Indian Air Force base - 42 labourers injured in building collapse

At least 42 labourers were injured after a building inside the Indian Air Force base in Jamnagar district of Gujarat collapsed on Thursday, district officials said here.

Rescue teams have evacuated at least 42 people from the debris, while searches were on for those feared trapped, Jamnagar District Resident Deputy Collector (RDC) Ketan Thakker said. All the injured were labourers, he said.

The condition of three rescued persons is critical, all the injured were admitted to a hospital.

"As of now, focus of the administration is to rescue those still trapped beneath the debris. The cause of building collapse is not yet known," he said.

Fire brigade personnel and medical teams were stationed at the collapse site to assist in the rescue operation, he added.

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Brip

Jamnagar refinery back on track

Reliance Industries said its Jamnagar refinery, where a fire destroyed one of its oil processing units on Wednesday, is operating at full capacity and the accident will not affect the company's financial performance and supply of products.

"All the units are running at full capacity. Only the fire-hit desulphurisation unit is out of operation," RIL's Jamnagar refinery site president P K Kapil told PTI.

A diesel hydrotreater that was shut following the fire at the adjacent vacuum gasoil hydrotreater was back in operation and all other units were operating at full capacity.

"Jamnagar refinery produces 7,500 tonnes of LPG per day. Today the refinery is producing close to that figure," he said adding it was not correct to say that the country would be deprived of LPG.

Meanwhile, one contract worker, reported missing after the fire, was found dead. Another company employee, who suffered more than 60 per cent burn injuries, has been moved to Mumbai for treatment.

Reliance officials said Jamnagar refinery, which met about one-fifth of country's LPG demand, had enough stocks to meet the requirement for the next one week.

Kapil said there would be no shortage of any petroleum products because of the fire. The fire had affected only a small section of the refinery and the rest of it was working properly.

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, who took stock of the situation at a meeting of chief executives of oil companies, said the country had enough stocks to meet LPG requirement for more than two weeks.

"As a precaution, we have already floated tenders to import LPG," he said.

The fire damaged the vacuum gasoil hydrotreater unit No. 2 and the company as a precaution also shut down the adjacent diesel hydrotreater unit No. 2. Hydrotreaters remove sulphur from petrol and diesel.

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Brip

Major fire broke out in Jamnagar refinery

Reliance Industries was likely to take a hit of almost Rs 1,200 crore due to a fire in one of the vacuum gas oil hydrotreater units at its Jamnagar refinery early today. 

A major fire broke out in the Jamnagar refinery of Reliance today. Attempts are being made to control the fire. The fire broke out in unit no. 2 of the crude section of ther refinery.  Fire tenders of the Jamnagar city, Air Force and Rajkot city are being rushed to the spot. The cause of the fire and the number of casualties are not known yet. Fire broke out around 10.30 AM.

Reliance Industries' Jamnagar refinery has a capacity of 660,000 barrels per day and with one of the two vacuum gas oil hydrotreaters out of action for 10-15 days, production was expected to come down by half, sources said, this would particularly hit Reliance Industries' export commitments of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and of some polymer products. Diesel and gasoline comprised nearly 40-45 per cent of the company's total refined product exports of $5.5 billion during the first six months of the current financial year ending September 30. A Reuters report from Singapore says that , "Gasoline markets may firm while high-sulphur crude prices (may) slide" if the vacuum gas oil hydrotreater requires lengthy repairs, The vacuum gas oil hydrotreater unit, which is believed to have been completely gutted in the fire, removes sulphur from crude oil and passes it on to a fluid catalytic cracker unit, which in turn produces gasoline and olefins, which feed the petrochemical units at the Jamnagar refinery. 

Due to the fire, the complex may not be able to run its downstream petrochem plants of paraxylene-PTA and polypropylene. 

According to sources in Reliance Industries, imports of low sulphur sweet crude oil are being thought about, but that may not help Reliance Industries reach full capacity immediately, The removal of the damaged plant and construction of a replacement is expected take more time than predicted by the company, Reliance Industries, which posted a net profit of Rs 2,709 crore on an income of Rs 28,496 crore for the quarter ended September 30, exports diesel and gasoline mainly to SAARC countries and to countries in the north African region. 

Government is taking no chances and has asked state-owned Indian Oil Corp to tie up import of about 100,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas, The fire was not likely to result in the shortage of other fuels as the shortage might be supplemented by imports, Petroleum Secretary MS Srinivasan told a television channel. 

Though Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani told Petroleum Minister Murli Deora there would be no production loss, according to a PTI report, government sources said the shutdown of the hydrotreater unit would result in a shortfall of 120,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas supplies to the domestic market, a small fraction of the overall projected demand of about 12 million tonnes this year. 

