Shimla, May 20
Efforts are on to resolve the dispute between the state government and Mashobra Resorts Limited over Hotel Wildflower Hall by arriving at an out-of-court settlement which will require Cabinet approval.

The final decision on an out-of-court settlement over the dispute is likely to be arrived at during a meeting to be chaired by Chief Secretary Sudripta Roy here tomorrow.

The Advocate-General, the Secretary for Law and officials with the Auditor and Comptroller General’s office have been requested to attend the meeting to ensure that the interest of the government in the exercise is protected.

“We will deliberate on various aspects and go in for an out-of-court settlement if it is in the interests of the state subject to prior approval of the Cabinet,” Roy said.

He said the matter
would be placed before the Cabinet if there was agreement over an out-of-court settlement. A meeting between representatives of East India Hotels (EIH) and the Chief Secretary was held on Friday.

The offer for an out-of-court settlement had come from the EIH which had undertaken in the recent past extensive renovation costing a hefty amount.

Officials were of the firm opinion that the government should not share the financial liability of the EIH on account of the refurbishing of its rooms.

The Congress government decided on February
21 to get conducted an audit since 1995 of Mashobra Resorts Limited under the EIH through the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The audit had been started following the decision of the Cabinet. A case challenging the arbitration award over Hotel Wildflower Hall owned by the EIH of the Oberoi Group is pending in the High Court.

The hotel was initially government-owned property which was gutted in the early 1990s. The government had entered into a joint venture agreement with the Oberoi Group in October 1995 to reconstruct it while retaining 35 per cent equity.

Subsequently it was reduced to 32 per cent and then to 21 per cent. This resulted in a dispute in 2003 and was sent for arbitration. The arbitrator gave the award in 2005 which was challenged in court.

The arbitration award had sought to do away the joint venture while giving sole ownership to the EIH after buying the share of the government. The agreement for land was to be converted into a 40-year lease deed.

There had been a disagreement between the government and the EIH over the cost of construction of the 85-room hotel initially pegged at Rs 40 crore and the subsequent profit earned at the hotel.

Shimla, May 20
The slump in the power market during the peak summer due to the increase in hydro power generation will further hit this year the revenue of the state from the sale of surplus power.

The demand for power is the maximum when summer is at its peak but power is sold at the Indian Energy Exchange for around Rs 2 per unit.

The rates have been on the lower side from the outset due to capacity addition in the private thermal power sector but the spurt in generation over the last four days has led to a sharp fall.

The extent of surplus power can be judged from the fact that the quantum of power on sale at the exchange on Monday was 5,938 MW and bids for purchase added up to 4,881 MW.

There has been a gap of more than 1,000 MW between availability and purchase this season. The average rate for April was Rs 2.55 per unit compared to Rs 3.25 per unit last year. It will decline further in May, evident from the sharp fall.

There has been a capacity addition of more than 25,000 MW over the year with private companies overshooting the target by over 4,000 MW. The installed capacity has increased from 1,96,000 MW to 2,23,000 MW.

Rates took a plunge with the rise in mercury as hydro power projects are on an overdrive due to an increase in discharge in snow-fed rivers due to the rise in mercury.

The Nathpa Jhakri project has been generating 1,605 MW compared to the installed capacity of 1,500 MW. The Karcham Wangtu project has been generating 1,200 MW compared to the installed capacity of 1,000 MW.

Low rates in summer will hurt the state the most as it has surplus power only during this period and there is a shortfall during winter.

Of the 930 MW available for sale, the government has entered into a one-year agreement with West Bengal which will end in November. The state will be supplied 330 MW at Rs 3.65 per unit.

From June it will supply 117 MW to Punjab and 25 MW to Delhi. The state government will have to dispose of power available through the exchange.

The revenue of the state from power, which has declined from Rs 1,000 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 700 crore in 2012-13, is likely to fall further.

The quantum of power available for sale will increase as a number of projects with a combined installed capacity of 2,182 MW are slated for completion in 2013-14.

Dharamsala, May 20
More fit Mumbai Heroes convincingly defeated ageing MPs despite the inclusion of former cricketers like Mohd Azharuddin in the latter team. HPCA president Anurag Thakur scored 54 runs and Azharuddin scored 86 runs.

The MPs' team scored 201 runs in 20 overs for the loss of five wickets to lose by 49 runs. The MPs' team lost three wickets in the last over.

The exhibition match between Mumbai Heroes, the team comprising Bollywood and TV stars, and the MPs attracted large crowds at Dharamsala this evening. Thanks to free passes distributed by the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association and cheap tickets, about 15,000 spectators gathered during the match.

The Mumbai Heroes team won the toss and elected to bat. TV stars Sunny Singh and Varun Bodala opened the batting for Mumbai Heroes. Both batsmen batted like professionals and scored 117 for no loss in the first 10 overs.

Even veteran professional players in the MPs team like Mohammed Azharuddin went for a beating at the hands of the opening pair of Mumbai Heroes.

In the 13th over, one opener retired hurt to allow other team members to bat. Sohail Khan came, but could not last long and was bowled out after scoring just one run.

