New Delhi: Lingering row between CIL and power producers such as NTPC is casting a shadow over 10 per cent divestment plans in the coal major as its parent ministry has reservations about stake sale till issues, like Rs 9,000 crore dues owed by electricity utilities, are resolved.
"Coal Ministry in a letter to the Department of Disinvestment (DoD) has said that going ahead with the stake sale process in Coal India (CIL) is not advisable till power utilities including NTPC clear its dues and labour issues are resolved," a Coal Ministry official told reporters.
The letter was sent to the DoD which had sought Coal Ministry's views on further 10 per cent divestment of government's share in the world's largest coal miner, he said. An Inter-ministerial Group (IMG), earlier this month approved 10 per cent equity sale in the coal PSU which is expected to fetch over Rs 17,000 crore to the government. The government, at present holds 90 per cent stake in it.
Power utilities, including NTPC and DVC, owe a huge amount of about Rs 9,000 crore to CIL and the Coal Ministry has already asked Power Ministry to ensure steps for payment of dues, including about Rs 3,000 crore by NTPC, to CIL....
more
12:11 PM, May 19, 2013
Beirut: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says he won't step down before elections are held in his war-ravaged country. The Syrian leader's comments, published on Saturday in the Argentine newspaper Clarin, highlight the difficulties the US and Russia face in getting the Assad regime and Syria's political opposition to the table at an international conference envisioned for next month. The country's main opposition group has demanded that these talks lead to...
07:50 AM, May 19, 2013
Cape Canaveral: An automated telescope monitoring the moon has captured images of an 88-pound (40 kg) rock slamming into the lunar surface, creating a bright flash of light, NASA scientists said on Friday. The explosion on March 17, 2013 was the biggest seen since NASA began watching the moon for meteoroid impacts about eight years ago. So far, more than 300 strikes have been recorded. "It exploded in a flash...
06:53 AM, May 19, 2013
A report on Friday night from WBBH, an NBC television affiliate in Fort Myers, Fla., said Phelps will return to swimming with an eye toward competing at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The three-paragraph story on the station's Web site was posted by news anchor Peter Busch, who is the son of Frank Busch, director of the U.S. national swim team. "The greatest Olympian of all time isn't hanging up his...
12:32 PM, May 18, 2013
London: Four more people in China have died from a new strain of bird flu, bringing the death toll from the H7N9 virus to 36 from 131 confirmed cases, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday. The United Nations health agency said the four deaths were from cases that had already been identified in laboratories. Since May 8, there have been no new cases of infection with H7N9, it...
11:30 AM, May 18, 2013
Washington: Opening up the prospects of export of shale gas to energy starved India, the US today granted conditional authorization to export domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) to nations that do not have Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with it. In a decision, which has major implications for India, the Department of Energy announced that that it has conditionally authorized Freeport LNG Expansion, LP and FLNG Liquefaction, LLC (Freeport) to...
11:10 AM, May 18, 2013
Geneva: The number of Syrian refugees, who are either registered or awaiting registration, has surpassed 1.5 million, while the actual number is much higher, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The increasingly widening gap between needs and available resources is a growing challenge, reported Xinhua citing UNHCR's spokesperson Dan McNorton on Friday . "Over the past four months, we have seen a rapid deterioration compared to the previous 20...
10:59 AM, May 18, 2013
David Beckham's longevity and his ability to reinvent himself were "absolutely incredible", retiring Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has said. Beckham and Ferguson, who were synonymously linked with Manchester United until the former England captain moved to Real Madrid, both announced in the past 10 days they would retire from soccer at the end of the current season. The 71-year-old Ferguson's final game in charge after 26 years at Old...
09:31 AM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to travel to Washington in a few months at the invitation of US President Barack Obama. Obama's invitation to Singh was delivered by US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns during his recent visit here, sources said. Singh has accepted the invitation and will be travelling to Washington, the sources said. The Prime Minister's visit to Washington could be clubbed with his...
