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Tuesday,
June 3, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Minister:
SEBs losses Rs 33,000 cr annually HC notice
on water supply SJVN to
execute Rampur project Chief Minister
Virbhadra Singh attends a meeting on hydro power development with Union Power Minister
Anant G. Geete in Shimla on Monday.
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Teachers
flouting rules transferred Heatwave:
parents want school holidays Idol’s
diamond eyes missing HAU goes
hi-tech 3 killed
as bus, car collide Held for
threatening scribe Consumer
forum chief appointed
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Minister: SEBs losses
Rs 33,000 cr annually Shimla, June 2 Addressing a press conference here today, the minister said the mounting losses of the state utilities were a matter of concern and corrective measures had to be taken. The government was following a multipronged strategy to reduce the losses. Funds were being granted for modernisation and improvement of the distribution network under the Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP) to minimise the transmission and distribution (T&D) losses, which ranged between 30 and 40 per cent. A sum of Rs 15,000 crore had been sanctioned under the programme so far. Himachal Pradesh was slightly better off with T&D losses around 25 per cent. He said the state utilities had also been losing heavily because of unchecked theft of power. The new law provides deterrent punishment for those indulging in power theft which would help in curbing thefts. In all, Rs 40,000 crore had been set apart for the purpose out of which Rs 20,000 crore would be given under the APDRP, and the remaining Rs 20,000 crore as incentive money to the SEBs for reduction in losses. Already the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana have filed claims of Rs 1,600 crore claims under the scheme. These states would get 50 per cent of the reduction in loss as incentive. The main objective of the new law was to promote competition by encouraging the private sector. Power generation had been delicensed which would ensure expeditious execution of projects. Encouraging the private sector was a necessity as a whopping Rs 4,00,000 crore was needed to generate 1,00,000 MW of additional power required to provide electricity to every household by 2012. The states did not have funds to invest and the Centre could help only to an extent. He said under the 10th Plan a target to generate 41,000 MW of power had been fixed and at present projects with 32,000 MW of aggregate capacity were in various stages of execution. The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, recently launched a 50,000 MW hydroelectric initiative under which 162 projects, including 12 in Himachal Pradesh, would be set up. |
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HC notice on water supply Shimla, June 2 The Division Bench comprising Mr Chief Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta and Mr Justice Arun Kumar Goel took suo motu notice of this report published in a vernacular daily. It was reported that the water supply in VIP areas housing ministers, MLAs, IAS officers and government employees are getting the daily water supply. But the common citizens have to line up for water in their localities. It was further reported the corporation is supplying water on alternate days to the common residents but, this order has not been implemented in the VIP colonies. The Bench took serious note of this report and directed the respondents to file a reply on June 10. |
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SJVN to execute Rampur project Shimla, June 2 The decision was taken at a meeting between Mr Anant G. Geete, Union Power Minister, and Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, here last evening. The 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Project, being executed by the
SJVN, will be fully commissioned by July, 2004, more than five years behind schedule. Mr Virbhadra Singh hoped that the Rampur project would be executed in time and at a minimal cost. Mr Geete was non-committal on the state’s demand for a review of the agreements on the Parbati and Kol Dam Projects, being executed in the central sector, to facilitate its equity participation in the two projects. He said since work had already been started it would not be advisable to reopen the issue. The Centre would, however, keep in mind the state’s viewpoint on projects to be executed in future. Mr Virbhadra Singh has not been satisfied with the decision of the previous Dhumal government not to have any equity participation in these two mega projects. He said the state should get the maximum benefit from its water resources and it should have at least 25 per cent equity participation on the pattern of the Nathpa Jhakri Project. He maintained that issues between the Centre and the state could be settled at any time. The state’s demand under the Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme was also discussed and schemes involving an expenditure of Rs 327 crore were sanctioned. Mr Geete also handed over a letter to the Chief Minister regarding the release of Rs 222 crore to the state under the programme. Later, Mr Virbhadra Singh said that the government would look into the controversial power purchase agreement with J.P. Industries under which the board had to buy electricity from the 300 MW Baspa project at Rs 3.36 per unit. He said the agreement was signed by the previous Dhumal government. |