Ritesh Deshmukh came next and scored 10 runs hitting a six and a four. He also retired hurt to allow Aftab Shivdassani to bat. Aftab too could not last long.

However, Sunny Singh remained unbeaten scoring 103 runs.

The MPs' sloppy fielding, that included misfields and dropping of catches, allowed Mumbai Heroes to score 250 runs in 20 overs. For MPs Kuldeep Bishnoi and Anurag Thakur opened the innings.

Sunil Shetty bowled a single over. Ritesh claimed the first wicket of Kuldeep Bishnoi. Azharuddin came one down and played some flamboyant shots. At end of the eighth over, the MPs team had scored 70 runs for the loss of one wicket.

Bollywood stars remained indoors in their pavilion hotel. Sources here said the players wanted to have an audience with the Dalai Lama, who is, however, out of station.

Mandi/Slapparh, May 20
Commuters today had a harrowing time at Slapparh and Bhiuli bridge junction on the Mandi-Manali highway as they were stranded for almost two hours.

MLA Sohan Lal Thakur with supporters at Sundernagar on Monday. Photo: Mahesh Chander Sharma

Though the police remained a mute spectator to the traffic jam, patients were the ones who suffered the most.

“My mother was serious and we were rushing her to Chandigarh for treatment, but we got stuck in a jam for almost two hours at Slappar as supporters of some VIP had blocked the highway there from 11 am,” said N Dubey, a commuter.

“There were two or three policemen on duty, but they remained mute spectators till the VIP arrived and the traffic jam eased up,” said Amit Malhotra and Ajay Bakshi, tourists from Delhi.

In fact, supporters of Sundarnagar MLA Sohan Lal had gathered at Slapparh today to welcome him after his appointment as Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh last week. They had haphazardly parked their vehicles blocking the highway.

However, his supporters claimed that they did not interrupt ambulance and Fire Brigade on the highway and were not aware of any medical emergency.

The miseries on the highway did not end there as SSB guerrilla protesters staged a dharna and laid a chakka jam at the Biuli bridge, a junction of the Mandi-Pathankot highway and Mandi-Manali stretch on the Chandigarh-Manali highway, for half-an-hour, stranding the traffic on both the highways.

The guerrilla volunteers blocked the highway in support of their long-pending demand of getting permanent job in the organisation.

“We have no other option but to block the highway as the Central and state governments have done nothing so far,” said their leader MP Bhardwaj. “We will continue to protest till our demands are fulfilled,” he added.

When RS Negi, SP, Mandi, said, “All the emergency vehicles were allowed and there was a temporary jam on the highway and traffic plied normal after that”.

Nahan, May 20
Dr Ashwani Kumar, former Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Governor of Nagaland, was given a rousing welcome with traditional folk music and dances during his visit to his hometown here today.

Accompanied by his wife Chandak and son Abhishek, Dr Kumar was felicitated by various NGOs and the district administration at a function organised at the SFDA Hall this evening. He is here on a three-day visit and will also visit Paonta Sahib and Shimla during the next two days.

He released a journal titled "Chowgan" brought out by the Government Senior Secondary School for Boys here.

Former MLA Kanwar Ajay Bahadur, Deputy Commissioner Priyatu Mandal and Superintendent of Police Sumedha Diwedi were also present. Various bodies like the All-Himachal Muslim Welfare Society, Sirmaur Pensioners Association, Rotary Club, local Municipal Committee, Mine Owners Association, Dadahu etc were present at the felicitation ceremony.

While addressing the gathering, he recalled fond memories attached with the town and said the town was an example of solidarity and communal harmony. The Governor also remembered his old teachers and paid gratitude to them for their support.

He was earlier welcomed at Kala Amb by the Himalayan Institute of Professional Courses where while addressing students he exorted them to seek the blessings of teachers, parents and seniors to attain success. He said honesty and hard work could bring success to anyone and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former President APJ Kalam were examples of common people attaining great success.

Institute Chairman Rajnish Bansal, Dr RD Gulia, heads of various departments and students were present on the occasion. The Paonta-based Chureshwar Sewa Samiti, various industry associations and NGOs will felicitate Dr Ashwani Kumar tomorrow at Paonta Sahib. 

Kol dam, May 20
Even as the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is about to revise the cost of its 800-MW Kol Dam hydro power project, filling is still incomplete and the ponding of water may not be started this year as planned.

As a result of the delay in filling and concreting in the 40-km-long dam, the NTPC is set to revise the project cost for the second time, reveal sources.

The target of the project authorities is to pond the dam in 315 days at between 0.03 metre and 0.06 metre per day that can be increased at a later stage.

The ponding may take a year and the project may suffer a delay even though the plan is to start it in October, say engineers. Work is still on at the dam site.

The NTPC has not fixed the schedule for commissioning the project as the managers concerned are not confident of meeting the 2014 deadline.

“We are revising the cost of the project but cannot say how much the hike will be as the process has just been started,” said General Manager AK Nanda.

“Filling is nearly complete and we are hopeful of ponding the water by the year-end. We will start ponding stage-wise,” he added. He remained non-committal on the deadline for power generation.

