The Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) has demanded a white paper on the affairs of Indian Airlines (IA) and Air India (AI), whose top executives -- six of IA and five of AI -- had been changed within a decade. APAI president D Sudhakara Reddy told a press conference in Chennai that the association also urged prime minister A B Vajpayee to constitute a working committee comprising representatives from leading industry, trade and consumer organisations to conduct an independent study of both the airlines so that `a permanent and long-lasting solution for the present ills of both these white elephants' could be found.

Life time award for IOC's R&D chief: IOC director (research and development) A. K. Bhatnagar, has been conferred the `Anacon '98' Life Time Achievement Award for his innovative research and development breakthroughs in the petroleum industry. The award, instituted by the Indian Analytical Instruments Association, goes to outstandingprofessionals, with significant contributions to scientific research. Bhatnagar has conducted extensive research in petroleum products and processes, especially lubricants, greases, petroleum specialities, lubes and fuel additives. His latest invention, ``Titanium Complex Grease'' has been acclaimed as an outstanding breakthrough in lubricating greases, says an Indianoil release.

Three refineries win energy conservation awards: The Mathura, Haldia and Gujarat refineries of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) walked away with the top two National Energy Conservation Awards for this year and the certificate of merit. Union minister for power, P. R. Kumaramangalam, presented the awards, says an Indianoil release. Indianoil's Mathura refinery won kudos for conserving 23,000 tonne of fuel worth Rs 5 crore, during the last three years. The refinery is implementing energy conservation projects worth Rs 570 crore during the Ninth Plan period. The projects will help the Mathura refinery save 38,000 tonne of fuel ayear. The Haldia refinery won national recognition for saving 11,600 tonne of fuel, worth Rs 3.3 crore annually. The Gujarat refinery was presented a certificate of merit for conserving 14,000 tonne of fuel oil ``during the period of evaluation.''

IPCL reduces energy use by 26 pc: In the petrochemicals sector, Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd (IPCL) achieved over 26 per cent reduction in energy consumption per tonne of product. The company has been awarded the national energy conservation award, according to a release from the ministry of chemicals. IPCL's Nagathone complex has been awarded first prize in the petrochemicals sector, while the Vadodara complex has won the second prize. Energy conservation has been adopted by IPCL as a corporate business strategy. This has enabled the company to achieve more than 26 per cent reduction in energy consumption per metric tonne of product during the past five years.

Diesel with low sulphur content to be produced from April: Public sectorrefineries in the country will start producing diesel (hsd) with a maximum 0.25 per cent sulphur content from April 1999 against the present level of one per cent, the Rajya Sabha was told on Wednesday. To supply 0.25 per cent sulphur diesel throughout the country, public sector refineries are implementing diesel hydro-sulphurization projects at various locations at a cost of about Rs.5,600 crore, petroleum and natural gas minister K Ramamurthy said in a written reply during question hour.

Infrastructure requires $200 billion: IIF India needs $200 billion to develop adequate infrastructure in the country and this requires an appropriate perspective plan, Indian Institute of Finance (IIF) has said. The development of infrastructure was necessary for the country to develop its core competencies to compete with the rest of the world, it said. To discuss this and other issues, the institute is organising a two-day seminar on December 21-22 which would be addressed by former finance minister PranabMukherjee, former planning minister Prof Y K Alagh and chief vigilance commissioner N Vittal among others.

Databank on textile industry inaugurated: A databank that provides latest information on textile industry including production, designs and other market related details was inaugurated on Wednesday by textile minister Kashiram Rana. Called the economic research and market intelligence unit, it will collect data from various departments and organisations like customs, embassies and trade commissions. The unit will be useful to exporters as information will be the key in the post-multifibre agreement era when the quota system will be dismantled leading to a increasingly competitive environment, an official release said here. The databank can be accessed through internet.