 |
Wednesday,
October
15, 2003,
Chandigarh, India
|
250-MW Nathpa-Jhakri unit inaugurated
Power sector reforms gaining pace,
Govt to introduce English from Class I |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
HPU youth
festival opens Conference on temperate zone fruits Manali-Sarchu road to be closed from Oct 31
|
|
250-MW Nathpa-Jhakri unit inaugurated Jhakri (Shimla), October 14 Indeed, the commissioning of the first unit of the 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Project is by all accounts a spectacular achievement on the technological front. By successfully completing one of the toughest hydel power projects in the world, the engineers have amply demonstrated their technical skills. Execution of the mega project, which has relegated the 1,200 MW Sardar Sarovar Project to the second place, posed a big challenge as almost 95 per cent of the works were underground. The topography of the site was such that there was no space available along the banks of the river for such massive constructions. In fact, apart from the diversion dam, the entire project is underground. In the process, the project earned the distinction of having the largest underground desilting complex, Asia’s largest underground power house and one of the longest power tunnels in the world. The project will provide much relief to the power-starved northern states and help meet the peak requirement. Addressing a gathering, Mr Geete said the Centre was committed to exploiting the county’s vast hydel power potential in a time-bound manner and a major step had been taken in this direction by launching the hydro power initiative under which 50,000 MW of power would be available by implementation of 162 projects. Out of these 12 projects with an aggregate capacity of 10,000 MW were in Himachal Pradesh. Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, urged the Union Minister to reopen the agreements for Kol Dam and Parbati projects to pave the way for 25 per cent equity participation of the state in these mega projects, which would together generate almost 3,000 MW of power. He said the state government had, in principle, decided to have at least 25 per cent share in all future projects. He declared that the 400 MW Rampur Project would be assigned to the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam only after a detailed agreement was worked out to settle the terms and conditions, particularly regarding employment and service conditions of deputationists unambiguously. He said the experience of the Nathpa-Jhakri project had not been very pleasant and there should be no repetition of it. Mrs Jayawanti Mehta, the Union Minister of State for Power, Mrs Vidya Stokes, the Power Minister, Mr Singhi Ram, Civil Supplies Minister, and Mr Maheshwar Singh, MP, also spoke. The run-of-the river project comprises a 57.5 m high diversion dam at Nathpa on the Satluj river from which the water will be diverted to the four desilting chambers, each of 525m X 16.31m X 27.5 m dimension. The silt-free water will flow into the 27.4 km-long head race tunnel to generate 1,500 MW of power at an underground power house at Jhakri, 50 km downstream the dam site. |
|
Power sector reforms gaining pace, says Geete Shimla, October 14 Addressing a press conference, he said 10 boards had managed to reduce the annual losses by Rs 5000 crore this year to claim the incentive of Rs 2500 crore from the Centre under the reforms programme. He said last year the number of such boards was only four. Besides, 27 states had set up electricity regulatory commissions. With the tripartite agreement involving the Centre, state governments and the Reserve Bank of India, the current dues of the Central Government undertakings like the
NHPC, the NTPC and the power trading corporation were being cleared by the states on a regular basis. The Centre had asked the states to issue bonds to raise funds for clearing outstanding dues. |
|
Stand on land vindicated: CM Jhakri, October 14 |
|
Govt to introduce English from Class I Chamba, October 14 The minister said Himachal Pradesh was the first state in the country to make primary education compulsory, adding that 3,500 new primary schools had been opened in the state. Besides, the government had decided to open 2,000 new middle schools in the state in the near future. To compete with the private institutions and to strengthen the education network in the state, the state government had decided to introduce English as an elective subject from class I of primary standard from the next academic session, said the minister. She said to bring qualitative improvement in education, training would be imparted to teachers to update their knowledge of quality education. She said the government was laying a special thrust on girls’ education for which more funds were being allocated. Speaking about universalisation of education, the minister said Rs 533.8 crore had been sanctioned under the ambitious Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan for Himachal Pradesh out of which Rs 110 crore were being spent during the current financial year, including Rs 10.6 crore allocated for Chamba district. These funds would be utilised for the construction and renovation of school buildings and other allied activities to raise the standard of education. |
|
HPU youth festival opens Mandi, October 14 Folk dances, one-act plays, classic and light music, dramas, poetic competitions, western music, debates and declamations will be held. Speaking on the occasion, Thakur Kaul Singh said participation in extra curricular activities played a significant role in the development of personality and the students should make the best use of their time for studies and enhancing their knowledge. He said the government had granted permission for opening law classes in Mandi along with post- graduate classes in two or three more subjects. Earlier the minister laid the foundation stone of the Rs 63 lakh modern library building in the college premises. It would be completed by 2005, he said. He said Himachal Pradesh was poised to achieve the target of universalisation of elementary education ahead of the national target. |
|
Conference on temperate zone fruits Barog, October 14 Earlier Prof Ayzin B. Kuden, chairperson of the International Society for Horticulture Science, while delivering her keynote address, stressed the need to improve cooperation and collaboration between the member countries for promoting new sites of research and future studies on the subject. |
|
Manali-Sarchu road to be closed from Oct 31 Shimla, October 14 The general public, tourists and transporters had been advised against plying their vehicles on the road from October 31.
— UNI |
 |
| 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 | |
Video
