writingonblog uncensored: Union govt wants swift resolution of Samsung labou...

writingonblog uncensored: Union govt wants swift resolution of Samsung labou...: CHENNAI: Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and urged swift resolution of workers' str...

Union govt wants swift resolution of Samsung labour row; TN says efforts are on; Samsungs wants to resolve issue directly with workers

CHENNAI:

Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and urged swift resolution of workers' strike at the Sriperumbudur plant of Samsung Electronics, a source said.

The minister has urged the state government to intervene for an early and amicable resolution in order to maintain a positive manufacturing sector ecosystem, the source said. Government sources told The New indian Express that the government is in touch with both the parties and hoping to resolve the issue in a week.

When The New Indian Express contacted a labour department official, he said, "Efforts are being taken through the conciliation process, which is going on."

Meanwhile, Samsung on Wednesday said it is committed to resolving all issues including wages, benefits and working conditions by negotiating with workers directly, and urged them to return back to work at the earliest.

"At Samsung India, the welfare of our employees is our top priority. The average monthly salary of our full-time manufacturing workers at the Chennai plant is 1.8 times the average salary of similar workers employed at other companies in the region. Our workers are also eligible for overtime pay and other allowances and we provide a workplace environment that assures the highest standards of health, safety and welfare, including free shuttle bus and meals," a release stated.
 
"In addition, at our Chennai factory, full-time employees make up the majority of our total workforce, which we believe is the highest level compared with other manufacturers in the region. Moreover, the average tenure of our manufacturing workforce," according to the statement.

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writingonblog uncensored: Rosatomflot’s icebreaker escorted the largest cont...

writingonblog uncensored: Rosatomflot’s icebreaker escorted the largest cont...: ( The main task of the ice escort was to ensure safe passage of ships through solid ice) Chennai: The Rosatomflot’s nuclear icebreaker Ura...

Rosatomflot’s icebreaker escorted the largest container ship in the North Sea route history

(The main task of the ice escort was to ensure safe passage of ships through solid ice)

Chennai:

TheRosatomflot’s nuclear icebreaker Ural escorted a convoy of two vessels including the bulk carrier Smoke and the large container ship NewNewStar (with a container capacity of 3,534 TEU) in the East Siberian Sea on September 6. 

 

For the first time, a container ship having these dimensions (length: 231 meters, width: 32 meters) entered the waters of the Northern Sea Route.

The icebreaker Ural began escorting the ships at the eastern edge of the Chukchi Sea ice and completed its task at the western edge of the East Siberian Sea ice. The main goal of the icebreaker assistance was to ensure safe passage of the ships through the solid ice bridge. Having completed the passage, the container ship NewNew Star headed towards the port of St. Petersburg and the bulk carrier Smoke headed towards the port of Murmansk without assistance.

"The Northern Sea Route is enjoying increasing popularity among cargo carriers these days. The crews of the nuclear icebreaker Ural and the convoy vessels showed effective teamwork and professionalism which ensured safe passage through solid ice and maintained service speed of the vessels," commented Andrey Tenitsky, Advisor to Director General of Atomflot.

The icebreaker escorted the ships on the route of 150 nautical miles with an average speed of 12 knots.

writingonblog uncensored: CMRL seeks funds borrowed from external agencies f...

writingonblog uncensored: CMRL seeks funds borrowed from external agencies f...: C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI: Chennai Metro Rail is facing fund crunch to complete the works under Rs 63,246 crore Phase II project as the funds...

CMRL seeks funds borrowed from external agencies for Phase-II routed through Centre as state has limitation on funding

C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI:
Chennai Metro Rail is facing fund crunch to complete the works under Rs 63,246 crore Phase II project as the funds are routed through the state, which has restriction on borrowing.

The Special Purpose Vehicle Chennai Metro Rail is a joint venture company and funds were flowing directly from the Centre for the project. But after it was considered as a state project, the external borrowings are routed through the state which has restriction to spend under FRBM rules.

This has resulted in Chennai Metro Rail urging the Department of Economic Affairs to reconsider the project as a Central project work out with revised loan agreements with the multilateral agencies which will result in availing the funds without any constraint and the project will be able to gain the speed.

It is learnt from sources that there are concerns about availability of funds when the project is under State sector since there are FRBM restrictions for release of funds by State Government even though funding from external financing agencies have been tied up.  If the project is under Central Sector, fund flow of external loans is assured.  Further, for maintaining healthy debt equity ratio in its balance sheet, CMRL needs equity participation by both Union and State Governments.

In 2018 when Chennai Metro got the fund from Japan International Cooperation Agency's (JICA) modified Special Terms of Economic Partnership (STEP) without linking the same to the sanction of Union government. This was due to insistence of JICA which was keen on signing the agreement during the financial year of 2018-19. The loan was then taken as state loan through the state budget after Union Housing Ministry recommended the proposal for consideration of Department of Economic Affairs.

Earlier, Nirmala Sitharaman has hit out at the state government blaming the Centre for insufficient funds, asserting that the central government had arranged the required loan and the state has under-utilised the funds.

Chennai Metro Rail has till now spent Rs 18,500 crore for Phase-II of Chennai Metro projects. Of this it has 5,800 crore crore has been reimbursed from the lending agencies and another Rs 1,000 crore will be reimbursed in the next couple of months. Similarly, Rs 11,000 is funded directly by the state government, sources said.

writingonblog uncensored: Chennai-based opto chipmaker to invest $16.5m to h...

writingonblog uncensored: Chennai-based opto chipmaker to invest $16.5m to h...: (Eswara Rao Nandanam, managing director and chief executive officer of Polymatech displaying sapphire which is used in Semiconductor chips) ...

