 |
Monday,
March 31, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
HPSEB inks
pact, violates law Rift in
BJP led to defeat: Dhiman Speaker forms House
committees Plan to
float new party postponed |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Sentenced
to life for killing wife Markets to
remain closed today Jeep falls
into rivulet, 1 dead Judicial
officers threaten mass leave Man booked
for raping girl
|
|
HPSEB inks
pact, violates law Shimla, March 30 While senior officers of the board have been tight-lipped about the agreement, reliable sources told this correspondent that the PPA was signed on February 28, a day before the counting of votes for the Assembly election. The board had earlier signed an accord under which it had agreed to purchase the entire power to be generated in the project. The question was what compelled the board to sign the PPA in a haste. It could have a waited the new government which took over with a week. The hush manner in which the board signed the PPA just a day before the Dhumal Government was voted out of power has raised many eyebrows. More so, because the board has no jurisdiction in this regard. The Section 22 (Ic) of the Act clearly states that the commission will regulate power purchase and procurement process of the transmission and distribution utilities, including the price at which power should be procured from generating companies or other sources for supply in the state. An illegal agreement signed by circumventing the commission could have serious implications for the board and consumers as the commission had been set up specifically to ensure supply of electricity to the consumers on competitive rates. It is the responsibility of the commission to ensure transparency in procurement process and see to it that power was generated and supplied in a cost-efficient manner to the consumers. Bypassing the commission could lead to the repeat of Enron which landed the Maharashtra electricity board in a deep trouble. An inordinate delay in finalising of power purchase agreements has been the main reason for slow progress of the hydel projects assigned to the private sector. The only exception has been the 86 MW Malana project which did not require a PPA as the power generated was taken by the company to Rajasthan for its own factories. The regulatory commission was set up to avoid such delays and ensure fairplay to all concerned — the generating company, the board and the consumers. However, for reasons best known to it the previous government empowered the board to sign PPAs, in blatant violation of the SERC Act. Over the past four months the board has signed nine PPAs including that of the Baspa-II, virtually defeating the purpose of setting up the commission. The commission took up the matter with the Centre which suo motu scrapped the Section 43 A (2) of the Electricity Supply Act (1948) in case of Himachal Pradesh in the garb of which the state had empowered the board to sign PPAs. A notification was issued in this respect on February 6,2003. However, even after that the board had signed two PPAs. This is not the first time that the board had violated the Act. Last year it unilaterally rolled back the power tariff six months after an order under the SERC Act that clearly laid down that the board could not charge any tariff other then the one decided by the commission. It has been suffering huge losses but still it has not filed an application for tariff revision since the April, 2001. It remains to be seen whether the new government takes effective action to undo the illegal acts of the board or allows things to drift. |
|
Rift in BJP led to defeat: Dhiman Bhota (Hamirpur), March 30 He said that resignation by the four party ministers in 2000 and chargesheet submitted by them against the party leaders became a strong weapon in hands of the Congress party. The Congress party took this issue to the people and we lost the elections. Mr Dhiman said that though the party did a lot for the development of the state yet people did not vote for the BJP. He claimed that the Congress party government in the state was facing dissensions. The party had failed to give new direction to the state and it was clearly visible in the address of the state Governor. Mr Dhiman alleged that the way the Congress party won the elections was disturbing. The party has again divided the state and its people into two parts. The BJP government had broken the barriers of region and caste but the Congress party against created those barriers and it would be harmful for the state. Former Education Minister was of the view that politicians should not interfere into the functioning of the employees and the officers. He supported the cause of the employees for a rational transfer policy but that too with the consent of all sections of the employees and officers. He said that the BJP government had tried to frame a policy but could not implement due to elections. |
|
Speaker
forms House committees Shimla, March 30 He has also named five legislators as associate members of the Delimitation Commission. They are Mr Kaul Singh, Maj Vijay Mankotia and Mr Prem Singh (all of the Congress), Mr
H.N. Singh (BJP) and Mr Kuldeep Pathania (Independent). The Public Accounts Committee will be headed by Mr Ishwar Dass Dhiman and will have Mr Mohinder Singh, Mr Ramesh Chand, Mrs Anita Verma, Mr Harbhajan Singh
Bhajji, Mr Rakesh Verma, Mr Sudhir Sharma, Mr Jagjivan Paul and Mr Surinder Pal as members. Members of the Public Undertakings Committee are Mr Sujan Singh (Chairman), Mr Ravinder Singh, Mr Kuldeep Singh
Pathania, Mr Jail Ram Thakur, Mr Rohit Thakur, Mr Sohan Lal, Mr Sukhwinder Singh, Mr Rakesh Kalia and Mr Sohan Lal
