Petroleum ministry to invest Rs. 1 lakh cr in Odisha.

The ministry of petroleum & natural gas (P&NG) has lined up investment worth Rs 1 lakh crore in the next five to seven years on P&NG sectors in Odisha. The investment plan includes tapping of one tcf (trillion cubic ft) natural gas reserve in the Mahanadi river basin. "Development planning of the basin would begin soon. In the next 3-4 years, gas from the basin would reach the Odisha coast," said Dharmendra Pradhan, Union minister for P&NG. He said, gas would also be produced from the two CBM (coal bed methane) blocks allocated in Odisha in the Talcher and Ib valley coalfields. Addressing the media persons, here, today, Pradhan said, "The investment plan is aimed at positioning Odisha as the gateway of energy security in eastern India. It will create 50,000 jobs in the state. The investment will also generate direct revenue of Rs. 3,000 crore every year for the state government. Incremental revenue will start flowing in from 2015-16." Commenting on the break-up of investment plan, he said, Rs. 34,000 crore would be invested on the 15 million tonne oil refinery of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) at Paradeep, the largest refinery in the PSU sector. On the petrochemicals complex of IOCL, also coming up a Paradeep, Rs. 3,150 crore would be invested on the polypropylene unit, Rs. 4,000 crore on monoethylene glycol unit, Rs. 10,000 crore on paraxylene PTA (purified terephthalic acid) unit and Rs. 18,000 crore on petcoke gasification plant. Other project wise investments include GAIL (India) Ltd's Surat-Paradeep pipeline (Rs. 5,500 crore), Paradeep-Haldia-Durgapur LPG pipeline (Rs. 257 crore), Paradip-Haldia-Barauni crude pipeline (Rs. 321 crore), LPG terminal at Paradeep (Rs. 2,500 crore), LNG terminal at Paradeep (Rs. 5,000 crore), Paradeep-Surat and Rancbhi-Paradeep natural gas pipelines (Rs. 5,000 crore), city gas distribution network (Rs. 1,600 crore), strategic oil reserve at Chandikhole (Rs. 3,800 crore) and revival of Talcher fertiliser unit (Rs. 8,000 crore). The minister announced that a working group, to be headed by R K Singh, joint secretary, ministry of P&NG, would be constituted to oversee progress of these projects. The group will have state government officials as representatives. The minister refused a comment on the Centre's timeline to deregulate diesel prices.

Six short-listed for JNPT liquid cargo terminal.

Six parties including Adani Ports, SP Ports of Shapoorji Pallongi Group and United Liner Agencies have been short-listed for building the Rs. 2,500-crore liquid cargo terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port. The board of trustees of JNPT, which met in Delhi recently , approved their initial applications, a JNPT official said. Others in the race are IOT Infrastructure, IMC and Srei Infrastructure, the official said. The project with a capacity to handle 26.5 million tonnes cargo a year will be implemented in two phases. The first phase - four berths with a capacity to handle 15 million tonnes - is expected to be ready in four years. The project, which will be implemented under the private public partnership (PPP) mode, was cleared by the CCEA earlier this week. This will be the second liquid terminal at JN port. The largest container port in the country already has a liquid terminal with a capacity to handle 5.5 million tonnes cargo, operated by oil companies BPCL and IOC. The liquid bulk terminal is the third project taken up by JNPT to enhance its capacity. Earlier this year, it awarded a Rs. 8,000-crore container terminal project - largest in the domestic port sector - to PSA of Singapore. DP World, Dubai, which is already operating a terminal at the port, is setting up another facility at a cost of about Rs. 1,000 crore. The port is also developing a Special Economic Zone, which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister last month.

KBR bags contract from Fertial for construction of 2 ammonia plants.

The US-based EPC company KBR Inc has been awarded a contract by Fertial SpA to provide licensing and basic engineering design services to revamp Fertial�s Annaba and Arzew ammonia plants in Algeria. Under the terms of the contracts, KBR will supply Fertial its proprietary ammonia technology to significantly increase the production capacity of the Annaba and Arzew plants while simultaneously helping Fertial increase energy efficiency and overall reliability. Jorge Requena, Chief Executive Officer, Fertial, said, "Fertial has embarked on an ambitious plan to revamp its ammonia plants in Algeria and we are very pleased to enter into a contract with KBR to help us achieve our strategic objectives." Considered a world leader in ammonia technology, KBR has been involved in the licensing, design, engineering and/or construction of more than 230 ammonia plants worldwide. "This contract is a testament to KBR's expertise in the ammonia industry. We are pleased to continue our work with Fertial as it expands its Annaba and Arzew ammonia plants," said Stuart Bradie, KBR President and Chief Executive Officer.

L& T Hydrocarbon wins orders worth Rs. 1,920 cr.

