In any kind of organisation, regardless of its size, experience, sector or industry, its admin function plays a very significant role in ensuring smooth operations and streamlined processes. On a day-to- day basis, routine tasks can pile up without admin staff to handle them and ensure they are completed as per requirement. Also, for every department, delivering quality output on time and within constraints like scope and budget can take the company to new heights of success. And this is one of the many key areas where admin plays a critical supporting role. An administrator is also a very important link between various departments, helping to improve collaboration and deliver more powerful outcomes. Moreover, admin staff are often the first people outsiders such as prospective customers, vendors, business collaborators, etc. speak with. This makes them important gate-keepers and brand stewards for the company. All in all, it is very difficult to[...]

Seafarers have always been engaged in a dangerous profession and though much progress has been made in this age of satellite technology, many of the risks remain and incidents still frequently occur on the high seas and in the approaches to ports. Just in the last few weeks we have seen four major casualties. Historically shipping has been a high-risk enterprise with many ships being lost close to port. One of the greatest risks that ship owners, seafarers, charterers or even a port operator takes is that of a navigation incident leading to a major casualty. Incidents come in many forms: collisions, groundings, anchors dragging etc. The industry needs to reflect further, how is it that ships with advanced navigation systems and sophisticated communication technologies still find themselves involved in groundings, collisions and other incidents? Planned, periodic and snap audits have a place in reducing the number of such incidents through[...]

Workforce constitutes any enterprise’s most valuable asset especially in the infrastructure sector. The growth and development of any firm is hence based on the development of the workforce as it is technical and technology driven at the management level. Understanding their workforce from the perspective of an asset and intelligence defines the base strength of any enterprise. Development of any employee is contributed by various factors like the social, physical, and work life upliftment with ample focus on basic technical know-how and data management. Focusing on the upliftment of work life of any employee, we must understand that he/she should have the urge to develop critical thinking and scientific temper. These skills enable the employee to handle the competition/ challenges and simultaneously to overcome his/her limitations. All such skills are rooted in two simple words, “reskill” and “upskill”. Reskill is to face the challenges and to learn skills completely different from[...]

COVID-19 pandemic has changed the nature and way trade will evolve. The effect on trade is already noticeable. A supply shock as China closed its factories was noticed with container ships sailing from China being blanked (suspended). As this shock lessened a demand shock started with shops across Asia, Europe, and the US closing their doors. Economists are comparing the lockdowns with the financial crises of 2008-2009 and the great depression of the 1930’s. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has predicted that world trade is going to fall between 13 to 32%. The global institutions are trying their best to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the world economy. Many countries are focusing their efforts on restarting their businesses and protecting their vital and essential supplies during this and future pandemics. Policymakers are already turning their minds to seek long- term lessons from the pandemic. They have looked deeply into[...]

It seems like yesterday when our mornings started with school; evenings were occupied with outdoor activities and the day ended with completing our homework’s! Indeed, they were typical school days. Currently, we find ourselves struggling to comprehend the new world. A world where pandemics have potential to cause a wreck. New infectious diseases are emerging and causing havoc. Do you feel that spending 24 hours indoors has come out as a new challenge? As days passed boredom strikes and as the saying goes, “an empty mind is the devil’s house”. But in my case the emptiness gave me the inspiration and potential to learn and explore new things. As I was very fond of animals and the facts revolving around them; it gave me immense joy to spread the knowledge. YOUTUBE was an ultimate platform to showcase and spread the gathered facts about scientific stuff. In this way the present situation[...]

Established by the UN, World Environment day (5th June) , is celebrated to raise awareness on environment and mobilise action for environment protection. Eka Infra takes immense pleasure in doing there bit for promoting conservation. At Eka Infra, we invited our staff and their children to come forward and give in their inputs towards creating awareness about World Environment Day. Following this year’s theme of biodiversity, the team and their kids expressed their ideas in form of beautiful art on Biodiversity and Environment.