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Teachers
flouting rules transferred Dharamsala, June 2 According to sources, Mr S.K. Bhatnagar, who was working as Deputy Director, Primary Education, Kangra , at Dharamsala, was sent back as Principal, Government Senior Secondary School, Baijnath. He relinquished charge on May 8. Minutes before he relinquished the charge, he transferred more than two dozen JBT teachers in the district issuing three separate orders transferring these teachers. According to sources, most of the transfer orders violated the rules laid down by the state government. As per the rules, no government employee can be transferred within 25 km of his present posting without prior permission from the state government. Similarly, no teacher who had not completed three years at his place of posting can be given a new posting without clearance from the Chief Minister. The Deputy Director not only ignored these rules but also failed to get prior approval of the Head of Department, that is Director of Primary Education. When contacted, Mr R.C. Chawla, the present Deputy Director, Primary Education at Dharamsala, confirmed that three such transfer orders were issued by the previous Deputy Director. The orders were passed in haste. The dealing assistant was away to Shimla at the time for getting approval from the Directorate for transfers of teachers and other staff. When asked about the haste and reasons for these transfers, Mr Chawla declined to comment on his predecessor’s action. The Director of Primary Education, Mr Nanta, when contacted at Shimla, expressed his astonishment at these orders. he said he would look into the matter as rules about transfers were clear. |
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Heatwave: parents
want school holidays Una, June 2 Roads in Una town and the state highway leading to Chandigarh, Hamirpur, Dharamsala and Hoshiarpur gave an almost deserted look from 1 pm to 5 pm. Only between 2 pm and 2.30 pm schoolchildren were seen rushing home in the heat, carrying books on their backs. The parents of children have demanded that keeping in view the heatwave in Una, the Education Department should declare summer holidays instead on holidays in the rainy season. A shortage of drinking water is felt in almost all schools of the district because drinking water is supplied only once in the morning and once in the evening when the schools are closed. Very few schools have got water storage facilities and that too becomes insufficient. |
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Idol’s diamond eyes missing
Una, June 2 The matter remained hushed up, while the Amb Subdivisional Magistrate, Mr Narender Sharma, held enquiries inside the temple till late yesterday. After the diamonds studded on a base of white platinum were found missing, preliminary investigations showed that either these had been stolen or washed away during the morning bathing of the idol. A formal complaint was registered today at the Bharwain police
station by the district administration, since the state government controls the shrine. Meanwhile, the Una Deputy Commissioner, who is also the chairman of the temple trust, today ordered the tightening of security in and around the main shrine area. He has also ordered the excavation of the underground drain from the ‘Garbh
Griha’ to the ‘Kund’to trace the diamonds in case they were washed away during yesterday’s bathing. The cost of the two diamonds is about Rs 1.5 lakh.
UNI |
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HAU goes hi-tech Palampur, June 2 He also inaugurated an orientation workshop on the use of the network service for statutory officers and other users. Teachers who used computer for teaching would be awarded, he said. Outsiders would be charged to use the new facilities and the university would provide Internet connections on the campus on nominal payment. Dr K.K. Katoch, nodal officer of the Project Service Division, said the university had also launched an updated webpage and all university departments and colleges had been provided with intercom
facilities. |
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3 killed as bus, car collide Shimla, June 2 Those who got killed were Kamla Devi (38), Sarita (32) and Anish (14), all of Ganesh Nagar, in New Delhi. The injured were shifted to the PGI in Chandigarh after being administered first-aid at Civil Hospital, Kulu. The car was on its way to Manali from New Delhi, while the tourist bus was going from Manali to Manikaran when the mishap occurred.
UNI |
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Held for threatening scribe Bilaspur, June 2 After inquiring into the case, the SP ordered the arrest of the accused who have been named in the FIR which was earlier lodged at instance of Mrs Sharma. The SP told mediapersons later that four persons named in the FIR had been arrested while the fifth had absconded. |
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Honest shopkeeper Shimla, June 2 |
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Consumer
forum chief appointed Shimla, June 2 |
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