MAJOR PENALTY PROCEEDINGS RECOMMENED AGAINST 135 OFFICERS

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

******

CVC disposed of 522 cases in July 2009

MAJOR PENALTY PROCEEDINGS RECOMMENED AGAINST 135 OFFICERS

 

New Delhi : August 25, 2009

 

The Central Vigilance Commission disposed of 522 cases during July 2009 referred to it for advice. The Commission launched prosecution against 22 officers. Of these, seven were from CBDT & MHA and two each from M/o Environment & Forest and MCD.

 

The Commission advised initiations of major penalty proceedings against 135 officers. Of these, 31 were from public sector banks, 29 from Ministry of Railways, 13 from MCD, 7 each from DDA, CBDT & FCI, 5 from CBEC, 4 each from D/o Telecommunications, Central Coalfields Ltd. and Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, 3 from New Mangalore Port Trust, 2 each from NHAI, ICAR, D/o Atomic Energy and Ministry of External Affairs.

 

The Commission also advised imposition of major penalty against 101 officers including 17 from Public Sector Banks, 16 from Insurance Companies, 13 from DDA, 11 each from ONGC & MCD, 9 from Ministry of Railways and 7 from Central Coalfields Ltd.

 

The Commission disposed 744 complaints during the month. Of these, 631 complaints were sent for necessary action/ATR whereas 131 complaints were sent for investigation and report.

 

On the Commission's recommendations, the competent authorities issued sanctions for prosecution against 26 officers. Of these 9 are from Ministry of Railways, 7 from Ministry of Home Affairs, 5 from CBEC, 2 from MCD and one each from SB of Bikaner & Jaipur, CBDT and SEBI. Major penalty was imposed on 65 officers including 21 from Public Sector Banks, 8 each from Ministry of Railways & Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd, and three each from D/o Telecommunications, CBDT & Delhi Jal Board.

 

Recoveries to the tune of Rs. 90 lakhs were effected after Commission conducted technical examination of some departments.

 

RS/Hb  /spandey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

******

Third Road Show at Calgary to promote NELP VIII and CBM IV Global offers receives impressive response

 

50 COMPANIES/ORGANIZATIONS PARTICIPATE

 

HUGE DISCOVERIES SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE PROSPECTIVITY OF INDIAN SEDIMENTARY BASINS

 

600 MILLION TONNES RESERVE ACCRETION FROM 71 OIL AND GAS DISCOVERIES IN NELP BLOCKS: JITIN PRASADA

 

New Delhi : August 25, 2009

 

Shri Jitin Prasada, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas inaugurated the third Roadshow of the eighth bid round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP-VIII) and fourth bid round of Coal Bed Methane (CBM-IV) at Calgary. This was the third roadshow, in the series of promotional road shows organised by Government of India at various places, first at Mumbai on 8th August 2009 and second at Houston on 20th August 2009. He invited exploration and production companies and prospective investors to avail of the highly attractive investment opportunities being offered under NELP-VIII and CBM-IV. Shri Prasada delivered a key note address at the Roadshow to promote 70 exploration blocks under NELP and 10 blocks under CBM offered for global competitive bidding.

 

The Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas stated that NELP-VIII is being offered in the backdrop of 71 oil & gas discoveries which have already been made in 21 exploration blocks by accretion of in place hydrocarbon reserves of more than 600 Million Metric Tonne of Oil Equivalent (MMTOE). Under NELP regime, major natural gas production in KG basin commenced from April, 2009. With this, the gas production in India would be doubled as against production of 2008-09. Total committed investment in NELP rounds for exploration so far is around 10 billion dollars and actual investment made is around 11.9 billion dollars (US$ 5.3 billion in exploration and US$ 6.6 billion in development). Further, the commercial production of CBM commenced in Raniganj block with effect from July, 2007.

 

Shri Prasada informed that the recent huge discoveries have significantly changed perceptions about the geological prospectivity of India's Sedimentary Basins. Government of India would utilise this in undertaking an effective promotional programme to highlight the attractive investment opportunities available under NELP-VIII and CBM-IV to prospective investors which would make global investors aware of the opportunities that exist under NELP and CBM as well as information on the exciting new development in E&P sector.

