Nitin Kumar &Amp;Amp; Dhruvaksh Saha

Stories by Nitin Kumar &Amp;Amp; Dhruvaksh Saha

Govt defends Great Nicobar project amid criticism, cites national interest

Govt defends Great Nicobar project amid criticism, cites national interest

Rediff.com   26 Aug 2024

The central government's Great Nicobar development project, proposed around an unprecedented transhipment port, will be executed to keep environmental impact minimal, and is essential as it is of national importance, the government has said amid calls to abort the controversial project due to ecological concerns, the Centre said in an official statement.

Ola Electric's e-bike pricing sparks debate across EV industry

Ola Electric's e-bike pricing sparks debate across EV industry

Rediff.com   19 Aug 2024

The launch of a range of electric motorbikes (e-bikes) by Bengaluru-based Ola Electric, a first for the company, has disconcerted the industry because the low price the firm claims to be offering has the potential to disrupt the market. On August 15, Ola unveiled its Roadster series e-bike with a starting-price at Rs 74,999. This new pricing undercuts the previous lowest price in the category, which was Rs 110,000.

Action Packed Time For Two-Wheelers!

Action Packed Time For Two-Wheelers!

Rediff.com   19 Aug 2024

The BSA Gold Star is launched....Ola Enters e-motorbikes Biz... Bajaj, TVS To Enter e2Ws Market...

Why EV sales set roads on fire in July

Why EV sales set roads on fire in July

Rediff.com   2 Aug 2024

Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in July touched 178,948 units, marking the highest monthly sales this financial year. This represents a 27.9 per cent increase from June, which saw 139,905 units sold, according to the Vahan data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The strong performance in July contributed to more than one million being sold in the first seven months of the calendar year.

Tiger Deaths Decline By 29 Percent

Tiger Deaths Decline By 29 Percent

Rediff.com   31 Jul 2024

2023 was the worst for the tiger population, recording the highest number of mortalities in a decade with 178 tigers dying.

Area for critical minerals mining expanded

Area for critical minerals mining expanded

Rediff.com   19 Jul 2024

The Centre has increased the area granted to individual players by more than four fold in order to boost mining of critical minerals. Issuing an order on Tuesday, the government said, for mining leases, the area has been expanded from the current limit of 10 sq km to 50 sq km. For prospecting licences (granted in the case of composite licence), the limit has been increased from 25 sq km to 100 sq km.

Who's To Be Blamed For Bridge Collapses?

Who's To Be Blamed For Bridge Collapses?

Rediff.com   18 Jul 2024

Government officials believe that central bridge projects perform better than state projects due to stricter checks and balances.

EMPS 2024: OEMs can claim incentives twice a month, Aadhaar mandatory

EMPS 2024: OEMs can claim incentives twice a month, Aadhaar mandatory

Rediff.com   11 Jul 2024

The government has taken a slew of steps to boost the sales of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers under its Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) 2024, which includes allowing manufacturers to upload claims twice a month and gives them a 120-day window to submit it. The Rs 500-crore scheme -- which had replaced the flagship Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme-- comes to an end on July 31st.

EMPS 2024: Only 3.6% vehicle sales target met

EMPS 2024: Only 3.6% vehicle sales target met

Rediff.com   8 Jul 2024

The Rs 500-crore Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) 2024, introduced by the Centre to provide incentives to the electric mobility industry, will conclude on July 31 with barely 3.6 per cent of the targeted vehicle sales achieved so far. This is in stark contrast to the earlier flagship Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme, which exceeded its sales targets. According to data from the Ministry of Heavy Industry (MHI), only 13,499 of the 372,215 targeted vehicles have been sold under the EMPS scheme.

Railways To Revamp Signal Failure Protocols

Railways To Revamp Signal Failure Protocols

Rediff.com   4 Jul 2024

The government will look to standardise rules around operations protocol during failure of automatic signalling.

Why EV Sales Dropped To 14%

Why EV Sales Dropped To 14%

Rediff.com   2 Jul 2024

So far this year, around 839,545 electric vehicles have been sold, accounting for approximately 6.69% of the total 12,541,684 vehicles sold.

India's maiden critical mineral auctions: Who are the participants?

India's maiden critical mineral auctions: Who are the participants?

Rediff.com   27 Jun 2024

India on Monday announced the results for the country's first critical mineral auction. Amid the tepid response from big players, the list of successful bidders included some lesser known names. A total of five companies secured bids for six critical mineral blocks of graphite, manganese, phosphorite, lithium, and rare earth elements with auction premiums ranging from 13.05 per cent to 400 per cent.

Mining majors give a miss to country's maiden critical minerals auction

Mining majors give a miss to country's maiden critical minerals auction

Rediff.com   25 Jun 2024

The maiden, critical mineral auction in India has failed to enthuse the mining industry, with the first tranche achieving less than a 50 per cent success rate and the auction of several mines was cancelled owing to low response. The results, announced by the Ministry of Mines on Monday, showed that six lesser-known companies emerged as preferred bidders. Among these were Agrasen Sponge, Kundan Gold Mines, Dalmia Bharat Refractories, Sagar Stone Industries, and Maiki South Mining.

Highway Spending May Rise 10%

Highway Spending May Rise 10%

Rediff.com   24 Jun 2024

'With new projects and recently awarded projects kicking in, capital expenditure should only increase going forward.'

Paris Olympics Will Be HOT!

Paris Olympics Will Be HOT!

Rediff.com   19 Jun 2024

Athletes and climate experts have expressed concerns that extreme heat could lead to severe health issues, including the risk of sportspeople collapsing or, in the worst-case scenarios, dying during the events.

Railways To Begin Hiring Again

Railways To Begin Hiring Again

Rediff.com   17 Jun 2024

With a large number of Indian youth aspiring to work in the railways, delays in filling up railway job vacancies were a point of criticism against the BJP in the run-up to the elections.

Tata ev's Punch, Nexon Scores 5 In Crash Test

Tata ev's Punch, Nexon Scores 5 In Crash Test

Rediff.com   14 Jun 2024

The Punch.ev achieved the highest score point ever recorded by any vehicle to date, scoring 31.46 out of 32 for adult occupant protection and 45 out of 49 for child occupant protection.

Green Mobility To Get Bigger Boost Under Modi 3.0

Green Mobility To Get Bigger Boost Under Modi 3.0

Rediff.com   10 Jun 2024

As Modi's government embarks on its third term, apart from ensuring these schemes boost India's green mobility, addressing bottlenecks like battery swapping and meeting PLI deadlines are likely to be the government's major tasks.

India eyes multiple mineral pacts with about a dozen countries in Africa

India eyes multiple mineral pacts with about a dozen countries in Africa

Rediff.com   8 Jun 2024

India is planning to soon sign new and updated mineral pacts with about a dozen countries in Africa. The Ministry of Mines is in discussions with Cte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Business Standard has learnt. Negotiations are ongoing with around a dozen countries, and more will be added to the list soon.

Gurgaon's Rites to go aggressive on global export and consultancy tenders

Gurgaon's Rites to go aggressive on global export and consultancy tenders

Rediff.com   6 Jun 2024

Recovering from an order dry-up and change in market conditions, Gurgaon-based Rites is looking to bid aggressively in global export and consultancy tenders and run with a volume-led approach, its chairman and managing director (CMD) Rahul Mithal said. Rites is a railway consultancy public sector undertaking (PSU) under the aegis of the Ministry of Railways. "We started the year with two huge challenges - the export order book, where no new orders had happened, and the opening up of Indian Railways quality assurance works to four players.