Team from shipping ministry arrives in Haldia

17 November 2012

biswabrata goswami
HALDIA, 17 NOV: Days after the French government’s intervention in the Haldia Bulk Terminals fiasco, a three-member team from the Union ministry of Shipping visited Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) today to carry out an “internal inquiry” into the recent impasse.
 The team that comprises of Mr S Tripathy, deputy secretary (ST), Ministry of Shipping, public private partnership expert of the Ministry, Mr Anuj Agarwal,  and Mr A Janardhana Rao, Managing Director of Indian Ports Association, talked with the leaders of the Haldia Dock Bachao Committee and the retrenched workers of the Haldia Bulk Terminals, a joint venture of ABG and LDA.
 The three officials had met senior ABG officials and senior Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) officials yesterday evening where KoPT chairman, Mr Manish Jain was conspicuous by his absence.
The French embassy had approached the Indian government a few days again, following a request from Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA), the French partner of ABG Infralogistics, asking for a safe exit from Haldia. This happened after the port threatened that it would not allow HBT to move its equipments worth Rs 140 crore out of Haldia.
HBT, earning the highest revenue for Bengal’s trouble-ridden Haldia Dock Complex (HDC), on 31 October announced its decision to quit the complex blaming the state government for not providing a secure environment for it to work in. The port later retaliated by blacklisting HBT and started the process to re-tender berths 2 and 8 at Haldia Dock Complex where it was operating.
The Haldia Dock Officers’ Forum and Haldia Dock Bachao Committee had sought the intervention of Prime Minister  Manmohan Singh and Union Minister of Shipping G K Vasan in the Haldia port affairs in the wake of the HBT's decision to quit the HDC. 
On 10 October, the KoPt chairman had sent a report to the ministry of shipping regarding the crisis developed with the HBT at Haldia port.
“But, the report did not satisfy the shipping ministry which has finally sent a three-member team to carry out a probe into this matter”, said a senior port officer.
 During the talks with the team officials, the Haldia Dock Bachao Committee categorically demanded that shore operations at the births be included in the tender process.
“How a private firm without a valid licence from KoPT had been handling around 10 million tons of cargo per annum earning around Rs 200 crore  without sharing any revenue with KoPT,” said Mr Ramakant Burman, convener of the Committee.
 They also informed that shore operation has not been included while tendering out of the handling operation of 4B berth at Haldia port.
“If the shore operation is not included, the KoPT will lose to the tune of Rs 320 crore in ten years. So, this should be included in the tender bid”, he said.
 “If HBT does not turn up against the request, the Center may allow the KoPT to re-tender the berths 2 and 8.
“But, in this case, the lowest bidder will have to submit its bid maintaining the reserve price of Rs 75 so that the KoPT will not suffer any loss further,”Mr Burman said.  

IIT Kharagpur gearing up for a battle of brains

12 November 2012

biswabrata goswami
KHARAGPUR, 12 NOV: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, is all set to host its most prestigious annual techno-management fest from 1 to 4 February 2013, and has invited students from all over the globe to put their ingenuity and aptitude to test at an unparalleled level of competition.
The largest fest of its kind in Asia, it offers the participants a wide spectrum of events to prove their mettle, while the huge amount of prize money is reflective of its grandeur.
The annual techno-management event, which started in 2004, saw a total participation of over 50,000 students and a prize money of Rs 60 lakh in the last edition held earlier this year.
With the agenda of providing a national-level platform for the students to showcase their technical and managerial prowess, Kshitij comprises over 40 events encompassing nine diverse genres, including the field of robotics. Kshitij organises guest lectures, featuring eminent personalities from the all over the world.
In the past, dignitaries like Nobel laureate Sir James Mirrlees, co-founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales, inventor of the USB Ajay Bhatt, as well as critically acclaimed actor Naseeruddin Shah have addressed audiences at Kshitij. Kshitij also undertakes several social initiatives each year in association with the country’s foremost NGOs.
The numerous globally known certifications like ACM, ASME, IMechE, IEEE and ASHRAE associated with the event, stand testimony to the quality of participation in the festival. The ACM, which is widely regarded as the most prestigious certification in the field of computer science, is associated with popular night-long coding competition "Overnite".
Events like aircraft-designing competition, Laws of Motion, are certified by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). Online events like Woodstock and Forex, dealing with real time stock market and foreign exchange transactions are simulated and played with virtual money.
Kshitij will be conducting workshops throughout the country, where participants will get to learn and enhance their skills in the field of robotics.
“With due respect to the power of practice in acquiring proficiency, Kshitij organises a series of workshops both during and before the fest at various places in the nation. The hands-on workshops are a one in a million experience along with a chance to learn with technical experts of the field themselves,” said Mr Raunak Mukherjee, one of the general secretaries of the fest.
From the lights of the MIT Sensetable to cue balls of Augmented Reality, exhibitions bring another dimension to this techno-managerial symposium.
“This time, we will bring several new technological events and social events. Collaborated with the CRY, we will organise programme on the protection of children’s right. This apart, several new things on vehicles and boats have been included in the events,” Mr Mukherjee said. The fest is being patronised by the UNESCO.