L& T Hydrocarbon Engineering, a fully-owned subsidiary of L&T, has secured orders worth Rs. 1,920 crore from domestic oil and gas majors. An offshore contract worth Rs. 1,340 crore from Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), includes engineering, procurement, construction and installation of five wellhead platforms at the Mumbai High North field. The project, a part of ONGC's strategy to re-develop Phase-III of Mumbai High North to enhance production from the existing reservoirs, is scheduled for completion by March 2016. In the onshore segment, it has secured a contract valued at about Rs. 580 crore from a leading company engaged in hydrocarbon downstream processing. The contract involves engineering, procurement and construction of a dual service cryogenic storage tank facility suitable for liquid ethane and liquefied natural gas and engineering work for the balance of the facilities to be installed at the manufacturing complex.

WhatsApp may soon get free voice calling

NEW YORK: If media reports are to be believed, mobile messaging service WhatsApp is set to launch a free voice calling feature for its 600 million active users. 

Recent changes in the interface of the app suggests the feature is coming soon. 

"The leaked images of the upcoming user interface shows that the app has been enabled with other language translations which will be displayed at the time a person receives a call via WhatsApp," a report on thefusejoplin.com stated. 

The translation feature available in the latest version of WhatsApp has made it clear that the voice calling plug-in is on its way. 

While the voice calling feature is all set to be released on WhatsApp, there is no update if there is going to be a similar feature on Facebook, it added. 

Facebook-owned WhatsApp has witnessed a 15% rise in its traffic since the acquisition. 

WhatsApp has crossed 50 million active users in India alone.

L&T bags order worth Rs. 5,100 cr from M.P. State utility.

Larsen & Toubro has bagged a Rs. 5,100-crore order from Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Company Ltd. (MPPGCL) to set up a 2X660 MW super critical thermal power project at Shree Singaji TPP on a complete engineering, procurement and construction basis. In a filing to the BSE, the company said that the project order covers design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of two coal-fired thermal units of 660 MW each with supercritical parameters. The project is located in the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh. The project demands a stringent schedule of completion in 43/47 months (unit wise). This is a repeat order for L&T from the State utility which had placed an EPC order for two units of 600 MW each for the first stage of Shree Singaji TPP. The first unit has recently gone commercial and is operating satisfactorily, the company has said. Shailendra Roy, Whole Time Director (Power, Minerals & Metals), L&T, said: "The awarding of the Stage-II of Shri Singaji thermal power project affirms L&T's credentials in EPC execution of power plants under critical schedules."

India's L&T and Dodsal win most of Kuwait's oil deals in July-Aug

Two Indian companies and one British firm emerged as the main winners of Kuwait's oil contracts in July and August, grabbing nearly $2.3 billion out of the total $4 billion awarded during that period, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Thursday.

The government-owned Kuwait oil company (KOC), which manages Kuwait's massive hydrocarbon sector, signed a total 40 contracts with around $4 billion during July and August, the highest deal in two months over the past years, the Arabic language daily Al Anba said, quoting KOC sources.

July was the busiest month for oil contracts in years, with $2.9 billion worth of deals signed, the paper said, adding that deals worth $1.1 billion were signed in August.

Contracts worth around $2.3 billion were awarded to Larsen & Toubro Limited and Dodsal of India and to the UK's Petrofac, the report said.

It said the contracts won by those three firms involved the construction of three oil gathering centres in north Kuwait.

Other deals included a $500-million contract for the supply of 38 oil well drilling towers won by some local firms, a $247 million seismic survey for Burgan oilfield and a $285 million contract to build an oil pipeline in north Kuwait won by the Kuwaiti combined group contracting company, the report added.

What is the difference between G, E, 3G, H, H+ and 4G symbols? We find out!

You would have noticed different symbols appearing on your smartphone or tablet’s status bar at different times such as G, E, 3G, H and H+. Ever wondered what do they actually mean? Many readers have been asking us their exact meanings and why those symbols keep on switching. I have created a small table which explains the meaning of all these symbols.

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LATEST MECHANICAL INVENTION: Wearable exoskeleton lets you sit in thin air.

Sick of not getting a seat on the train? Now thanks to the Chairless Chair exoskeleton, you can wear your own. Meet the Chairless Chair , an exoskeleton that attaches to your legs and lets you sit down, literally, in thin air.

When the aluminium and carbon fibre device is switched, you can walk around as usual, but when you want to sit, the device uses battery-powered mechanics to channel your body weight into the heels of your shoes. All you have to do is bend your knees to the height you’d like to sit at, hit a button and, voila , you’re sitting sans chair.

Created by Swiss start-up noonee , the exoskeleton is still in prototype form and looks pretty chunky, but developers are working on creating a version so thin you can wear it inconspicuously under your pants.

This current model weighs around 2 kg and can run at least eight hours on one charge. There’s no word on price as yet. For people who sit down all day at a desk the device might not sound too useful, but it could help those who are on their feet all day working in factories, warehouses or kitchens, and who are at risk of muscular and skeletal health problems.

It’s not all about comfort either - exoskeletons are also being used to help people with spinal injuries walk, and in the future this kind of research could translate into therapeutic benefits for patients with mobility issues.