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Satluj Nigam in piquant situation
Govt ignoring claims of Himachalis: Dhumal
Weather brings cheer to apple growers
Hamirpur to have new bus stand
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3 killed, 5 injured in accidents
Kulu, January 19 Three persons were killed and five injured, one of them critically, in four separate accidents in the district during the past 24 hours. Bimla Devi (41), daughter of Beli Ram of Guma Ropa village, was killed when the jeep she was travelling in rolled down 300 metres into the Beas near Kararsu village on the Kulu-Manali highway on Monday. Two killed in accident
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Satluj Nigam in piquant situation
Shimla, January 19 The arrears on account of sale of power are mounting with each passing day. The board has refused to open a letter of credit in favour of the nigam and it is not paying for the power purchased on the plea that the rate is higher than the one on the basis of which the State Electricity Regulatory Commission had determined tariff for the current financial year. The outstanding amount has crossed the Rs 20 crore mark. Until October, the Nigam was selling the entire power generated from the project to various power utilities across the country and making payments to the state in lieu of its share at the rate of Rs 2.38 per unit approved by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). However, the state government asked the nigam to sell its share from November onwards to the board. The state has 25 per cent equity in the project and it is also entitled to 12 per cent free power as royalty. It has been supplying the entire share of the state to the board as per the directions of the government. A dispute has arisen with the government insisting that the nigam should sell its share at the CERC rates and the board asserting that it will pay only 70 paise per unit for free power and Rs 1.35 per unit for the rest of the share. Its plea is that the State Regulatory Commission had as an interim measure fixed the rate of free power at 70 paise per unit and its could not purchase the rest of the power at a rate higher than the one at which it has been procuring power from outside. It is obvious that the budget of the board will be upset if it pays the nigam at the CERC rate. The government had recently decided to sell its share of free power to other agencies at the market rate and assured that the board would be given subsidy to make up the loss. However, it has not taken any decision regarding the power available from the Nathpa-Jhakri project in which it has equity share. Officers of the nigam lament that the state power utilities to which it has been supplying power have been making regulars payments and the State Electricity Board is the lone defaulter. They also point out that if the issue is not settled expeditiously, the Nigam will not be able to pay the state the returns from the sale of its share. |
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Govt ignoring claims of Himachalis: Dhumal
Shimla, January 19 In a statement issued here, he said seeing the scams in various departments like technical education, forest corporation and horticulture, it seemed that the government had no will to check corruption. “It is surprising how the government was protecting the interests of private parties from outside the state who are keen on opening educational institutes in Himachal Pradesh, ignoring the claim of bona fide residents,” he alleged. The BJP leader said that after inviting applications from parties keen to start SCVT courses, many of whom had made investment over Rs 20 lakh on raising the required infrastructure, the Department of Technical Education is sitting over the matter. “What is most heartening is the fact that the government is totally indifferent towards the future of students who had purchased prospectus at Rs 200 for the SCVT course and in the process have lost one academic year,” he stated. Mr Dhumal said that now suddenly the government had decided to open SCVT institutes in 23 assembly segments, a majority of them represented by Congress ministers and MLAs. “The Congress regime in the state has once again proved that it is encouraging regionalism and development on political considerations as only the assembly segments of Congress MLAs have been chosen,” he alleged. He added that the government hardly took any time in granting permission to a private party from Haryana to start Law College at Solan, while the claim of many Himachalis, who had spent lakhs on fulfilling the conditions to start SCVT courses, was ignored. |
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Weather brings cheer to apple growers
Shimla, January 19 The weather god has been kind to the apple growers, who were blessed with three bumper crops in succession, which is rather unusual. The growers are looking forward to another productive year. The upper Shimla, Kinnaur, Kulu and parts of Sirmour districts have received 25 to 40 cm snow fall for the past three days. The snow is considered as white manure for the apple orchards as it not only provides the minimum chilling hours, but also helps in maintaining moisture in the top soil on the hill slopes. “A good snowfall around January 15 is ideal as it ensures that there is no abrupt rise in temperature. A minimum of 1,600 to 1,800 hours of chilling is required for a good crop and for proper chilling, the temperature must remain below 7° Celsius” says Dr S.P. Bhardwaj, scientist in charge of the fruit research station, Mashobra. Low temperature for an extended period is essential to maintain dormancy. If there is a variation in temperature, it affects the crop. The state recorded the highest ever production of 5.25 lakh tonne last year. The previous high was recorded in 2003 when 4.54 lakh tonne of apple was produced. In the preceding year, the outturn was 3.48 lakh tonne which was also higher than the normal production of 1.80 lakh tonne. One or two more good spells of snow will ensure a good crop for the fourth year in a row. The lower hills have extensive rain which is considered good for the rabi crop. With irrigation facility limited to a few pockets adjoining the plains , more than 80 per cent of the area under cultivation is rainfed.
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Hamirpur to have new bus stand
Hamirpur, January 19 He said the state government had instructed him to locate a large piece of land for the proposed bus stand. Mr Anoop Rana, Regional Manager of the local depot of the HRTC was also present. On the activities of the Hamirpur depot of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation, he said 94 buses were plying on 102 routes of the district. Mr Rana claimed that the number of accidents in the depot had gone down during the last fiscal year. He said the depot was running into losses to the tune of Rs 4.87 lakh as of now. The depot had suffered a loss of Rs 5.71 lakh during last fiscal year. He said that the losses to the depot were due to large-scale privatisation of transport services in the state. He, however, said all efforts were on by the corporation to provide more facilities to HRTC passengers.
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3 killed, 5 injured in accidents
Kulu, January 19 Bimla Devi (41), daughter of Beli Ram of Guma Ropa village, was killed when the jeep she was travelling in rolled down 300 metres into the Beas near Kararsu village on the Kulu-Manali highway on Monday. The driver of the jeep, Prakash of Chansari village, was critically injured and was battling for his life at Zonal Hospital here. In another case, Vinod Kumar, an employee of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board here, was killed when he was hit by an unidentified vehicle near Bajaura, 13 km from here, on Monday. His body was handed over to his relatives after a post-mortem examination yesterday. The police has registered a case under Sections 279 and 304A of the IPC. In yet another case of hit-and -run, one unidentified person died yesterday at Zonal Hospital here. He was brought to the hospital in a critical condition. A case under Sections 279, 337 and 304A of the IPC has been registered. In another accident, four persons were injured when a jeep (HP-34 0124) they were travelling in, rolled down a gorge. The injured were admitted to the Zonal Hospital.
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Two killed in accident
Shimla, January 19 According to the police, the accident probably took place late last night as it was only in the morning that it was informed about it by villagers. The driver of the van (HP-02A-0134), Sanjeev, and another occupant, Surjit Kumar, were found lying dead in the van. The police said while Sanjeev was a resident of Thermati near village Fagu, the other person belonged to Sultanpur district in Uttar Pradesh. |
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