Diwali aiding rise of illegal firecracker units

11 November 2012

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 11 NOV: With the use of firecrackers expanding rapidly despite a growing movement against its production and use, hundreds of fire-crackers' units are functioning illegally in rural areas of both East and West Midnapore districts.
Strict guidelines issued by the state government seem to be no deterrent for these manufacturers who produce the firecrackers at their houses.
Last Friday's explosion at a manufacturing unit at Hirakonia in Contai, East Midnapore, which killed four people, including a child and two women, brought the spotlight once again on this dangerous and unorganised sector.
“Two years ago, three people were killed at Payag in Kolaghat in an explosion at an illegal firecracker unit, but since then no adequate measures to stop the illegal production have been taken by the district administration,” said Mr Bhupati Das, a social activist working in East Midnapore district.
“These illegal units surprisingly have no licence and are set up under the patronage of politicians who have a clout in the civil and police administration in running the firecracker units," said a resident of Pataspur, on conditions of anonymity.
Residents involved in the business, however, rue that the administration is only deterring the self-employed youths from selling firecrackers and not charting out any positive course for them. “Instead of imposing a clampdown on a flourishing industry, the administration should draw safety plans, hold workshops and try to impress upon the manufacturers safe practices in the manufacturing units,” said Mr Sheikh Sakil, a resident of Sabra near Khakurda in West Midnapore.
A district labour department officer of East Midnapore said: “Hundreds of fire-cracker units are running illegally and a considerable number of children are engaged in the profession. Before uplifting the fire-cracker industry, stringent rules on the illegal employment of children should be implemented.”
“The number of these units goes up as many small-scale units come up before Diwali. Since these units are illegal, they hardly follow any preventive guidelines,” said Mr Mamud Hossain, Saha-Sabhadhipati of the East Midnapore Zilla Parishad.
Experts say most crackers contain toxic heavy metals like lead and cadmium that can have severe effects on health. Chinese fire crackers, especially, are infamous for high sulphur dioxide emissions but are available aplenty despite the restriction on their sale in India.
Mr Anand Sharma, a research scholar at IIT, Kharagpur said: “The Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation’s notification to fire cracker manufacturers prohibits crackers with noise level exceeding 125dB (AI) or 145dB (C) at 4 metres from the point of bursting. The Supreme Court has also directed PESO to set chemical formulae for each type or category of cracker. I have doubts whether these rules are being followed.”
“Though firecrackers are increasingly being used round-the-year in India, traditionally, demand soars during Diwali, the festival of light and sound. Billions of rupees worth of firecrackers goes up in smoke in major towns and cities,” he said.

