PSLV-C21 sends French SPOT 6, Japanese satellite into orbit

Sriharikota: The 100th Indian space mission was a grand success with an Indian rocket blasting off carrying two foreign satellites from Sriharikota.

On a cloudy Sunday morning, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C21 (PSLV-C21) blasted off carrying two satellites from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

On the terrace of the media centre, a large contingent of media persons cheered the entire journey of the rocket till it vanished into the clouds.

At 9.53 a.m., the PSLV-C21, 44 metres tall and weighing 230 tonne, launched the French earth observation satellite SPOT 6 along with a micro-satellite from Japan into a 635-km polar orbit. PSLV-C21 is the eighth flight of PSLV in “core-alone” configuration (without solid strap-on motors). This is the 22nd consecutive time that a PSLV rocket has taken a satellite.

Coming out behind the lush green trees, the rocket with orange flame in the tail burst in to the sky amid cheers of scientists in the control room and the media team assembled at the terrace of the launch centre.

After 18 minutes into the flight, PSLV-C21 delivered SPOT 6 and a few seconds later Proiteres into their intended polar orbit. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with Minister in Prime Minister’s Office V. Narayanasamy witnessed the launch.

There was a two-minute delay in the launch due to impact of possible debris in space, K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told newspersons later.

With a lift off of 712 kg, SPOT 6 is the heaviest satellite to be launched by PSLV for an international customer. The Japanese micro-satellite Proiteres, carried as an auxiliary payload, has a lift off mass of 15 km. The cost of the rocket was Rs 90 crore. “We have recovered the project cost,” he said without giving details.

SPOT 6 is a French Earth Observation Satellite capable of imaging the earth with a resolution of 1.5 metre. This latest generation optical remote sensing satellite is built by Astrium SAS, a leading European space technology company.

Proiteres, on the other hand, is intended to study powered flight of a small satellite by an electric thruster and observe Kansai district in Japan with a high resolution camera.

ISRO has sent 29 foreign satellites successfully to the orbit, including today’s launch.

The successful launch of SPOT 6 would make ISRO’s PSLV rocket a strong contender to carry SPOT 7 planned by Astrium SAS soon, said Radhakrishan. India has one of the largest constellations of remote sensing satellites in the world providing imagery in a variety of spatial resolutions ranging over a metre to 500 metre. With 12 remote sensing/earth observation satellites orbiting in the space, India has proved its capability in the remote sensing data market.

A cheerful Prime Minister later addressing scientists at the mission control room said today’s “launch is a milestone in our nation’s space capabilities”.

The launch of these satellites on board an Indian launch vehicle is testimony to the commercial competitiveness of the Indian space industry and is a tribute to Indian innovation and ingenuity, he said.

ONGC Videsh buys stake in Azeri fields for $1 billion

New Delhi: ONGC Videsh Ltd will acquire Hess Corporation’s 2.72 per cent stake in the Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) oil and gas fields in Azerbaijan.

The acquisition marks OVL’s entry into oil-rich Azerbaijan.

According to an OVL statement, the definitive agreements for the acquisition of Hess Corporation’s participating interest in oil fields in the Azerbaijan part of the Caspian Sea and 2.36 per cent interest in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline (BTC) is for $1 billion (Rs 5,535 crore).

“The acquisition is subject to relevant Government and regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the first quarter of 2013,” the company said.

ACG, which is located in the South Caspian Sea about 95 km off the coast of Azerbaijan, is the largest oil and gas field complex in Azerbaijan and is one of the largest producing oil fields in the world.

BP operates ACG and is partnered by State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), Chevron, Statoil, ExxonMobil, Inpex, Turkish NOC -TPAO and Itochu.

The average production from the field is around 7,00,000 barrels of oil a day.

The potential recovery from the field is estimated at over five billion barrels.

The 1,768-km BTC Pipeline is one of the main export routes for Caspian crude oil production with a capacity of around one million barrels of oil a day to the Ceyhan terminal in the Mediterranean Sea in South-East Turkey.

This acquisition would bring nine per cent additional proven reserves to OVL’s portfolio, the company said.

RBI allows direct investment by Indian entities in Pakistan

Reserve Bank of India has allowed Indian entities to make direct investment in Pakistan, giving push for bilateral trade and investments.

It has now been decided that the overseas direct investment by Indian Parties in Pakistan shall henceforth be considered under the approval route, RBI said in a notification on Friday.

