The country’s largest iron ore miner NMDC aims to increase its sales by 21 per cent to 35 million tonnes (MT) in the current fiscal.
The state-run firm also envisages raising iron ore production by 24 per cent to 35 MT in 2016-17 from 28.32 MT in 2015-16, NMDC Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Bharthi S Sihag was quoted as saying in a company statement.
Iron ore sales of the Navratna firm stood at 28.87 MT in 2015-16, down from the 30 MT it had clocked in 2014-15.
“NMDC intends to increase its iron ore mining capacity to 50 MT per annum (MTPA) by 2018 and envisages to produce and sell 35 MT iron ore during 2016-17,” Sihag said in her Independence Day address.
She applauded NMDC’s excellent performance and urged the employees to go the extra mile to excel and reach commanding heights.
NMDC Director (Technical) N K Nanda too appreciated the efforts of the public sector undertaking (PSU) in reorienting itself successfully through upgradation of mines, development of new mines and setting up of value added projects such as steel and pellet plants.
NMDC plans to invest Rs 40,000 crore over eight years to achieve a target of 100 MTPA iron ore production.
The firm will invest in developing new mines, steel plant (Nagarnar), Legacy Iron ore company (Australia) and a slurry pipe line 9 from (Kirandul to Vizag), among others.
Independence Day was celebrated in all states and Union territories today with chief ministers announcing development initiatives, flagging the challenges ahead and pledging to take their states forward on the path of peace and progress.
Barring Assam, Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir, the celebrations, marked by unfurling of tricolour, colourful parades and other events, passed off peacefully amid tight security.
Soaked in patriotic fervour, hundreds of people took part in the events to mark 70th Independence Day in state capitals, district headquarters and other cities and towns.
In Jammu and Kashmir, a CRPF officer and two militants were killed while nine others were injured when ultras attacked security forces at Nowhatta in downtown Srinagar.
A series of five bomb explosions by suspected ULFA-Independent militants rocked upper Assam’s Charaido and Tinsukia districts. In Manipur, two blasts took place in Imphal West district. There was no casualty or injury to anyone in any of the explosions.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in his Independence Day speech at Chhatrasal Stadium, made a strong pitch for statehood and attacked the Centre, alleging that it was chipping away at the elected government’s power through a system which was akin to the national capital being governed by the colonial ‘Government of India Act, 1935’.
He claimed the citizens of Delhi were being made to feel that the value of their votes were less as compared to other states where electors have the “right to choose governments with powers”.
He said despite being left with “very less powers”, his government has delivered on several fronts which were being discussed across the globe.
In Jammu and Kashmir which has been rocked by violence for over a month, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti made an emotional appeal to the agitating youths not to be misled by vested interests who want to keep the valley burning and maintained that dialogue is the only way to resolve issues.
In her maiden Independence Day address as Chief Minister, Mehbooba cautioned that Kashmir should not be allowed to become another Syria or Afghanistan where there is instability and absence of safety of life and urged the people to give her time so that she could work on the plans and programmes she had charted for peace and progress of the state.
She blamed the successive central leaderships, starting from Jawaharlal Nehru, for the problems of Kashmir and hoped Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the issues, completing the process started by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Mehbooba faced a deeply embarrassing moment when the national tricolour fell off the post when she attempted to hoist it at Bakshi stadium. She pulled the string attached to the post only to see the tricolour fall from the post and land on the ground. PTI.
As many as 270 airline crew members, mostly pilots, were found violating safety norms this year by regulator DGCA which suspended over 150 of them, raising serious concerns about aviation safety.
The number paints an alarming picture as there was a total of 275 “enforcement actions” by DGCA last year, compared 270 such actions being initiated in less than eight months this year.
“Instances of safety violations are increasing. To curb such incidents, the regulator has stepped up surveillance activities,” a senior DGCA official said.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had earlier this week suspended flying licenses of two pilots of Air India and Jet Airways for four years as they were found to be drunk soon after operating international flights. It had also directed the airlines to register FIRs against them.
