‘500 cities & towns to vie for cleanest area’
After cities tried to outdo each other to get the “smart city” tag, now 500 cities and towns with more than one lakh population will compete to rank among the cleanest urban areas in the country. This will include all state capitals, heritage and tourism destinations. A similar assessment will also start for all the villages across the country. The urban development ministry on Saturday launched the Swachh Surveskshan (cleanliness survey) that will start from January 2017 where citizens’ feedback will be key to ranking cities. Urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu said this survey will cover 70% of the country’s urban population and the results will help government understand the sanitation status of urban India. The nationwide survey both in urban and rural areas will be done by Quality Council of India. The urban development ministry, which is carrying out such a survey for the third time has increased the weightage being given to citizens’ feedback while ranking cities on sanitation parameters. Justifying this increase and the reduction in weightage given to municipalities’ response, Naidu said there have been cases when people have expressed surprise to find their cities ranking high in the cleanliness index ones when results were declared. “It’s natural that the municipalities will give the best reports. So, we need to get people’s response and an independent third party assessment,” the minister said. The ministry also launched ‘Swachhata App’ and ‘Swachhta Helpline 1969’ to enable citizens associate more and more with the mission in urban areas. Meanwhile, the drinking water and sanitation ministry has added a new feature in its Swachh Bharat App enabling people to rank their villages. Earlier the urban development ministry had come out with the cleanliness ranking of 423 cities in 2015 and in January this year 73 cities with each having more than a million population and state capitals were ranked on sanitation parameters. Raekwon McMillan Authentic Jersey
Here’s what it costs to maintain non-operational airports
A total amount of Rs 36.98 crore was spent on maintenance of non-operational airports over the last three years while Rs 897.28 crore were spent on 24 additional operational airports from where no scheduled airline is operating, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told the Rajya Sabha. This amount was being spent from the consolidated fund of India, he said. Several members of the house raised questions relating to non-operational airports while several others spoke about the need for air-connectivity to various important cities and towns. However he added that the government is working on a “regional connectivity scheme” and once it takes off, “many (non-operational) airports would be put into service.” Sinha said while private airlines have the freedom to decide their routes, they could be given concessions for operating under the regional connectivity scheme like reduced tax on Aviation Turbine Fuel, Viability Gap Funding, reduced langing as well as route facilitation charges for flying to regional towns etc. To a question on connecting cities in Maharashtra, Sinha said that while government is keen, the reduction in fuel prices has led to an increase in demand for air travel across the world. This situation has resulted in shortage of planes domestically and the Mumbai Airport getting “congested” as it is difficult to find landing slots. To a question asked on connecting various cities in the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh he said that the Centre is willing to work with the state governments on this. Tony Watson Jersey
Air Costa grounds fleet, says renegotiating with lessors
Another regional airline Air Costa has suspended its operations on Thursday claiming that it is renegotiating contract with its lessors. The Vijaywada-based airline suspended all its flights but said it will resume the operations on Friday. GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) is Air Costa’s lessor and is also the world’s leading commercial aircraft and engine lessor based out of the US. Last week, the Bengaluru-based Air Pegasus suspended its operations after lessors took back all its aircraft after the airline failed to pay the rentals. “We are resolving the issues we have with lessors. Currently, we are operating with 3 E190’s and simultaneously other developments about inducting new aircraft as well as the pan-India licence is in process,” a spokesperson for Air Costa said. He added that the airline was neither committed to its future expansion plans nor were there any delays in disbursing salaries to its employees. This is the second time the airline is renegotiating its contract with its lessors. A year ago, it had carried out a similar exercise and brought down the leasing cost to ?1.2 crore from ?2 crore. Mounting losses The airline had two E170s in its fleet earlier, which was a major reason for the airline’s mounting losses. The E170 has a total capacity of 78 but the airline chose to have a configuration of 60 economy and seven business