The move comes days after India allowed investment from Pakistan. RBI said it will make amendments to the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Any Foreign Security) Regulations, 2004, to incorporate changes. Bilateral trade between the neighbours stood at about $3 billion and is expected to reach $6 billion in the next three years. Earlier, Pakistan had expressed concern over certain issues related with investments from India.

UK India Business Council urges youth to promote social enterprises

Mumbai: The changing world economic dynamics is giving rise to the need for people who can understand a larger milieu and global business enterprises are in need of such people, says Patricia Hewitt, chair, UK India Business Council.

"As the global economic dynamics is changing from West to East, business enterprises need people who can connect with India, China or Brazil," she said at a session on 'UK and India - Harnessing the Potential of Tomorrow's leaders' organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Young Indians (Yi).

Hewitt urged for social inclusion and socially inclusive capitalism. She also said the government must promote social enterprises for social purposes.

Young Indians (Yi), a part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), aims at creating a platform for young Indians to realise the dream of a developed nation.

Yi has more than 1300 direct members in 24 city chapters. Yi has 160 members in 3 corporate chapters and engages another 12,000 members through its district chapter, Farmer Nets and Student Nets.

Volkswagen to invest €100 million in India

New Delhi: The Volkswagen Group aims to increase output by 10-15 per cent on a €100-million investment at its production facilities in Aurangabad and Chakan in Maharashtra.

John Chacko, Volkswagen Group Chief Representative for India, said the investment would go towards minor model changes and upgradation of the two factories.
The funds will also benefit Skoda and Audi’s domestic operations.

The German automaker has a 1.3-lakh annual production capacity at Chakan, where it makes the Polo, Vento and Skoda’s Fabia and Rapid models.

The Aurangabad facility has a 6,000-unit annual capacity and makes the premium models.

Engine Plant
Chacko said a final call on a Group engine plant in India would be taken in a few months, a move that would significantly reduce product costs as imported engines were expensive.

“We will decide by end of the year. If we go ahead with the engine plant, production should start by 2014,” he said.

Volkswagen had recently said it had put Rs 2,000 crore expansion plan on hold due to lack of clarity on the Maharashtra Government’s rollback of tax incentives.

It had said this could prompt it to invest in other States.

GAIL inks pact for 'plastic park' in UP

New Delhi: Government-owned natural gas major, GAIL (India) Ltd, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corp (UPSIDC) to help develop a “plastic park” at Auraiya.

GAIL is in advanced stage of augmenting polymer capacity from its petrochemical complex in Uttar Pradesh from 4.1 lakh tonnes to 9 lakh tonnes a year and “this initiative would provide the much needed boost to overall economic development of this region,” a company release said.

UPSIDC is scheduled to float a Special Purpose Vehicle for the development of this industrial park, for which GAIL would ensure regular supply of raw material at competitive market price, provide technical support to plastic processors and establish a polymer warehouse to cater to the needs of industrial units, it said.

It said it would provide land at attractive rates, road transport arrangement, water supply and adequate safety and security to the prospective industrial units in the proposed plastic park.

It also signed an MoU with the All India Plastic Manufacturers Association to invite entrepreneurs to set up plants in the Auraiya park.

Cloverdell gets Govt nod for FDI proposal

New Delhi: The Government has given its nod for Mauritius-based Cloverdell Investments to bring in foreign investments of Rs 808 crore.

Cloverdell Investments, an affiliate of Global private equity firm Warburg Pincus, will bring these funds to acquire up to 53.67 per cent equity stake in Future Capital Holding, a non-deposit taking listed non-banking finance company.

The Cloverdell’s acquisition of Future Capital Holding is expected to be done in two tranches. Future Capital Holding is listed in both the NSE and the BSE.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which looks into investment proposals of foreign investors, had cleared the proposal on July 27.

Earlier on June 4, Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd and its wholly-owned unit Future Value Retail Ltd had reported to the stock exchanges that they had entered into a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Cloverdell to sell their holdings in Future Capital Holdings in two tranches.

The share sale would represent a maximum of 53.67 per cent while the minimum stake would be limited to 40 per cent of total equity shares.

Government to launch 10 community colleges in collaboration with Canada

New Delhi: Of the 100 community colleges that will be set up by the MHRD this year, 10 of these would be set up in collaboration with Canadian Government. The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal said at the Global Skills Summit organized by FICCI here today. Putting things into context, the minister said, "Under the Adult Literacy Programme which aims to cover some 70 mn working age population in the age bracket of 18-64 years in the country by 2020, 60% are women. Since they can't move away from their holds due to family commitments, to make them skilled, we need community colleges which will reach out to them wherever they are residing."

