. “We have experienced this in the past as well and this is how aviation has grown in India. First, Air India starts flying to any remote area in the country. We (Air India) create demand and private carriers follow,” said the official. As per the proposed contours, the viability gap funding (VGF) will be available for three years for airlines flying under RCS, followed by a two-year cooling-off period. It will be limited to nine seats for a 12-seater aircraft and a maximum of 40 seats for larger aircraft. Another Air India executive, who also did not want to be named, said the airline is in talks with various lessors for dry lease of around five small aircraft. Rougned Odor Authentic Jersey
‘Among best’ in world, Indian airports flunk safety test
In a report that is certain to have rattled India’s Civil Aviation authorities, global oversight body International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has given India significantly lower safety ranking than its neighbours such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka in its safety audit report of 2015. Surprisingly, while on the one hand Delhi’s International Airport has been tagged as one of the “best airports” in the world, ICAO safety report reveals a different picture for Indian airports in terms of “Effective Implementation” (EI) in Legislation, Air Navigation, Accident Investigation, Licensing and Organisation. In terms of Accident Investigation, i.e. an aircraft sustaining damage or structural failure during flight operation, EI is 34.26 per cent in India whereas Sri Lanka and Pakistan have scored 90.72 per cent and 87.5 per cent respectively. Notably, Effective Implementation of Legislation in India stands at just 50 per cent, which is again very low as compared to China and other neighbouring countries. When asked about the basis on which this audit report was prepared, Anthony Philibin, Chief Communication Officer of the Secretary General, ICAO said that under its Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP), ICAO confirms a Significant Safety Concern (SSC) with respect to a country’s oversight resources and procedures. When this occurs, the state in question is given a maximum of 15 days to undertake mitigating measures and implement a suitable Corrective Action Plan (CAP) to resolve the SSC and conform to required standards. India’s Effective Implementation of Navigation Services as per ICAO standards is 68.75 per cent while that of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and China is 75, 84.38 and 87.11 respectively far outstripping India’s performance. In Effective implementation of Organisation and Accidental Investigation, India scored a relatively poor 63.64 and 45.74 percent, according the world body’s safety audit. Matthias Farley Jersey
Stop charging power users for transport losses, SC tells BEST
In a respite to more than 10 lakh south Mumbai electricity consumers of BEST, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked BEST to stop collecting transport division loss revenue (TDLR) from power consumers through its monthly power bills. After giving the interim order, the court transferred the case to three-judge bench to decide whether the TDLR collected by BEST over the last four years should be returned to consumers. According to Ahar, an association of Indian hotels and restaurants, BEST has collected around Rs 900 crore per year as TDLR – about Rs 3,600 crore over the last four years – from its electricity consumers to make up for the losses in bus transport business. “According to the Supreme Court, BEST shall not recover transport loss from electricity consumers after one month,” said Ahar president Adarsh Shetty. Ahar’s Guruprasad Shetty and Kamalakar Shenoy have been fighting this battle against BEST in the Supreme Court for four years. Shetty and BEST Officials said they would receive a detailed copy of the order only on Wednesday. BEST general manager Jagdish Patil said he would be able to comment only after he receives the judgment copy. State industries minister Subhash Desai along with other members of the BEST committee had also met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking his intervention to get TDLR surcharge scrapped. A BEST committee member, who was part of the delegation, said the TDLR accounted for nearly 15-16% of the power bills. According to Shetty, the Appellate authorities opposed the move to impose TDLR. “BEST apparently took advantage of the SC endorsement that it was a local body and can run transport and electricity businesses. It misinterpreted the SC’s remarks to earn TDLR from consumers. Recently BEST was supposed to revise tariff and decide on ending TDLR but it is still recovering it,” he said. Patrick Onwuasor Jersey
UDAY effect likely to improve thermal PLFs, though better efficiency levels for discoms critical for turnaround: ICRA
Power distribution companies are likely to benefit substantially from Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) related measures but improvement in efficiency levels by discoms remains critical for their sustained financial turnaround and for the viability of the thermal generation sector, research firm ICRA said in a statement. Average capacity utilisation for thermal power stations on an all-India basis has remained subdued at 59.3 per cent during the five months between April and August 2016 as against 62.3 per cent in FY2016, due to factors like paying capacity constraints of state-owned distribution utilities, higher generation from the hydro and renewable segment and a sizeable increase in thermal power generation capacity over the last 16 months. Sabyasachi Majumdar, Senior Vice President, ICRA Ratings, said: “We expect average all-India thermal PLF levels to show some improvement from 59% in 5M