Opinion
Appeal
The legacy of IPA, founded by Nikhil Chakravartty, the doyen of journalism in India, to keep the flag of independent media flying high, is facing the threat of extinction due to the effect of the Covid pandemic. Only an emergency funding can avert such an eventuality. We appeal to all those who believe in the freedom of expression to contribute to this noble cause.Policy Of Allotting Coal Mines Opaque, Says CAG's Final Report
NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General’s final report on the allocation of coal blocks has concluded the government did not follow a transparent policy in selecting beneficiaries and was wrong in ignoring a 2004 recommendation by the secretary in the coal ministry that mines should be awarded through...
Power Ministry May Seek CERC Advice To Bail Out Crisis-Hit Projects
NEW DELHI: Power projects with a combined generating capacity of over 59,000 MW facing the prospect of default on supply contracts due to the developers’ inability to pass on increase in fuel cost to distribution companies might get some relief soon. The Union power ministry is planning to ask...
Africa Gas Find May Fire India’s Energy Security
MUMBAI: Natural gas reserves in Mozambique’s oil-rich Rovuma Basin, where Indian companies hold stakes, are expected to rise dramatically with a giant new discovery, catapulting the African nation to the league of the world’s top gas exporters and boosting India’s energy security. Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum, the operator of the...
The World Is Hungry For A Piece Of India's Defence Pie
Indian billionaires Mukesh Ambani, Azim Premji and Adi Godrej made their fortunes in oil refining, software and toilet soaps. These days the moguls see big money in bullets, bombs and ballistics. Indiais the world’s largest weapons importer, relying on foreign suppliers, including Boeing and MiG Russian Aircraft, for about...
SEBI Tightens Reporting Norms For Participatory Notes
NEW DELHI: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has tightened the rules governing participatory notes (P-notes) by cutting the time lag in reporting these transactions. According to a circular issued yesterday, Sebi said foreign institutional investors (FIIs) will have to report monthly details of transactions done through...
CBI Shadow On Oil, Coal Ministries
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched a wide-ranging probe into the energy sector, with daily visits to the coal ministry to scrutinise files on coal blocks, and has issued notices to two former oil ministry officials on procedural issues. The CBI is studying the allotment...
Chakrabarty Counters Gokarn On Rate Cut
MUMBAI: Reserve Bank ofIndiaDeputy Governor KC Chakrabarty on Friday said interest rates inIndiawere not too high to impact growth, throwing cold water on hopes of central bank action to revive a sputtering economy. This comes only days after fellow Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn raised expectations of a rate cut...
Vedanta to buy aluminium firm in Odisha for Rs 1,811 crore
MUMBAI/BHUBANESWAR: Anil Agarwal of Vedanta has found an ally in Larsen & Tourbo (L&T) to bail himself out of the raw material crisis ailing his flagship Odisha aluminium project. The London-listed Vedanta, promoted by Agarwal, has entered into a tripartite agreement with L&T and its partner Dubai Aluminium Company...
Rs 1.5 Lakh Crore Loan Recast For Power Distribution Companies
NEW DELHI: In one of the biggest-ever restructuring exercise, the Centre has agreed to a loan relief for ailing power distribution companies (discoms) but is insisting that state governments and the utilities take over the entire burden of Rs 1.5 lakh crore, instead of banks taking over half the...
GAIL May Become Partner In TAPI Gas Pipeline Project
NEW DELHI: GAIL (India) may take equity participation in the consortium mandated to construct the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline project, which will transport gas fromTurkmenistan. Sources privy to the development said the Government-to-Government agreement allowsIndiato become a partner in the consortium, if so desired. The road-show to invite players...
Indian Navy Ships In China Next Week
In a sign of renewed momentum in bilateral ties, four Indian Navy ships will be docking inShanghainext week on a goodwill visit, a key step to building trust in the maritime domain asIndiaandChinaThursday decided to fastrack crucial dialogues on Central Asia, West Asia andAfrica. A day after Indian External...
Manmohan’s Personal Integrity Is Not In Doubt
By Harihar Swarup Whatever may be failings of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it would be grossly unfair to call him corrupt. Anna Hazare persistently called him a clean leader even as his team member Arvind Kejriwal was dubbing the Prime Minister as corrupt. One does not know what happened...
ONGC Must Inject More Vision In CSR
By Surojit Mahalanobis NEW DELHI: ONGC is expected to earmark Rs 502 crore from its profit after tax (PAT) during 2011-2012 for its corporate social responsibility (CSR) for 2012-2013. This fund would be added to the carried forward money unutilized in previous years. Altogether it should create a...
Missing Political Will And Bureaucratic Hurdles
By Nantoo Banerjee Who says India needs immediate policy changes and fresh financial reforms to pep up its economy? The slow-down in the country’s economic growth and falling industrial production in the last three years have nothing to do with policy constraints, if any. They are not due to...
Pressured Upa-II Puts Itself On A Recovery Mode
By S. Sethuraman UPA-II may have at last reached a turning point – recognising its own follies thus far and resolving to provide a new burst of efficient governance and result-oriented growth reforms to merit a third term in 2014. It is proximity to the critical survival test ahead...
Right To Privacy
By Garga Chatterjee Abhishek Manu Singhvi wants to be forgotten, but not in the way his party is forgetting him, by removing this articulate Cantabrigian from its list of people entrusted to talk to the electronic media. His name seems to have disappeared from the official Indira Congress website....
Anil Ambani eyes Biyani's general insurance venture
MUMBAI: After Future Capital, Kishore Biyani is getting ready to unlock value in his general insurance joint arm. According to three independent sources, Reliance General Insurance, the non-life insurance arm of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Capital, has initiated talks with Biyani on a potential merger between Reliance General and Future...
Opposition To Pension Bill In Cabinet Meeting
By IRL Correspondent NEW DELHI: The business newspapers of the country as well as the mainline dailies may have gone hammer and tongue at the Trinamool Congress and its leader Mamata Banerjee for postponing the discussion on the Pension Bill at the union cabinet meeting on June 7, but...
