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The Hindu, New Delhi, October 17,2017 Move may help bring to production six discoveries in the KG-D6 block by 2022 Reliance Industries and its partner BP Plc will invest about $1.5 billion to bring to production six satellite gas discoveries in the flagging KG-D6 block by 2022. The RIL-BP combine had, on Monday, submitted to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons a field development plan for what are known as satellite and other satellite fields, sources with direct knowledge of development said. They plan to develop four deepsea satellite gas finds, named D-2, 6, 19 and 22, together with two other nearby finds, D-29 and D-30, in the Krishna Godavari basin block. In all, 5-6 gas producing wells will be drilled and tied to production facilities, they said, adding peak output may be in the range of 10-12 million standard cubic metres per day. The four satellites and the two other satellite finds (D29 and D30), R-Series and MJ gas discoveries, are the ones for which...

The Hindu, Suhasini Haidar, O CTOBER 18, 2017   U.S. President Donald Trump’s policy shift would not affect the India-Iran relationship, says Gholamreza Ansari.   Accusing the U.S. of trying to ensure that India reduced oil imports from his country, Iranian Ambassador Gholamreza Ansari said that even so, U.S. President Donald Trump’s policy shift would not affect the India-Iran relationship, and the development of the Chabahar port project remained on track. “The U.S. wants to deprive Iran of the Indian energy market and is working to ensure that India reduce its oil trade with Iran,” Mr. Ansari told  The Hindu  in an exclusive interview days after the U.S. announcement of a tougher line on Iran, even imposition of possibly new sanctions. No immediate impact “I don’t think the U.S.’s statement [on Iran] will have any immediate impact on the India-Iran relationship. Our relationship and payment details have been ironed out,” Mr. Ansari said. H...

Economic Times, By Bikash Singh, ET Bureau, Oct 17, 2017,  Organisations in Siang in Arunachal Pradesh have opposed setting up of the 10,000 MW power project over Siang River.  Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu along with his state cabinet colleagues recently attended a presentation by NITI Aayog on proposed Multipurpose River Valley Project for Siang River.  CEO NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant urged on the need to make the project viable and feasible for the people of Arunachal Pradesh. The proposed project is estimated to be 300 metre high dam with power generation capacity of 10000 MW. Being a multipurpose project, it will moderate flood and erosion providing relief in downstream river reaches of Arunachal and Assam.  Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum (SIFF) has opposed the project and stated NITI Aayog has decided to merge Stage I and Stage II of the power project over river Siang, which will submerge over 100 villages and affect lakhs of peop...

The Economic Times, By MEERA MOHANTY, Et Bureau, Rayagada | Bhubaneshwar The government has granted final forest clearance to develop a new bauxite mine in Odisha, which can potentially bring significant relief to Vedanta's ore-starved Lanjigarh refinery that is importing raw material despite being located in the mineral-rich state.  The environment ministry has granted forest clearance to state-run  Odisha Mining Corp 's (OMC ) mine located in the state's   Kodingamali  plateau that can produce 3 million tonne a year from its reserves of 81 million tonne.   On September 25, the environment ministry sent a note allowing OMC to divert 435 hectares of forest land although environmentalists and some villagers are opposing it.  The project is likely to go ahead as the other important green approval, the environmental clearance (EC), is also expected. This clearance was granted in 2008, when the mine was meant to feed a now-sh...

The Hindu Business Line, PTI,  SEOUL, OCT 17, 2017 Greenpeace said that technology titans like Samsung Electronics, Amazon and Huawei get low marks for their environmental impact. The report issued today faults many of the biggest technology companies for failing to deliver on commitments to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, use more recycled materials and phase out use of toxic materials. Greenpeace USA’s Guide to Greener Electronics assessed 17 global tech companies. It said that companies like Samsung and Huawei fell short of Amsterdam-based Fairphone and Apple in various areas. It said that tech companies’ manufacturing processes are not as environmentally friendly as their innovative images might suggest. The report urged the companies to use more renewable energy, remove hazardous chemicals and other materials from their products and design longer-lasting devices to help reduce waste. Link- http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/greenpeace-faults-many-...

By: Nikita Vashisht Moneycontrol News, October 17, 2017 The date for divestment process of Air India is yet to be finalised. It would, however, be sold to “domestic buyers”, interested in individual, profit generating business arms. State run Air India (AI), which has debt of over Rs 50,000 crore, will not be sold as a single unit, sources close to the development said. Sources, who did not wish to be identified, said that each business of AI will be put out for sale as an “independent” unit, free from the overall debt.  The public carrier's finances have been bleeding after its merger with Indian Airlines in 2007 brought more loses than anticipated profits. The government had set up a ministerial committee, headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley, to suggest ways for divesting the airline. After the Union cabinet gave “in-principle” approval for the divestment process, companies such as IndiGo (India's largest private sector airline), the Bird group and ...

By: ET Bureau, Economic Times,  New Delhi | Mumbai,  Oct 17, 2017 The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) will invest $1billion in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), marking the start of India's ambitious attempt to raise equity funds for the infrastructure sector.  The agreement has been signed between NIIF Master Fund and a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, NIIF said in a statement.  ADIA will become the first institutional investor in NIIF's Master Fund and a shareholder in National Investment and Infrastructure Ltd, the NIIF's investment management company.  Six domestic institutional investors — HDFC Standard Life Insurance, HDFC Asset Management, Housing Development Finance Corp, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance and Axis Bank — will also be joining the NIIF Master Fund along with ADIA, apart from the governmen...