FY2017 to a range of 61-63% in the near term; although still at subdued levels. This will be driven by off-take from the discoms, which are likely to benefit with de-leveraging and refinancing of debt on their books under UDAY, policy measures such as flexible utilisation of coal linkages and the e-auction framework for short-term power procurement and improved domestic coal availability.” Slow progress in signing of long-term power purchase agreements by utilities has led to sizeable thermal capacity (estimated at ~25 GW) remaining exposed to price and volume risks in the short-term power market. In turn, utilities are increasingly showing a preference for tie-up of short to medium term power purchase agreements. This is an area of concern for independent power producers’ capacity which is waiting for long term PPA tie-up, especially given the subdued level of short-term traded price level that vary between Rs. 2.5 per and Rs 3.5 per unit, both on the reverse auction platform and the power exchanges. On the regulatory front, State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) in 20 out of 29 states have issued tariff orders for state-owned discoms so far for FY2017, which implies some progress in terms of issuance of tariff orders for the year. However, it is a matter of concern that tariff orders are pending in large states such as Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal for FY2017. “Greater focus by utilities on improving their efficiency levels in line with targets coupled with timeliness and adequacy of tariff hike in relation to cost of power supply, including periodic pass-through of fuel and power purchase cost remains critical in the long run for sustained improvement in the financial position of the discoms,” Majumdar said. Bob Griese Jersey
Ultimate aim is to strengthen Indian manufacturing: Piyush Goyal
Declaring that Indian entrepreneurship needs to be promoted in global electrical industry, Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said though foreign technology is welcome in India, the overall aim is to strengthen Indian manufacturing. “We welcome technology from all around the world but at the end of the day, we would like to strengthen our Indian hands,” Goyal said at the launch of the Light India Exhibition 2016 here. “I am happy to have imports come in, if we are at level playing field. But if we find that other countries are dumping goods into India, certainly that is not welcome in the country,” the Minister said. He lauded the innovative concepts like solar street lights on display at the exhibition. “I can actually imagine putting up not less than 10 or 15 million solar street lights, particularly in rural areas,” Goyal said. “The industry is reinventing itself and I saw some very new products here and would like to initiative talks for bulk orders,” he added. Over 275 companies are showcasing intelligent technologies at this electrical building technology exposition. Organised by Germany’s Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs and the Electric Lamp & Component Manufacturers’ Association (ELCOMA), the event brings together companies from India, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland and Taiwan to display the latest in lighting and building technologies, the organisers said. Tyreek Hill Jersey
Hardly any demand for power in country: Coal secretary Anil Swarup
Expressing concerns over lack of demand for power in the country, Coal Secretary Anil Swarup today wondered as to what would the government do with its ambitious 1 billion tonnes of production target for fossil fuel by 2020. “For me the serious concerns are: Number one, there is hardly any demand for power. What we will do? We are planning to produce one billion tonnes of coal by 2020. What will I do with that coal,” he said. “Someone has to look into these issues. How to increase this demand of power. It is very important because today per capita consumption of energy in India is equal to per capita consumption of the US in the late 90’s. If that is the pace than the demand has to go up,” the Secretary said. He further stated that the government is on a sticky- wicket where it doesn’t know what to do with the surplus coal. In fact, in the current financial year, there was cut down in coal production so the fossil fuel does not catch fire at the pit heads. “On 31st of March this year we had a balance of 56 million tonnes (MT) as inventory at pitheads and around 32 MT at the power plants. People ask me how do you manage this situation of surplus,” Swarup said. He, however, added: “I say I would rather be in this situation then what I was a couple of years ago when everyone was running around …to reach out coal to these power plants. I am glad we are where we are.” Government’s focus has now shifted to the quality of coal, he said. He also stated that the Coal Ministry was focusing on the use of technology to ensure that the pilferages declines phenomenally. “Today after initial experimentation every truck of coal India is GPS tracked. There is virtual mapping on the web and you know where the truck is. Each mine is videographed,” he said. State-owned Coal India (CIL) which amounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal production is eyeing one billion tonnes of coal production by 2020. Tomas Tatar Authentic Jersey
Sri Lanka to get UNDP support for project to generate energy from solid waste