class seats, thereby losing 11 seats per aircraft in the process. On an average, the airline was incurring loss of about ?2.5 crore per month for both the aircraft. Hence, E170s were phased out and replaced with two more 112-seater E190s. The airline has three E190s. An analyst with a global consultancy firm, who did not wish to be quoted, said in spite of carrying out the necessary correction in the fleet, the airline has not been able to post profits. The airline as of last year has invested over ?400 crore in its operations and was planning to invest a further ?60-80 crore this year. It had also placed an order for 50-E190s for a total ticket price of $2.94 billion. As of last year, the airline which was in the process of phasing out E170s, used to incur costs of up to ?40 crore per month, while revenues were of the order of between ?36 crore and ?37 crore per month. Victor Rask Womens Jersey
SpiceJet, Ajay Singh move HC against order to deposit Rs 579 crore
Budget carrier SpiceJet and its owner Ajay Singh have moved the Delhi High Court against its single judge’s order directing the airline to deposit Rs 579 crore within 12 months in connection with a share transfer dispute with the previous airline owner Kalanithi Maran. The single judge’s order had come on a plea of Sun Group chief Kalanithi Maran, along with his Kal Airways, for issuance of stock warrants in SpiceJet to them as per a sale purchase agreement (SPA) of 2015 which led to transfer of ownership of the budget carrier to its co-founder Ajay Singh. A bench of Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Jayant Nath, before which the matter was listed today, merely ordered that the pleas of SpiceJet and Ajay Singh be taken up by the appropriate bench on August 8. Maran and his airline had alleged before the single judge that despite giving Rs 579 crore to SpiceJet, the carrier had failed to issue them the warrants or allot tranche 1 and 2 of Convertible Redeemable Preference Shares and that the amount was not utilised for paying statutory dues due to which they were also facing prosecution. Apart from ordering deposition of the amount in the court, Justice Manmohan Singh had also asked Spicejet and Maran to appoint an arbitral tribunal to decide the share transfer dispute between them in a year. The amount was to be deposited in five instalments with the first one in August this year, the court had said. Market regulator SEBI had earlier expressed its inability before the single judge to approve the board resolution passed by SpiceJet for issue of warrants in favour of Maran and his Kal Airways. The board resolution was passed on the court’s direction. Under the SPA, Maran and Kal Airways had transferred their entire 350,428,758 equity shares (58.46 per cent stake) in the airline to Ajay Singh. According to the SPA, Maran and Kal were to receive the redeemable warrants in return for around Rs 679 crore that they were to give to the airline towards operating costs and debt payment, Maran had said in his plea. SpiceJet had earlier told the court that the change of ownership was effected as a rehabilitative measure to address the liability of Rs 2,000 crore incurred by the airline when it was under the management of Maran. It had also claimed that every penny had been utilised towards operations and discharge of liabilities. Brandon Mebane Authentic Jersey
Airlines should keep pilots records for 3 years after training
Airlines offering type-rated pilot training programmes should maintain records of the concerned individuals for at least three years after they complete their courses, aviation regulator DGCA has directed. The watchdog’s directive, part of guidelines to be followed for Airline Type Rating Programme (ATRP), comes in the backdrop of persisting concerns over aviation safety and focus on psychological well-being of pilots. These requirements are part of the fresh Airline Type Rating Programme (ATRP) guidelines for scheduled operators issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Among other things, the operator should retain detailed student records to show that all requirements of the training course have been met as approved by the DGCA. These records have to be “kept for a minimum period of three years after completion of the training,” as per the guidelines. The operator should maintain a system for recording the qualifications and training of instructional and examining staff. Such records would be kept for at least three years after the instructor or examiner ceases to perform a function for the operator. The guidelines or Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) would be applicable from October 1. According to the DGCA, the operator should have a minimum fleet of five aeroplanes for the type proposed to be included in the ATRP. “For operators with an approved ATRP on one type of aeroplane, the requirement of a minimum fleet of five aeroplanes for another type may be met by an order of the additional type without the aeroplanes being held on strength at time of inclusion of the additional type in the ATRP,” the regulator said. In recent times, concerns about overall aviation safety have been growing. The crash of a Germanwings plane flying from Spain to Germany in March last year raised serious concerns as it is believed that the co-pilot had deliberately done it. Chris Davis Womens Jersey
