The minister also said Japan and South Korea were keen to invest in Indias steel sector and their officials have already met with him."Goutam Chakraborty, analyst at Emkay Global Financial Services in Mumbai, said Indian companies typically produce commodity-grade steel with lower returns and are less efficient than foreign companies producing high-end steel.The company recently signed a technical agreement with South Korean steel maker POSCO, which Singh hopes will help raise output.Lenders now want the government to help the steel sector with roofing screw more steps to expedite the recovery of their loans, including by asking state companies such as SAIL to buy some sick private steel assets or manage their operations. (to) narrow down the cost of production and sale price.

The government has imposed various duties and quality controls on imports over the past two years to stop the inflow of cheap steel from countries such as China, the worlds biggest producer burdened with a massive oversupply."In my view (protectionist measures) should not be there even for a month, but I have to see the overall position of the industry," minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said in his office.Singh said loss-making SAIL or fellow state steel maker RINL were not in a position to buy any assets of private companies struggling to repay loans, but they could help with "expertise" or people."Ive made it very clear to the industry that on one hand, we are giving this much of protection but on the other hand, I want a roadmap where you can improve upon your efficiency.

Bad debtsIndias steel sector still accounts for 28 per cent of banks stressed loans, Singh said, but the government measures have helped local companies including JSW Steel, Jindal Steel and Power, Tata Steel and state-run SAIL to raise prices and improve margins."The government expects Indias steel-making capacity to rise over a third to around 160 million tonnes by mid-2018, for which SAIL will need to speed up its capacity increase that Singh said had not been satisfactory.

When banks advanced loans to these companies, they never consulted me. (But the) responsibility (of sorting the bad loans) now rests with the steel ministry."Its very strange.New Delhi: Indias debt-laden steel industry should not take the governments protectionist measures for granted and need to raise their efficiency to compete with foreign companies, the countrys steel minister told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

"The situation six-eight months ago was bad as many big countries handling freight have seen a big fall, but we have improved," he said.Prabhu said the Railways was also encouraging setting up private freight terminals.4 per cent, he said, adding that there is also been highest-ever raw material transportation for steel plants of 21 MT.07 million tonnes during the month of February 2017, which is an increase of 3.He told the Rajya Sabha that efforts were on to complete the dedicated freight corridor by 2019 as it has fast-tracked work on it by awarding contracts worth Rs 24,000 crore.5 MT, exceeding it by 13."

We have launched the Beyond Coal Mission and work has been started on it," he said.46 per cent over last year and is the highest ever monthly loading for February.New Delhi: The government is working on along-term policy with lock-in contracts especially for cargo to help increase and diversify freight revenues, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said today.Talking about diversifying the railways freight basket, Prabhu said its initiation has already been done by carrying out long-term contracts."We are encouraging the private freight terminals which sets up a warehouse and would combine small China self tapping screw distributors cargo and come to railways as big cargo, which will benefit us," he said.The Minister informed members that two-third of railways revenue is through freight and 50 per cent of that is from Coal.

In his written reply, the Minister said "Indian Railways has achieved freight handling of 92."The dedicated freight corridor is a big game changer and after our government came to power, we have fast-tracked and awarded new contracts of 24,000 crore it is our effort to complete it by 2019," he said. The entire Railways is run from freight coming from ten major commodities, he said. There has also been the highest steel loading of 48 MT surpassing previous best of 42.3 MT in railways, surpassing previous best of 117."I am happy to state that with the steps and changes brought in freight policy has resulted in the last three months alone making a new record of 1106 MT of cargo, against 1104.4 MT in 2015-16, exceeding it by 17 per cent.Noting that a lot of work was required to be taken up on the freight corridor, he said the land acquisition issue was also being resolved. "

We have decided to frame a long-term freight policy with lock-in contracts and new time-table freight train have also been started," he told members in Rajya Sabha.Prabhu said there has also been the highest ever iron ore loading of 137.".2 MT and exceeding it," he said.The Minister informed members that Railways this time has received 50 MT less coal for transportation this year, of which 20 MT is imported and 30 MT is local.In this regard, he talked about the "Beyond Coal Mission" launched by railways to think beyond coal and concentrate on other cargo for increased freight revenue.The Minister said time is coming when we are moving towards carbon-less emission and Coal being one of the principal cause of green house emissions, efforts are on to reduce its intake and move to safer fuels."We hope to diversify the freight basket and its initiation has been done by carrying out long-term contracts.

"And there was a discussion between the two leaders about the investment in infrastructure in India, and we were pleased to see India announce that it intends to build six Westinghouse nuclear reactors in India.He made the remarks while responding to questions on the meeting between Obama and Modi wherein the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to join the Paris agreement by the end of this year."So this is a good example of how smart decisions about renewable energy and fighting climate change can have an important and positive economic impact in the United States and in countries around the world," Earnest said. And he deserves a lot of credit for that, Earnest said.

