The Bhairav Battalion is positioned between the Para Special Forces and regular infantry units to meet modern warfare requirements, especially in view of drone-intensive warfare.
The Indian Army held its Army Day Parade outside a cantonment area for the first time in Jaipur, showcasing military might and capabilities.
Ahead of the impending assembly polls, the rising crime graph and poor law and order situation have led to demands being revived to adopt UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's 'bulldozer' and police encounter policy in Bihar to deal with criminals.
Police said the message was sent allegedly by a person named Shahid on the WhatsApp number of Dial-112 helpline.
India's climate change goals are turning combustible. On the one hand, a protracted dispute between the government and manufacturers over subsidies threatens to slow the pace of electric vehicle (EV) sales. On the other hand, repeated assertions by different arms of the government over banning sales of new fossil fuel-fired vehicles have queered the pitch for energy investments. Before we address the issue of the recommended diesel vehicle ban in the recent report on energy transition, issued months before the next round of global climate talks begin in Dubai in November, let's look at what's at stake.
The bridge, weighing 500 tons, was built over the Arrah canal in Amiyawar village in Nasriganj police station area in 1972, they said.
At a time when crude oil and natural gas prices are sky-high, public sector behemoth ONGC's haphazard planning and mismanagement in developing showpiece deep-sea KG-D5 block is costing the nation over Rs 18,000 crores due to the delayed output of oil and gas, government officials said. ONGC was originally to start gas production from the Cluster-II fields in block KG-DWN-98/2 (KG-D5) in June 2019 and the first oil was to flow in March 2020. But these targets were quietly shifted to end-2021 because of deferments in awarding the fragmented work packages of the project, two officials with direct knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity.
Former oil secretary Tarun Kapoor, present and former chairmen of ONGC and a former director of IOC, are among over a dozen people who have applied for the top job at the oil and gas regulator, PNGRB, sources said. Kapoor, who superannuated as Secretary to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas last month, is the most prominent name in the list of 13 persons who have applied to become the chairman of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) chairman and managing director Subhash Kumar and his predecessor Shashi Shanker are also in the race and so is G K Satish, who superannuated as Director for Planning and Business Development from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) a couple of months back.
Alka Mittal has been appointed interim chairman and managing director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) - the first woman to head the country's largest oil and gas producer. Mittal replaces Subhash Kumar, another interim head who retired after reaching superannuation age on December 31. "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for entrustment of additional charge of the post of chairman and managing director (CMD), ONGC to Alka Mittal, director (HR), ONGC for a period of six months with effect from January 1, 2022, or till the appointment of a regular incumbent to the post, or until further order, whichever is the earliest," the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in an order dated January 3, 2022.
Senior bureaucrats Avinash Joshi and Niraj Verma are among the 10 candidates who are in the race to become chairman and managing director of India's largest oil and gas producer, ONGC. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) director-finance Pomila Jaspal and ONGC director for technology and field services Om Prakash Singh are the other prominent names in fray for the top job, according to a candidate shortlist by the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB). PESB - the government headhunter - will hold interviews to select the new head of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) this week. Both the bureaucrats are from the 1994 batch of IAS officers belonging to the Assam-Meghalaya cadre.
Government headhunter PESB on Friday did not find anyone suitable from nine candidates, including two serving IAS officers, to head India's largest oil and gas producer, ONGC. The Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) interviewed 9 out of the 10 candidates who had applied for the post of chairman and managing director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). "Keeping in view the strategic importance and vision for the company and its future, the Board did not recommend any candidate and decided to constitute a Search Committee," PESB said in a notice after interviews. Those interviewed included senior bureaucrats Avinash Joshi and Niraj Verma.
The government is pushing the public sector behemoth ONGC to involve private sector companies and service providers wherever possible to help raise oil and gas production, Petroleum Secretary Tarun Kapoor said Thursday. Kapoor's comments came days after the second-highest ranked official in his ministry asked Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to give away a 60 per cent stake plus operating control in India's largest oil and gas producing fields of Mumbai High and Bassein to foreign companies. "ONGC has to explore more so that it can discover more oil and gas reserves and bring them quickly to production to raise domestic output. The government is very clear that ONGC has to do more," he told reporters.