KoPT starts transloading

9 November 2012

biswabrata goswami
HALDIA, 9 NOV: With the ongoing crisis at Haldia port sending out negative signals to industry in the region, the Kolkata Port Trust started transloading operations at Sandheads today in a bid to display the normal resumption of services at the docks.
In a letter, the KoPT has informed, “Efforts made by KoPT for starting of transloading has given fruitful result. Today, double banking operation has taken place at Sandheads for transloading of NTPC coal from Indonesia. M V Western Ehime arrived at Sandheads which is 232 kilometres away from Kolkata port having a draft of 50 metres. The vessel carried 56,435 MT non-coking coal.
“This historically significant success has been achieved due to the concerted efforts of NTPC and Kolkata Port Trust, top management initiative, meticulous planning and untiring effort of marine officers of KoPT”, the communication reads.
The imported thermal coal will be unloaded on barges from the ship waiting at Sandheads and then these barges will be taken to Haldia from where the coal would be transported to the respective plants.
According to a source in the KoPT, had operations not been suspended at berths 2 and 8 of Haldia Dock Complex, the unloading would have taken place there.
"The KoPT management had made several attempts to convince Haldia Bulk Terminals (HBT) Pvt Ltd to resume operations at the two mechanized berths before it decided to quit the Haldia port. Under the circumstances, there wasn’t any option for NTPC but to start unloading cargo from ships at the Sandheads,” the source said.
KoPT has been mulling the idea of transloading general bulk cargo at Sandheads for quite some time now. In fact, NTPC is already making preparations to go in for major transloading of imported thermal coal from ships at the Sandheads and transporting it to Farakka via the inland waterways route. A jetty has already been built at Farakka. Mr Manish Jain, acting chairman of KoPT, said: “M/S Coal & Oil, Dunai is in contractual agreement with NTPC for 15 lakh MT non-coking coal out of which 70 per cent is destined for Haldia. M T STX Mutiara and M V STX Energen are scheduled to arrive at Haldia shortly. Both the vessels are time chartered vessels and programmed to come back mid-December for double banking at Sandheads. Another 3 to 4 Panamax vessels are also on the cards for next operations.”
Showing optimism about the prospects of transloading operations, Mr Jain said: “Cargo of non-coking coal is steadily growing at Haldia. With this steady growth of lighterage operation at Sandheads, KoPT expects to handle more than 3 million tons of non-coking coal by the end of 2012-13. Because of this consequent of lighterage operation, it is expected that the net landed cost of non-coking coal will be reduced substantially”.
“We wish to promote transloading in a big way and have asked importers to consider using the anchorage at Sandheads between October and March, when the weather is fair. We also plan to carry out transloading at Kanika Sands but the issue is caught in a legal wrangle. Barges don't have to enter the port confines at Haldia and can use riverine jetties. This saves time and effort,” a port official said.