 

Shri Prasada also informed that at present, area under exploration is about 50% of Indian Sedimentary Basins. During XI plan period, area under exploration has been targeted at 80% of total Indian Sedimentary Basins

 

Mr. Ashok Das Consul General of India in Vancouver in his welcome address mentioned on opportunities and potential for exploration and Government's efforts to accelerate the exploration coverage and increased oil and gas production. In particular, he highlighted the conducive policy environment for investors and the continuous interaction with the industry to facilitate industry's operations in the petroleum sector. He referred to the growing economic co-operation between India and Canada and impressed upon the E&P companies present at the Road show to take advantage of opportunities in the present bid round and invest in these offered blocks.

 

Mr. John Cotton, Assistant Deputy Minister International-Intergovernmental Relations, Government of Alberta, focussed the attention of the companies to increase the presence of the Canadian companies in E&P sector in India, considering the supportive regulatory regime and attractive commercial terms.

 

Some of the important E&P companies operating in India namely Oil India Ltd , NiKO Resources, and Canoro Resources made presentations to demonstrate their success stories in India's E&P sector. They also gave an account of their perceptions of geology and hydrocarbon prospectivity in India. Confederation of Indian Industry made a presentation about its perception on India's Business climate and investment opportunities.

 

Shri V.K.Sibal, DG, DGH made a presentation on Geological prospectivity of NELP-VIII and CBM-IV blocks. Shri D.N.Narasimha Raju, JS(Exploration) in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas made a presentation on Bid Evaluation Criteria, Fiscal and Contractual terms for NELP-VIII and CBM-IV round. Shri V. K. Dewangan, Director in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas made the concluding remarks and vote of thanks.

 

A total of 94 delegates from more than 50 companies/Organisations including some the leading E&P companies and service providers participated in the successfully held road show at Calgary. These included 17 E&P companies, 29 oil and gas field service providers and 10 other organizations, including investors. Some of the main E&P companies which participated in the Roadshow were Canoro Resources, Alberta Oilsands Inc, Pengrowth, Husky Energy, Oil India Limited, BG India, GAIL India Limited, Niko Resources Limited, TransGlobe Energy, Plan Energy Inc, Crew Energy Inc, etc.

 

To facilitate data viewing by Exploration and Production companies, the Government of India has opened a data centre at Noida , India, and at other centres at Houston, London, Calgary and Perth, the data centres will be available for access on request. The data for NELP-VIII &CBM-IV can be viewed by companies at any of these centres as well as online through website and thereafter interested companies may purchase data.

 

Promotional Roadshows for NELP-VIII and CBM-IV have been planned also at London ( 8-9 September 2009), Perth ( 22nd September 2009) and Brisbane ( 24-25 September 2009).

 

The bid closing date for NELP-VIII and CBM-IV is 12th October, 2009. It is expected that NELP-VIII and CBM-IV bid rounds would result in a very good response from E&P companies and prospective investors as they are likely to avail of the excellent investment opportunities being offered through NELP-VIII and CBM-IV. Government is committed to complete evaluation, award and signing of production Sharing Contracts in a reasonable time frame and the whole process would be completed in a transparent manner as demonstrated in past rounds of NELP &CBM.

 

RCJ/ls  /spandey

 

 

 

 

 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

******

Statistical data vital for assessing impact of policy measures and identifying gaps : Sriprakash Jaiswal

 

New Delhi : August 25, 2009

 

Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation (I/c) Shri Sriprakash Jaiswal has said that statistical data plays a vital role in assessing the impact of policy measure and also helps to identify the gaps. Addressing a gathering of distinguished and eminent statisticians of the world at the 57th session of the International Statistical Institute in Durban in South Africa recently, he said that measurement of the achievements on ground is possible through the flow of information from the grass root level to national level and to the policy makers at the apex level.

 

The Minister also gave away the 4th International Award in Statistics to Prof. Pedro Alberto Morettin from Brazil for his outstanding contributions in various aspects of statistics in his capacity as Chairman and Dean, Institute of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sao Paulo. Prof. Morettin has worked actively in Brazil and Latin America for the development of statistical discipline and has developed statistical literature in Portuguese. Congratulating the awardees, Shri Jaiswal said that better appreciation and recognition of statistics as a science today has come about with widespread and variegated use of statistics made possible by the lifetime contributions of a galaxy of great statisticians all over the world.

 

The award has been instituted in memory of Prof. P.C. Mahalanobis by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in 2003 in collaboration with International Statistical Institute to identify and recognize eminent statisticians from the developing countries for their lifetime contribution. It aims at attracting, inspiring and motivating promising statisticians from across the developing countries.

 

NNK/RK/spandey

 

PIB Kolkata