Former ground handler owns planes, choppers that fly Rahul Gandhi

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-former-ground-handler-owns-planes-choppers-that-fly-rahul-gandhi-1947017

Wednesday, Jan 8, 2014, 

Rahul Gandhi is not the frequent flier you will see boarding a commercial aircraft. And god save the air traffic controller who discloses his flight plans to anybody. Instructions have been given to the ATC to keep a lid on the Congress vice-president’s jet-setting ways.

That’s one part of the story. The other is that Rahul flies only by chartered aircraft owned by a gentleman who answers to the name Semoun Jolly. For the Congress, it’s said, Semoun is the jolly good fella who keeps the Gandhi scion airborne when it’s needed and ensures safe landings for the man who the Congress hopes will become prime minister one day.

Who is Semoun Jolly? That’s the million-dollar question. They say till the turn of the century, Semoun was an unknown, working with a ground handling firm at Delhi airport. Then, one fine day, he becomes the owner of

Air Charter Services with a fleet of aircraft that ferry the rich from one point to another, for a fee. They say Rahul boards only Semoun-owned aircraft, his favourite a BE350.

Jolly was working with M/s Saraya Aviation owned by Punjab revenue minister BS Majithia for Rs 3,000 a month. His former colleagues say that Jolly was very good in managing records and at administration. Sources said when Jolly branched out on his own, top Congress leaders pumped big money into his charter service company called quite aptly Air Charter Services.

“Jolly is a pawn, he is the face of the company, but everyone in the aviation industry knows who all are the behind-the-scene operators. Key Congressmen have pumped lots of unaccounted money into Air Charter Services,” said an industry insider.

“We do not discuss client-related queries and client-procurement model with the media,” Jolly told dna.

According to Jolly’s former colleagues, people in the industry are  jealous of his steep growth in the aviation industry. “A few years ago, Jolly used to stay in a two-room house in Delhi’s lower-middle class Tilak Nagar colony. But now, he owns a big house in a posh South Delhi colony. His enormous growth has also brought with it several enemies,” a source said.

Jolly was born and brought up in a Punjabi family in Delhi. Sources said no only Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka and her kids also fly in Jolly’s air charter firm.

Sources said Rahul Gandhi usually always travels by private chartered aircraft. There are many private airlines which offer such services. But Rahul prefers Air Charter Services. As of now, Air Charter Services has seven aircraft, including a BE350.

It’s said that because of the Congress links, Air Charter Services does not keep official records of Rahul’s trips. Entries for Rahul Gandhi in the airport authority logbook are always made in the names of unknown people. Sources said the air traffic control gets a wireless communication from the SPG that Rahul Gandhi would be flying and that the flight should not be delayed. Give the aircraft topmost priority goes the order.

“As Rahul Gandhi cannot enjoy the official status of a VVIP, airport staff do not make any entry in the logbook,” said a source. Officially, only the president, vice-president, prime minister and heads of foreign states have that privilege. In spite of this, Rahul Gandhi gets special treatment.

Air traffic controllers have been told this in no uncertain terms. Citing security reasons, airport authorities keep Rahul’s travel plans secret.

According to the source, Rahul Gandhi makes frequent visits to his parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli. He also gets special treatment at the national pilot training academy. Ajay Tripathi, Rae Bareli district president of the BJP, said the Congress vice-president’s chartered aircraft regularly lands at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA) airstrip. “Being a member of the governing council of IGRUA, Rahul Gandhi receives VVIP treatment and all rules are violated to facilitate his flights.”

Tripathi alleged that IGRUA has entered into a contract with a Canadian firm — Canadian Aviation Electronics — to turn the institute into a world-class institution. “IGRUA is shelling out $350,000 annually to the Canadian firm, but the institute is still in poor condition. Though a government institute, IGRUA is run like a private limited company of the Congress,” Tripathi said.

Early this month, Rahul Gandhi’s aircraft had a narrow escape at Delhi airport, when the business jet of the Air Charter Services he was on board was about to land. In 2010, an Air Charter Service air ambulance crashed in Faridabad, killing 10 people.

According to the ministry of corporate affairs, Air Charter Service Private Ltd was incorporated in September 2000 with an authorised share capital of Rs5 lakh. Delhi-based Semoun Jolly has been director of the company since its inception. There are two other directors — Kamlesh Jolly and Maninder Singh Sethi - as per the registrar of companies.

