Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has seen pre-tax profit recover to pre-pandemic levels on the back of continued growth in consumer businesses, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday. The oil-to-retail-to-telecom behemoth on Friday reported a 0.7 per cent Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax and depreciation and amortisation) growth for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, compared with the corresponding quarter in the previous year. "A strong performance in digital services and retail segments underpinned the improvement in consolidated earnings, a credit positive," Moody's said commenting on the earnings. Continued growth in earnings combined with the company's strong balance sheet with zero net debt on a reported basis will keep Reliance's credit metrics strong for its Baa2 rating over the next 12-18 months, it said.
Rain deficiency in eastern and western Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gangetic West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya is 20-46 per cent less than normal as of June 17.
RIL on June 15 wrote to Oil Ministry proposing to price natural gas it produces from the Krishna Godavari basin block in Bay of Bengal at a rate equivalent to price India pays for importing liquefied natural gas, official sources said.
RIL produced a total of 22.04 mmscmd of gas from Dhirubhai-1 and 3 gas fields and MA oil and gas field in the KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6 block in Bay of Bengal in the week ended December 30, 2012, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons said in a production status report to the Oil Ministry.
Many BJP leaders are of the view that most key members of the previous Cabinet could be retained.
The ministry had previously wanted to disallow $1.235 billion expenditure that RIL had incurred on putting production facilities at the Bay of Bengal gas fields but in the 7-page notice it sent to the company on May 2, the cost to be disallowed was put at $1.462 billion, sources privy to the development said.
The first joint theatre command would be responsible for the border against Pakistan in what the military refers to as the "western theatre"; while a second command -- the northern theatre command -- would be responsible for the border with China. A third, navy-heavy theatre, called the "maritime command" will be responsible for the security of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR); and an island command, already functional and called the Andaman & Nicobar Command (ANC), would project power into the eastern Indian Ocean.
A "very severe" cyclonic storm lay centered about 250 km of Chennai, with the weather office forecasting winds touching up to 135 kph and advising fishermen against venturing into sea for the next two days.
The maiden test-firing of Agni-5 Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed at the last moment till Thursday due to bad weather conditions at the test range off the coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal.
The maiden test-firing of Agni-5 Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed at the last moment till Thursday due to bad weather conditions at the test range off the coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal.
'The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are an asset that any country aspiring to become a major power would give anything to own.' 'It is disappointing that India has not capitalised on this potential,' says Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
A fall in crude oil price and Aramco's $75 billion annual dividend commitment may have delayed Saudi company picking a stake in Reliance Industries Ltd's oil-to-chemical unit (O2C), research firm Jefferies said. Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani had in August 2019 announced talks for the sale of a 20 per cent stake in the O2C business, which comprises its twin oil refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat and petrochemical assets, to the world's largest oil exporter. The deal was to conclude by March 2020 but has been delayed for reasons not disclosed by either company.
An uncontrolled flow of gas started from the Well G-1-9 in Bay of Bengal around August 30.
A deepwater well in a Krishna Godavari basin block operated by state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has been leaking gas for two months and there are now fears of environment damage due to the uncontrolled flow.
It originates in the Tibetan Himalayas and enters the Indian landmass at Upper Siang in Arunachal Pradesh before flowing east to west through the entire stretch of Assam valley towards its final destination the Bay of Bengal.
Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
After missing two self-imposed deadlines, billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday announced recalibration of a proposed $15 billion deal to sell 20 per cent stake in its oil refinery and petrochemical business to Saudi Aramco, saying the two firms have agreed to re-evaluate the proposed investment in light of the Indian firm's new energy forays. The stake sale talks, which were first officially revealed in August 2019, are being reset in light of Reliance making forays into new energy business in recent months by investing $10 billion in alternative energy over three years. To pivot to green energy, it has already bought a German maker of photovoltaic solar wafers and signed a deal with a Danish company to manufacture hydrogen electrolysers in India.
Normally, monsoon reaches Delhi by June 27. It covers the entire country by July 8. Last year, the wind system had reached Delhi on June 25 and covered the entire country by June 29.
BP, which recently bought 30 per cent stake in KG-D6 and 20 other blocks of Reliance Industries for $7.2 billion, is keen to undertake sea-bed surveys this winter season -- the only four months weather window available in Bay of Bengal for such jobs, to acess potential of satellite discoveries in the block and draw blue-print of their development.
A West Indian Day celebration, Hurricane Dorian destruction, and the immersion of Lord Ganesha in Mumbai round out this week's best images.
We invited you to share pictures from your travels with us on Rediff ZaraBol. Here is a fresh batch of pictures that you posted.
In a leap forward to fortify its skies, India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed interceptor missile which destroyed a 'hostile' target ballistic missile, a modified Prithvi, at an altitude of 16 km over the Bay of Bengal.
The search for the missing Malaysian airliner under India's 'Operation Searchlight' has been expended to the Bay of Bengal area 900km west of Port Blair by the navy, the defence ministry said on Friday.
"It was a direct hit and grand success," defence sources said after the test launch.
The first 'Pad Abort Test' demonstrated the safe recovery of the crew module in case of any exigency at the launch pad, the Indian Space Research Organisation said in a release.
Agni-V is a three stage missile, 17 metres tall, two metres wide and capable of carrying 1.5 tonne of nuclear warheads.
35 others have been injured in the landslides and flashfloods triggered by torrential rains.
The proposed Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) Vedanta University Project in Orissa suffered a setback with the Orissa high court on Tuesday holding as illegal the state government's land acquisition procedures for the institution overlooking Bay of Bengal.
The Andhra Pradesh government on Saturday directed collectors of four coastal districts to evacuate people in low-lying areas to safety ahead of severe cyclone Jal crossing the Bay of Bengal coast close to Nellore.
Dhanush has a payload capacity of 500 kg and is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads. It can hit both sea and shore-based targets.
'Expect very heavy rainfall at some places in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar along with sub-Himalayan West Bengal comprising of Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, including Sikkim, parts of Arunachal Pradesh, and parts of lower Assam, Rangia downward like Barpeta, Goalpara, Dhubri along with parts of Meghalaya.'
In another forecast for August, IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra said monsoon is also likely to be normal in the month.
The sharks, weighing between 6 kg and 120 kg, were being ferried to different markets in Kolkata for supply to five-star hotels.
The weather office predicted more rains during the next 24 hours beginning 0830 hrs on Monday due to a well marked low pressure over the Bay of Bengal.
The output comprised 32.94 mmscmd from the D1 and D3 gas fields and 6.86 mmscmd from the MA oilfield.
Despite low casualty figure, the storm left behind a trail of destruction as thousands of people lost their houses.
Cairn India, whose success in Rajasthan may have propelled Reliance to bid for two blocks in the state, has submitted offers for only two blocks -- one onland and one offshore.
With the cyclonic storm "Laila", formed in the Bay of Bengal further intensifying into a severe cyclonic storm and the outer periphery of the system reaching very close to Andhra coast, authorities have started evacuating people from low-lying areas in the region to safer places. At least eight people died and 19 fishermen were missing in different rain-related incidents in the state on Tuesday.
RIL had drawn 58.67 bcm of gas from four wells.