[The following questions raised by the dredging industry for clarification. The clarification of the author is based on his personal opinion and the same cannot be construed as legal or contractual reference. This series is meant only to share knowledge with the industry] 1. What is the effect of Covid-19 on the Dredging industry? No sector or industry except essential services remains unaffected by Covid-19. Port dredging work remains largely unaffected, unlike inland waterways, river dredging and dredging of closed water bodies that are largely affected. At many ports across the globe, work is uninterrupted. They have adopted precautions issued by their flag state authorities. Dredging work could have halted if the port had experienced complete lockdown by closing its navigational channel. However, globally it was observed that port dredging work, both maintenance and capital, remained fairly unaffected. This was because the port management cannot afford formation of a plume in[...]

India has been under a national lockdown except for essential services. We are entering the 42nd day of the lockdown as we draft this blog. Globally, most of the nations have declared lockdown which has resulted in jeopardizing the supply chain and logistics affecting domestic,international, multi- party contracts and cross border contracts. This effect could result in an unprecedented and an unforeseen potential surge in contractual disputes due to temporary suspension of performance under “Force Majeure”. This event explicitly provides what is beyond the reasonable control of the affected party or was not reasonably foreseen. It is essential to determine if Covid19 will qualify as a Force Majeure event. This will depend on the language of definitions adopted in the contract under the Force Majeure clause. The definitions, in the said clause, should be inclusive of an outbreak of diseases/pandemic to make Covid 19 qualify as a Force Majeure event. If Force[...]

A Short Guide to the FIDIC Contracts amid the Covid 19 Pandemic On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 crisis – a pandemic that is time-dependent and geography-independent – as a “public health emergency of international concern”. , This statement followed by the declaration of national lockdowns by several federal and state-level Governments all over the world have jeopardised thousands of commercial contracts in almost every industry. In general, contracts could be governed by well-drafted FIDIC clauses. They could also be based on any standard international format. Alternately, contracts could be completely ‘bespoke’, i.e. tailored to fit the specific requirements of a particular project. This article focuses on FIDIC contracts and the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on these particular types of contracts. Bespoke contracts, governed by Section 56 of The Indian Contract Act, 1872, are beyond the scope of this article. Almost all FIDIC contracts contain[...]

Business Continuity Strategies in a post-COVID World In a little over 4 months, COVID 19, the disease caused by the novel Coronavirus has become a serious international public health concern. To minimise its effects on the health and mortality of their citizens, many countries have declared national lockdowns, a difficult choice that has led to a virtual standstill of economic, business, and social activity. As of 18th May 2020, India had been in lockdown for almost over 56 days. Since the beginning of the lockdown declaration, the Narendra Modi-led Government has periodically reviewed the situation to determine if and when lockdown conditions can be relaxed to allow businesses to commence their operations. However, following expert analyses on the economic impact of COVID19 by organisations such as the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB), it is evident that the current slowdown will remain the ‘new normal’[...]

The “free world”, typified by the US and UK, initially prioritized business over public health and are now paying the price. Even though there are passenger flights, including repatriation flights, still arriving at UK airports, I do not know whether strict health screening and quarantine measures are in place now, or whether the authorities are still relying on people being “honourable” about undertaking self-quarantine and volunteering information on their movements to facilitate contact tracing. The public health situation in the UK today is dire, with up to 900 people dying of the virus daily, and that is just the number of people testing positive who died in hospitals. Many more are dying in residential care homes and at home, most of which are thought to be due to the virus. If the infection and death rate curves in the UK population of approx. 65 million are replicated in India’s 1.3 billion[...]

Often, pandemic outbreaks – whether completely of unforeseen or reasonably- anticipated – are geographically-independent and experienced by only a few regions or countries. They also tend to be time-dependent, working themselves out – usually due to the availability of a cure or the development of ‘herd mentality’ – after a certain period of time has elapsed. The COVID-19 pandemic is an exception to both these general rules of history due to its geography- and time-agnostic trajectory. With dozens of countries declaring national lockdowns and emergencies, several areas of citizenship as we know it have been affected – from political and legal to medical, educational, and even social. In this blog, we focus on the pandemic’s effect on commercial life, specifically on contracts and their non-performance in the present economic and human crisis. In particular, we analyse the significance and impact of the COVID-19 crisis on commercial contracts with respect to Employer,[...]