09:20 AM, May 18, 2013
New Orleans: Residents of one of America's most violent cities cheered six arrests in a Mother's Day parade shooting that left 19 people wounded and three in critical condition. Two New Orleans brothers were booked with 20 counts each of attempted second-degree murder in Sunday's shooting spree. Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who strongly promotes the city's tourism industry, including the annual Mardi Gras celebration, said the arrests are the latest evidence...
08:00 AM, May 18, 2013
Beirut: The United States chided Russia for sending missiles to the Syrian government as plans for a peace conference promoted by Washington and Moscow were hit by diplomatic rifts over its scope and purpose. Sectarian bloodshed in neighbouring Iraq during Friday prayers, a hacking attack on a Western newspaper by sympathisers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and defiant comments by a rebel commander filmed eating a slain soldier's flesh were...
07:35 AM, May 18, 2013
Boston: A judge has rejected a request from lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who want to take periodic photos of him in prison. US Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler on Friday said the prison where Tsarnaev is housed has a policy against visitors bringing cameras. Tsarnaev's lawyers argued the photos could provide evidence on the voluntariness of his statements and be used in an argument to mitigate his...
07:15 AM, May 18, 2013
Washington: An Indian has been sentenced to three years of imprisonment on charges of trafficking immigrants from India into the United States, the Department of Justice said. Kaushik Jayantibhai Thakkar, 33, along with Brazilian national Fabiano Augusto Amorim were sentenced on Friday to serve 36 months in prison for their roles in smuggling undocumented migrants to the US for private financial gain, the Acting Assistant US Attorney General Mythili Raman...
06:27 AM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: Delhi Police on Friday claimed to have smashed an IPL betting racket and arrested one person in theis connection. The arrest came following a tip off that one Pawan Arora was allegedly organising betting in his rented house in Rani Bagh during the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors . Arora was arrested. Police said a decoy customer was sent who offered a deal to the...
02:55 AM, May 18, 2013
Chennai: DMK leader MK Stalin on Friday surrendered his illegally-imported Hummer to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Chennai. Sources said Stalin's son Udayanidhi came to the Chennai office of the agency and handed over Sports Utility Vehicle Hummer which was imported in 2007 and registered in his name. They said the car was one of the vehicles which were allegedly imported by Hyderabad businessman Alex C Joseph evading...
08:49 PM, May 17, 2013
London: Arsenal have made no approach for Manchester United's Wayne Rooney but are in "advanced talks" with French side Auxerre to sign 20-year-old striker Yaya Sanogo, manager Arsene Wenger said on Friday. "I don't know if Man United will sell Rooney, and that is the best sign to show you that we have not made any approach for him; the first thing is to phone Manchester United, which we did...
05:59 PM, May 17, 2013
Manchester: When Alex Ferguson wakes up on Monday morning without a Manchester United team to manage he will not be putting his feet up and settling into a quiet retirement. The 71-year-old Scot takes charge of his 1,500th and final United game at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday before stepping down after more than 26 years at Old Trafford. He might have had 10 hours' sleep for the first time...
05:16 PM, May 17, 2013
Washington: Indian-American Srikanth Srinivasan inched closer to scripting history as the first South Asian judge after a key Senate committee confirmed his nomination to the DC Circuit Court, America's second highest. Described as "trailblazer" by US President Barack Obama, Chandigarh-born Srinivasan's nomination to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was unanimously approved by the 18-member Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. He was first nominated to...
03:16 PM, May 17, 2013
Washington: President Barack Obama said on Thursday he reserves the right to resort to a range of both diplomatic and military options if he receives conclusive proof that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons in the country's civil war. Obama, at a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, said there was evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria but that it is...
11:45 PM, May 16, 2013
Boston: The lone-surviving Boston bombings suspect has claimed responsibility for the deadly terror attack in a note written on the wall of the boat he hid in, saying it was retribution for US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Boston bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, left a note in the boat he hid during a massive manhunt for the April 15 attack on the Boston Marathon that killed three people and...
10:50 PM, May 16, 2013