Violation of safety requirements such as being drunk while operating a flight can also attract imprisonment.
One cabin crew member each from the two carriers have also been suspended for the same violation for one year.
As per latest data available with DGCA, there were safety violations involving around 270 airline crew members this year till August 12 and the number stood at 169 at the end of June.
Most of them were pilots, flight commanders and first officers.
Taking serious note of the lapse, a significant chunk were suspended by DGCA — an action which also indicated several instances of repeat violations.
Generally, first time violators are given warnings. The next time they are caught, the DGCA directs airlines to de- roster them from flying duty for a specific time period while repeat offenders are suspended. The enforcement action depends on the severity of violations.
The break-up available till June end show that DGCA took action against 169 airline crew members, of whom 110 were suspended, 28 “off-rostered” and 31 let off with warnings.
The official said the count of violators has seen a spurt since then and from July till August 12, 101 airline crew members were found violating various safety rules.
According to DGCA data, 44 crew members, including pilots, of Jet Airways faced enforcement actions this year till June end, followed by IndiGo (25), Air India (22), Spicejet (15), GoAir (8), Vistara (4) and AirAsia (2).
On August 11, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told informed Parliament that DGCA acted against 63 pilots of SpiceJet for operating flights beyond their stipulated duty hours. In 2014, there were 391 enforcement actions by the DGCA.PTI
Security has been beefed up in the curfew-bound summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir ahead of the Independence Day celebrations tomorrow.
Security personnel have been deployed in large numbers across Srinagar as Bakshi Stadium, the venue of the Independence Day celebration event in the state, has been turned into a virtual fortress.
“All the roads leading to Bakshi stadium have been sealed and heavy deployment of security forces has been carried out enroute to ensure peaceful celebrations tomorrow,” a police official said.
Although there were no inputs about the possibility of militant attacks to disrupt the celebrations, the security grid is not taking any chances, he said.
“The usual security drill is being followed but some extra measures have been put in place to ensure no mob violence takes place around the venues in Srinagar or elsewhere in the Valley,” he added.
Due to the ongoing unrest in Kashmir that began on July 9 following killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, mobile telephone and internet services have already been snapped.
In the past, the mobile phone and mobile internet services used to be disabled for few hours during the Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations as a precautionary measure to prevent militants from using these devices to trigger explosions.PTI
Controversial Independent MLA Sheikh Abdul Rasheed was today detained as police foiled his proposed 72-hour-long sit-in to protest the “insensitivity” of the Centre towards Kashmir.
Rasheed was detained along with many of his supporters, a spokesman of his Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) said.
Police swung into action as soon as Rasheed and his supporters started the sit-in at Press Colony here.
He was taken to police station Kothi Bagh, the spokesman said.
The controversial MLA had announced he will hold the 72-hour sit-in against the “insensitivity” of Union government towards Kashmir.
Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan was detained at the Los Angeles airport for questioning by the US immigration department.
“I fully understand & respect security with the way the world is, but to be detained at US immigration every damn time really really sucks,” Khan tweeted.
Khan, 50, in another tweet said, “The brighter side is while waiting caught some really nice Pokemons.”
The State Department could not immediately make any comment on why the Indian super star was detained at the Los Angeles airport.
This is not the first time that Khan has been detained at a US airport.
Khan was detained at New York airport for over two hours by immigration officials in 2012. The US customs and border protection authorities had expressed “profound” apologies for the Shah Rukh Khan’s detention then.
In 2009 also, Khan was also detained by US immigration officials at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey because his name came up on a computer alert list.
The productivity of the Lok Sabha was higher than the Rajya Sabha in the Monsoon session which ended today but its performance was less than what it had achieved in the Budget session.
Terming the performance of the two Houses as “good”, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said while the productivity of the Lok Sabh was recorded at 110.84 per cent, that of the Rajya Sabha was 99.54 per cent.