Outbreak of unforeseen and or reasonably anticipated Pandemic swept industries both manufacturing and services alike, affecting the performance of contracts of former heavily than the later. Pandemic is characterized as time dependent but geographically independent, however due to prevalence, the time dependent resulted to be longer than anticipated. With developing and developed nations declaring lockdown and emergency, non-performance of contracts due to impossibility gains significant importance. Notwithstanding many Nations declared pandemic as “Force Majeure”, it is reasonably foreseen that dispute between parties and litigation shall linearly increase. Therefore in the present economic / human crisis, we analyze, the significance and impacts on commercial contract. Commercial Contracts reiterate that impossibility of performance of the contract works by a contractor will not, in general, relive him from liability in damages for breach of performance, save and except under exemptions. If, however the impossibility to perform his contract arises from a cause that neither[...]

It is like Dedicated Freight Corridor, Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor, and Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) have been announced over the last decade or so, many of these have still a long way to go towards reaching their finishing point due to various reasons.   Since the past several years, we as a country have learned many valuable lessons while conceiving and implementing such large-scale infrastructure projects. In the process, we have identified several underlying factors for both successes and failures, particularly those related to policy, marketing and the level of preparedness for future market conditions and technologies. However, identifying these factors is no longer enough. Learning the right lessons from them is even more critical to ensure the development of a conducive, sustainable environment for steady, unhampered growth of the infrastructure sector in India. Traditionally, it has always been the responsibility of the Government of India (GoI) to provide infrastructure services[...]

Karnataka is a globally renowned knowledge hub, home to the largest number of R&D centres, technical and medical institutions, and start-ups in India. A pleasant climate, cosmopolitan culture and investor-friendly business ecosystem make Karnataka one of the most sought-after investment destinations in the country. Moreover, the government’s highly responsive administrative apparatus has been extremely proactive in simplifying and improving the state’s business landscape. Karnataka is geared to attract and absorb new investments across multiple sectors over the coming few years. On 14th February 2020, the government of Karnataka hosted the Invest Karnataka – Hubballi Conference, the first-ever investors’ meet held in Karnataka outside Bengaluru. Inaugurated by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, the main goal of this meet was to attract investors and reputed companies who could help develop North Karnataka as a leading destination for business investments. Another goal was to collaborate with business leaders, thought leaders, research institutions, think tanks and[...]

All structural engineering consultants know that cement, the primary ingredient in concrete, is not only an extremely important construction material for infrastructure development in particular, but also a key to economic growth in general. The strength, durability and other characteristic of concrete depends on the properties of its ingredients, proportion of mix, method of compaction and other controls during placing and curing. The production of cement is an energy-intensive process, resulting in the emission of greenhouse gases which adversely impacts the environment. Moreover, from a financial perspective, the cost of producing cement is increasing at an alarming rate, and the natural resources that provide the raw material for cement manufacturing are exhausting – two facts that really worry international engineering consultants. For both these reasons and more, the use of industrial by-products having cementitious properties as a replacement for cement in cement concrete has become the need of the hour in the global construction[...]

The Government of India is focused on boosting the performance of the country’s logistics sector. One effective way of doing this is of course leveraging the country’s 7,500 km-long coastline, 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways and the multiple strategic locations that are already present along key international maritime trade routes. In keeping with this ambition, the ‘Sagarmala’ project was envisioned and initiated. The project, launched in 2015, aims to accelerate port-led infrastructure development in the country. Along the way, it expects to create 1 crore new jobs (including 40 lakh direct jobs) over the next 10 years. The project has a unique approach in that it that integrates various projects that are usually stand-alone. These projects cover port connectivity, freight expressways, new pipelines for transporting crude and petroleum products, inland waterways, multi-modal logistics hubs and coastal community development. The Sagarmala programme seeks to unlock the huge potential inherent in India’s waterways and[...]

During a recent conference, Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman revealed that in a span of 4 months, she and her task force had held 70 meetings with various stakeholders engaged in various sectors. Following these meetings, her task force has identified a number of National Infrastructure Projects worth Rs. 102 lakh crores. She further stated that in the coming few weeks, another 3 lakh crore-worth projects are expected to be added to this list. This means that there are a total of 105 lakh crore-worth of projects in the pipeline. Out of these, the government has already made a commitment for 100 lakh crores . These projects under the aegis of 22 ministries spread across 18 states and union territories, will surely serve as one of the key drivers of economic growth in the country, and enable the government to meet its ambition of transforming India into a $5 trillion economy[...]

