Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Power and energy giant Shell are in talks to jointly set up India’s first east-coast LNG terminal to fuel factories and power plants that are eyeing imports as output from the D6 block has fallen sharply, three people familiar with the matter said.

Andhra Pradesh which has 75 notified special economic zones (SEZs), which is the highest number of SEZs in any State in the country, has attracted investment of about Rs 15,000 crore. These SEZs registered exports of Rs 13,000 crore during the financial year 2010-11 and exports are expected to double during the current financial year, according to statement.

Apart from attracting investment and helping create new infrastructure, these SEZs provided direct employment opportunities to nearly 1.20 lakh people and many more have gained indirect employment.

Protests by fishermen against drilling by the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) in the Krishna-Godavari basin, off the coast of Kakinada, has put the Gujarat-based company in a spot. About 10,000 fishermen in 500-odd boats have been coming daily since Monday to the GSPC rig and demanding that they stop drilling as it was driving away fish and affecting their livelihood.

A number of edible oil refineries have been established in the vicinity of Kakinada port during the past decade, generating employment in the port town and stimulating economic growth, but there are complaints from the public that the managements of the private refineries are not taking steps to mitigate or minimise pollution. As a result, life has become very difficult for those residing in the nearby areas such as Vakalapudi, Sambamurthy Nagar, and Nemam.

Bhubaneswar: In a fresh effort to curb illegal mining activities in the state, the Odisha government and officials of different ports on Tuesday resolved to share information regarding mineral exports on regular basis.

Authorities of Haldia and Vishakhapatnam ports today agreed to share information on export of minerals through their facilities from November, chief secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik told reporters after meeting with the authorities of Paradip, Haldia, Vishakhapatnam and Dhamra ports, at the State Secretariat here.

In neighbouring Karnataka, the Lokayukta report on illegal mining has led to the resignation of B S Yeddyurappa as Chief Minister and put the BJP on the defensive. What has been little talked about, so far, is the report’s mention of the crucial role played by ports in Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh in the export of illegally mined iron ore.

According to the report, trucks and rail rakes laden with iron ore made their way out of Bellary to Krishnapatnam Port, Kakinada Port and Visakhapatnam Port, via Anantapur and Kadapa, in Andhra.

Rice traders are looking at the Kakinada belt of Andhra Pradesh as the main sourcing point to ship out non-basmati grain, following the Empowered Group of Ministers' (EGoM) decision to allow up to 10 lakh tonnes (lt) of export.

According to trade sources, double-polished parboiled rice with five per cent broken content is available within 100 km of Kakinada port today at about Rs 17,000 a tonne

Jan.

Kakinada, Dec. 3: Anti-Pollution Day was observed under the aegis of the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board at P.R. Government Degree College, here on Friday. The assistant environmental engineer of the board, Mr V. Ravi Sankar underlined the ill-effects of pollution.

May 27: The city is witnessing heat wave conditions in the last two days as the temperatures soared to 44.50C on Thursday. Heat wave conditions are prevailing from the morning forced people to remain indoors. On Wednesday, the city recorded 44 degrees celcius.