Ruchika Chaudhry Govil, Joint Secretary Ministry of Steel, talked on the importance of using
LD slag. At a conference organised by FICCI on ‘Promoting Awareness and Usage of Iron &
Steel Slag – Ushering in a New Era’, she said that the government will facilitate experience
sharing.
LD slag, a by-product of a steel making process, is not being used in India unlike the blast
furnace slag, which is being commercially used in several applications, mainly by cement
manufacturers.
“LD slag has posed a problem for us as it is not being used at all. The LD slag has been
accumulating over the years,” she added, urging the industry to highlight the stumbling blocks
and submit their comments invited by a task force constituted to identify usage of slag in the
next two weeks.
The widening gap between toll collection and interest outgo is limiting the ability of National
Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to expand the national highway network in India by
leveraging its balance sheet further.
India's crude steel output increased by 1.7% to 9.215 million tonnes in July 2019 over 9.059
MT during the corresponding month of last year, according to World Steel Association's
report.
On Wednesday (August 28, 2019), the Indian rupee declined by 29 paise to close at 71.77
against the US dollar on account of an impending global recession, rising crude oil prices and
weakness in the equity market.
At Rs 1.23 lakh crore, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s surplus for 2018-19 was higher than
the surplus in recent years as a result of an unusually large amount of open market
operations (OMOs) conducted by the central bank during the year and no need for fresh risk
provisions.
The additional interest income from OMOs was Rs 36,000 crore and a change in the formula
for determining forex gains and losses yielded gains to the tune of Rs 21,000 crore, said a
senior RBI official.
India is set to impose a nationwide ban on plastic bags, cups and straws on October 2,
officials said, in its most sweeping measure yet to stamp out single-use plastics from cities
and villages that rank among the world’s most polluted.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is leading efforts to scrap such plastics by 2022, is set to
launch the campaign with a ban on as many as six items on October 2, the birth anniversary
of independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, two officials said. These include plastic bags,
cups, plates, small bottles, straws and certain types of sachets, in line with government
policy.
“The ban will be comprehensive and will cover manufacturing, usage and import of such
items,” one official said.
The ban on the first six items of single-use plastics will clip 5% to 10% from India’s annual
consumption of about 14 million tonnes of plastic, the official said.
Penalties for violations of the ban will probably take effect after an initial six-month period to
allow people time to adopt alternatives, officials said.