When contacted, Semoun Jolly refused to answer dna’s queries on his business operations. The company website boasts of a fleet which includes Pilatus PC12, King Air350, King Air B200, and Cessna Citation Excel. It also has air ambulances and a fleet of Augusta Westland choppers.

Between October 2011 and August 2012, the company created mortgages totalling about Rs30 lakh, as per the registrar of companies. It raised Rs9.5 lakh from Canara Bank in October 2011, Rs10 lakh from the same bank in January 2012 and Rs11 lakh from Yes Bank in August 2012.

The company has not disclosed the list of its shareholders in the annual returns filed for 2011-12 and 2012-13. As per the shareholding pattern, according to annual returns for 2010-11, Semoun Jolly holds 18,56,400 shares of Rs10 each. Other shareholders in the company include Kamlesh Jolly, Semoun Jolly HUF, Maninder Singh and Ashok Jolly HUF, CPCT Media Private Ltd. SSJ Metals Equipment Private Ltd also hold stake in the company as per the annual returns of 2010-11.

Number of shares held in 2010-11
Semoun Jolly : 1856400
Kamlesh Jolly: 2056400
Semoun Jolly HUF : 400000
Maninder Singh : 4491976
Ashok Jolly HUF : 179176
CPCT Media Private Ltd: 508024
SSJ Metals Equipments Private Ltd: 508024

TN coastline safer now than earlier: CG Commander

Source:http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/tn-coastline-safer-now-than-earlier/

Post-Mumbai attacks, we have augmented force level along the coastline and we are safer than earlier, Inspector General S. P. Sharma, Commander, Coast Guard Region (East), has said.

Interacting with reporters after announcing various awareness programmes being organised in connection with Indian Coast Guard’s Raising Day (Feb. 1) celebrations here on Jan. 6, he added: “Earlier, we used to have just 23 ships to cover the entire East Coast area of jurisdiction falling under CG Eastern Region. However, after bifurcation, our jurisdictional area has been reduced to coastline of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Pudhucherry.”

IG Sharma stated: “Though it was 23 ships for the entire area then, now I have 30 ships only to look after Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Pudhucherry coastline. In other words, it is augmentation of force level in the region. The numbers of ships have increased gradually; old ships have been decommissioned in a phased manner. With the change, new energy and enthusiasm have come in.”

Elaborating further about the increased level of security to mediamen, he pointed out: “Besides, we have established a chain of radars along the entire coastline which has almost become functional. This is the value addition which has been done by creating satellite connectivity for any line failure. Today we have 11 radars along the coast of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh giving us 24 X 7 real-time coverage.”

It may be noted here that the movement of US floating armoury MV Seaman Guard Ohio inside Indian territorial waters was picked up by one of such radars.

“Now we have enough equipment and technology to detect movement of vessels through these radars,” IG Sharma observed.

According to sources, in the second phase of expansion, Tamil Nadu coastlines are likely to get five radars and once they are installed and synchronized with the Regional Operating Centre (ROC), it would give real-time data for decision making in coastal security.

Better connectivity to ports is vital for growth: Vasan

Source:http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/better-connectivity-to-ports-is-vital-for-growth-vasan/

Stressing that better connectivity (of roads and rail) to ports is of paramount importance to enhance productivity and efficiency, Union Minister of Shipping G. K. Vasan has said that it should be given due importance in all ports of the country.

Addressing a gathering after flagging off the new Railway Siding facility to provide a seamless traffic flow on both directions, at Ennore Port on Jan. 6, he stated: “Connectivity to ports is to be given adequate attention not only in Ennore Port but also in all other ports of the country.”

Mr. Vasan added: “The Railway Siding infrastructure set up at a cost of Rs. 51.60 crores would enable the coal and iron ore stack yards at Ennore Port to be connected with the southern and northern mainlines of Indian Railways and therefore provide a major boost for Ennore Port as well as BOT (Build, Operate, Transfer) operators.”

“The new railway siding facility will minimise the time consumed for shunting, leading to more rake movements and faster evacuation of cargo,” he noted.

Elaborating about the strong emergence of Ennore Port over the years, which was primarily conceived as a satellite port, the Minister observed: “As part of perspective expansion plan, Ennore Port during the 12th Plan period (2012-17), is going to add substantial capacity through projects like 5 MTPA LNG Terminal, 16 MTPA Container Terminal, 2 MTPA Multi-cargo Terminal-2 and 9 MTPA Additional Coal Berth No.3 for TANGEDCO.”

“With the development of these terminals Ennore Port capacity will be more than double from the present 30 MTPA to about 67 MTPA by the end of 12th Plan,” he declared.