Greenko to pay $100 million to take over SunEdison’s assets here
Greenko Energy Holdings, which is set to buy SunEdison’s Indian assets, will pay a small premium of less than $100 million (Rs 670 crore) for them in an all cash deal, according to a source involved in the negotiations. This will include the assets held by Terraform Global, one of SunEdison’s publicly held subsidiaries – called an ‘yieldco’ – with which some of them are vested. Greenko will also take over the outstanding debt of both SunEdison and Terraform Global in India, issuing fresh bank guarantees of Rs 200-250 crore. SunEdison, the world’s largest renewable energy company, has been looking to divest its global assets ever since it filed for bankruptcy protection in the US in April this year. It has hired Rothschild Inc to facilitate its divestment process. The company owns around 1400 MW of solar and wind projects in India across several states – about 400 MW operational and the rest under construction. The total outlay of these projects is estimated at around $1.2 billion. Some of the solar assets were acquired through extremely aggressive bidding at auctions, such as the 500 MW project in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, won in November last year, for which the company quoted a tariff of Rs 4.63 per kwH, a historic low at the time. The divestment is complicated by the fact that, since the bankruptcy declaration, Terraform has sued SunEdison in a US court, charging that it diverted funds to pad its balance sheet while claiming they would be used to complete the Indian projects. It was not clear how this will affect Greenko’s acquisition. Pashupathy Gopalan, MD, SunEdison Asia Pacific, and Greenko refused to comment in response to emails sent by ET. Started by two Hyderabad-based entrepreneurs, Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty and Mahesh Kolli, Greenko currently owns around 1000 MW of renewable assets, primarily in wind. But it has been looking for a major foray into the solar business, and was also among the contenders for Welspun Energy’s renewable assets of around 1100 MW, though it was pipped to the post by Tata Power, which bagged them in a S1.4 billion deal in June this year.Greenko is backed by two global sovereign funds – GIC of Singapore, which holds majority stake, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority which pumped $150 million into the company in June. Jalen Richard Authentic Jersey
Discoms arbitrarily shutting off solar power, government tells CERC
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has complained to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) that some discoms are not fully evacuating the solar power available to them, resulting in losses for solar developers. Discoms have been arbitrarily shutting off power from solar projects, for varying lengths of time, often during peak consumption hours. “Some load dispatch centres (LDCs) are asking solar projects to back down due to various reasons,” Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary, MNRE, said in an August 2 letter to Shubha Sarma, secretary, CERC. ‘Back downs’, or temporary disconnection of some power sources from the grid, sometimes become inevitable if there is oversupply to the extent that it strains the grid. It is up to the discoms’ LDCs to decide which power source should be blocked. “Solar power projects have ‘must run’ status as there is no fuel cost,” said Kapoor’s letter. “If any backing down is to be done, thermal projects should be asked to back down, so that some fuel is saved.” But discoms prefer to back down power from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, since thermal power is usually cheaper. Also, renewable energy supply, by the very nature of sun and wind, is erratic or infirm, unlike thermal power. Though Kapoor’s letter does not name any discom, industry sources said those in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu were the main offenders. Sunil Bansal, general secretary, Rajasthan Solar Association (RSA), said the problem had been plaguing the state for some time. “In fact, it has been increasing. On average, there are back downs of one hour a day during peak hours,” he said. “That amounts to 1,200 MW of capacity remaining unused.” Among the companies affected in Rajasthan are SunEdison, Welspun, Mahindra, SolaireDirect, Fortum and Reliance Power. “The Rajasthan Power Procurement Centre is shutting down its substations, claiming it is being done for maintenance purposes,” said Bansal. “In fact, they are buying power from the power exchange. Our association has taken it very seriously as it will affect future tariffs. The RSA will soon submit a petition to the Ministry of Power in this regard.” In Tamil Nadu, solar developers are considering approaching the Supreme Court for relief. “We have already petitioned the Tamil Nadu