Reliance Industries Jamnagar Refinery News Gujarat India

India's top refiner Reliance Industries plans to shut down a 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) vacuum gas oil (VGO) hydrotreater at its old refinery for about a month later this week, an industry source said on Monday.

"VGO hydrotreater will be shut for 20-30 days to change the catalyst. The shutdown will begin from Wednesday or Thursday," the source told reporters.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries operates the world's biggest refining complex, at Jamnagar City in Western Gujarat State, which has a total processing capacity of 1.24 million bpd of crude.

Reliance's old 660,000 bpd refinery at Jamnagar has two VGO units each with 100,000 bpd capacity. The source said there would be no impact on throughput due to the shutdown.

A VGO hydrotreater removes sulphur from heavy feedstock to produce naphtha, jet fuel and liquefied petroleum gas.

Poshitra Port Marine National Park Jamnagar District News Gujarat India

The ministry of environment and forests has denied permission to set up a port in Jamnagar.

Experts in the ministry said the port was to be set up in an ecologically fragile area and would have destroyed the biodiversity. “A standing committee has rejected the permission to carry out environmental impact assessment and risk assessment for establishment of a Poshitra Port Jamnagar District Gujarat India. The proposed site falls within Gulf of Kutch Marine National Park which is very rich in marine biodiversity,” a senior official of the ministry said.

The 18th meeting of standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife was held on April 12. Senior officials in the ministry said the decision was made on the basis of a report of MS Swaminathan Committee that had recommended that no port should be developed in or around protected areas and ecologically fragile zones. “Members of the standing committee had carried out a detailed site inspection and recommended against the proposal,” the official said. Taking a tough stand against commercial use of resources from ecologically fragile zones, the standing committee also rejected a proposal to withdraw water from the Majthal Wildlife Sanctuary and laying of pipeline for carrying water for expansion of a cement plant by Ambuja Cement Pvt Ltd. The proposal was rejected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Jamnagar City Railway Station News Samachar Gujarat India

With a view to exploit its real estate assets, Indian Railways plans to lease out some of them and aims to rake-in Rs 600 crore through this move this fiscal, a senior Railways official said.

"We plan to lease 15 plots in different metros and Tier 11 cities on long lease this fiscal and hope to net Rs 600 crore through this," Rail Land Development Authority, Member-Finance, F Mehmood, said.

"We have identified a land-bank of 1,900 hectares for development. This will be leased out in phases. We have appointed 15 consultants for this purpose," he said.

Most of the land available for lease is in the eastern region, he said.Leasing its land for residential purposes is not under consideration presently; the official said but added that "if good proposals come, then we may think about it." In the first phase, railway lands in Bandra in Mumbai, Aurangabad (Maharashtra) and Jamnagar City, Gujarat India are among the plots the Railways is planning to lease out to fund its infrastructure development, he said.

Sainik School Jamnagar City Investiture Ceremony News Gujarat India

Emphasizing the need to nurture multi-skilled personality, Brigadier Ranjit Singh, inspecting officer of Sainik School Society, New Delhi, urged cadets to take up the responsibility to become fine defence officers and serve the nation.

He was addressing students at the 2010-11 Investiture Ceremony' at Balachadi Sainik School Jamnagar City on 5th April - 2010.

The school is the only one of its kinds in the state, which prepares cadets for joining defence forces in the officer cadre. Singh, who was the chief guest on this occasion, conferred appointments to 18 cadets at different levels, including school captain and house captains.

The cadets, who are selected, will look after various curricular and co-curricular activities in the houses and will support the administration for smooth functioning of the school.
The ceremony started with guard of honor by cadets followed by welcome address by principal of Balachadi Sainik School Jamnagar Colonel Amarjeet Singh.

Jamnagar City Wide Roads Plan Municipal Corporation News Gujarat India

The plan to widen a road in the erstwhile princely city of Jamnagar City has mired in controversy, with activists and locals accusing the local civic body of favoring the local builder lobby.

The matter has now reached the Gujarat State Human Rights Commission and the Urban Development authorities.

The Jamnagar Municipal Corporation (JMC) had, in November last year, proposed to widen the road from Havai Chowk to Mandvi Tower to check the traffic problem there. The civic body had invited objections from the people for the Development Plan to widen the road from 15 to 18 meters.

According to the protestors, the Standing Committee of the JMC, in its recent meeting, overruled their objections and decided to go ahead with the plan. Shailesh Mehta, who has objected to the plan, said: “There is no need to widen the road to solve the traffic problem, as it is a result of total mismanagement of resources. If implemented, the plan will affect nearly 1,000 people on both sides of the road and will partly demolish many age-old residential and commercial structures of heritage value.”

Mehta has also approached the Gujarat State Human Rights Commission claiming the development plan is violating his and others’ fundamental rights. Calling it an autocratic and atrocious plan, Mehta has urged the Commission to direct the authorities to scrap the project.

Also, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) — an organisation working extensively for the preservation of heritage in the country — has pitched in and registered its protest against the proposal.

Intach convenor of the Jamnagar chapter, Hershad Kumari, who is a direct descendant of the erstwhile king of Jamnagar state — Jam Ranjitsinh — has written to the Urban Development Department (UDD) to direct the JMC to revise its plan.

In her letter to the UDD, she stated, “What is needed is traffic and parking management, not only on this road (Havai Chowk to Mandvi Tower) but all over Jamnagar.”

Objecting to the demolition plans of JMC and emphasizing the heritage value of the city, she stated: “All this demolition and unplanned exercises are destroying this historic city, which offered us a century ago a prime example of sustainable town planning displacing residents without proper planning or reasoning is offensive and entirely undemocratic. It is only servicing a building lobby.”

Reacting to the objections, Jamnagar Municipal Corporation Commissioner P Swaroop said: “I have received a representation from local merchants against the widening plan. Before finalizing it, I will go to the spot. I cannot say anything on the allegations unless I personally visit the spot.”

Dwarka Jamnagar Tourism News Gujarat India

The Pune Pravasi Sangh has demanded direct trains to Udaipur, Jamnagar City and Dwarka.

The Sangh has also demanded that a direct train to Chennai from Pune instead of Mumbai would benefit passengers in a big way.

These demands were made by Kanubhai Trivedi, president of the Pune Pravasi Sangh Trivedi said the Sangh has a number of plans, especially for long distance travellers.

“Besides the electrification of railways, I will be now pressing for the demands of starting direct trains to Udaipur, Jamnagar and Dwarka.

Secondly, all the trains running to Chennai, which make a stop at Pune, come from Mumbai.

However, thanks to that, the passengers boarding these trains at Pune station either do not get room, or appear on the waitlist, and thus have to suffer a lot.” Trivedi, a crusader for railway commuter’s rights who turns 81 on Tuesday, said.