(ET) A day after thunderstorm and rain hampered the power supply, essentially in the west UP region, UP power minister Shrikant Sharma on Monday sought swift maintenance of energy infrastructure to ensure smooth supply to consumers, Presiding over a video conference with MLAs and MPs from Agra and Aligarh division, Sharma said that the power supply to areas affected by the rains and thunderstorm be restored. He asked engineers to ensure 10 hours of uninterrupted power supply to the agricultural feeders between 7 am and 5 pm. Sharma said that managing directors of various distribution companies would be held directly responsible for…
Author: Aruna Sharma
(PTI) Coal India Ltd said it has signed two agreements with heavy engineering major BEML Ltd for purchasing dumpers at Rs 400 crore. The miner will procure 15 dumpers from the manufacturing PSU, a CIL statement said. “The contract cost for seven 150-tonne dumpers is around Rs 150 crore and that of eight 190-tonne dumpers is Rs 250 crore. The equipment will be used in opencast coal mines and play a critical role in hauling coal and the top soil,” it said. The 150-tonne dumpers will be deployed on trial basis in the Gevra opencast project of South Eastern Coalfields Ltd, the Chhattisgarh-based subsidiary of…
(PTI) The Reserve Bank of India on Monday announced a Rs 50,000 crore special liquidity facility for mutual fund, days after Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund decided to close six debt schemes. In a statement, the central bank said heightened volatility in capital markets in reaction to COVID-19 has imposed liquidity strains on mutual funds (MFs), which have intensified in the wake of redemption pressures related to closure of some debt MFs and potential contagious effects therefrom. The stress is, however, confined to the high-risk debt MF segment at this stage; the larger industry remains liquid, it said. “With a view to easing…
(ET) The number of coronavirus infected in India neared 28,000 today, the latest Health Ministry update showed. As of 8 am, the official count stood at 27,892. 6,185 people have been cured/discharged. The number of the dead stands at 872. These numbers come a day after the country reported its highest-ever single-day increase in cases so far. Of the 872 deaths, Maharashtra has the most at 342, followed by Gujarat at 151, Madhya Pradesh at 103, Delhi at 54, Rajasthan at 33 and Andhra Pradesh at 31. The death toll reached 29 in Uttar Pradesh, 26 in Telengana, 24 in Tamil Nadu,…
(PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a video conference with chief ministers to discuss the situation arising due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country, which has been under a lockdown since March 25 to contain the spread of the virus, amid indications that the interaction would also focus on a graded exit from the ongoing lockdown. This is Modi’s fourth such interaction with state chief ministers since March 22 when he first spoke to them on the coronavirus situation and situation and steps taken –both by the Centre and the states– to contain the pandemic. Two days later…
(ET) NTPC Ltd said it has invited global expression of interest (EoI) to provide Hydrogen Fuel Cell (FC) based electric buses and Hydrogen Fuel Cell based electric cars in Leh and Delhi. The EoI for 10 such buses and cars has been issued by NTPC’s wholly owned subsidiary, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) Limited, an official statement said. The move to procure Hydrogen Fuel Cell based vehicles is first of its kind project in the country, wherein a complete solution from green energy to the fuel cell vehicle would be developed, it said. The initiative, undertaken with support of Ministry of New and…
(ET) The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has divided its work into 15 Cells and distributed the responsibility of each of the cells among its five top officers under a newly devised system. The Cells or Verticals will report either to Principal Secretary to PM, P.K. Mishra, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Principal Advisor to PM, P.K. Sinha, and the two Advisors to PM, Amarjeet Sinha, and Bhaskar Khulbe, in a neat distribution of duties effective from April 4. The ‘human resource’ cell handling all appointments, Law and Justice Ministry, personnel, anti-corruption unit, and cabinet secretariat, will report to Mishra while…
(PTI) In perhaps the most far-reaching easing of rules, the government has simplified procedures for oil and gas exploration and production by providing for self certification for a host of compliance, such as a discovery notification and deemed consent for investment in fields in a stipulated time. With a view to make it easier to do business, the government has provided that notification of a discovery and tests to confirm them will not require approval and documents will be accepted on self-certification basis, according to the notification issued on April 25. Work programme and field development plan or their revisions…
(ET) The BHEL unit in the state capital is badly affected due to the ongoing lockdown. Senior officials have claimed that the unit has incurred around Rs150 crore loss in the last one month. An important overseas project of manufacturing transformers for a 660MW power station in Bangladesh has also been stalled due to the complete shutdown of the factory. With state-of-the-art facilities, BHEL-Bhopal manufactures a wide range of electrical equipment and the product range includes hydro, steam, marine and nuclear turbines, heat exchangers, hydro and turbo generators, transformers, switchgears, control gears, transportation equipment, capacitors, bushings, electrical motors, rectifiers, oil drilling rig equipment and diesel generating sets. A senior official…
(ET) The Minister of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan interacted with over 1,000 LPG distributors from across the country through video conferencing on Tuesday evening. While lauding their good work in ensuring doorstep delivery of LPG cylinders during the lockdown, he appealed to them to proactively reach out and maximise the delivery of three free LPG cylinders to PMUY beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana announced for the poor. Pradhan also complimented them for taking all necessary precautions, including sanitisation of LPG cylinders to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and ensuring the safety of the delivery boys and their consumers. He asked the distributors to continue making the…