Energy Regulatory Commission (TNERC) through the National Solar Energy Federation of India, but TNERC told us it does not have the power to adjudicate in disputes with discoms,” said one of them. “This problem has been going on for the past two months. There are shutdowns for up to two hours a day, resulting in daily losses of several lakhs.” Companies affected in Tamil Nadu include SunEdison and Adani Green Energy. Thermal power producers are paid a two-part tariff — one part for fixed costs incurred and the other for variable fuel costs. Thus, even if discoms do not take their power, they continue to be paid for their fixed costs. Solar and wind developers do not have this benefit since their entire cost is primarily in installation. “When solar projects are asked to back down they do not even get the benefit of two-part tariff and are not paid anything for the loss of energy they suffer,” said Kapoor’s letter. “This can make solar power unattractive, particularly when projects are being awarded through competitive bidding and tariffs have come down drastically. Some solar power developers have now started asking for two-part tariff for solar also.” Kapoor’s letter noted that the CERC ought to emphasize solar energy’s ‘must run’ status. “Solar developers must be paid full tariff if they are forced to back down in rare cases,” the letter said. “It is requested that this issue is placed before the Forum of Regulators, so that some consensus can be reached on the issue.” Jahleel Addae Authentic Jersey
Power Dept served 15 day ultimatum to address Mokokchung power situation
The Mokokchung Town Lanur Telongjem (MTLT) and the All Ward Union Mokokchung (AWUM) today came out strongly against the Nagaland Government and the Power Department regarding the continuous disruption of electricity supply in Mokokchung town and adjoining areas. A press note from the AWUM served a 15 day ultimatum to the Power Department to provide circuit breaker in the 33 KV and 11 KV feeders immediately. It demanded that Mokokchung town and its adjoining areas be provided a separate line from the power transmission station at Aolijen, Mokokchung. Further, it demanded that Mokokchung town and its adjoining areas be given unlimited power supply except during natural calamities. Despite frequent damages to the main transformer and disruption of power supply/load shedding in Mokokchung town and its adjoining areas, the AWUM said that “till date the public of Mokokchung Town silently, patiently, and with great enthusiasm has been paying the electricity bill regularly.” The AWUM informed it has learnt that “one of the main causes of such problem is that there is no circuit breaker in the main transformers, while the revenue collection from Mokokchung town and its adjoining areas is the highest in Nagaland in terms of revenue collection based on power unit consumed and ration of power consumed.” Stating that the issue of power disruption is a perennial issue, the AWUM cautioned that if any untoward incidents take place due to the department’s negligence, the AWUM will “neither co-operate nor negotiate if such situation arises.” “If this ultimatum is ignored and treated as the previous representations, the first action and the response of the AWUM will be reflected in the functioning of the UEMB as experienced by the department during 2012-2013 in befitting and well organized manner this time,” it further warned. Don’t play with the public: MTLT Meanwhile, the MTLT cautioned that the concerned department “must not play with the public.” It reminded that the MTLT had demanded in 2015 that necessary machineries/equipment be installed to ensure proper power supply to the people of Mokokchung. It stated that “nothing has been done till date. It is high time that the Department be in tune with the changing needs of time and adopt upgradation accordingly.” As per the NO.MES/W-20/ 2015-16/130 dated 21 November 2015, the MTLT revealed that the Sub-Divisional Officer, Electrical Sub-Division, Mokokchung, had submitted the complete requirements to the higher authority. According to the letter, a team of technicians from Crompton Greaves Ltd Calcutta under Mecavo Power Works Dimapur performed survey at the 33/11KV RESS Mokokchung on the November 21, 2015. The MTLT revealed that the 11KV Bus-Bar has been found completely damaged and needs repair. Besides, defective parts were identified at other feeders viz., 33KV Main Incoming, 11KV Bazar, 11KV Ongpangkong, 11KV Yongpang, 33KV Alichen, 33KV Incomer, 33KV Longnak, 33KV Impur and 33KV Longsa. The MTLT demanded that immediate repairs/replacements be taken up in the interest of the public. It also stood by its demand for a new/standby transformer since 2015, stating that Mokokchung consumers are paying bills regularly. “According to the sub-division office in Mokokchung, there is no maintenance fund. The public needs to know how the departmental money is utilised in this case,” it added. It noted that failure to perform prompt action in undertaking the repair works is an indication of governmental and departmental failure. Corey Linsley Womens Jersey
