07th Mar : Today's Important NEWS !!!!!

1)Aadhaar-LPG gas subsidy delinked

From March 10, LPG consumers across the State will pay the subsidised cost price of Rs. 441 per cylinder

Great news on the gas-Aadhaar front. From March 10 onwards, domestic LPG consumers across the State will pay just the subsidised cost price of Rs. 441 per cylinder without depending on the Aadhaar card link up to the bank accounts for reimbursement of the remaining amount.Clear directivesClear directives de-linking the gas subsidy from Aadhaar card and bank accounts have reached the gas authorities here and distributors are being asked to start implementing the Aadhaar-less LPG scheme from Monday next onwards.Those who have already booked for a cylinder and getting it before March 10 will, however, have to pay the non-subsidised price of Rs. 1,200.Subsidy issueThe rest of the subsidised amount would be later reimbursed into individual bank accounts.Officials said that they would supply gas cylinders at non-subsidised prices till Saturday, March 8 before reverting to the subsidised rates.“We have received guidelines to start implementing the Aadhar less scheme on Wednesday evening. We are contacting distributors across the State and HPCL distributors have already confirmed that they will implement the new guidelines from Monday,” said State LPG Gas Co-ordinator, Madhukar Ingole.one-month delayAuthorities said that almost all gas distributors would start selling cylinders at Rs. 441 by Monday.“There will be no delivery of gas cylinders on Sunday, March 9. From Monday, a fresh start will be made,” Mr. Ingole said. It was towards January end that the Centre had decided to do away with the much criticised Aadhaar-based direct bank transfer scheme. But, it took a month for guidelines on implementation to reach authorities here.Uncertainty endsAfter the announcement in New Delhi, there was utter confusion as consumers complained that distributors kept selling LPG gas at Rs.1200 a cylinder.Distributors on their part had maintained there was no communiqué on implementation of Aadhaar-less scheme due to which cylinders were sold at non-subsidy rate.CylindersConsumers will be eligible to avail 12 subsidised cylinders between April 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015. For the present year, the Oil Ministry officials have given two cylinders for the months of February and March.“Consumers who have already booked nine cylinders can book two more cylinders by March 31, 2014 at the subsidised price,” Mr. Ingole added.

2)U.S. gas diplomacy aims to counter Russia

Has surpassed Russia to become world’s largest natural gas producer and aims to become a leading supplier to Ukraine