“For substantial improvement in its connectivity to evacuate the anticipated increase in cargo, rail connectivity projects like new broad gauge rail link between Attipattu and Thiruvallur / Avadi using the rail corridor identified in the Outer Ring Road (ORR) project of the State Government and a proposed Northern Rail Link taking off from the northern side of Minjur Station to enter into Ennore Port, etc., are being explored,” Mr. Vasan further added.

Earlier, Mr. M. A. Bhaskarachar, CMD, EPL, welcomed the gathering and briefed about Ennore Port and its developmental programmes planned for the future. He pointed out that on Dec. 25 last year the five rail lines of Holding Yard – II were successfully linked with the NCTPS main line which connects the Indian Railway mainlines. This linkage will be a major boost for the port as the time consumed for shunting will be minimised and hence more rakes movements can be operationalised.

Mr. Bhaskarachar also explained that, with the commissioning of this full track civil works, about 1, 500 rakes per annum will be moved only for coal evacuation from the next financial year onwards.

In his address Mr. P. K. Mishra, Divisional Railway Manager, Southern Railway, said: “We feel happy to be associated with Major Ports like Chennai and Ennore in the region.” While congratulating the EPL management for maximum utilisation of railway mode to evacuate its cargo, he appealed to the Chennai Port Trust management to explore ways and means to increase cargo evacuation via rail rakes, which is abysmally low now.

“Besides, we look forward to meet the demand of rakes for containers and RORO from Ennore Port in future,” Mr. Mishra added.

Besides representatives from different port users and members of Ennore Port Advisory Board, Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Director (Operations), EPL; Mr. Ashok Vardhan Shetty, Vice Chancellor, Indian Maritime University; Mr. Atulya Misra, Chairman, Chennai Port Trust and Mr. P. C. Parida, Deputy Chairman, Chennai Port Trust, attended the ceremony.

EMRIP inauguration by February-end

The Rs. 600-crore Chennai-Ennore Port connectivity road, formerly Ennore-Manali Road Improvement Project (EMRIP), is likely to be inaugurated by February-end, according to Union Minister of Shipping G. K. Vasan.

The project, conceived more than a decade ago, is aimed at decongesting the road from Inner Ring Road-Madhavaram up to the Chennai Port Trust of container trailers as well as heavy load vehicle traffic.

Speaking to reporters after inaugurating the railway siding facility at Ennore Port, the Minister said the inauguration, which had been earlier announced as by January, would now take place by February-end.

“Till date, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had completed nearly 80 per cent of the widening work and while coming here (Ennore) I also inspected a few stretches of the road to see for myself the real progress.”

Krishnapatnam Port creates best crane productivity record

Source:http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/krishnapatnam-port-creates-best-crane-productivity-record/

Krishnapatnam Port Container Terminal (KPCT), a world-class container terminal operated by Krishnapatnam Port, has set a new benchmark in operational efficiency.

On Dec. 24, 2013 during MSC’s weekly service to Colombo from KPCT, its vessel MV MSC SIERRRA-II became part of a historic moment when 641 TEUs were exchanged with the vessel, with a record hourly crane productivity of 48.6 containers and a berth productivity of 96.64 containers per hour.
According to port sources, two super post-panamax quay cranes were used by the terminal to achieve its most efficient crane productivity record on that day.
“This has been Krishnapatnam Port’s best crane performance at KPCT and probably one of the highest achieved by any container terminal in India,” a statement from the port authority revealed.
Main liners such as Maersk, MSC and three feeder services – BTL, Xpress Feeder and Far Shipping – regularly call at KPCT because of faster turnaround time with average berthing time for the vessels being 90 minutes and trailer turnaround time being 50 minutes from entry to exit of the port unlike other ports in the country.
The efficiency in container handling in Krishnapatnam is evident from the volumes that are increasing month-on-month at the terminal. In FY 2012-13, KPCT handled 13, 547 TEU where as from April to December 2013 (three quarters of FY 2013 -14), KPCT has handled 42, 553 TEU.
With sustained growth on the container handling front, the port is looking at exponential growth in the future.
Vast area, state-of-the-art equipment, deepest draft in the county, efficient and transparent operations and unparallel road and rail connectivity are transforming KPCT into the container terminal of future on the East Coast of India.
The facility is well connected by a 24-km double-line rail (with an on-dock rail adjacent to container yard) and 4-lane roads to the national grid, making for swift access and evacuation of containers and cargo.
Support infrastructure like covered warehouse facility to an extent of 200, 000 sq. ft is available towards stuffing and de-stuffing of containers at KPCT. Separate fumigation zone has been developed inside the terminal. Special facilities towards handling of hazardous and non-hazardous cargo also have been provided inside KPCT.
In addition to these facilities, the terminal has a dedicated Customs facility with functional EDI (Electronic Data Interface) to process all the documents to enable faster clearance of consignments.
The current cargo profile of KPCT includes barites, cement, chilly, coffee, cotton, equipment and related spares, feldspar, food products, granite, human hair, maize, mango pulp, mica, potash feldspar, packaging materials, polypropylene granules, pulses, PVC products, quartz, rice, sheet material, shredded scrap, sugar, tobacco, turmeric and waste paper.

