Draft guidelines for passenger rights to be ready by April
Chennai: The Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) has said that draft guidelines on passenger rights, on the lines of an Act in the European Union, were expected to be ready by April.

APAI president D Sudhakara Reddy said, "We have given it to some aviation experts for their feedbacks. Once the final draft is ready, we will submit it to the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry to enable it being legislated."

Reddy cited a recent instance of a passenger who booked his tickets from Bangkok to Chennai but when he reached the airport he was told that the flight had left two-hours in advance as it had been rescheduled. On his insistence on flying to Chennai he was put on the economy class in another airline despite holding a first class reservation.
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US state of Iowa invites Satyam to set up facility
Hyderabad: The US State of Iowa has invited Satyam Computer Services to set up a facility there. A high-level delegation from Iowa, headed by its Governor, Tom Vilsack, visited the Satyam campus here.

Vilsack and Swati Dandekar, Iowa's state representative, addressing the press said there was a two-way opportunity for companies in both countries. Ms Dandekar said Iowa offered special incentives to companies setting up bases there.

The delegation gave a presentation to a group of entrepreneurs representing different sectors, showcasing what the US State could offer to them.

The Iowa University had entered into an agreement with Osmania University four years ago to jointly conduct research in biotechnology.
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Tax restriction on LPG under question
New Delhi: The central government's decision to restrict VAT or sales tax on LPG up to 4 per cent is coming under question by some States, which are demanding 100 per cent compensation for revenue losses. The government decided to restrict the tax while bringing LPG under the 'declared goods' category of the Central Excise Tax Act. After a recent Empowered Committee meeting, some States were of the opinion that inter-State LPG transactions were intra-companies and hence should be outside the purview of the CST.

If the purpose of bringing LPG under the declared goods is to monitor its inter-state transactions, no state has any objection but the Centre should not snatch the States' rights to fix the tax, sources said.
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US has reservations on Russian fuel for Tarapur
Washington: The US has indicated its reservation to Russia's move to supply fuel for Tarapur nuclear reactor, and has said that any such step should be taken after India fulfils its obligations under the historic Indo-US nuclear deal.

US State Department acting spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters that, "Specifically with regard to India ... we have a very ... forward-looking and really history-making initiative, joint initiative, to address the...India's nuclear program, to separate the military from the civilian, and to bring India into compliance with NPT obligations and work based on that with a Nuclear Suppliers Group to give it access to the kind of fuel supplies that it's looking for," he said.
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WB sanctions $216 million loan for Karnataka projects
Washington: The World Bank has sanctioned a $216 million loan to Karnataka to finance the Karnataka Municipal Reform Project, which is designed to improve delivery of urban services through enhancing infrastructure and improving the institutional and financial frameworks at the State and local levels.

The Project is designed to support an evolving process of urban reforms with a focus on large-scale restructuring of urban governance and management. "The reforms would create well-governed and functioning cities that are able to finance and deliver basic urban services for the poor in a sustainable manner," the WB said in a statement.

"This project will significantly enhance the State's urban services from water supply and sewerage system to urban roads and slum upgradation, said Michael Carter, World Bank country director for India.
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UN reports highest ever recorded levels of greenhouse gases
New York: The United Nations has reported that greenhouse gases, associated with global warning, reached their highest ever recorded levels in 2004, mainly due to human activity.

The UN meteorological agency reported yesterday that the concentration of carbon dioxide, the most abundant greenhouse gas in the planet atmosphere, rose by 1.8 ppm (parts per million) to 377.1 ppm or 0.47 per cent in 2004 compared with the previous year. The 35 per cent rise in carbon dioxide since the dawn of the industrial age in the late 1700s was largely due to emissions from combustion of fossil fuels.

Another greenhouse gas which reached record level is methane generated by farming and burning of fossil fuels like oil and coals. The atmospheric levels of methane, at 1783 parts per billion, have shown signs of reaching a plateau with virtually no rise in 2004 and changing by 5 ppb per year since 1999.

Another greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide at 318.6 ppb has been rising by 0.8 ppb per year since 1988. Around one third of gas discharged into the air is a result of human activities such as fuel combustion, biomass burning, fertilizer use and some industrial processes.

Scientists say unless the concentration is reversed, it could have devastating effect on the earth with droughts, heat waves, melting of polar ice leading to rise in sea level with highly adverse effects on coastal cities and small islands.
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TN revising purchase tariff for wind power
Coimbatore: Tamil Nadu is in the process of finalizing the revised tariff for wind power purchase was according to an official in the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC). The purchase price was fixed at Rs2.70 in 2001 and the TNERC has 'reasonably revised' it, as against the demand of Rs3.25 per unit for 20 years by the wind producers.

The official said that, "It has been reasonably revised to the satisfaction of producers, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) and consumers."

Tamil Nadu has a wind mill capacity of 2,500 MW, which was 60 per cent of that existing in India. The official said that the State has a potential of harnessing another 1,400 MW of wind power. For evacuation of this power, the State needed to install l around 20 numbers of 110 KV substations and five numbers of 239 KV substations, at a cost of Rs235 crore, the official said.
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