Washington: The historic climate change agreement in Paris may not have been possible if it was not for the leadership shown by India in making some "substantial commitments", the White House said after Prime Minister Modi's meeting with US President Barack Obama. President Obama certainly recognises that and we've made the case that as more countries around the world consider the move to low-carbon economy, that wholesale roofing screw creates important opportunities in the alternative energy sector," he said.In response to another question, Earnest referred to Modi's remarks that India shares the objective that the United States has laid out, which is to see the Paris agreement come into force of this year and India has committed to doing their part to working toward the goal, a shared goal, of entering the agreement this year."

What I'll also say is that Prime Minister Modi recognises that there's an important economic opportunity here."We've said on many occasions that India's role in that process was significant and it's unlikely that we would have actually reached an agreement in Paris last December had the Indians not stepped up and shown some leadership in making some substantial commitments," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters."The announcements or the discussion with the Prime Minister, there was extensive discussion about the leading role that India played in achieving an international agreement to fight climate change and fight carbon pollution," he said..India played a key role in achieving an international agreement to fight climate change and fight carbon pollution, says US.

There certainly are important opportunities for American businesses even in India in the solar sector and in the wind energy sector, Earnest said, adding that there also is an opportunity for the United States to work with countries around the world to develop further nuclear energy technology.Earnest said Modi's role at Paris last year is a testament to his willingness to take a political risk to do what he thinks is right, not just for his country, but for the planet. This is a project that would create and sustain tens of thousands of good paying jobs in the United States and in India," he said

Last September, NASA announced it was delaying Webb’s launch from 2018 to 2019.The review board has issued 32 recommendations and NASA intends to implement them all, officials said. Worker morale also took a hit as the problems mounted; the team had limited time off because of excessive overtime, the board said.These are just some of the “seemingly small” mistakes that could and should have been avoided, the board said.Zurbuchen said NASA should have been providing better oversight and is part of the problem along with Northrop Grumman.NASA’s next-generation space telescope has been delayed yet again at a staggering cost of $1 million a day. Development cost alone will exceed the $8 billion cap set by Congress by more than $800 million and require authorisation. Mission success is our number one priority,” spokesman Tim Paynter said in a statement.

He warned the new date does not allow for any more major problems or mistakes, or extra excessive testing. Besides improved oversight, he said there will be more quality control and more NASA engineers will be taking part in everything moving forward.The telescope’s overall cost is now expected to reach nearly $10 billion. The valves had to be repaired or replaced.In a vibration test of the telescope earlier this year in California by prime contractor Northrop Grumman, dozens of loose fasteners — some 70 pieces in all — came off. The observatory will now fly no earlier than 2021; until last fall, it was on the books for a 2018 launch. Then in March, the launch was postponed from 2019 to 2020.“We have to get this right here on the ground before we go to space,” Zurbuchen said.For the third time in less than a year, the space agency announced a lengthy postponement Wednesday for the James Webb Space Telescope.“Make no mistake, I’m not happy sitting here having to share this story.Spacecraft sensors were also zapped with excess voltage due to improper wiring.

Despite the many problems, the review board urges that the project continues given its “compelling” scientific potential and national importance. Its sun shield, the size of a tennis court once unfurled in space, is needed to keep the infrared telescope cold and is a major risk area, he said.The observatory’s original launch date was 2010 and the cost under $1 billion. The loose and lost nuts and bolts alone were enough to bump the mission into 2021, officials noted.NASA repeatedly was over-optimistic in the work schedule, especially given the complexities and unique features of the Webb telescope, Young said. The lock nuts were not tightened properly before the test, according to a report by the board.6 million kilometres) from Earth, unreachable by astronauts like the low-orbiting Hubble — launched in 1990 with a misshapen mirror — was.The 29-month delay from 2018 to 2021 represents a $1 billion hit — not including the cost of implementing the board’s recommendations. We never want to do this. It will operate from a point 1 million miles (1. “Webb is worth the wait.“The complexity and risk cannot be overstated or overestimated,” he said.

Now it’s March 30, 2021.In another mishap, the wrong solvent was used to clean spacecraft propulsion valves.Young said if the board’s recommendations are “rigorously implemented,” then the newest date is feasible. We always want to talk about the successes that we have,” said NASA’s science mission chief Thomas Zurbuchen.“We will not sacrifice quality for schedule. No one bothered checking to stainless steel fasteners suppliers see whether the cleaner might damage the equipment, said review board chairman Tom Young. The company said it has changed the way it works to prevent future issues. It was named after NASA’s second administrator, who spearheaded the Apollo moon landings.Webb — considered a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope — is meant to peer farther into space and deeper into time than ever before. A few pieces are still missing and could well be inside the observatory.An independent review board cites worker error and embedded hardware problems for much of the escalating costs and delays.”Northrup Grumman acknowledged that problems have put the project behind schedule. The inspector on duty relied on the technician’s word that he’d wired it correctly and did not double-check the work, the board said.