Besides main line operators, the terminal has also received good support from NVOCCs.
With strategic tie-up with MLOs and feeders, freight forwarders, CHAs (customs house agents), LSPs (logistic service providers), CTOs (container train operators) and ICDs (inland container depots), KPCT is proving to be the preferred container handling destination by the world trade on the East Coast of India, say regional EXIM players.

IMU gets new V-C

Source:http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/imu-gets-new-v-c/

Mr. K. Ashok Vardhan Shetty, a retired Indian Administrative Service Officer from Tamil Nadu cadre, assumed charge as the new Vice Chancellor of Indian Maritime University (IMU) on Jan. 2.

According to a top Shipping Ministry official, Mr. Shetty’s appointment has been approved by the President of India, the Visitor of the Ministry of Shipping-run Maritime University, for a period of five years.

His appointment culminates the lengthy process which began in August 2013 to find a new Vice Chancellor to the institution after the then V-C, Prof. Raghuram, a well-known academician from the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, abruptly resigned over differences with the Union Shipping Ministry in March 2013.

Capt. Mukesh Baveja, Head of Indian National Database of Seafarers (INDoS) Cell, Mumbai, and Director (in-charge) of Kandla Port Campus, succeeded Prof. Raghuram to the top post.

Before taking voluntary retirement from service in 2011, Mr. Shetty worked in various capacities in Tamil Nadu Government and had held a good reputation among his colleagues.

However, the retired Indian Administrative Service Officer has a big task on his hand to bring back the lost glory of IMU.

Software glitch affects export of seafood & agri. cargo from Chennai

Source:http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/software-glitch-affects-export-of-seafood-agri-cargo-from-chennai/

The introduction of Risk Management System (RMS) for exports coupled with technical glitches in Customs’ software ICEGATE, which is the platform for online filing of shipping bills and other necessary documents, has badly affected the export of agricultural commodities from Chennai region.

According to EXIM players engaged in exporting agricultural products like onion, groundnut, chillies, coir products and seafood items, they are facing serious trouble of failing to meet consignment obligations as the newly introduced system opts for multiple verifications of products packed inside containers meant for export.

Speaking to Sagar Sandesh, one of the exporters seeking anonymity, said: “We are not opposed to the new system, which has been touted as a best method to reduce time consumed for processing export containers. However, for the past few days, more than 80 per cent of factory-sealed containers, that too done in the watchful eyes of senior Customs or Central Excise officials, were being asked by the modified software for re-inspection.”

“If we open a seafood-laden refrigerated container (sealed after proper check-up in Customs-notified warehousing facility) based on the command of modified software at the inspection point after the implementation of RMS, it would definitely affect the quality of seafood loaded and there are high chances that the consignment may be rejected from our consignees due to poor quality,” said another exporter.

Though Customs officials maintain that the primary objective of this system is to strike an optimal balance between facilitation and enforcement and to promote a culture of compliance, it is intended to improve the management of the resources of the department to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness in meeting stakeholder expectations and to bring the Customs processes on par with the best international practices.

While the authorities had admitted that given the exponential growth in trade volumes over the years, the traditional approach of verifying every export document and examining every container will simply not work, the new system would help them to randomly pick consignments for re-inspection.

However, technical glitch in the modified software puts up a message that about 80 per cent of consignments, stuffed and sealed in private warehouses, should be opened for re-inspection.

With the glitch in recently modified Customs software delaying consignments, a group of Custom House Agents (CHA) met the top officials and held detailed discussion to solve the crisis at the earliest.

Though the Customs officials are reluctant to accept the ground reality put forth by agricultural commodity exporters of non-possibility of re-inspecting such goods initially, they later agreed to clear those containers till a permanent solution arrived is arrived at.

 What is Risk Management System?