A promising start to Uday scheme with state discoms reducing commercial losses and interest costs
State power distribution companies have sharply reduced commercial losses and interest costs, giving a promising start to Power Minister Piyush Goyal’s Uday scheme that aims to set right electricity distribution, the biggest bottleneck in the sector. The average power generation cost in the country has also come down by 13% to Rs 2.77 per unit in the three-month period ending June from Rs 3.19 per unit during April-June of 2015, a senior power ministry official said. Preliminary data available with states for the first quarter of the current financial year shows that most states have reported reduction in the aggregate technical and commercial losses, which include electricity that goes unbilled due to non-metering and pilferage. The commercial losses in Jharkhand have declined to 31.8% during the threemonth period from 41% before joining Uday, showed the provisional data available with the state. Uttar Pradesh that goes to polls next year has reported a fall in commercial loss to 33% in first quarter of the current financial year from the 34.2% in the corresponding period last year. The commercial losses in Rajasthan have decreased to 27.3% from 28.5%, while Punjab’s aggregate losses have fallen to 16.6% from 15.9%. The interest cost outgo of the state power distribution utilities has also reduced following takeover of debt by respective state governments. The interest burden of Uttar Pradesh power distribution companies has nearly halved to Rs 820 crore during April-June this year against Rs 1,742 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. In Rajasthan, electricity distribution companies paid Rs 1,038 crore towards interest against Rs 1,961 crore in April-June quarter last financial year.Punjab posted Rs 166 crore savings and Haryana Rs 187 crore on interest outgo. These states joined Uday before March this year. At present, power distribution companies of 14 states are part of Uday. Puducherry will be the 15th state to join Uday and is likely to sign agreement next week. The provisional data has been provided by the states to the Union power ministry in review and monitoring meetings. The power ministry reviews progress of the Uday scheme in participating states in its monthly monitoring meetings. Besides, power minister Piyush Goyal has held an exclusive meeting to review its implementation while power secretary PK Pujari has taken four such meetings till date. The scheme is monitored at distribution companies’ level by their chairmen and at state level by chief secretaries or principal energy secretaries. The power ministry is putting in place a mobile application in two months to monitor the progress of Uday under 26 financial and operational parameters. The application will make data on progress in implementation of Uday in various states accessible to all. Uday aims at enabling discoms to turn profitable in the next 2-3 years through four initiatives —improving operational efficiencies, reducing cost of power, interest burden and enforcing financial discipline through alignment with state finances. The scheme mandates states to take measures like compulsory smart metering, upgrade of transformers and meters, promoting energy efficient LED bulbs, agricultural pumps, fans and air-conditioners to reduce commercial losses from 22% to 15% and decrease gap between cost of power and tariffs. Tyler Lockett Womens Jersey
Essar Oil’s fuel exports to fall in 2018/19 as focus shifts to local sales
Indian refiner Essar Oil’s fuel exports will sharply drop in 2018/19 as it ramps up local sales by doubling its retail network and turns some of its naphtha into profitable gasoline, its managing director said. Rising fuel demand, driven by India’s thirst for gasoline, is expected to help push the growth rate in the country’s fuel consumption ahead of China’s. Essar Oil, which operates the 400,000 barrels per day Vadinar refinery in western Gujarat state, directly sells gasoil and gasoline in the retail market through 2,470 fuel stations and exports about 45 percent of its refined fuels output. It plans to increase its retail sales outlets to 4,300 this fiscal year and to over 5,000 the next year, L.K. Gupta told reporters on Saturday, adding higher local sales would shrink Essar’s export to 25 percent. “All along, we were a country where people were aspiring for a bicycle and now we want at least two-wheelers (motorcycles and scooters)…65 percent of gasoline demand is from two-wheelers,” Gupta said. He said Essar is investing about $200 million to raise output capacity of its naphtha hydrotreater, continuous catalytic reformer and isomerisation units by 15-20 percent and set up new units to recover sulphur and manufacture propylene. These projects, to be completed by March 2018, will boost Essar’s profit from turning crude into refined fuels by $0.90 per barrel, Gupta said. Expansion of units would halve Essar’s naphtha exports to one cargo a month and raise annual gasoline output by 10-15 percent from the current 3-3.5 million tons, he said. Erik Gudbranson Womens Jersey