By: TNN, Times of India, Oct 17, 2017 The chairman of Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swavalmban Mission (VNSSM), which is the Maharashtra government's special task force to tackle agrarian crisis, has alleged that multinational companies have been selling pesticides without sufficient safety information. "This amounts to violation of conditions laid down by the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee (CIBRC) as well as Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) code of conduct on pesticide management," Kishore Tiwari, the VNSSM chairman, said on Monday. In a statement, Tiwari blamed companies, such as Swiss agrochemicals firm Syngenta and US multinational Monsanto, for the 39 deaths and thousands taking ill after spraying pesticides. "These two, along with United Phosphorous, have the major market share in the pesticide business. There are several other smaller Indian players who manufacture same formulations and conduct their businesses in an...

By: TNN, Times of India, Oct 17, 2017 The debit and credit card details of Indians, including the particulars of the bank account a card is linked to, the CVV number, and phone numbers and email IDs, are up for sale on the dark web for just Rs 500, the Madhya Pradesh police cyber cell has said. Cops in Indore discovered the sale after busting an international gang, led by a Pakistan national and operated from Lahore, involved in it. A detective had posed as a customer and bought debit card details of an Indore-based woman in exchange for Bitcoins. The trail led to the arrest of two members of the gang from Mumbai. The MP cyber cell got on the case after Jaykishan Gupta, a banking professional, filed a complaint that Rs 72,401 was debited from his credit card on August 28. "Our investigation revealed that the card was used to buy air tickets for one Rajkumar Pillai of Mumbai. Pillai and his accomplice Ramprasad Nadar were rounded up," said MP cyber cell SP Ji...

By:Times Now, Times of India, Oct 17, 2017 Links between Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari have been spoken about since it came out that Vadra's London flat at 12, Ellerton House, Bryanton Square, was refurbished by Bhandari in 2016. But Vadra denied any financial links with the arms dealer, who was under investigation, and there was nothing which could nail Vadra's link with Bhandari, who fled to the UK. But Times Now has accessed documents that establish what appears to be a direct link between the two. Emails accessed by the channel show that the agent bought Vadra's air tickets. Copies of two tickets accessed by Times Now show that in August 2012, Bandari's travel agent - Paharganj-based International Travel Hom, operating out of Suite No.112, Hotel Satyam - sent two mails to Bhandari (email ID: deltabhandari@hotmail.com) with travel tickets worth Rs 8 lakh for Vadra for an Emirates flight. Th...

By: Shine Jacob, Business Standards, October 16, 2017 The company had assets in countries like Yemen, Peru, Oman, Myanmar, Columbia, East Timor, Kurdistan and Australia, but it exited almost all these blocks later as part of its portfolio rationalisation Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has exited its last overseas conventional oil and gas assets by relinquishing two blocks in Myanmar. The company still holds its interest in two shale gas asset in the US. In an investor presentation after the July-September period results, the company said that on completion of a study and technical evaluation, blocks M17 and M18 in Myanmar were relinquished. RIL had 96 per cent stake each in the two blocks, which was awarded to the company in 2015. Earlier this month, the company had sold its stake in one of its three shale gas blocks in the US, at Marcellus Shale asset where it had a joint venture with Carrizo Oil & Gas, for $126 million. Though the Mum...

By: PTI, Economic Times, OCT 16, 2017 Japanese auto major Toyota today said it is studying the possible impact in India with regard to supplies by Kobe Steel which is mired in a controversy over falsification of data on the quality of its products.  Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Ford are major automobile companies to which Kobe Steel had supplied its products.  Ford said its models in India are not affected by the issue.  "Putting utmost priority on the safety of our customers, we are rapidly working to identify which vehicle models might be subject to this situation and what components were used, as well as what effect there might be on individual vehicles," a Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) spokesperson told PTI.  At the same time, the company is also considering what measures need to be put in place going forward, the spokesperson added.   When contacted, a Ford India spokesperson said: "We don't have any exposure to Kobe Steel across ...

By: Palak Shah, The Hindu, October 16, 2017 The DCB Bank counter is being probed by market regulator SEBI for alleged insider trading and front running. Source close to the regulator told BusinessLine that the probe is primarily linked to the period around October 2015 when DCB Bank shares had suffered a severe crash.  During the second quarter results in October 2015, DCB announced an ambitious target for branch expansion to 300 from around 150 in the coming years and even said it would double its employee headcount to over 5,000 from 3,700. But to the surprise of many, the bank proactively issued a warning that such an aggressive expansion plan would affect its ROA (return of assets) and profitability. Soon after the announcement, DCB shares hit the lower circuit of 20 per cent.  From around ₹140 at the start of October, DCB shares had crashed to ₹80 by the end of the month without any meaningful broader market move. The share price had nearly doubled to ₹150 i...

By: Richa Mishra/Twesh Mishra, October 15, 2017 The clock is ticking for ONGC if it wants to become the country’s first hydrocarbon explorer to produce gas from the most challenging and only ultra-deepwater discoveries.  Discovered in 2006 about 150 km off the Andhra Pradesh coast is ONGC’s ultra-deepwater find, called UD-1, in the Krishna-Godavari basin block KG-DWN-98/2. This block was awarded to ONGC under the New Exploration Licensing Round (NELP) and is governed by a production-sharing contract, which clearly defines a timeline for each activity.  Though giving extensions are normal for such difficult finds, they cannot be granted forever, sources in Directorate General of Hydrocarbons said. ONGC had been going slow on this area of the block due to technological challenges. Only after the discovery is found to be commercially viable does the contractor submit a field development plan.  The block is adjacent to the Reliance Industries Ltd-operat...