But according to data compiled by PRS Legislative, the productivity of the lower house in the Budget session was 121 per cent. The Rajya Sabha had recorded a productivity of 91 per cent, lower than what it achieved in the latest session.
The highlights of the Monsoon session were passage of the GST bill and unanimous resolutions in both Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Kashmir, he said.
“Each week, there was one discussion,” he said adding that Lok Sabha took up four discussions — on situation in Kashmir Valley, price rise, atrocities on Dalits and Sustainable Development Goals.
The Rajya Sabha, he said, took up six short duration discussions on situation in the Kashmir Valley, price rise, atrocities on Dalits, status of implementation of the AP Reorganisation Act, developments in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh leading to change in governments and the draft National Education Policy.
While 14 bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha, 15 were passed. The Rajya Sabha passed 14 bills, while one — The Maternity Benefit (amendment) Bill, 201 was introduced.
Parliament passed a total of 15 bills, including the one on GST.
While two bills which replaced as many ordinances on the common medical entrance exam were passed, the one which sought to replace an ordinance on amendments to the Enemy Property Act could not be cleared. The ordinance is set to lapse in the coming days.
A 65-year-old man was today killed when his two-wheeler was allegedly hit by a car in which Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia was travelling near here, police said.
The accident occurred at Puthiyakavu on the Kochi-Allapuzha stretch of a national highway when Scindia was going in a chauffeur-driven car to attend a function at Cherthala after arriving at Kochi from New Delhi, they said.
After the incident, the Congress leader in a tweet said “Devastated – sad loss of life – unfortunate accident betw Cochin-Allepy. Arranged for hospital immediately – on way to meet bereaved family!”.
Police identified the deceased as Sasi, a resident of Puthiyakavu locality.
Though Sasi was rushed to a nearby hospital, he succumbed to injuries, police said.
After handing over the car to the police, Scindia left in another car, K C Venugopal, Congress MP from Alappuzha, said adding his colleague would later call on the bereaved family.
Besides the former union minister, three other Congress workers were in the car when the mishap occurred, Venugopal said.PTI
Curfew in many parts and separatist-sponsored strike disrupted normal life for the 30th straight day Sunday in Kashmir Valley where violence has so far left 54 persons dead and more than 6,000 others injured.
The violence in the Valley began on 9 July, a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Curfew remains in force in six police station areas of Srinagar—Nowhatta, Khanyar, Rainawari, Safakadal, Maharajgunj and Batamaloo Sunday as precautionary measure to maintain law and order, a police official said.
He said curfew was also in force in two towns of Budgam district Chadoora and Khansahib, two towns of Kupwara Handwara and Langate and Anantnag town.
The official, however, said restrictions will remain in force in other areas of the Valley. Restrictions on the assembly of four or more people continue to remain in effect in rest of the Valley, he said.
Normal life in the Valley remained affected for the 30th consecutive day due to the curbs imposed by the authorities and separatist sponsored strike against the killing of civilians in the security forces action during clashes which erupted in the wake of Wani’s killing.
Mobile internet services continued to remain snapped in the entire Valley where the outgoing facility on prepaid connections is also barred.
The separatist camp has extended the shutdown call in Kashmir till 12 August and has asked the people to organize sanitation drive in their localities and hospitals..PTI
Sachin Tendulkar has met International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach on the sidelines of the Rio Olympics here, which the Indian cricket icon termed as “wonderful”.
Tendulkar, who is here as a goodwill ambassador for the Indian contingent, sat alongside Bach as the two watched the opening day of rugby sevens, which has made an Olympic return after a 92-year-absence.
“Wonderful spending time with Mr Thomas Bach, IOC president at #Rio2016 @olympics,” tweeted Tendulkar after meeting the IOC chief yesterday.
Tendulkar is keenly tracking the performance of the Indian athletes in Rio and was seen supporting tennis players Sania Mirza and Prarthna Thombare from the stands.
He watched the women’s doubles match alongside Leander Paes, who had lost his men’s doubles first round match partnering Rohan Bopanna yesterday.PTI
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