Cargo-handling firm pulls out of Haldia

31 October 2012

Biswabrata Goswami

statesman news service
HALDIA/KOLKATA, 31 OCT: Haldia Bulk Terminal Services (HBTS), a joint venture of ABG-LDA earning the highest revenue for Bengal’s trouble-ridden Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) today announced its decision to quit the complex blaming the state government for not providing a secure environment for it to work in.
The company communicated its decision to both Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) and Calcutta High Court during the day. Only a couple of days ago three of its officials had  allegedly been forced out of Haldia at gun point in the dead of the night. It complained a series of incidents had been engineered to force it to leave the state.
However, Trinamul Congress Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy, who was appointed an adviser to the state industry department by the chief minister, said  he did not think it would have any long-term impact on industrial development in the state. “This is newspaper fodder for two days.”
He also said that the state government wasn't responsible for the problems at Haldia Port. “I think the company is responsible for the present mess. I think they wanted to pull out.”
Mr Gurpreet Malhi, CEO, HBTS said: “With a deep sense of disappointment we have to inform that we have been left with no option but to walk out of the HDC with immediate effect. The ever worsening situation at Haldia has left us feeling betrayed and we hope that the elements responsible for driving us out of Haldia are brought to justice.”
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday dismissed the trouble at Haldia as “nothing” and blamed a section of the media for “making up a story” to suit some business interests and the CPI-M.
Even, the Trinamul Congress MP Mr Subhendu Adhikari said: “The law and order situation within the docks is a state subject, but the security within the port is the responsibility of the CISF, a Union government agency. The state government has no role in it”.
He said: “A handling agent with poor track record in Mumbai and Kandla ports was being passed off  as an industrialist. We cannot accept the retrenchment of 275 workers by SMS before the festival.’’
In a statement, Mr Malhi said: “We have been instrumental in the revival of the Haldia Dock Complex through the mechanisation of berths which has resulted in a more than three-fold increase in productivity to more than 20,000 tpd/berth and a big jump in profits for KoPT, improved facilities for KoPT’s clients and increased gainful employment for the state and have successfully run an operation of world class standards for the past two years. The appreciation from large and small companies as well as the bottom-line of KoPT bears testimony to the same.”
 The HBTS, which started operation in 2010 at berths 2 and 8 of HDC in 2010, played a key role in pulling HDC out of  a deep financial crisis in which the KoPT had recorded a loss of revenue of Rs 316 crore between 2007 and 2010.
But, this year in September, HBTS threatened to suspend its work citing losses due to low volume of cargo handling. KoPT moved Calcutta High Court and on 12 September signed an agreement with HBTS agreeing to allocate vessels to HBTS’s berths on a priority basis.
Workers at the port’s manually handled berths, however, objected to this and blocked the move. They also allegedly attacked HBTS workers and prevented them from continuing their work, leading to a deterioration of law and order in the Haldia dock complex.
In a Press release, Mr Malhi said: “The economy of West Bengal has once again been denied the opportunity of growth, modernisation and development. Indian and foreign investors will succeed in finding other locations which are investor-friendly and conducive to business. Sooner rather than later, West Bengal will have to choose to make itself attractive and viable for investors, otherwise investment and progress will continue to elude the state.”
The HBTS submitted before Mr Justice Sambuddha Chakraborty of Calcutta High Court a copy of the letter it had sent to the trustee board of the KoPT to terminate the contract it had with KoPT to continue its supply operation and maintenance of cargo handling equipment at berths 2 and 8.
The matter is scheduled to be heard on Friday.
In a seven page-long letter, the HBTS management accused the KoPT authorities of not redressing the its grievances for which it had to suffer heavy losses. Earlier, it had  informed the KoPT that it would be constrained to suspend cargo handling operations.
Even when HBTS agreed not to suspend cargo handling operations after an order of the Calcutta High Court, vested interests within the HDC opposed the implementation of the agreement and  decided  that it “ would go to any length to do so, the letter stated.” The actions of the KoPT was designed to allow vested interests to frustrate the implementation of the agreement, it was alleged .
No security was provided to safeguard the employees / officers and property of HBTS,  it was pointed out. When KoPT was called upon by HBTS to take immediate action to secure the safety of the latter's employees and  equipment, it did not do so.
It is clear that KoPT "aided, abetted and facilitated the said vested interests and allowed them to interfere with HBTS' operations in berth number two and eight”, the letter alleged. Several first information reports and private complaints were filed with the district administration and the KoPT was kept informed of the lack of peaceful and conducive environment at berths two and eight, the letter pointed out.
Without taking a pro-active stance to implement the Calcutta High Court's order to safeguard the operations at berth two and eight, the KoPT continued to exert pressure on HBTS to clear cargo in berth numbers two and eight, it was alleged. Besides KoPT never intended to carry out its obligations under the agreement and “deceitfully induced HBTS from entering the agreement” it was alleged.
These grounds inter alia have led to the termination of the agreement by HBT, the letter stated.
The state government's failure to provide security to HBTS at the dock leading to its decision to quit the complex will send a wrong signal to prospective investors, Congress spokesman Abdul Mannan said.
“It is regrettable that the Trinamul Congress state government is eagerly working to protect the vested interests of one of its MPs," Mr Mannan said.
ASSOCHAM Secretary General Mr. D.S. Rawat said : “The decision to exit won't have any impact on investment flow in the long run, but the state government should not delay action against those who are taking the law in their hand.”
Mr Rawat suggested the Chief Minister should set up a fact finding committee and send strong signal that the law abiding citizens/investors would be fully protected, encouraged and motivated.
Left Front chairman Biman Bose said the day's development would lead to economic disaster for the entire region.