Siemens equips offshore wind turbine installation vessel for the first time

Siemens Marine Solutions has been commissioned by COSCO (Nantong) Shipyard Group Co., Ltd., Nantong, China, to equip a new wind turbine installation vessel with diesel electric propulsion systems, power supply equipment and an integrated automation system. The final customer is A2SEA A/S, a supplier of installation services for the construction of offshore wind farms. Delivery of the self-propelled jack-up vessel is scheduled for July 2012. This is Siemens’ first installation of a diesel electric propulsion and automation system on a wind turbine installation vessel. The order has a volume of around 5 million euros.

Outokumpu is committed in the Fennovoima nuclear power project

1 April 2011 at 10.15 am EET

Contrary to some Finnish media reports today, Outokumpu confirms that it is fully committed in the Fennovoima nuclear power project. Outokumpu has a close to 10% stake in the Fennovoima project, which got a parliamentary decision-in-principle last summer to construct a new nuclear power plant in Finland. The project is important in securing the Group's long-term cost-competitiveness.

OUTOKUMPU OYJ

Outokumpu is a global leader in stainless steel with the vision to be the undisputed number one. Customers in a wide range of industries use our stainless steel and services worldwide. Being fully recyclable, maintenance-free, as well as very strong and durable material, stainless steel is one of the key building blocks for sustainable future. Outokumpu employs some 8 000 people in more than 30 countries. The Group's head office is located in Espoo, Finland. Outokumpu is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.

World Cup Fever: India youth take to binge drinking

Will the pitch, dew factor or the spinners be the decisive factors? As the teens and youth hooked to ongoing ICC World Cup discuss and debate these point they can't do so with out gulping down a cold beer or a 'hot' drink, according to a survery by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM).

An ASSOCHAM survey done recently points to an alarming rise in drinking amongst youth in the country during the on-going cricket world cup.
In a random survey done under the aegis of ASSOCHAM Social Development Foundation (ASDF) it is found that drinking amongst youth in the age group of 16-20 has risen by a thumping 100 per cent during the on-going ICC Cricket World cup 2011.

3500 cricket crazy Indians in the age group of 16-45 years were interviewed by ASSOCHAM representatives in a survey that was basically done to ascertain the extent of excessive alcohol intake amongst youth and people in different age groups during the current sports extravaganza. The survey was conducted in the cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahemdabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Jaipur.

Youth in Delhi ranked on top spot closely followed by Chandigarh. Cricket fans in Bangalore came to the 3rd rank followed Mumbai, Ahemdabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai.

Releasing the findings of the survey, ASSOCHAM National Secretary General, Mr. D.S. Rawat said, “Cricket fans in every nook & corner of India share a passion for their favorite team and players and enjoy watching the games with a cold beer. But, the most worrisome aspect of the survey is that youngsters as young as 16 years old are drinking excessively as they seem to connect sporting events with consumption of alcoholic beverages.”

Youngsters in the age group of 16-20 years who used to consume 1-2 litres of beer a week have started to consume it 2-4 litres a week during the day-night encounters and it increases to 3-5 litres in a week where team India plays a match, added Mr. Rawat.

Over half of the respondents (55%) have admitted of drinking some or the other type of alcoholic beverage (be it beer, whisky, wine, vodka etc.) during the world cup.

Beer is the favorite alcoholic beverage (45%) followed by whiskey (30%) and liquors like vodka, wine and rum constitute the remaining (25%).

People in the age group of 21-25 years who usually drink 3-4 litres of beer per week have increased their consumption to 5-6 litres weekly which soars to 7 litres while watching India’s matches with their peer group.

People aged 26-30 years who used to consume 4-5 litres of beer weekly have increased their alcohol intake to 6-8 litres per week. People aged 31-35 years who generally consume 2-3 litres of beer per week admitted consuming 4-5 litres. Similarly, those aged between 36-40 years have admitted to almost doubled their weekly consumption of alcoholic beverages as the ones who used to consume 1-3 litres of beer in a week are now consuming 2-6 litres. 41-45 years old who used to consume 1-2 litres of beer per week have increased their consumption to 3-5 litres weekly.

Easy availability of alcoholic beverages, cricket fever, lack of parental supervision, peer pressure, a means to de-stress and unwind basic reasons for such an increase in drinking amongst people in different age groups.