The petroleum ministry has told ONGC to give away 60%stake plus operating control in India's largest oil and gas producing fields of Mumbai High and Bassein to foreign companies, according to an October 28 letter to the state-owned company. Amar Nath, additional secretary (exploration) in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, wrote a 3-page letter to ONGC chairman and managing director Subhash Kumar, saying productivity of the Mumbai High and Bassein & Satellite (B&S) offshore assets under state-owned firm was low and international partners should be invited and given 60 per cent participating interest (PI) and operatorship. This is the second time since April that Nath, who is part of the ONGC management as the longest-serving government nominee director on its board and often considered a potential candidate to replace Kumar next year, has written an official letter, painting a poor picture of the company's performance.
It is rare for Cabinet ministers to tick off state-owned companies publicly, yet that was what then petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan did for ONGC. Speaking at an event on June 29, Pradhan said he has asked India's premier exploration company to find fresh oil acreages fast. "Do it yourself through some joint venture (or) through a new business model. But the government cannot permit you to hold resources for an indefinite time." The reason for this stricture is India's rising dependence on imported oil and gas. Or, to put it another way, falling domestic production (see chart: "Crude truth"), especially from ONGC, which faces a simple problem.
Two weeks after flashfloods and landslides ravaged Uttarakhand, there were conflicting figures of death toll with state Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal claiming on Saturday that it may cross 10,000 while the official figure is under 1,000.
More than 3,000 people are reportedly missing from various parts of flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, according to a tentative list prepared by the state government
Over a month after calamity hit Uttarakhand, the state government has finally prepared a roadmap for clearing tonnes of debris left over by the destruction at Kedarnath and extricating bodies still trapped underneath the rubble at the Himalayan shrine and adjoining areas.
The government's focus is on urban areas, so rural areas are neglected and the COVID situation in Bihar's villages -- neither the positive cases nor the deaths -- are reported, notes M I Khan.
Eight policemen including two special police officers were arrested when they were caught red handed in a sting operation drive by senior police officers in Jammu.
Yadav's counsel Ranapratap Singh charged the police with malafide and bias in dragging the minister's name in the release of his brother under a conspiracy.
With weather clearing up, relief operations on Sunday gained momentum in Uttarakhand as the government came out with a roadmap for clearing tonnes of debris and extricating bodies in Kedarnath and adjoining areas ravaged by flash floods over a month ago.
The Centre will provide MI-17 cargo chopper to Uttarakhand to ferry heavy equipment to calamity-hit high altitude areas to expedite reconstruction work in the hill state.
St Stephen's College has revoked the suspension of an administrative officer after acting against him last week for alleged misconduct even as his plea challenging the order is pending before the Delhi high court.
With the removal of huge amount of debris in Kedarnath posing the biggest challenge to the state government in calamity-hit Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Monday visited the Himalayan shrine along with a team of Engineers (India) Projects Limited experts to speed up the mammoth exercise.
Uttarakhand minister Amrita Rawat, wife of Satpal Maharaj who recently left Congress to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, was on Monday sacked by Chief Minister Harish Rawat from the state cabinet and an Independent member of Legislative Assembly was sworn in as minister.
Inclement weather badly hampered cremation of bodies and removal of debris at Kedarnath on Friday besides affecting distribution of relief in over 200 segregated villages where people have lost their homes and are faced with acute foodgrain shortage.
Over 200 pilgrims were taken to safety from Badrinath today with the Uttarakhand government saying that only 500 more remained there with adequate food and medical care even as disposal of bodies in affected areas and transportation of relief material posed a fresh challenge.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday retained Garoth assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district albeit with a reduced margin than in the 2013 assembly polls. The Congress, however, termed the BJP's win with a lower margin than earlier as a "moral defeat" for the ruling party.
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