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Indian Oil Corporation will invest $4 billion in the British Columbia province, Canada, to source liquefied natural gas from the region.Premier of British Columbia, Canada Christy Clark said: "Indian Oil is poised to make its biggest investment in Canada to secure natural gas for India from BC."She said the state-run firm will invest $4 billion for securing LNG supplies from the Canadian province.IOC, in May, signed a deal to buy 10 per cent stake in shale-gas assets and a linked liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in British Columbia.The Canadian asset will produce as much as 19.68 million tonnes of LNG a year for 25 years starting in 2018.That apart, Clark said, GMR Group of India and IC-Impacts of her province will now work together on safe and sustainable infrastructure like innovative pavement technology, construction design and water and waste water infrastructure.Wooing domestic investors, she said: "We, in British Columbia, would like to partner with this great country to realise its potential by providing LNG to power its future. We recognise that there will be a mix of energy sources - coal, oil, solar, wind."India needs a million skilled workers a year, every year, for the next 15 years. We can help. If we can help train 3,000 and 300 of them help us build an LNG industry -- it's good for you and good for us."Reliance Industries has also signed on with IC-Impacts to share research, training and develop new technologies in such areas as specialised building materials for infrastructure like bridges, roads and buildings.The state government of Punjab and BC have committed to work together on skills training, education and agriculture.Projecting BC as an attractive destination for investment in the LNG space, Clarke said: "There are several advantages -- short transportation time to Asia to save cost, lower operating costs, vast gas reserves, stable and reliable jurisdiction and a strong regulatory regime."The Canadian province is also expecting big ticket investments in its energy space from other geographies as well. It is likely to finalise $36 billion from Petronas of Malaysia by this new year.Earlier this week, Clark announced a funding for 20 scholarships, worth a total of 50,000 dollars, to support and encourage two-way exchange of students between the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) and Sanatan Dharma (SD) College in Chandigarh.(PTI)
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Going by the details of assets and liabilities of the Union Council of Ministers uploaded on the PMO website, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assets have come down by Rs 40 lakh to Rs 1.26 crore since his last declaration in April. The decrease in his assets is attributable to two factors. One, his bank fixed deposits have reduced from Rs 32.48 lakh in April to Rs 17 lakh, and the other being the big donation he made to the cause of the girl child in May. No ReliefThe Karnataka High Court rejected a plea for bail by the imprisoned AIADMK supremo and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalithaa. On 27 September, she was sentenced to four years in jail and directed to pay a fine of Rs 100 crore in an 18-year-old case involving disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 66.65 crore. Jayalalithaa, who stepped down following the indictment, is the first serving Indian chief minster to be convicted of corruption. In A New League Indian cricket captain and the face of IPL side Chennai Super Kings, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, is now a co-owner of Chennaiyin FC — the Chennai-based franchise of the Indian Super League — which has Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan and Vita Dani as other owners. Dhoni is the second active Indian cricketer to co-own a team after Virat Kohli, who is part of FC Goa, and the fourth to be a part of this eight city-based league. Sachin Tendulkar is a co-owner of Kerala Blasters FC, while Sourav Ganguly is one of the owners of Atletico de Kolkata. Saying Ta-Ta To TatasS. Ramadorai, a veteran Tata Group executive credited with steering Tata Consultancy Services to becoming one of the world’s largest information technology services companies, retired on 6 October after attaining the superannuation age of 70. He stepped down from the position of vice-chairman of Tata Consultancy Services, chairman of CMC (a subsidiary of TCS) and Tata Elxsi. A Lavish Affair True love may be priceless. But a gorgeous destination wedding in Venice, Italy, with fine food, top-shelf wines and multiple celebrations? Not so much. Hollywood superstar George Clooney and human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin’s three-day wedding weekend, including their intimate ceremony at the Aman Canal Grande resort on 27 September, cost about $1.6 million, or a million British pounds. A Step UpUK-based pharma company GlaxoSmithKline has appointed Zubair Ahmed, senior vice-president for the Indian subcontinent, head of its proposed joint venture with Novartis AG in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Ahmed, who joined the company in 2007, will assume his new role in the first half of 2015, following the closure of the deal. Taking A HaircutAs Cisco commenced its global layoff plan, CEO John Chambers felt the squeeze. The networking giant cut Chambers’ total compensation by 22 per cent, from $21 million to $16.5 million. However, the compensation was still a step up from the $11.7 million he earned in fiscal 2012. The cut is said to be on account of financial performance. Logging OutThe last of Infosys’ founders, Kris Gopalakrishnan, has stepped down from the company’s board, marking the end of an era for the 33-year-old company, which has grown into an $8.24-billion software exporter. Gopalakrishnan, along with six others including N.R. Narayana Murthy, founded the IT bellwether in 1981 with a capital of $250 and shaped it into a behemoth and India’s second-largest IT services company. (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 03-11-2014)
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