Back in the 19th and 20th centuries, civil engineering infrastructure designed and built in India was based on the then-prevalent state of technical knowledge and general practices of British professionals.  Thanks to their simple and robust construction, and the use of good quality, naturally available materials, these structures have required relatively lower maintenance effort over time, especially when compared to modern structures.  Evidence shows that some of these “old” structures including, PWD road bridges, railway bridges and dams have stood the test of time for over 100 years. In fact, we use many of these structures even today!  It would not be incorrect to say that these structures were frequently “over-designed”, which was definitely not a bad thing in the ‘lower cost, lower competition’ world of yore. As the latter half of the 20th century ushered in advances in construction materials, building technology and analytical design tools, it led to the erection of[...]

A storm surge is the abnormal rise of the water levels near the coast or near large lakes. The onset of a storm surge is not sudden. Therefore, with existing tools of prediction, prior warnings can be made available to the people residing near the coastline so they can make appropriate preparations. A storm surge should not be confused for a tsunami. Storm surges happen frequently and are basically the effect of tropical cyclones, hurricanes or typhoons. They are caused due to high winds and pressure, and occur right along the coastlines. History is witness to the major impacts caused by storm surges around the globe. In fact, they can be life-threatening to the people and infrastructure along the coastline, though not always. Tsunamis, on the other hand, happen less frequently, originate from earthquakes or seismologic activity, and can reach thousands of miles. They also bring with them much more loss of life and[...]

Ports are the gateways for global trade and are critical to a nation’s economy. As well as being hubs for economic activity; they are also a potential sources of air pollution from ships, vehicle emissions, material handling (i.e. dust), etc. The close proximity of many ports to populated areas only further exasperates their potential impact on human health and the environment. Inevitably, ports are now becoming a focus for air pollution control and environmental management measures for those air pollutants generated by their activities e.g. carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx), and particulate matter (PM: PM10, PM2.5, PM1.0), etc. The health effects of prolonged exposure to these pollutants may include respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and even premature death. Air quality and emissions to air from shipping vessels and port activity has long been a recognised health and environmental problem. Indeed, it has[...]

The Shore Zone (SZ), roughly falling at the intersection of marine, terrestrial and lower atmosphere, is uniquely characterized by different species, habitats and ecosystems. With each swash and backwash that alter and mould the shape and appearance of the SZ steadily and constantly, is otherwise environmentally fragile and highly sensitive. SZ is roughly at the middle part of Coastal Zone (CZ), is sandwiched between the Coastal Land Zone (CLZ) on the landside and the shelf zone on the seaside. The SZ, a domain of CZ, plays a very significant role in the social and economic sectors of a country and India, with a 7517km long shoreline (5423km mainland coastline and 2094km offshore islands) is no exception. Why manage the coast? Post WWII, anthropogenic activities, such as urbanization, industrialization, transportation to name a few; in the CLZ tended to sharply increase the pressure on the living and nonliving resources of the CZ. Global[...]

Ports around the world are critical logistics centres for their host countries. Nearly 90% of the world’s cargo is transported by sea with more than half of that being containerised cargo.  According to the Ministry of Shipping (India), around 95 per cent of India’s international trade by volume and 70 per cent by value is moved by some form of maritime transport. The volume of Indian trade handled by its ports is expected to reach 1,695 million metric tonnes by 2021-22, according to a report of the National Transport Development Policy Committee. To keep up with the ever-growing demand (global and domestic), ports, and the supporting logistics industry must modernize and digitalize.  They must adjust to the world of tomorrow. This means expansion, modernization and automation of their infrastructure and services, they must change into being SMART ports.  A SMART port takes advantage of a range of technologies to enable services[...]

Few events in recent history have shaped the course of the future like that of September 11th, 2001 attacks on the United States of America. The events of that fateful day not only shook the US, but also the economies of other countries around the world. Recognizing the vulnerability of countries through gateway ports for terrorist attacks, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) made adoption of International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) code mandatory. The code was made applicable on all vessels of 500 gross tonnage and above engaged in international voyages, and all ports from July1st, 2004. According to guidelines, ships and ports without ISPS code compliance would not be allowed to operate after July 1st ,2004. ISPS security levels There are 3 levels of security have been implemented basis this code; Security level 1 (Normal)- The level for which standard security measures shall be maintained at all times Security level[...]