Thakur, all members. The Estimates Committee comprises of Mr Harsh Wardhan (Chairman), Mr Hari Narain Singh, Mr Lajja Ram, Mr Baldev Sharma, Mr Rajiv
Bindal, Mr Karam Dev Dharmani, Mr Tilak Raj, Mr Surinder Kumad and Mr Surinder Bhardwaj all members. The Welfare Committee members are Mr Ishwa Dass (Chairman), Mr Raghu Raj, Mr Prem Singh, Mr Tek Chand, Mr Atma Ram, Mr Beeru Ram Kishore, Mr Mast Ram, Mr Damodar Dass and Mr Bodh Raj, all members. The Subordinate Legislation Committee comprises of Mr Kuldeep Singh Pathania (Chairman), Mr Lajja Ram, Mr Harsh
Wardhan, Mr Rajiv Bindal, Mr Damodar Dass, Mr Subhash Chand, Mr Tilak Raj, Mr Surinder Kumar and Mr Surinder Bhardwaj all members. Public Administration Committee: Mr Raghu Raj (Chairman), Mr Mohinder Singh, Mr Sujan Singh, Mr Rakesh Verma, Mr Rohit
Thakur, Mr Sukhvinder Singh, Mr Virender Kanwar, Mr Bikram Singh and Mr Jagjivan Paul, all members. Human Development
Committee: Dr Prem Singh (Chairman), Mr Ishwar Dass, Mr Ravinder Singh, Mr Jai Ram
Thakur, Mr Beeru Ram Kishore, Mr Rakesh Kalia, Mr Naveen Dhiman, Mr Bodh Raj and Mr Khimi Ram, all members. General Development Committee: Mr Tek Chand (Chairman), Mr Mohinder Singh, Mr Raghu Raj, Mr Subhash
Chand, Mr Sada Nand Chauhan, Mr Satpal Singh Satti, Mr Virender Kanwar, Mr Bikram Singh and Mr Naveen
Dhiman, all members. Rural Planning Committee: Mrs Anita Verma (Chairman), Mr Harbhajan Singh
Bhajji, Mr Mast Ram, Mr Sukh Ram, Mr Sada Nand Chauhan, Mr Satpal Singh
Satti, Mr Sudhir Sharma, Mr Sohan Lal Thakur and Mr Surinder Pal, all members. Privilege
Committee: Deputy Speaker (Chairman), Mrs Anita Verma, Mr Kuldeep Singh
Pathania, Mr Mast Ram, Mr Sukh Ram, Mr Sohan Lal and Mr Khimi Ram, all
members. |
|
Plan to
float new party postponed Hamirpur, March 30 The meeting was presided over by Mr Kamal Nanda. The meeting formed an 11-member committee led by Mr Nanda to spearhead its activities. The members include Mr Kamal Nanda, Mr Narendra Thakur, Mr Mohinder Sofat, Mr Raghubir Singh Thakur, Mr Ram Dass Malangar, Mr Govind Thakur, Mr Harnam Singh, Mr Joginder Singh, Mr Kehar Singh, Mr Kamal Padha and Mr Bhupinder Singh. While talking to this correspondent Mr Nanda said Mitter Milan was the creation of the wrong policies of the state BJP leaders. He said, had the top leadership of the party taken serious thoughts, the present situation would not have developed. Mitter Milan leaders who spoke in the meeting blasted the
BJP leaders for harming the cause of its grassroot workers and ignoring them during the past five years. |
|
Sentenced
to life for killing wife Sundernagar, March 30 According to prosecution' Balak Ram was President of Nihar Gram Panchyat who received a complaint on May 17, 2001 that the deceased unconscious as she was given a beating by her husband, the deceased first was taken to Nihar Hospital thereafter referred to Zonal Hospital, Mandi, She expired en route Mandi. The FIR was lodged at the instance of Balak Ram who had stated that the husband was trying to cremate the body. The police registered a case under Section 302 and 498 A of the Indian Penal Code and filed a charge sheet in the court. The prosecution presealed 14 witnesses. The court held that there was sufficient circumstantial evidence on record that the convict treated the deceased with cruelty and murdered her. The court did not agree with defence plea that the deceased was cleaning utensils on the roof of the house and fell down from stairs while throwing water from the roof and received injuries. The copy of the judgement became available yesterday. |
|
Markets
to remain closed today Nahan, March 30 He said the Nahan Beopar Mandal had decided to extend full support to the nationwide protest against the imposition of VAT on the businessmen. He said the election of Nahan Beopar Mandal had been fixed for April 30. |
|
Jeep falls into rivulet, 1 dead Chamba, March 30 Giving this information here today, Mr N.D. Sharma, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Chamba, said the deceased had beer identified as Khem Singh of Mehla in Chamba district and the body had been handed over to the next of kin after an autopsy. The ASP said the injured who included Dheeraj, driver of the jeep and Baldev Raj, both local residents, had been admitted to the zonal hospital here. The ASP said the ill-fated jeep belonged to the Development Department. A case in this connection had been registered by the police. |
|
Judicial
officers threaten mass leave Bilaspur, March 30 Association state general secretary (Chief Judicial Magistrate) S.L. Sharma said here today that the association members would also be constrained to go on mass casual leave if the report was not implemented. The association alleged that “some vested interests” had misled the Himachal Government regarding the financial implications in implementing the report only 98 judicial officers in the state would benefit and it would incur a total expenditure of only Rs 37 lakh. |
|
Man booked for raping girl Kangra, March 30 The district ;police chief, Mr Zaihidi, today said the victim had gone to attend the call of nature in the morning in her fields when Dian Chand who, too, had gone in the fields caught hold of the girl and raped her. The girl divulged the facts to her family yesterday who informed the police. He said a case under section 376, IPC had been registered. The victim had been medically examined. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Senior Himachal BJP leader and
former Education Minister, Ishwar Dass Dhiman admitted that dissidence
in the party led to its defeat in the recent elections. Had we taken
strict action to curb dissidence, the defeat could have been avoided, he
told The Tribune here today. He said that the party was overconfident of
its developmental activities.
