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.L&T Sees Robust Growth In Solar Power Sector
MUMBAI: Larsen & Toubro is looking is looking at grabbing sizeable orders for solar power projects driven by opportunity is sees in the sector. The $ 11.7 billion-engineering conglomerate’s fledgling solar power projects business has an order backlog of Rs 350 crore currently, but the company sees growth opportunities...
CIL Customers May Bear The Brunt Of Expensive Coal Imports
NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: Coal India has inserted a new clause in Fuel Supply Agreements (FSAs) which says that if the state-run firm needs to import coal to meet its obligations, customers will have to accept the price it charges or surrender their right to be supplied the contracted quantity, further...
MMTC, STC Can Import Coal To Help CIL Meet FSA Targets: Khullar
NEW DELHI: The commerce ministry, in an effort at ensuring wider say in trading of minerals for public sector units (PSUs) in its domain, has said that MMTC and the State Trading Corporation of India (STC) could import coal to help Coal India (CIL) meet its obligations under the...
Big PEs in talks to buy Essar realty arm's Mumbai project
MUMBAI: Leading private equity (PE) funds such as Blackstone, Morgan Stanley, IDFC, and Singapore-based developer-investors Ascendas and Mapletree, among others, have put in bids for the Essar Group-backed Equinox Realty’s commercial project here. Equinox Realty was seeking a valuation of around Rs 2,000 crore, said sources in the know....
Lending rate cuts likely to put pressure on banks' margins
MUMBAI: In the wake of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) rate reversal signal, the ongoing and impending reductions in banks’ base rate — the benchmark lending rate to which all loans are linked — may deplete lenders’ margins. Especially those of public sector lenders, which had aggressively raised deposit...
India Now Eyes Agni-VI To Double Range
Indian scientists and engineers are now looking forward to Agni-VI, the next missile in the series that could well possess double the target range. Though Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which develops and manufactures missiles for the Indian armed forces, is yet to make an official statement on...
On A Par With China, India Didn't Inform Neighbour About Launch
NEW DELHI: India did not formally inform China about the launch of its intermediate-range ballistic missile Agni-5 from the Odisha coast yesterday, although it did notify all the other big powers about the event. According to government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, China was the only permanent...
No Intention To Cap Missile Plan
NEW DELHI: After the near-perfect debut of the Agni-5 long-range ballistic missile, which yesterday travelled 5,000 kilometres to accurately strike a target in the southern Indian Ocean, V K Saraswat, the Defence Research and Development Organisation chief, declared that the Agni programme would continue and there was no question...
Tatra Truck Deal: BEML's Contract With Tatra Sipox Violated Defence Procurement Stipulation
NEW DELHI: Tatra Sipox (UK) Limited, supplier of Tatra trucks to the public sector BEML, is an agent of the manufacturer. This was admitted by Tatra Sipox on June 23, 1995, to the UK authorities to which it described its main activity as being the “manufacturers’ agents”. The fresh...
Agni Missile Programme To Be Honed Further, Says Saraswat
NEW DELHI: The launch of ‘Agni-V’ missile yesterday proves beyond doubt that India has the capability and competence to develop a long-range missile, DRDO chief VK Saraswat said today. Talking to the media, he said the DRDO would conduct two or more validation tests over the next 18 months,...
Frigate INS Teg To Join Indian Navy On April 27
INS Teg, the first of the three new Talwar class guided missile frigates, being built by Russia for the Indian Navy, has completed sea phase acceptance trials. According to Yantar Shipyard, all that remained was to finish the interior premises and present operational documents to the crew. The frigate’s...
Agni-V: China Says India Underplaying Agni, It Can Hit Europe
BEIJING:China’s strategic experts and the official media are trying to provoke western countries saying the Agni-V missile has a longer range than India would admit, and it can hit cities in Europe. In comments that are obviously authorized by the defence ministry, Chinese experts said the Indian missile actually...
ISRO Plans Biggest Ever Spacecraft By 2014
BANGALORE: ISRO plans to launch its biggest ever spacecraft, the 5,000-kg GSAT-11, by 2014. The advanced communication satellite, GSAT-11, will be double the capacity and size of the present buses, and will be built over the next two years. GSAT-11 will have 32 transponders in the Ka and Ku...
ISRO In Active Mode For Mars Mission
India has completed a significant amount of work on next year’s planned Mars mission for which scientific payloads have been short-listed, with formal government approval for the ambitious venture expected soon. Bangalore-headquartered ISRO is planning to undertake the mission to the planet Mars during November 2013. The project report...
Govt Firm On Taxing Sale Of Software As Royalty
NEW DELHI: Intense lobbying by US multinational software firms notwithstanding, the government is unwilling to roll back its proposal to categorise the sale of software as royalty, as the double taxation avoidance agreement between India and the US allows India to tax the sale of software as royalty. Finance...
There Is No Policy Paralysis, Only A Slowdown, Clarifies Basu
Chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu would not have imagined that his comments about the reform process in the country to the Washington-based Carnegie Foundation would trigger a political slugfest. In an e-mail interview with ET, he clarifies there is no policy paralysis in India, only a slowdown. Basu makes...
Builders Can Avail ECB Only For Low-Cost Housing Projects: Government
NEW DELHI: The government will allow builders to raise overseas debt only for projects where 90% of the units are for low or middle-income groups, according to a senior official in the ministry of housing and poverty alleviation. The official said these projects will, however, be permitted to have...
CIL Initiates Process For Supply Pacts
NEW DELHI: Forced by a Presidential directive, state-controlled Coal India Ltd (CIL) today initiated the process of signing fuel supply agreements (FSAs) with power companies. It issued model FSA documents to its subsidiary companies, for signing with electricity generators. The move would break a three-year hiatus on coal supply...