The United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka has entered into its first government co-financed project with the Kaduwela Municipal Council to generate bio gas energy by effectively managing the solid waste in the area. UNDP under the ‘Every Drop Matters’ project, provided technical support to Kaduwela Municipal Council (KMC) in 2015 to pilot the Solid Waste Management Project, reports the Colombo Page. According to the UNDP statement, during this phase, the innovative treatment technology, Janathakshan was tested together with a local partner and used to acclimatize to the locally designed bio gas technology for waste management. Currently the waste management unit in Kaduwela holds 1 MT of degradable solid waste per day and the gas produced by the system is supplied in to a 5 kW generator. The electricity generated by this unit is then used to supplement the electricity requirement of the Waste Collection Center by the Municipal Council. UNDP and the Kaduwela Municipal Council had signed a Rs. 20 million agreement that will increase this project to accommodate 10 MT of Solid Waste per day and the electricity generated by the Bio Gas Unit will finally contribute to the national grid. The agreement was signed by Country Director of UNDP in Sri Lanka, Jorn Sorensen and the Municipal Commissioner of the Kaduwela Municipal Council, Lekha Geethanjali Perera had signed this agreement. The standard of living will also improve of the communities living around the landfills at the same time serving as a model for Waste Management in other Municipal Council areas. “With a contribution of Rs. 9 million, UNDP, as the development arm of the UN working in Sri Lanka for five decades, is pleased to be working with the Kaduwela Municipal Council to provide technical assistance to address Waste Management challenges in Sri Lanka,” the UNDP said. Sergei Boikov Jersey
Himachal cabinet nod to cancel four hydro projects, fill 600 posts
Himachal Pradesh cabinet in its meeting held on Wednesday approved to fill up over 600 posts in various departments. Around 154 posts of kanungos would be created, as a decision has been taken to amend the ‘Land Record Manual’ by creating a kanungo circle over every six patwar circles. In addition to this, the state cabinet has also decided to strengthen the ‘Revenue Records Rooms’, for which 148 posts were sanctioned. In another decision taken in the cabinet meeting, chaired by chief minister Virbhadra Singh, it was decided that charge fee at the rate of Rs 25,000 per MW would be taken at the time of signing of tripartite agreement for transfer of hydro project in lieu of allowing selling or transfer of equity share above 26% to 49% of projects up to 2MW capacity from Himachali promoters to non-Himachali and to sell or transfer equity shares above 49% to 51% of projects above 2MW to 5MW capacity from Himachali to non-Himachali. The cabinet also approved to cancel four small hydro electric projects, including Seri Nala (2.50MW) in Shimla district, Malin-II (0.50MW) in Kangra district, Tikar (1.00 MW) and Kandi (0.90MW) both in Mandi district recommended by Himurja for failing to adhere to the guidelines as agreed upon. It approved filling up of 175 posts of various categories in the health society on contract basis through NHM, 57 posts in State Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substance Crime Control Unit (SNCC) and its field units for prevention and effective law enforcement response to combat drug trafficking and drug abuse in the State. The cabinet also approved creation and filling up 21 posts of teaching faculty in Rajiv Gandhi Government Engineering College Kangra at Nagrota Bagwan while 12 vacant posts of steno typists on contract basis would be filled in the forest department. It also gave nod for filling up 21 posts of various categories to strengthen Atal Bihari Vajpayee Mountaineering Institute, Manali. It also decided to upgrade four posts of faculty in Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital Shimla to overcome the shortage of senior faculty member in Dr Y S Parmar Government Medical College, Nahan. Wes Schweitzer Authentic Jersey
More cover for Indira Gandhi canal, oil wells
Considering the escalating tension between India and Pakistan, wide action plan is being made to beef up security of Indira Gandhi canal, the lifeline of western Rajasthan. In similar ways, arrangements are being made for the additional security to oil wells, gas pipelines in Jaisalmer and Barmer. The water points of PHED have also been secured. Additional chief engineer of the India Gandhi canal project, K L Jakhar said that looking to the present scenario, district administration has asked for complete details of the project as how much water is flowing at which places along with other information. He further said that based on the report, the district administration will deploy necessary security forces at important bridges and heads. On the other hand, security has been beefed up at leading oil areas in J0aisalmer and Barmer and a meeting was organized at Ramgarh to review the security arrangements in this regard. According to sources, in this meeting, Oil India, Focus Energy and ONGC have been directed to tighten their security. Similarly, GAIL has been directed to increase the security of gas thermal power project as well as its gas pipeline. Directions have been given to take necessary steps so that no unknown and suspicious persons enter the oil gas wells, thermal projects or near the water source. It is to be mentioned that during the Indo-Pak war in 1971, Pakistani soldiers had poisoned the only well at Longewala and no one can fetch water from the well, 45 years post poisoning. District collector Sudhir Sharma said that PHED officers have been asked to deploy more guards near the water sources. He said that Cairn Energy has been directed to tighten the security of its oil wells so that no outsider can enter. Sharma further informed that he along with SP took a stock of the villages near the fencing and asked the villagers to inform on seeing any suspicious person and to be ready to face any situation. Damien Wilson Womens Jersey