Least Rains In This June

It is official now. As the June comes to end, it recorded lowest rainfall in this month during the last decade. The city has recorded only 34.5 mm of rainfall since June 1 which is only one third of the average rainfall for the month.

As per the India Meteorological Department, The average rainfall for the city in June is 116.1 mm. However, the rainfall recorded at Pune station of IMD since the start of this month was only 34.5 mm, at Lohegaon it was 25.1 mm while at Pashan station it was 34.4 mm. This trend is in line with other districts in the state where only 7 out of 35 districts have registered the average rainfall for this month.

The lowest rainfall in June for city during last decade was three years ago, when 117.5 mm rainfall was recorded. But the situation in 2009 was helped by 55.5 mm rains during the 24-hour period on June 6. This time around, the maximum rainfall did not go beyond 3 mm.

Meanwhile, scant rains in the catchment areas of the dams have helped the water scarcity situation a little. The Temghar dam has recorded 2 mm of rains and Warasgaon and Panshet dams have recorded 3 mm of rains overnight. This has meant an insignificant increase in the level of water in all these dams.

Read More

Can LPG Diversion Stop in India?

The government of India has embarked upon an ambitious project to check the pilfering of the LPG cylinders, a major component of the domestic fuel in the country. Recently, S. Jaipal Reddy, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas, launched a unique initiative - the 'LPG Portal' - that will host data on the last mile delivery of domestic LPG cylinders, supplied by PSU Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to nearly 10.4 millions households in the country. This is expected to curb the black marketing of the LPG cylinders.

The LPG Transparency portal can be accessed through the official website of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas : www.petroleum.nic.in. It can be also be accessed through the websites of oil marketing companies Indian Oil (www.indane.co.in); Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (www.ebharatgas.com) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (www.hindustanpetroleum.com).

For decades, the Indian OMCs supplied the cylinders to consumers at their doorsteps. Since the advent of economic liberalization in the country, this scenario changed with the demand for LPG cylinders by commercial establishments like eateries, hotels etc. Some cylinders even were fitted in the four wheelers. It was but natural that this surge in demand was fulfilled with diverting the LPG cylinders meant for domestic consumers to commercial customers.

In late 1990s, the government came up with idea to separate both cylinders and having color coding to identify the cylinders for each segment. However, given the level of corruption in supply cycle and absence of effective vigilance mechanism, that scheme has produced minor results when compared to the total volume of diversion.

The potal allows the consumers to know their individual pattern of LPG usage, LPG booking status, LPG refill history or request for surrender of their connection, highest consumption consumers, subsidy availed etc. The information on the portal can also be sorted by consumer number, consumer name and by distributors' name easily.

The government has expressed hope that this measure will emerge as a powerful tool for social audit for all domestic LPG supplies. This portal not only benefits consumers but is also a unique resource for civil society to access LPG distribution information, report discrepancies and register their feedback on the anomalies in supply, if any, an official release said.

Minister Reddy said at the occasion, "OMC's have been making efforts to increase coverage of LPG so that it is available in all parts of the country. However, the high prices and volatility experienced in the prices of LPG and our high dependency on imports of LPG makes it very challenging to maintain the supply of LPG to the customers at the subsidized price. The three Oil Marketing Companies supply over 32 lakhs cylinders per day and are expected to incur a subsidy burden of Rs.43,000 crore this year. Thus the need to curb unauthorized usage of LPG for commercial purposes has become acute in the recent times."

This is just one of the schemes launched by the government to curb the unauthorized use of LPG cylinders. For example, in Pune (Maharashtra), Mysore (Karnataka) and Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), the HPCL has launched a scheme wherein the finger prints of the consumers are registered. Similarly, IOC has decided to provide Unique Identification Numbers to the consumers. For this, the companies have joined hands with UID authority also. As per the plan, the delivery men of the company will check the finger prints of the end consumer before delivering the cylinders. These prints will be stored on the servers of the company.

In April 2012, R. P. N. Singh, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, informed the Lok Sabha that till April 1, OMCs had blocked 8,89,267 LPG connections of Piped Natural Gas consumers, in an effort to stop diversion of subsidized domestic LPG. PNG connections are provided to households in cities having City Gas Distribution projects to supply natural gas as cooking fuel. He also informed that the Government has enacted "Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Regulation of Supply and Distribution) Order, 2000" and formulated "Marketing Discipline Guidelines, 2001" which provides for penal action against LPG distributors indulging in diversion/black marketing of LPG.

However, these measures have failed to throw up the expected results. During 2010 alone, OMCs had taken action in 140 established cases in the country for release of benami/bogus LPG connection

Read More

Fire In Secretariat Arises Suscpicion

An unprecedented major fire which broke out in the Mantralaya (secretariat) in Mumbai has given birth to suspicions that it is part of cover-up. The fire took place in the urban development department on second floor which had most of the files pertaining to Adarsh scam. Even as this post is being written, the fire fighters are trying to douse fire which has engulfed 4th, 5th and 6th floor. According to reports on news channels, most of the offices on these floors were gutted in the fire. 

All the employees working in the building were evacuated. One of my friends, who works in the publicity department, said that all employees rushed downstairs immediately after the fire broke out. There was no cause of worry. Around 10 fire tenders were trying to bring the fire under control and even Indian Navy's choppers were pressed into service.

The social networks were filled with posts expressing doubts on the cause of the fire. Almost everybody thinks that the fire was started deliberately to destroy the files pertaining to various scams. Even senior officers, like former IPS officer Y.P. Singh were apprehensive. 

Fire breaks out on fourth floor of Maharashtra secretariat in Mumbai

The urban development department is one of the most important departments and is a major source of black money for politicians, he told Headlines Today. Besides this department, even Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's office on 6th floor was also on fire.

Read More

GE Lights Maharashtra's Hope With $200 Million Promise

CM Prithviraj Chavan and GE officials inspecting the plan of the proposed plant at Chakan.

US major General Electric on Friday announced that it will invest $ 200 million (INR 1,100 crores) in Maharashtra, India to set up a new manufacturing facility in Pune for developing products for the energy sector. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)was signed between the state government and GE at Chakan.

The MoU was signed at Hotel Hyatt Regency in the presence of Prithviraj Chavan, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Expressing his pleasure, Chavan said the planned project will provide employment to over two thousand people. "We are confident that such initiatives will strengthen the manufacturing sector in India and enhance growth. 21st century is about competition & we want to increase manufacturing in the state," he said.

In a statement issued by GE India, John Flannery, President & CEO, said,

"GE India announced that its new manufacturing unit would develop localised products and solutions for the energy sector in its first phase of operation commencing in 2013," the company said in a statement.

GE already has a wind turbine assembly unit in Pune. The proposed plant will come up at 68 acre of land and will manufacture the energy products as well as environment friendly products.

Read More