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Himachal plans to sell power to PTC
CM for beefing up traditional water sources
Rural banks losing customer base
Best municipality award instituted
Tibetan task force revamped
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Donation for tsunami victims
New diagnostic facility for IGMC
Booked in dowry case,
man commits suicide
RMP found dead
Body found
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Himachal plans to sell power to PTC
Shimla, January 13 According to highly placed sources, the government has already taken up the matter with the PTC which has agreed to purchase about 900 million units of power at the market rate of around Rs 3 per unit. At present the free power is being supplied to the state board at the nominal rate of 70 paise per unit. Thus, the new arrangement will fetch Rs 2.30 per unit more to increase the income from the sale of free power by about Rs 200 crore. The matter is likely to be put up before the Cabinet which is meeting at Dharamsala tomorrow. Hitherto, the government was getting royalty in the shape of 12 per cent of the power generated free of cost only in projects executed by various central agencies and independent power producers. It now proposes to draw its share of free power from various projects under the control of the state electricity board. The sale of free power to PTC will affect the revenue of the board which had been getting the power at a very nominal rate and selling it at an average rate of about Rs 2.70 per unit. However, the government plans to compensate the board by increasing the amount of subsidy so that the burden is not passed on to the consumers. Already it is giving a subsidy of Rs 40 crore annually to domestic consumers. The amount will go up substantially once the proposal to sell free power to the PTC instead of the board materialises. The move will be trend-setter for the mega projects like the 2051-MW Parbati project, 800-MW Kol dam and other schemes currently under execution in the private and public sectors. The government, thus, hopes to substantially increase its revenue from the power sector over the next five years. |
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CM for beefing up traditional water sources
Kangra, January 13 He was addressing a public meeting at Naleti in Dehra subdivision of this district where he laid a foundation stone of Rs 82.5-lakh Lift Irrigation Scheme. The Chief Minister said specific programs were on the anvil like carrying out cleanliness and other related steps for the revival of traditional water sources viz wells, ponds and running water. He asked people to launch a drive or a mass movement in this direction for reactivating and re-energizing the traditional sources. He stressed that with the provision of piped water supply for the people, the traditional sources got neglected and the new scheme would help in reviving these sources. He said the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department would be entrusted with the responsibility of formulation of suitable plans for the revival of traditional water bodies. The Chief Minister said a detailed survey and feasibility exercise would be carried all over the state to identify the water bodies which had existed for ages. He asked the people to cooperate in the proper use of water and added that there should be no wastage in this regard. Efforts would be made to store rain water of villages by constructing check dams so that the irrigation schemes could be fed with, he added. He stressed upon the need to adopt rain water harvesting techniques while constructing houses which could be utilised for non-drinking purposes. He said providing clean drinking water to the public was the top priority of the government. The state was facing heavy financial debt due to financial mismanagement of the previous government but funds would not be a constraint in the path of development and resources of the state would be utilized properly for the same, he stressed. Earlier, the Chief Minister laid foundation stone of the market subyard at Jwalamukhi, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 55 lakh, where he was received by Mr Raj Krishan Guar, Agriculture Minister, and Mr Satya Prakash Thakur, Chairman, HP State Agriculture Marketing Board. He laid foundation stone of the Rs 18.31-lakh additional block of the Govt Senior Secondary School building at Kathog where he was received by Mr Ramesh Dhawala, local BJP MLA, and unveiled the statue of Martyr Janak Singh Thakur who had studied in the same school. He also laid the stone of the science block building of the Govt Senior Secondary School at Dehra to be constructed at a cost of Rs 40.15 lakh. The Chief Minister also offered prayers at the Mata Jwalaji Shrine and inspected the restoration work of the shrine. Mr Kaul Singh Thakur, IPH Minister said Rs 500 crore were being spent on the IPH activities in the state. |
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Rural banks losing customer base
Mandi, January 13 Though commercial banks have started “anywhere banking” in towns and cities, small farmers continue to suffer as the RRBs’ proposal to start the draft and pension facility has been hanging fire in the Board of Directors, Priority Sector (PS) and Lead Banking(LB) Division, based at Punjab National Bank, New Delhi. The RRBs have failed in serving the purpose for which they were created. They are losing in the competitive banking market in the country as they do not enjoy a level-playing field as none of the country’s 196 RRBs have these facilities, bankers said. “Farmers have to go to towns to avail the draft and pension facilities, spending on bus fare and have to pay collection charges to the town-based commercialbanks”, rued Mr Kheem Singh, chief volunteer, Kisan Club, Kheel Dharmor in Mandi district. Pointing out the farmers’ problems, Mr Lekh Raj, president of the Himachal Pradesh Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association said rural banking still eluded farmers as banks were focusing on urban customers, opening ATMs and other facilities in cities and big towns. “The SBI and State Cooperative Bank have their branches in richer segments in the state as their aim is just to make profit. Himachal Gramin Bank was yet to look into farmers’ banking problems, he added. Farmers say while cities have ATM and other facilities, and easy loans are available there, farmers and pensioners in rural areas have no facility to encash drafts. Farmers are generally given drafts when they sell their produce. The General Manager, Himachal Gramin Bank, who heads four regional rural banks in the state, Mr R.B. Thakur, said the proposal to start the draft facility in rural bank awaits clearance of the Board of Directors. “The high-power committee is visiting Himachal in early February. We hope the authorities will clear the proposal of the draft and pension facility,” he added. Though the government of India has set a target of over 33 per cent for rural credit in RRBs, most of these banks have not exceeded 25 per cent so far, say bankers. “In Himachal we have achieved a target of 25 per cent in rural credit”, said Mr Thakur, adding that the bank was giving over Rs 7,000 a bigha credit to farmers at an interest rate of 8.5 per cent. He said the bank had issued over 4,700 kisan credit cards under the supervision of NABARD. The Deputy General Manager, NABARD (Himachal Pradesh), who is also a member of the PS and LB Division and the RBI and the PNB, Mr S.C. Vashisht, said the decision to start the draft and pension facilities in all RRBs had to be taken at the national level by the country’s decision-making body. “We can only recommend the proposal to the decision-making body.