India iron ore exports likely to decline by 50pct in March - FIMI

India’s iron ore exports are likely to decline by 50% in March 2011 due to lower demand from China, the biggest buyer and discouraging sentiment for domestic mining companies.

Mr RK Sharma secretary general of Federation of Indian Mineral Industries said that "The 20% ad valorem export duty levied by the finance minister in the budget is set to badly affect shipment of the steel making raw material. Since the proposed duty is made applicable from March 1, its implication will begin this month. We expect exports not to go beyond 5million tonnes to 6 million tonnes.”

In March 2010, Indies iron ore shipment was 13 million tonne.

FIMI data show ore exports declined in February for the eighth month in a row. The downswing began in July 2010. Traders say its due to uncertainty in the global steel market and the reluctance of China, a prime importer, to take more from India at this stage.

India’s iron ore exports declined 18.6% to 10.1 million tonne in February from 12.45 million tonne in the corresponding month of the previous year. Over the 11 months from April to February of the current financial year, total shipment abroad dived 18 per cent to 85.4 million tonne as compared to 104.1 million tonne in the corresponding period of the previous year. For the full financial year 2009-10, total ore exports were 117 million tonne.

Mr Sharma believes the coming months are likely to remain challenging for both miners and exporters. Overall exports are expected to touch 90 million tonne this financial year.

Mr Sharma attributes the fall to the Karnataka governments decision to ban transportation of steelmaking raw materials outside the state. The state high court upheld the order and the matter has been appealed at the Supreme Court by mining companies. Yet, miners have already cut excavation capacity by 65 to 70% in the state. The next hearing is on the coming Monday.

India Smart Grid Forum Website Launched

Shri Sam Pitroda, Chairman, Indian Smart Grid Task Force and Adviser to Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure & Innovation, while launching the website of India Smart Grid Forum here today, has stated that authenticated users can get access to document management system, collaborative working on same files, team discussions, blog sites, shared calendar, send email to Working group members, manage meetings, scheduling and compare reports etc. This system would facilitate them to access the files from outside office network in a secured manner. Shri Devender Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power and senior officials from ISGTF were also present on the occasion.

India Smart Grid Task Force Web portal is available at http://www.isgtf.in. This gives information about functions of ISGTF, tasks of different workgroups formed for ISGTF, methodology for selecting pilots for Smart Grid, Loss reduction and theft control, data gathering and analysis, Power to rural areas and reliability & quality of power to urban areas, Distributed Generation & Renewable, Physical and cyber security, Standards and Spectrum. List of members of each Work Group is also available on this site. The draft report of different workgroups will be available for suggestions from various dignitaries across the world after its approval for public launch. Public can send their suggestions for Smart Grid at email id sp1@isgtf.in.

The India Smart Grid Forum is a non-profit voluntary consortium of public and private stakeholders with the prime objective of accelerating development of Smart Grid technologies in the Indian Power Sector. The goal of the Forum is to help the Indian power sector to deploy Smart Grid technologies in an efficient, cost-effective, innovative and scalable manner by bringing together all the key stakeholders and enabling technologies. The India Smart Grid Forum will coordinate and cooperate with relevant global and Indian bodies to leverage global experience and standards where available or helpful, and will highlight any gaps in the same from an Indian perspective. The Forum will operate in a hierarchical or layered structure with different working groups focussing on different aspects of Smart Grid. First meeting of the Forum held on 01.09.2010. Eight Working Groups dealing with the following were constituted:













“Smart grids” are sophisticated, digitally enhanced power systems where the use of modern communications and control technologies allows much greater robustness, efficiency and flexibility than today’s power systems.



Background



The Smart Grid Task Force (ISGTF) was constituted under the Chairmanship of Shri Sam Pitroda, Adviser to Prime Minister, Government of India on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation. The Smart Grid Task Force is an inter ministerial group and serves as Government’s focal point for activities related to “Smart Grid”. The main functions of the Smart Grid Task Force to ensure awareness, coordination and integration of the diverse activities related to smart Grid technologies, practices and services for Smart Grid Research and Development; Co-ordinate and integrate other relevant inter governmental activities; Collaborate on interoperability frame work; Review and validate the recommendations from India Smart Grid Forum etc. Five working groups were constituted for deliberating the various aspects for preparing the road map for development of Smart Grid in the country.