The Kol dam may be behind schedule by another year or two. The project has already been delayed by five years. It was planned to be completed in 2010.

The NTPC is not sure about the date when water will be filled in the dam. It is not likely to meet its deadline of March next year.

As a result, Himachal Pradesh is losing 366.48 million units it has to get as its 12 per cent free power share. The project will generate 3,054 million units every year.

Oustees and encroachers at Tatta Pani are not vacating the land acquired as they want the revival at a higher site of hot water bath springs.

“We are sorting out the Tatta Pani issue with the help of the Mandi Deputy Commissioner. Work on the power house and the transmission line is complete. The project will be commissioned in 2014,” Nanda said.

Kangra, May 20
A 10-day workshop on “Research Methodology in Social Sciences”, jointly organised by the Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi, started on the university campus at Shahpur today.

Inaugurating the workshop, Yoginder Verma, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the university, said it was important that research attempts should not only improve theoretical foundations for future research, but also contribute towards application.

Prof Gita Bamezai, Professor of Communication Research at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi, who was also the guest of honour on the occasion, said social science research in India was still dependent on theories and perspectives developed by western researchers. “We need to revisit some of the issues we deal with from our won perspective in social science,” she said.

Addressing the gathering, Prof Arvind Agrawal, Dean, School of Social Sciences, said the thrust of the workshop was to give a clear idea regarding the philosophical base of research methodologies and how to integrate it into research process.

Dr Rabindranath Manukonda, workshop Director and Dean, School of Journalism, Mass Communications and New Media, Prof HR Sharma, Dean, Student Welfare and Provost, Dr Pradeep Nair, Head, Department of Mass Communications and Electronic Media, Dr Asuthosh Pradhan, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, other faculty members of the university and research scholars were present on the occasion.

As many as 35 research scholars from 15 universities from seven states are participating in the workshop, which will conclude on May 29. 

Nurpur, May 20
Some miscreants reportedly dismembered an idol at the Hanuman temple in Pukhar Ka Talab last night. This sparked off resentment among local residents this morning. According to information, villagers informed gram panchayat pradhan Rajiv Ranju who further intimated the Nurpur police.

SHO Brij Mohan Sharma, who rushed to the temple, said in the preliminary examination no religious or community-based reason had been found in the act. He said a case under Section 295 (A), IPC, had been registered against unidentified miscreants. — OC

Shimla, May 20
The Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC) has swung into action to nail culprits behind the axing of deodar trees in the Aira Home area, near Kasumpti, late last night to pave the way for the construction of commercial flats by a builder.

Deputy Mayor Tikender Panwar received a call at 11.30 pm about trees having been cut in the area, near Kasumpti. “Within minutes, I along with the Divisional Forest Officer reached the spot after seeking police force from the Superintendent of Police,” Panwar said.

He said initially the forest officials could not find any trace of trees having been cut. “After closer examination, we found stumps of two deodar trees covered with mud and debris dumped illegally in the area,” he said.

“We will urge the Town and Country Planning Department to withdraw the non-objection certificate issued to the builder for the construction of flats,” the Deputy Mayor said. He said the team also found a huge amount of debris dumped illegally in the forest around the construction site.

With there being a complete ban on green felling, there have been several instances in the past when builders as well as private individuals have used illegal means to fell trees.

Shimla, May 20
Expressing concern on the alleged violation of environment laws by JP Cement Company, the HP High Court has issued notice to the state government and directed the authorities to file replies within two weeks.

This order was passed by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice RB Misra on a petition filed by villagers of Darlaghat, Solan district, alleging that the cement plant of the company at Dralaghat had made villagers' lives miserable due to environment pollution.

It also alleged that agriculture fields, cattle and grazing fields were being affected and the company was violating the mandatory laws in connivance with the state authorities and as a result people were facing hardships. It further alleged that apart from environmental law, the company was also violating labour laws.

While issuing notices, the court listed the matter for further hearing on June 12.

Bilaspur, May 20
Shashi Pal Sharma, district revenue officer, who is also the district nodal officer for Aadhaar cards here, has said those who have got their Aadhaar card registration done, but not yet received their cards should contact the authorities concerned in the office of the Deputy Commissioner till June 15.

He said the cards would now soon be made mandatory by the government for receiving subsidies through the Direct Money Transfer Scheme in their bank accounts based on their Aadhaar numbers.

He said such persons should come with the receipt which they were given at the time of their registration.

He said all those who had already got their Aadhaar numbers should give a photocopy of this number to the bank in which they had an account.

Sharma said scholarships and stipends of students, maternity welfare schemes, government subsidy charged by dealer on each LPG gas cylinder, purchase and payment of pensions under social welfare and retired government servants, etc, would now be covered under this new scheme.

He said anyone who had not yet got himself registered for the card should contact any of the centres in the district and get this done at the earliest.

These centres are functioning at the nagar parishad office in Bilaspur town, Suharghat Tehsildar office, block development offices at Bilaspur town, Jhandutta, Ghumarwin and Naib Tehsildar office at Bharaadi.