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Brip

Jamnagar Village under Quake Threat

Jamnagar Village under Quake Threat,

Residents of Khankhotda village, ( Kalawad taluka)  have been spending sleepless nights since a month. The mild tremors are experienced with huge bangs people fear the repeat of the 2001 quake, they are still not ready to shift to their houses and have been living in tents erected for them by the administration.  The region experienced eleven "blasts" on Sunday and six mild tremors on Monday. this village is the epicentre, the Jamnagar District Collector Office has erected tents where around 100 people have taken shelter. In other villages like Bagha and Lalpur also, people are spending night in the open.

Purshottam Patel sarcpanch of Khankhotda says that, more than 100 people have taken refuge in around 30 tents. ''It's been more than a month that people here have not been able to sleep because of these tremors and blasts,''.

On Sunday, 11 tremors were recorded between 7 am and 1 pm. Another tremor measuring 2.4 on the Richter scale hit the region around 4 pm.

Last Friday, Dwarka in Jamnagar district also recorded an undersea tremor measuring 2.8 on the Richter scale. ''Tremors recorded were very mild. There's no reason to panic," said Jamnagar District Collector VP Patel.

Seismologist SS Gadhvi said: ''Jamnagar district is in zone number 3, which means it has less possibility of being hit by an earthquake. No fault line is active in Saurashtra region. So there could be mild tremors, but no powerful earthquake.''  the team also explained that the tremors are result of movement between two plates, located hardly 2 kms down from the surface. The team, which has set up two temporary observatories in Khankhotda and Lalpur, based on their past two days' experience said that blast will continue for another one and a half months. ''It will subside when movements between two plates will stop,'

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Brip

New Jewellery Showroom For Jamnagar

New Jewellery Showroom For Jamnagar

Rajesh Exports Ltd (Jewellery exporter) said it has opened retail jewellery showrooms at Rajkot and Jamnagar under the brand name 'Laabh Jewellers'.

The showrooms, that were opened yesterday, is the first in a series of nation wide launches of retail showrooms, the company informed the BSE.

the brand 'Laabh Jewellers' would offer modern designs with a "life time guarantee" of purity at competitive prices and would be offered to the consumers under a definite buy back plan.

The company had issued guidance of starting retail operations by Diwali 2006.

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Brip

Gujarat coastline - entry point for 7/11 terrorists?

Pakistani terrorists,who triggered Mumbai's 7/11 blasts, sail to Gujarat?
This "definite possibility" is being probed by Gujarat's intelligence agency and the anti-terrorism squad.

Mumbai police commissioner AN Roy on Saturday drew attention to the porous border in Gujarat, he added that 11 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists from Pakistan ( who had trigged the 7/11 blasts) had crossed over illegally through international borders in Bangladesh, Nepal and Gujarat.

However, if you think this development has alarmed the state home department enough to speed up border policing, then think again. It will be at least another month before the 'promised' upgradation of Gujarat's coastal security takes place, said top police sources.  The up gradation was to include coastal police stations manned by cops armed with speed boats, surveillance gadgets and automatic weapons.

Before that, in May, the Delhi police had also pointed towards a 'porous' sea route, linking India and Pakistan, close to Gujarat coastline.

Two LeT terrorists, who were arrested in Delhi on May 8 with RDX and detonators, had told police that the explosives were smuggled in through the sea route and handed over to them at Koteshwar in Kutch.

Gujarat police sources also point out the recovery of RDX from Kutch in early 90s. Inspector general of police, Kutch range, Rajan Priyadarshi said: "Work to set up coastal police stations is underway.

We will soon commission a coastal police station at Mundra port with adequate police officers, who would be given six speed boats for patrolling." Similar coastal police stations are to come up in Jamnagar and Junagadh.

this soon seems to be a bit far now... and Innocent people are paying its price with their lives.
 
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Brip

Ravindra Jadeja - Big dreams

He is living a dream, being a part of the same dressing room as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

While he is in the 12th standard expectedly put butterflies in Ravindra Jadeja's stomach, the confidence level of the teenager — who can't think beyond cricket.

The left-hander fielded the very first ball of the match, and a few minutes later, took a marvelous catch to dismiss India Red's S Badrinath.

he sayed : "I am very happy. It was my first day, but everybody treated me as just another teammate. There is no seniority issue. I have received great support. It has been a great experience."

Watching the left-hander execute some clean, straight hits at the nets left one in no doubt that the selectors were right in giving the 17 year-old, who is yet to make his Ranji debut, a 'feel' of the big stage. Jadeja's game looks similar to current India middle-order bat Yuvraj Singh's. "He is my role model. Like him, I love to drive the ball straight, particularly through the on-side.

Like Yuvi, Jadeja is a useful left-arm spinner and, as the catch at point on Sunday showed, he is an efficient fielder. It may not be long before Jadeja rubbed shoulders with his role model.

Jadeja is fulfilling the dying wish of his mother, "She fought for her life in the hospital for five days, but kept telling me that she desperately wanted me to play for India," Jadeja said. he says, it were his neighbours and friends who were elated with his surprise 'call-up.' "The Pakistan tour with the under-19 team really helped. I performed well both with the bat, in the middle-order, and bowled my left-arm spinners well. Before that I played reasonably well with the India A team in Abu Dhabi and Australia. Everybody who saw me bat was impressed," he said.