Following the latest directive from General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC), the national reinsurer, for increasing premiums for eight industrial categories, container freight station (CFS) as well as warehousing sectors have reacted strongly and both have demanded CFS and warehouses be kept out of the ambit of the higher fire-risk reinsurance premium cover. The increase in fire-risk insurance premium is estimated to be 9-10 times of the present premium amount for both CFS and warehousing sectors. The CFS and warehousing sectors are planning to take their industry representation separately to GIC to present their respective cases. The reasoning of CFSs is mainly based on two aspects. CFSs firmly believe that they should be considered as ‘extension of the ports’, as they are also termed as ‘dry ports.’ Hence, they should be treated on par with ports. CFSs act like short transit points and activities are similar to those in ports. And,[...]

The infrastructure works today needs amalgamation of various technical fields. This in turn have a complex situation where a Project may be dependent on various factors such as investigations, analyses, buying of the materials and on field executions in various engineering fields namely Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Instrumentation. In such a scenario getting the vendor, supplier and expert contractors needs an enormous co-ordination effort. Also, issue and management of many numbers of contract, purchase orders, material supply orders etc., also a take a lot of time and effort which will influence the schedule and quality of the Projects. The EPC Contract concept helps in such complex projects, so that one contractor takes care of all the co-ordination and expert sub-contracting, vendor and supply activities and completion/commissioning of the project. So, the Promoter or the Employer can concentrate more on the management of one EPC contractor rather than managing many contractors and[...]

India is witnessing a rapid growth in the demand for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). This supports Government plans to double the share provided by LNG in the countries energy mix in the near future. As domestic production is inadequate to meet the increasing demand, India needs to import LNG. This means a need to deliver FSRUs within port limits as well as the related infrastructure. In the absence of specific guidelines, the Indian Port Association (IPA) has examined the issues related to FSRU within port limits and submitted a report in September 2018. The following guidelines for the establishment of FSRUs with the limits of our Major Ports are proposed: 1. Any entity may setup an FSRU, but all related expenses will be borne by the entity. The entity will have to submit a pre-feasibility report that shall be examined by the Port before it is given the required permission 2.[...]

Introduction Most Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) turnkey projects are exposed to a number of uncertainties/risks. The market situation however generally does not support full provision for all evaluated risks in the financial calculations. Most project owners and investors prefer a single (techno commercially capable & experienced) contractor to execute their entire project on a turnkey EPC basis so as to have clear single point accountability for performance, project cost and risks. Since such turnkey projects require a wide variety of skills, equipments etc, the EPC contractor has to sub contract several portions of the work. The EPC contractor is thus liable to the project owners for non performance of his sub contractors. Many of the sub contractors do not accept all the terms of the main EPC contract. Thus while project owners have single point accountability, the EPC contractor is burdened with substantial risks. Even major EPC companies are hesitant to[...]

Arbitration is in simple terms a method of alternate dispute resolution by an impartial third person(s) who adjudicates upon the dispute between parties. It is basically to resolve disputes outside the courts, which are usually long drawn battles, with sanction of law which is binding upon the parties. It is done by consent of the Parties. What kind of disputes can be submitted to arbitration? All disputes of Civil Nature can be submitted to Arbitration. A Criminal case cannot be submitted to Arbitration. This is so in view of the phrase “disputes which have arisen or which may arise between them in respect of a defined legal relationship, whether contractual or not” as embodied in Section 7 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘the Act’). In criminal cases there is no legal relationship between parties and also a criminal act is considered as crime against the society. Infrastructure disputes are[...]

Seafarers have always been engaged in a dangerous profession and though much progress has been made in this age of satellite technology, many of the risks remain and incidents still frequently occur on the high seas and in the approaches to ports. Just in the last few weeks we have seen four major casualties. Historically shipping has been a high-risk enterprise with many ships being lost close to port. One of the greatest risks that ship owners, seafarers, charterers or even a port operator takes is that of a navigation incident leading to a major casualty. Incidents come in many forms: collisions, groundings, anchors dragging etc. The industry needs to reflect further, how is it that ships with advanced navigation systems and sophisticated communication technologies still find themselves involved in groundings, collisions and other incidents? Planned, periodic and snap audits have a place in reducing the number of such incidents through[...]