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Best municipality award instituted
Dharamsala, January 13 He was addressing a public meeting after inaugurating the 8 MT solid waste management plant, constructed at a cost of Rs 50 lakh, in Kangra, near here. He said the award would encourage municipalities to provide better services and the winner would be chosen after proper evaluation. The award money would be spent on developmental works within the municipal limits. He said the government was also contemplating plans to construct solid waste disposal plants in all major towns in a phased manner. These would initially manage the solid waste of two to three municipalities and the programme would later be extended to the entire state. The Chief minister made an appeal to the people to make cleanliness a mass movement as it was also essential for promotion of tourism in the state. He further said that the ban on use of plastic bags in the state had yielded encouraging results and people had accepted it for improving the environmental conditions. Mr Virbhadra Singh said that integrated development of small and medium towns scheme, costing Rs 1.25 crore, had been prepared for Kangra town, which included 40 shop complexes, community hall and other amenities in the town and would benefit the unemployed youth to start their own enterprises. He said the scheme for rehabilitation of roadside traders was also being contemplated for providing them permanent places for carrying out their trading activities. He said the possibility of identification of suitable sites was being looked into and rehabilitation would soon follow. The Chief Minister also launched the Varisht Nagrik Seva Sammelan Sahyog Scheme, introduced by the Municipal Committee, Kangra, to create necessary infrastructure for the welfare of senior citizens. The Rajmata Shrimati Shanti Devi Scheme would assist the families being headed by poor widows having meagre sources of income. Mr Surinder Kaku, local MLA, thanked the government for providing Rs 11 crore for the sewerage scheme of Kangra, Rs 4 crore for the water supply scheme and Rs 24 lakh for the widening of roads. Transport and Tourism Minister G.S. Bali, Bal Krishan Sharma, president of the Kangra Municipal Committee, were also present. |
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Tibetan task force revamped
Dharamsala, January 13 Mr Sonam Norby Dagpo, a spokesman for the task force, said the number of members had been doubled to 10, with the inclusion of some former ministers, to make the force more broad based. A meeting of the task force was recently held at Gopalpur village, near here, to chalk out the future course of negotiations with the Chinese leadership. “The dialogue between the two envoys and the Chinese leaders during their last visit was discussed at the meeting. Most members were of the view that we are still at the stage of making contact for building confidence and the process should continue and lead to negotiations on the issue,” he said. The two envoys of the Dalai Lama — Mr Lodi Gyari and Mr Kelsang Gyaltsen — are based in Washington and Brussels, respectively. Sources said as part of the revamping of the task force, a separate office would also be set up for it to assist the envoys in negotiations with China. Till now, envoys of the Dalai Lama have visited China thrice. |
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Donation for tsunami victims
Mandi, January 13 He said the volunteers of the DYFI were raising money by going from door to door and have urged people across the state to donate liberally for the rehabilitation of the tsunami victims. The Mandi Officers Association and Mandi district police and Mandi Red Cross society have contributed Rs 78,000, Rs 1. 2 lakh and Rs 50,000, respectively in the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. |
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New diagnostic facility for IGMC
Shimla, January 13 According to official sources, the government has approved the proposal to purchase the new equipment worth about Rs 31 lakh for the radiology department. The diagnosis the new equipment will provide a vastly better image while exposing the patient to much less radiation. The image obtained by weak radiation is enlarged by an intensifier lens to provide a high resolution image. Meanwhile, the Medical Council of India has accorded the mandatory approval to the radio diagnosis diploma course, which was introduced in 1977. The council which conducted an inspection of the facilities last year has conveyed its decision to grant recognition to the course last week. |
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Booked in dowry case,
man commits suicide
Shimla, January 13 According to the police, Naresh, who was admitted to Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital last night after he complained of stomach ache, died this afternoon. He was unsteady and unable to climb the stairs of his house when he returned home last evening. He was taken to hospital by family members. Mr Jog Raj Thakur, Superintendent of Police, said the symptoms indicated it appeared to be case of poisoning but the cause of death would be ascertained only after the report of viscera, which had been sent for examination, was received. Monica, wife of Naresh, had allegedly committed suicide last month following which he was booked in dowry case. |
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RMP found dead
Nahan, January 13 According to police sources, in the first instance it seems to be a case of road accident as his motor cycle (HR-04-2633) had rolled down about 5 metres down the road. Although the “accident” took place last night, the body could be recovered at 8 a.m. today. The actual cause of death could be established after the post-mortem report is received. |
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Body found
Mandi, January 13 The police is investigating the case as the body bears facial injuries. The SHO Balh, Mr Utam Singh, said the body had been sent for post-mortem.
— TNS |
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