 

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Brip

Jamnagar Leads in Investment Race.

Jamnagar has clearly moved Surat back in terms of industrial investments in the past five years, and Saurashtra district will be leading the growth over its north/souh gujarat counterparts in the coming years.

Jamnagar has attracted investments worth Rs 56,379 crore in the last five years. while Surat (including Hazira) has managed to bag Rs 38,906 crore.

Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) stat shows that the Saurashtra and mainly jamnagar will increase this gap in coming years, Surat do have major names like ONGC, GAIL, Kribhco, NTPC, Reliance, Essar, Shell and Cairn setting up new projects / expansions in Hazira, but the main focus now will be in the small-scale sector like diamond and textiles. Surat SEZ will attarct invetment worth Rs 1,000 crore in the apparel park, Rs 4,000 crore in the gems and Jewellery Park, and Rs 5,000 crore in a multi-product park.

Jamnagar is taking a giant leap from this small figures,  Reliance's second oil refinery and SEZ will alone bring in Rs 40,000 crore from the company, Reliance is keen to bring world largest downstream players such Exxon Mobil, Dow, Lyondell, Innovene, SABIC, JSR, Goodyear, Nippon Zeon, Borealis, Huntsman, Basell, Shinetsu, Formosa, LG, Vinolit, Vestolit, Novachem and BASF for setting up facilities in the SEZ.

Adding Essar's oil refinery adventures in its proposed SEZ  at Jamnagar, which is worth Rs 15,000 crore, and you would reach a staggering figure which could well cross the Rs 1,00,000 crore, this is the total investment in Hazira till date.

There will be huge downstream effect for Jamnagar investments and Jamnagar will grow significantly, said one official at Industrial Extension Bureau, Gandhinagar.

They also point out that while the small-scale sector has contributed to the investments in Surat, this has not happened in the case of Jamnagar, which has relied heavily on the biggies.

 

 

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Brip

Moti Khavdi Tension gripped

Moti Khavdi Tension gripped.

A labour was killed when a truck ran over him near New Labour Colony off Kanalus Village, Tension gripped the Moti Khavdi industrial zone in Jamnagar district today morning, when more than 1,000 labours assembled to protest the accidental death of a 25 year old labourer, Lalla Tulsiram Bapat, he was on the rolls of RIL's contractors and his death threatened to lead to some tension in the area but since the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) platoons were deployed in nearby areas, any violent fallout was averted

The SRPF had been deployed in the industrial zone, following a scuffle in the company premises of  Essar Oil in the month of August, when labourers reacted violently and damaged security office torching two company hired vehicles, due to a similar incident, wherein a labourer was injured stamped by a four-wheeler passing from the same highway.
 
As such accidents have been frequently occurring in the industrial site where Essar and Reliance have their full-fledged operations, especially the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) projects, an additional police chowki facility has been erected here.

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Brip

One Refinery can change India's Image

One Refinery can change India's Image.

"It is not just a refinery. We believe the refinery challenges the paradigm that China is forging ahead of India with its industry," , quotted Hital Meswani (ED - RIL), to reporters on a tour of the Jamnagar Refinery complex.

Reliance Industry, India's largest conglomerate hopes on an Arabian Sea coast oil refinery at Jamnagar, to become the world's largest refinery, and the to gave country an industrial giant status. this refinery was opened in December 1999. It has 30 sq km and has transferred India's image from from being a net importer of refined petroleum product to an exporter.

Reliance is now set to invest a further $6 bn to double output, this expansion will make refinery on top place from its current third place behind Venezuela and South Korea, This single refinery will also help to demolish some myths stating that India is good for services sector and China is best for its industrial sector. (In China, the industrial sector accounts for 46 per cent of GDP, compared to 27 per cent in India.)

Jamnagar Refinery Complex is situated in the Gulf of Kutch on the Arabian Sea, the refinery took just three years to build. The company says its 5,000 km of pipes, 1.7 million tonnes of concrete, 14,000km of cable and equivalent in steel of 16 Eiffel towers represent a record. complete work in refinery is automated and overseen by engineers working out of underground control rooms, this CR are controlled by a CCR (central control room) and all CR are decorated with the portraits of the late Reliance founder Dhirubhai Ambani.

This refinery has its own power station, fire station, medical teams and security service and a super tanker port. There are 170 km of roads and a residential area of 2,500 homes for the employees. Reliance Greens, a  green belt is also hoped to lead to the production of 3,000 tonnes of mangoes a year and this mangoes recently begged an order from British retail giant Harrods.

Currently refining capacity is 3.3 MMTPD of crude oil processing, which is used to extract refined products like petrol, diesel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas – plus petrochemicals.

The complex has served 5,000 ships till now and only Rotterdam is handling more refined products then this refinery.

 

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Brip