The crisis in Crimea is heralding the rise of a new era of U.S. energy diplomacy, as the Obama administration tries to deploy the vast new supply of natural gas in the United States as a weapon to undercut the influence of the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, over Ukraine and Europe.The crisis has escalated a State Department initiative to use a new boom in U.S. natural gas supplies as a lever against Russia, which supplies 60 per cent of Ukraine’s natural gas and has a history of cutting off the supply during conflicts.This week, Gazprom, Russia’s state-run natural gas company, said it would no longer provide gas at a discount rate to Ukraine, a move reminiscent of more serious Russian cutoffs of natural gas to Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe in 2006, 2008 and 2009.The administration’s strategy is to move aggressively to deploy the advantages of its new resources to undercut Russian natural gas sales to Ukraine and Europe, weakening such moves by Mr. Putin in future years. Although Russia is still the world’s biggest exporter of natural gas, the U.S. recently surpassed it to become the world’s largest natural gas producer, largely because of breakthroughs in hydraulic fracturing technology, known as fracking.“We’re engaging from a different position because we’re a much larger energy producer,” said Jason Bordoff, a former senior director for energy and climate change on the White House’s National Security Council.Over the past week, congressional Republicans have joined major oil and gas producers like ExxonMobil in urging the administration to speed up oil and natural gas exports. Although environmentalists, some Democrats and U.S. manufacturing companies that depend on the competitive advantage of cheap domestic natural gas oppose the effort, they have fallen to the sidelines in the rush.For Russia, energy supplies are as important to keeping a hold on Ukraine and the other former countries of the Soviet Union as is the Russian army itself. Ukraine would freeze without Russian gas, and its flow has been a considerable source of wealth and corruption in both countries.But Russia is also obligated by contract to provide natural gas to Western Europe, and Moscow remains highly dependent on Ukrainian pipelines to get it there.David Dalton, the editor of the Economist Intelligence Unit, said: “Russia has always used gas as an instrument of influence. The more you owe Gazprom, the more they think they can turn the screws.”Early stagesBut this time, there is a major difference. As recently as 2007, U.S. natural gas supplies were believed to be dwindling, and the George W. Bush administration was considering importing natural gas from Russia. Since then, fracking, which environmentalists say could contaminate America’s water supplies, has transformed the strategic landscape.At the helm of the new energy diplomacy effort is Carlos Pascual, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, who leads the State Department’s Bureau of Energy Resources. The 85-person bureau was created in late 2011 by Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Secretary of State at the time, for the purpose of channelling the domestic energy boom into a geopolitical tool to advance U.S. interests around the world.DiversificationIn an interview, Mr. Pascual asserted that his team’s efforts had already weakened Mr. Putin’s hand, and had helped lower Ukraine’s dependence on Russia for natural gas supplies to 60 per cent, down from 90 per cent.Mr. Pascual said that his team had worked to help Ukraine and other European countries break away from dependence on Russian gas by finding supplies elsewhere, including Africa, and assisting the Europeans to build up their natural gas storage. The team, he said, is working with Ukraine and the European Union (EU) on completing a European energy charter, which already allows natural gas to move more quickly through Europe and permits countries to negotiate lower rates with Gazprom.In addition, he said, the team is helping countries develop their own natural gas resources, including in partnership with U.S. energy giants. Halliburton has started fracking for natural gas in Poland, while Shell last year signed a contract to explore for natural gas in Ukraine.Mr. Pascual said that although the prospective U.S. exports would not immediately solve the problems in Europe, “it sends a clear signal that the global gas market is changing, that there is the prospect of much greater supply coming from other parts of the world.”“This is a radically changed market,” he added. “Our challenge is to look at U.S. production in the global context and understand how we can influence what happens.”In the coming years, Gazprom’s influence will be further weakened as U.S. supplies are shipped onto the global market, Mr. Pascual said.The efforts this week are not the first time that the State Department has used newfound energy resources to gain geopolitical advantage.In 2012, in response to Iran’s nuclear program, the U.S. urged the Europeans to impose financial sanctions that greatly limited Iran’s ability to sell oil on the world market. Other countries feared that the move would raise prices, but officials assured other nations that a surge in U.S. oil production would keep prices stable.“In World War II, we were the arsenal of democracy,” said Robert McNally, who was the senior director for international energy issues on the National Security Council during the Bush administration. “I think we’re going to become the arsenal of energy.”

3)EAMCET on May 22

EAMCET-2014 will now be held on May 22 and not May 17. The EAMCET Convenor said that more details available on website www.apeamcet.org.

More details : Uploading soon !!!!!!

4)Rights panel moves against SBI

 The Kerala State Human Rights Commission has initiated action against a bank for the failure to return documents to a farmer who had completed repayment of his agricultural loan.
Commission member K.E. Gangadharan has directed the Chief General Manager, State Bank of India (SBI), to inquire into the complaint filed by the farmer, Vadakkeparambil Thomas, against the Taliparamba branch of the bank and report back. In his complaint, Mr. Thomas said he had availed of a loan of Rs.4,00,000 from the bank in 1997 on a collateral security of five acres of land in his possession. The documents to the land were submitted to the bank. Even after repaying the loan, the bank refused to return the documents.
Instead, the bank pressured him into signing an affidavit stating that the document was missing and that he wanted a new loan of Rs.5,00,000. Mr. Thomas said he had come across the false affidavit in the court.
The court directed him to repay the second loan of Rs.5,00,000. The bank finally returned the document to Mr. Thomas after forcing him to pay Rs.9,600 over and above the Rs.5,00,000.