Today’s News Brief – 17th June 09

POWER

Consumers upset over power tariff hike

The hike in power tariff by BEST and Reliance in Mumbai has drawn sharp criticism from consumer and political forums. BEST committee members led by its chairman and BJP leader Dilip Patel and Shiv Sena leader Sunil Prabhu on Tuesday protested against the hike and warned of intense agitation if MERC failed to withdraw it. "We have urged the BEST general manager to go in appeal against the hike during the review and withdraw it in the benefit of consumers,'' said Patel. Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, a forum of consumers in the city, has cited that though an average power hike of 9.5% seemed less for Reliance's residential consumers, the calculations based on unit-wise consumption showed 44% to 60% hike in actual billing. "Our bill calculations show that residents in suburbs consuming 100 units will have to pay an average Rs 124 more on each monthly bill, while those consuming 150, 200, 250, 300 and 400 units will have to pay an average Rs 221, Rs 298, Rs 373, Rs 452 and Rs 616 respectively over their present bills,'' said Shirish Deshpande of the Panchayat. On Monday, MERC effected hike in electricity tariff for over 7 lakh residential consumers in the island city and over 19 lakh in suburban Mumbai by 9.5% and 7.5%, respectively.

R Power hopes to achieve Dadri financial closure in eight months

uoyed by the Bombay High Court order asking Reliance Industries to supply 28 mmscmd from KG-D6 at $2.34 per mmbtu for 17 years to Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL), the Reliance Power hopes to achieve financial closure for the 7,480-mw Dadri project in Uttar Pradesh in eight months after the signing of the fresh agreement between RIL and RNRL. A large proportion of the gas will be supplied to the Dadri project. The per megawatt project cost is estimated at Rs 3 crore to 3.5 crores. According to Kotak Securities, gas price of $2.34 per mmbtu is better compared to $4.2 based on government-determined formula and results in reduction of fuel cost from Rs 1.96 per unit to Rs 1.33 per unit. A transportation cost (and taxes) of $1.66 per mmbtu for delivery of gas to the Dadri project is factored in. Any reduction in transportation cost, due to alternate gas-pipeline route (in the future) or relocation of the gas-based capacity closer to the gas-source would translate into incremental savings for Reliance Power. more...

'India should look at generating cheaper power'

India should look at generating cheaper power and private companies need to collaborate with the department of atomic energy to manufacture equipment for this segment so that costs come down. This was the view of Atomic Energy Commission chairman and department of atomic energy secretary Anil Kakodkar. He was here to deliver the fourth Raja Ramanna Memorial Lecture at the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre. Mr Kakodkar stressed on the need to encourage downstream partners to venture into research so that they receive the benefits of technological advancement. more...

ECONOMY

OECD chief predicts economic upturn for year end

Economic recovery in the OECD group of rich countries will begin at around the end of the year, the organization's head said Tuesday, adding that the worst of Mexico's recession was over. "There will be a recuperation at the end of 2009 or the start of 2010," OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said to reporters here. "We're going to change color from red to black." The United States would be one of the first countries to climb out of the recession due its enormous economic stimulus packages, which would in turn impact on its close dependents, like Mexico, Gurria said. more...

Aviation to account for $3.6 trillion of world GDP by 2026

Some 50 million jobs and $3.6 trillion of the world's gross domestic product (GDP) will depend on aviation by 2026, an Oxford Economics report said. According to the report 'Aviation: The Real World Wide Web', limiting aviation's growth to one per cent below the current trend would cost six million aviation related jobs and the industry's GDP contribution by $600 billion. "Close to 20 million jobs could be supported by the Asia-Pacific region's air transport sector in 20 years. Currently air transport contributes around USD 170 billion to the Asia Pacific region's GDP," it said. more...

POLITICS

Arun Jaitley quits as BJP General Secretary

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, the target of several party leaders who have questioned his appointment as Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha after the electoral debacle, today quit as General Secretary of the organisation. However, Jaitley, who was the chief election strategist and has attracted a lot of flak for the party's performance in the Lok Sabha polls, has not quit as leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha which enabled him to become the Leader of Opposition in the upper house. BJP President Rajnath Singh today said Jaitley gave his resignation six-seven days ago before he left on a holiday to London. more...

PM meets Zardari, asks him to act against terror

In the first top-level contact since the Mumbai terror attacks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today met President Asif Ali Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit

Zardari here during which he is understood to have made it clear that Pakistan should take concrete action against terrorism directed against India. ( Watch ) Singh, who arrived here on a three-day visit, met Zardari on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. Ahead of their meeting, the two leaders shook hands when they came face-to-face after posing for a group photo with leaders of other SCO member nations -- Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. India, Pakistan and Iran are among the nations who have observer status in SCO. more...

TELECOM

DoT seeks Rs 3000 cr support for BSNL

The communications ministry has sought an allotment of Rs 3,000 crore from the finance ministry for supporting BSNL’s wireline networks that were set up before April 2002. The DoT wants the amount to be sanctioned in the budget. This is to compensate the state-owned telco for losses during the last fiscal after telecom regulator Trai had done away with access deficit charge regime from April 1, 2008. Prior to that, all telcos were paying 0.75% of total revenues towards ADC, which was used to support BSNL’s unviable fixedline operations in rural India. In 2007-08, BSNL got Rs 2,000 crore as ADC. more...

Vodafone approaches FIPB for NLD, ISP licences

Mobile services company Vodafone Essar has applied for internet service provider and national long distance licences and has approached the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for approval. The company officials confirmed that the operator has applied for these two licences and aims to become a full-fledged communication services provider in the country. FIPB, on June 19, may take up the proposal, sources said. If Vodafone Essar, in which the UK-based mobile firm Vodafone holds majority stake, gets the national long distance licence (NLD) it will help the company save operating expenses for carrying STD traffic, instead of hiring other mobile company's network for the purpose. more...

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INTERNATIONAL

US to emerge from recession in third quarter: Bank economists

The United States should emerge from recession in the third quarter of this year but will continue to reel from high unemployment and budget deficits, economists from top banks forecast Tuesday. "The economy will return to growth but not to health," said Bruce Kasman, chief economist for JPMorgan Chase and head of the economic advisory committee of the American Bankers Association. "Growth in the coming quarters is likely to gather momentum but will not prove sufficiently robust to undo much of the severe damage done to our labor markets and public finances," he said. more...

ADB approves $3.4 bn in additional loans for Asia

The Asian Development Bank said on Tuesday it has approved $3.4 bn in new loans to help Asian nations overcome the global economic crisis. The Manila-based development bank said $3 bn in loans would be made available through a previously announced counter-cyclical facility, which will carry market-linked rates of interest. It said $400 million will be available for poorer nations on concessional rates of interest. more...

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

"There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded."

HEALTH TIP

Have handful of overnight soaked beans or legumes every morning. They are rich in folic acid that helps reduce the rik of various cancers.

TIP - to save energy

Compact fluorescent light bulbs generate 70 percent less heat, so they are safer to operate and can also reduce energy costs associated with cooling homes and offices.

HUMOUR JUNCTION

My life has a superb cast but I can't figure out the plot.