Chennai-based opto chipmaker to invest $16.5m to help raise crops in polyhouses in Bahrain

(Eswara Rao Nandanam, managing director and chief executive officer of Polymatech displaying sapphire which is used in Semiconductor chips)

CHENNAI:In a bid to provide food security in Central Asia and North Africa, Chennai based opto Semiconductor chipmaker Polymatech is planning to set up op Semiconductor assembly  plant in Bahrain worth $16.5m million which would result in raising crops in the Middle East and the North Africa (MENA) region.
The Mena region has been totally reliant on food imports and the investment would help the region grow their own vegetables using the light emitting semiconductors. Apart from that the focus will be on medical electronics, including eye surgery, laparoscopy, vein finder.

Eswara Rao Nandanam, managing director and chief executive officer of Polymatech, said that his company has vowed to spend over $100 million in Bharain by 2027. The facility which is to be established under the brand name Atri, will also be producing 5G and 6G components. "Initially, we will be producing horticulture and medical devices chips," he said.

Nandanam said that the soil of Bahrain doesn't allow the growth of plants in the arid region. With our technology, the vegetables grown on cocopeat and hydroponics would be using the light generated by the opto semiconductor chips using sapphire wafers. When queried why not the sunlight available in the region, Nandam, who has come out with a ultraviolet technology to sanitise hospitals in Chennai, said that, "the ozone is different in different locations and the intensity sunlight will also be different that is why we are using the polyhouses," he said.

This would result in production of mushrooms and all kinds of vegetables in polyhouses, which the MENA countries have been depending on imports. Apart from this there will be fish farming and aquaculture. He said this would also improve the growth of poultry chicken by generating more flesh in them and all this could happen by using the lights emitted using the sapphire wafer chips which are thinner than the hair.

Nandam, who is helping the state government by providing 'infrared vein lighting' which helps in detecting the veins in the patient, said the facility will be set up in 25,000 square feet of Bahrain’s Industrial Area of Hidd which could be expanded to 100,000 square feet. The plant will be opened in October.

Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif, Minister of Sustainable Development, Chief Executive of Bahrain Economic Development Board, said, "Polymatech establishing a semiconductor facility in Bahrain is a pivotal milestone on this journey of digital transformation and is set to usher in a new era of innovation and technological advancement across sectors, contributing significantly to the national economy."

The company is qlso planning to invest Rs 1,000 crore to expand its operations in Chennai in the year 2024 and 2025, where it is doing packaging of semiconductors. The investment is ongoing. This would result in increasing the capacity from 2 million chips a year to 5 million chips a year.

writingonblog uncensored: writingonblog uncensored: TN starts tech trial run...

writingonblog uncensored: writingonblog uncensored: TN starts tech trial run...: writingonblog uncensored: TN starts tech trial run of EVs to upgrade five st... : CHENNAI: National Highways for Electric Vehicles (NHEV) u...

writingonblog uncensored: TN starts tech trial run of EVs to upgrade five st...

writingonblog uncensored: TN starts tech trial run of EVs to upgrade five st...: CHENNAI: National Highways for Electric Vehicles (NHEV) under its Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) program started the 3rd Tech Trial Run of ...

TN starts tech trial run of EVs to upgrade five state highwaysto e-highways

CHENNAI:
National Highways for Electric Vehicles (NHEV) under its Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) program started the 3rd Tech Trial Run of Electric Vehicles for upgrading five of Tamil Nadu's highways into e-highways.

The trial covers a 332 km stretch from Chennai to Trichy including electric, hydrogen, and zero-emission freight vehicles for the first time, in addition to electric SUVs and buses tested in previous trials. The flag-off ceremony was held on Monday at Chennai Trade Centre here to mark the World Electric Vehicle Day, The event  was attended by Dr P Alarmelmangai, Executive Director, Guidance Tamil Nadu and also officials from Startup TN along with several industry partners.

The deployment of Zero-Emission Trucks (ZET), hydrogen, and electric freight vehicles along the route will provide stakeholders, including users, financiers, and manufacturers with critical insights to facilitate informed decisions on immediate vehicle deployment. Key factors under assessment include the cost efficiency of electric versus diesel and hydrogen vehicles, the total cost of ownership for a fleet of electric buses or trucks, the breakeven period for investment recovery, and the costs associated with upgrading e-highway infrastructure.

The Tech Trial 3 focuses on five key routes --- Trichy to Chennai, Trichy to Madurai, Coimbatore to Ulundurpet, Kishnagiri to Madurai, and Madurai to Kanyakumari. Data from a technical trial will be used to determine the optimal locations for charging stations, their required frequency, associated costs, and the overall investment needed to upgrade these highways into e-highways.

The project aims to reduce logistics costs in India from 14% to 9%. Trucking significantly contributes to these costs, and Tamil Nadu's progress in cutting logistics expenses could serve as a model for other states. The focus will be on decarbonizing the trucking industry and transitioning to zero-emission trucking, says Abhijit Sinha, Program Director at NHEV. Despite their lower operating costs compared to diesel, hydrogen and electric trucks are not yet available for business use. This trial seeks to gather real-time data to support their initial pilot deployment, similar to the earlier e-mobility pilot project under the Ease of Doing Business program for electric buses and SUVs, he added.

Tamil Nadu has been chosen after a very extensive exercise to understand what it brings to the table. It has a position in the Indian economy as an economy that is poised to become a one-trillion-dollar economy. Second, it has a place in the Indian logistics sector. It serves as a hub for automobiles, logistics, and trucking in the southern part of India. It sends and receives huge amounts of goods. It also has a large number of industries, component partners, steel and cement manufacturers, and many other manufacturing units in this part of India, Sinha said.

National Highways for Electric Vehicles (NHEV) is a pilot program adopted by Govt of India; initially supported by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry to upgrade highways into E-Highways