Shipping Bills filed electronically into ICES through the Service Centre or the ICEGATE will be processed by RMS. The RMS will process the data through a series of steps/ corridors and produce an electronic output for the ICES.

This output from RMS will determine the flow of the shipping bill in ICES, i.e. whether the shipping bill will be taken up for Customs control (verification of self-assessment or examination or both) or to be given “Let Export Order” directly after payment of export duty (if any) without any verification of self-assessment or examination.

The RMS will also provide instructions for Appraising Officer/ Superintendent, Examining Officer/ Inspector or the Let Export Order (LEO) Officer, wherever necessary. The decisions communicated by the RMS on the need for verification of self-assessment and/ or examination and the appraising and examination instructions communicated by the RMS have to be followed by the field formations.

Pollution free coal handling facility at JSW Jaigarh Port

Source:http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/equipped-with-fire-fighting-system/

Keeping its promise for environment-friendly handling of cargoes, more particularly coal, JSW Jaigarh Port, located in Maharashtra, has taken a major step towards the goal by planning and constructing a fully covered coal stack yard to meet the coal requirement of its 1, 200 MW power plant in Ratnagiri.

It may be noted here that thermal coal remains India’s most important fuel used to generate electricity. With increasing environmental concerns, storage and handling of coal in large quantities have thrown up additional challenges to the ports. In other words, ports are forced to create adequate facilities bearing in mind the growing concerns in handling such dusty cargoes. One of the major challenges lies in handling the coal in an environment friendly manner.

According to an official of JSW Port, the project involves construction of 440-metre long covered shed housing 16-metre high coal stack with mechanized facility such as Stacker cum Reclaimer (SCR) of capacity 4, 000/2, 000T per hour with related conveyors.

The shed is of 104-metre span with 6-metre high retaining walls supporting the roof structure. The roof at the crown is 46.5-metre high from ground. The shed construction involved about 9000 cum of concrete work, 3500 tons of space frame structure and 45, 000 sqm roof sheeting.

The space frame structure was designed and supplied by M/s Xuzhou Zhongmei Steel Construction Co Ltd –China where as profiled colour coated sheets of JSW have been used as roofing material. The shed is also equipped with fire fighting and dust suppression system. The load trials of mechanized facility are in progress and work of construction of shed has been completed.

With the mega structure in place, JSW Jaigarh Port is poised to create a landmark facility for handling coal in a most environment friendly manner which will be unique in the country.

Details of covered coal storage with mechanized handling system

*     Reduction in power generation cost during monsoon – preventing coal from getting wet in monsoon and thereby saving considerable cost in drying it before feeding to bowl mills of power plant. This reduces the production cost/ unit of power.

*     Clean environment – prevents fine coal particles from flying away due to wind, thereby reducing the probable pollution in nearby surroundings.

*     No coal dust problems for power plant switchyard and surrounding areas

*     As this shed is having mechanized coal handling facility, coal will be reclaimed with the help of reclaimer and fed to power plant.

*     Depending on the varieties of coal and storage plans, it can accommodate around 260, 000 – 280, 000 MT of coal.

JSW Jaigarh Port is the first deep water, all-weather, 24/7 private port in Maharashtra. Inaugurated in August 2009, the JSW Jaigarh Port was built in a record time of 20 months. This greenfield, all-weather port occupies a strategic location on the west coast, as it is situated between the ports of Mumbai and Goa.
Currently, the port is fully operational with 2 berths having a cargo handling capacity of 15 million tonnes per annum. Jaigarh aims to become one of the most modern and mechanized ports in India, benchmarked to international standards. The Port intends to be the facility of choice for all customers in Maharashtra and Karnataka by adopting and developing the latest technology. Jaigarh Port offers port related services in a way that ensures enduring value to the customers, community and environment.

Jaigarh Port is operated by JSW Jaigarh Port, an SPV of JSW Infrastructure. The Company was created to develop the port, on a build-own-operate-share-transfer (BOOST) basis, under a 50-year concession licensed by the State Government of Maharashtra.

At a time when the Maharashtra Maritime Board was looking to develop the historical Jaigarh port, JSW Group saw a potential opportunity to establish port activities. With the Government and JSW coming together with a common goal of development, a licence for a greenfield all-weather port at Jaigarh was granted to the Group.

JSW Jaigarh Port was established in 2006, to support the coal import requirements of the 1200 MW JSW Energy thermal power plant located at Jaigarh.


True to the vision of the Group, JSW Jaigarh Port has since expanded its commercial operations to service the requirements of various other industries as well.