Company for energy efficiency schemes on cards

October 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Friday said the commission will soon set up a separate independent evaluation office (IEO) to assess the extent to which the government's flagship schemes are benefiting the poor. "We are working towards the establishment of an IEO for strengthening our evaluation system, for which the details would come out next month", Ahluwalia told reporters.

August 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Steps to boost India's energy efficiency, including mandatory efficiency ratings for everyday equipment, are expected to get the go-ahead when the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change meets here Monday. In India's National Action Plan on Climate Change unveiled June 30, 2008, energy efficiency has been identified as one of the eight principal ways in which the country will fight global warming.

August 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Businessman Ashwani Sud, who was on the run for the last two years, has been arrested for allegedly duping investors of Rs.22 crore (Rs.220 million) by offering various schemes for investing in teak plantations, police said Wednesday. Sud, chairman cum managing director of Timber World Resorts and Plantation India, was arrested Monday from south Delhi's Safdarjung Enclave area, a police official said.

August 17th, 2009 Comverge files registration to sell securitiesEAST HANOVER, N.J. — Comverge Inc., a maker of energy-efficiency equipment, said Monday that it has filed to sell up to $100 million of securities.

July 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Refrigerators, air-conditioners, distribution transformers and fluorescent lamps will need mandatory ratings from the Indian government's Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) from Jan 7 next year, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh announced here Friday. "The necessary notifications are being prepared," Ramesh told reporters.

July 22nd, 2009 BRUSSELS - The European Union is to ban the sale of inefficient TVs, fridges and electric motors as early as next July in a bid to save energy and fight global warming, the EU's executive said Wednesday. The EU is the world's largest single market, making the new rules crucial for technology producers around the world.

July 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The state-run steel manufacturer Steel Authority of India (SAIL) will see its workforce whittled down by around 20,000 by 2012-end, the government said Friday. "SAIL has been rationalising its manpower on an ongoing basis.

July 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Two alleged conmen were arrested Saturday for duping at least 150 investors of lakhs of rupees with their get-rich-quickly schemes, police said. Directors of B.K.

July 8th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The union territory of Chandigarh is all set to become a "solar city" and reduce its dependence on conventional and non-renewable energy resources, officials said here Wednesday. The administration here has nearly finalised the draft plan for extensively utilising solar energy in collaboration with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The flow of credit to the farm sector increased to Rs.264,455 crore ($55 billion) last fiscal from Rs.254,657 crore in 2007-08, India's Economic Survey for 2008-09 released Thursday said. But agriculture growth fell sharply to 1.6 percent from 4.9 percent the year before.

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Wednesday set up a standing committee to improve women representations in scientific institutions and implement several recommendations given by a task force. Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that the committee under his chairmanship with 18 members and a sub-committee will be constituted for development of women-friendly policies and practical support systems inclusive of campus housing, transport, facilities for the elderly among other things.

June 19th, 2009 CHENNAI - New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah Friday said his department would request the finance ministry to continue with existing incentive schemes for renewable power projects. We find there is a great worry among the corporate sector on what would happen to the existing incentives once the generation-based incentive scheme is launched," Abdullah said at the valedictory session of a seminar on green power, organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

April 27th, 2009 Business group calls for energy cuts in buildingsHARTFORD, Conn. — The chairman of United Technologies Corp.

March 25th, 2009 CHENNAI - The Hinduja group's commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland Ltd, in association with Australia's Eden Energy, has developed a hythane-powered 92-KW engine, the company said Tuesday. Hythane is a blend of natural gas and hydrogen (usually 20 percent hydrogen by volume).

March 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre in Hyderabad has won the 2009 international Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Awards in the NGO category, a CII spokesman said here Monday. The award will be presented at a ceremony on March 27, 2009 in Aspen, Colorado.