PM's address at the Council on Trade and Industry meeting

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, chaired the meeting of PM’s Council on Trade and Industry in New Delhi today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s address on the occasion:

“I welcome you all to the second meeting of this Council. When we met in May last year, many of you had spoken about Government and industry partnering to address the challenges facing our economy.

Your enthusiasm resulted in the formation of sub-committees of the Council on five thematic areas. I am happy to know that the sub-committees have given their recommendations. We will carefully study these to see how they can be useful in tailoring our policies to achieve the desired outcomes.

Wherever I meet representatives from our industry and businesses, the question I am most often asked is whether economic reforms will continue. You should have no doubt on this score. The economic reforms of the past have brought us advantages and I can assure you that we will continue travelling on this path. We might do it gradually, and in a manner which builds a consensus for economic and social change. But I assure you that we will persevere.

Tax reforms, especially the introduction of a Goods and Services Tax, are a very important part of our agenda. So also are financial sector reforms. We are also committed to major reforms in education and skill development. We have started a program to raise resources by sale of equity in public sector enterprises. Legal reforms aimed at reducing delays are another key priority.

We need to develop long-term debt markets and to deepen corporate bond markets. This in turn calls for strong insurance and pension sub-sectors. Some of the reforms needed, especially in insurance, involve legislative changes. We have taken initiatives in this area and will strive to build the political consensus needed for these legislative actions to be completed. We need to improve futures markets for better price discovery and regulation. We also need to remove institutional hurdles to facilitate better intermediation.

You are all aware of the new challenges we face in an increasingly open engagement with the world economy. We need to deal effectively with the consequences of rising oil, food and commodity prices, political upheavals in many countries and unprecedented natural disasters in various parts of the world.

In recent months, inflation and food inflation in particular, has been a problem. We want to deal with it in a manner that the growth rhythm is not disturbed. I believe we have pursued prudent fiscal and monetary policies to strike the right balance between growth and inflation. I am hopeful of seeing lower levels of inflation in the coming months.

Manufacturing remains an area where we need to improve our performance. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council are working together on a comprehensive manufacturing policy which would seek to improve industrial infrastructure and the business environment, and encourage development of appropriate technologies and human resources.

We have made a conscious effort to strengthen international diplomacy and aid our industry in their businesses internationally. It is a matter of great pride for the country that many of our industry houses are recognized names throughout the world.

The country's increasing engagement with the world economy has resulted in increased volumes of trade in goods and services. We are ensuring that our interests are protected in negotiations at the WTO and are also entering into various bilateral and regional trade agreements in order to create greater opportunities for our trade and industry

We are confident that our industry shall ably meet the new challenges of increased competition that come with emerging new opportunities afforded through these agreements.

We are committed to ensuring compliance of environment laws and at the same time reviewing the regulatory institutions and implementing frameworks to ensure that they are rule based, and aligned to the legitimate needs and aspirations of local populations and of businesses alike. Captains of Indian industry have to set standards in this regard, which could then become the norm for other businesses to follow. I am happy that the corporate sector has responded positively to the challenge of sustainability and some of the Indian models of integrating sustainability in core business processes are being showcased as the best in the world.

Let me again reaffirm our Government's commitment to providing an enabling environment conducive to the growth of the corporate sector in our country. Our Government is aware of the many challenges that our industry faces, like the infrastructure deficit. We will do everything possible to help it overcome these challenges. I have said on an earlier occasion that I am aware of the nervousness in some sections of the corporate sector arising out of some recent unfortunate developments. We stand committed to ensuring that our industry moves ahead with confidence and without fear or apprehension. The Government is committed to improving the quality of governance. We are considering all measures, including legislative and administrative, to tackle corruption and improve transparency. Comprehensive steps have been taken to strengthen the intelligence and implementing institutions to combat the menace of black money and rein in corruption. A Group of Ministers has been entrusted the task of considering issues relating to enunciation of public procurement standards, formulation of a public procurement policy, review and abolition of discretionary powers enjoyed by Ministers, and introduction of an open and competitive system for the use of natural resources.

I am sure you have many valuable ideas and suggestion to share. I look forward to hearing your views.”

Zamia Metals [ZM0401] - Zamia Metals places A$2.9m

Zamia has completed a capital raising to support its very successful exploration program on the Anthony molybdenum project and regional targets. The placement was well supported by the Australian market and saw continued support from overseas.
Funds from the capital raising will be used for exploration as well as progressing the Scoping Study for a molybdenum mining and processing operation.