(PTI) State-owned GAIL India Ltd and its affiliates have set a target to provide 11.44 lakh piped cooking gas connections in the current fiscal as they chase what now looks like a highly improbable target of connecting one crore households with environment-friendly fuel by next year. GAIL and its joint ventures such as the ones that retail CNG and piped cooking gas in Delhi and Mumbai had achieved just 60 per cent of the target to give 11.25 lakh connections in the 2018-19 fiscal year, according to company’s target document reviewed by . In March 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi…
Author: Aruna Sharma
(ET) The Reserve Bank of India is expected to cut benchmark interest rates for the fifth time this year on Friday as recent fiscal measures to boost ailing growth seem largely inadequate and benign inflation offers room for more easing. The RBI is predicted to lower its key lending rate or the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 5.15%, which would take cumulative cuts so far this year to 135 bps. Most analysts forecast one more cut of 15 bps in December. Some RBI watchers expect a larger cut this week, after it cut the repo rate but an unconventional…
(TH) The Congress on Wednesday night officially released the party’s list of candidates for the coming Assembly election amidst a bitter factional fight that had reached party chief Sonia Gandhi’s doorstep. Prominent names include former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Congress Legislature Party chief Kiran Chaudhary, party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and elder son of former CM Bhajan Lal Chander Mohan. With Friday being the last date of filing nominations for the October 21 election, the party made its list public well past midnight to avoid further confrontation with any disgruntled leader.
(PTI) With India emerging as a powerful nation on the global stage and experts and analysts probing which way it would tilt, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on October 3 said the largest democracy would be a blend of the west and the developed world. “There’s often the question asked whether India, these are not my words, would be an Eastern power or a Western power, meaning would it be democratic or would it not be democratic? I think by now in 70 years, at least that question is answered,” he said. “But I would also suggest to you that it would…
(HT) The Ministry of Mines has amended the Mineral (Mining by Government Company) Rules 2015, to ensure raw material security and seamless renewal of mining leases allocated to public sector companies, a government statement said. The amendment implies that all mining leases for minerals granted to government companies shall extend the mining lease for a period up to 12 years at a time. The extension is conditional, provided the mining firm makes an application to the state government at least 12 months prior to the expiry of the mining lease, it said. The changes were made after minister of petroleum…
(ET) The Yogi Adityanath government is set to publicize former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s pet project of Etawah Lion Safari as a “world-class project comparable to all best safaris in the world like in Africa and Singapore” and a special website will be launched ahead of the inauguration of the 1000-acre project for the public later this month. Seven Asiatic lions have been brought in from Gujarat’s Junagarh last week to the Etawah Lion Safari, taking their strength of the lions here up to 18. Special buses to ferry tourists inside the Safari have also arrived ahead of the inauguration.…
(ET) Indian Oil Corporation has built 850 metres of road using 16 million tonnes of single-use plastic waste in bitumen concrete, and has invited ‘expression of interest’ from various parties and aggregators to consistently supply commercial quantities of such waste. The state-run oil marketing company built the road outside its research and development facility in Faridabad on an experimental basis for testing its strength and durability, officials said. It is demarcated intointo three zones representing 1%, 2% and 3% concentration of waste plastic such as carry bags and packaging film waste, and will be monitored under same conditions for two…
(BS) There should be degree or diploma courses in skill development as mere certification would not work, said Union Power Minister R K Singh in New Delhi.Addressing a conference of state Skill Development Ministers, he said the country needed to move from the primary sector to the tertiary sector as “we are lagging the developed countries”. Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Skill Development Mahendra Nath Pandey said skill development was the prime focus of the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a sub-committee to give impetus to the sector. Those providing skill training should get “Kaushalacharya Samman” on the Teachers Day next year, he said and added, skill…
(FE) Neither the Centre’s admonitions, nor adverse court rulings seem to be dissuading some state governments from dishonoring the power purchase agreements (PPAs) with renewable power units — a trend that is threatening to put the sunrise sector in jeopardy. Close on the heels of the Andhra Pradesh government, which virtually called for a downward revision of the tariffs mentioned in the PPAs for 5.2 giga watt of wind and solar power capacity, the Uttar Pradesh government stopped procuring electricity from 650 mega watt of wind power plants effective Tuesday evening. The UP government’s excuse for the sudden move is…
HPCL’s Visakh-Vijayawada-Secunderabad-Pipeline (VVSPL) Capacity Expansion Project has been commissioned ahead of schedule and put into operation smoothly. The Project has enhanced VVSPL capacity from 5.38 MMTPA to full design capacity of 7.7 MMTPA. As part of the project, 13 new pumps have been installed: 3 each at the 2 new Intermediate Pump Stations (IPS) viz. M B Patnam IPS and J K Gudem IPS, 2 at the new Bogaram IPS, 1 each at the existing Pump Stations of Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada and 2 at Suryapet. In addition to above, OSTT-SS Jetty Sub-Sea Pipeline has also been mechanically completed. It is pertinent to…