In a significant move towards labour law reform, negotiations have been reopened on the hire and fire policy with the government offering a unique scheme of insurance coverage for retrenched workers to overcome objections from trade unions.
RIL accounted for over a quarter of the country's LPG production of around 8.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) last year. Around 2.5 mtpa LPG - the only petroleum product in which India is not self-sufficient - was imported last year to meet the domestic demand of 11 mtpa. RIL is planning to cut LPG production at Jamnagar from 2.3 mtpa to around 1.6 mtpa from mid-2008 following the grant of export-oriented-unit (EoU) status to the refinery.
To extend its global footprint, GAIL India is likely to partner with China Gas in developing coal bed methane (CBM) in Mongolia. Moreover, Oman Oil is also expected to join them as an ally in the project.
Takes to the sea to save whale sharks off the Gujarat coast from being hunted to extinction.
The amendments will allow women to work night shifts (7 p m to 6 a m), benefiting not just a large section of the female workforce but also industries like textiles. However, the Left unions want better facilities and protection for women employees before the Bill, introduced on August 18, 2005, is passed in Parliament.
The first of the stores in Delhi will be opened by Brinda Karat, the only Bengali politburo member of the party who is in Delhi during Puja, at Chittaranjan Park on October 17.
RP Singh, managing director of Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd, the special purpose vehicle implementing BPCL Bina refinery, had told Business Standard in August that the company was in talks with strategic investors to sell 15 to 20 per cent stake.
The Rs 16,047-cr company has appointed public sector consultancy, Engineers India Ltd, to conduct feasibility studies for the plant with a capacity of 3 million tonnes a year that is likely to be set up near the gigantic South Pars gas field in Iran.
While the pipeline deal was seen as "done" two months ago, when the tri-lateral meeting took place in New Delhi, India is perceived to be dragging its feet on the project since then.
"Deora's ability to be a good listener, and his understanding of business, as he is an industrialist himself, helped the empowered group of ministers reach a decision that more or less has satisfied all parties," a senior official says.
The four Left parties that support the United Progressive Alliance government have already rejected the Bill, which has been approved by the Cabinet. Instead, they have asked for separate Bills for agricultural and non-agricultural workers.
The nuclear-deal-in-the-making with the US has forced the government into a firefighting mode not only domestically, but also internationally, where it is working overtime to avoid straining relations with the key long-time ally -- Russia.
The ordinance will raise the eligibility limit of bonus payments to those who earn Rs 10,000 a month as basic salary and dearness allowance, from the earlier cut-off of Rs 6,000 a month.
Anticipating elections, the United Progressive Alliance government plans to introduce an ordinance to relax the rules on the payment of bonus by the private sector and the Central government ahead of the festival season.
"From our assessment, RIL has invested only a very small amount in buying Gapco. It will not affect the company's balance sheet at all," one Mumbai-based analyst said.
The 2,140-Mw Dabhol power plant, operated by Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd, continues to remain idle even though the Supreme Court has vacated the stay by the Gujarat high court on pooling of gas prices.
The proposed 7.5 million tonne per annum refinery was to process crude oil from Cairn India's field in Barmer, which is expected to start producing in the first half of 2009.
The Essar group has also closed down 275 outlets across the country. The two companies could not withstand 'unfair competition' from government-backed companies which are compensated for selling fuel at subsidised rates.
The proposed India-Iran Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, which the two countries included in their joint New Delhi declaration in 2003, has run into a hurdle.
The hike in prices of petrol and diesel seems to have been put on the backburner with the price of the basket of crude oil that Indian refiners