The minister also talked about a recent pilot project on vocational education launched in Haryana schools last week. The next step of the pilot project will be West Bengal which if successful will be launched nationally with an opportunity to pursue higher courses such as BSc in vocational education for those who wish to pursue their education for a higher degree and make better use of their domain skills.

Talking about international collaborations he said there has to be a win-win situation for foreign players if we want them to invest in the country. This would typically happen with nations who have a demographic challenge in front of them. India for instance would have an average age of 29 years in 2020 while China and the US will have an average age of 37 years.

Agreed the German Ambassador to India, Michael Steiner. He said, "With an ageing population, it will be an win-win for us to collaborate with India on skill development. And we are collaborating with the Ministry of Labour by beginning the training of the first batch of master trainers next month onwards." Steiner also added that the sill development to be fruitful and successful the industry has to be deeply involved in it from designing course curriculum, evaluating and assessing the skills of candidates after they get trained to be absorbed in the workforce, the way it is in Germany.

Lithuania seeks investments in IT, pharma

Kolkata: Lithuania says it is open to Indian investments in the info-tech and pharmaceuticals sectors. Lithuania is one of the three Baltic countries located in Northern Europe.

Free Economic Zones
“We are developing Free Economic Zones especially to attract investments in sectors like IT, financial and business consulting and pharmaceuticals sectors. India should increase its share of trade with Lithuania,” Mickeviciene, Minister Counsellor, Republic of Lithuania, told reporters here on Thursday.

She was addressing an interactive session on economic relations between the two countries organised by the MCC Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Bilateral trade potential
The bilateral trade between India and Lithuania stood at nearly $209 million in 2010-11, as against $139 million in 2009-10.

Mickeviciene also emphasised on improving bilateral research opportunities in science and technology including solar energy and biotechnology.

“Currently, negotiations are on with the Indian government for a science and technology agreement,” she said.

According to Mickeviciene, the Euro Zone crisis has been hyped up by the Indian media. “Though there are (still) factors to deal with, we have come forward with reasonable growth in the economy,” she said.

Jindal Steel & Power buys Canadian firm for Rs 650 crore

Mumbai: Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) has bought CIC Energy Corp of Canada for Rs 650 crore. In 2010, JSW Energy had offered Rs 2,500 crore for this company. CIC has coal mines in Botswana, Africa, with reserves of six billion tonnes.

The deal was concluded through Jindal BVI Ltd (JBVI), a subsidiary of JSPL. JBVI and CIC will now be merged and delisted from the Canadian stock exchange in a month’s time. In 2010, JSW Energy tried to buy CIC Energy for Rs 2,500 crore. The deal, however, fell through as CIC failed to get the required approvals and renewals for mining from the Botswana government within the stipulated deadline.

Since then, CIC Energy has got all required approvals for the mine and power plant. Yet, JSPL managed to buy the company at nearly one-fourth of what JSW Energy had offered.

Botswana is a landlocked country and JSPL will be spending close to Rs 550 crore in developing the mine. Sushil Maroo, director and group CFO, JSPL, said the company aimed to spend Rs 3,850 crore more to set up a 300 MW power plant in Botswana. Coal for this power plant will come from the mines owned by CIC. The coal production and setting up of the power plant will happen in two-three years.

The deal will provide JSPL the opportunity to tap the highly lucrative and power deficient South African Development Community (SADC) countries. Maroo said the entire SADC region was connected through a common grid which gave the company an opportunity to serve other countries ,which are part of SADC, through power plants in Botswana. He said, “South Africa is power deficient and we are in talks with the government to set up a 1,200 MW power plant in Botswana to serve South Africa.”

Even though JSPL has been present in Africa through various mining deals in SA and Mozambique, this particular deal gives it a strong foothold as it will be producing power in the region and serving the local market.

The company has no plans to bring the coal to India at the moment but it did not rule out a possibility of this in the future if it is cost effective.

The mines have an estimated reserve of six billion tonnes, out of which 2.4 billion tonnes have been proven.

Maroo said the acquisition had been a part of the company’s strategy of acquiring coal mines abroad for self sufficiency.

The company is betting on the huge power demand in Africa and aims to serve the continent from Botswana through the well connected grids. “There is free export and import of power in SADC,” the company said.

Currently, SADC has a membership of 15 member states, namely; Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.