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Power crisis: Worst not yet over
Corbett set for Operation Monsoon
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Yoga camp ends with
‘In daughter Raksha, I see my dream coming true’
Varsity-industry pact vital: Experts
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Power crisis: Worst not yet over
Dehradun, June 22 Uttarakhand Power Corporation limited (UPCL) is facing an acute shortage of power. The situation is so grim that it is now compelled to purchase power from outside at Rs 10 per unit. A unit of power in Uttarakhand costs Rs 2, the lowest in the country, but the corporation is forced to purchase power at Rs 10 per unit. Senior officials say rainfall alone can bring relief. On account of scanty rainfall/snowfall in the past few months, the water level in the rivers had plummeted. Since, Uttarakhand is primarily dependent on its hydro-power, the river water has receded, thereby reducing production. Against the projected production of 18-19 million units power daily, the corporation is at least 5 millionj units short of target. “On June 16, the demand for power in Uttarakhand was 25.5 million units, whereas the availability was 23 million units,” said corporation MD Jagmohan Lal. He said in order to meet the demand, they were overdrawing power from outside Uttarakhand. “Varying from Rs 4.80 to Rs 10 per unit, we are purchasing power from outside. On June 17, 18 and 19, we had overdrawn 3.7 million units, 1.47 million units and 2.1 million units of power respectively,” he said, adding that there was a limit beyond which they could not overdraw. Hitherto, every summer, Uttarakhand had been power surplus. In summers, the UPCL would supply power to other states and in winters, gets back the power. Besides its share of 361 million units of power this summer, the power corporation had brought an additional 150 million units from Delhi last winters. “What to talk of supplying power to other states this summer, we are not even able to return the additional power of 150 million units we took from Delhi last winter,” said Jagmohan Lal. Out of 150 million units, so far Uttarakhand has been able to return only 30 million units to Delhi. “There has been an increase of almost 25 per cent power in Uttarakhand. To meet the increasing demand is a difficult task in the present scenario but UPCL is making all efforts to ensure that there are minimum power cuts,” said the MD. Earlier, hill stations like Nainital and Mussoorie were spared power cuts but this time cuts are being imposed in both towns. Officials say there is a six-hour power cut for the furnace industry and a four-hour cut for the rest of the industry. The officials say they are forced to resort to power cuts in the domestic sector but the duration of the cuts is very little. Another worrisome fact is that in case Kalagarh power house is closed, the crisis will deepen. The power house is irrigation-based and is closed every year on June 15. “But because of the irrigation needs, this year its closure was put off from June 15 to 22. If the closure is put off for another week, it will be fine or else the power crisis will aggravate,” said Jagmohan Lal. The Kalagarh power house generates 1.8 million units daily. There are clouds of uncertainty over the continuance of power generation from the Tehri hydro-electric project. On account of the dry spell, the water level in the Bhagirathi and Bhilangana rivers has gone down considerably. If here is no rainfall for another week, power generation may be affected. The Tehri power project generates 3.5 million units daily and in case it is shut down, the generation will be hit, further increasing the worries of UPCL officials. With weather experts seeing little possibility of rains lashing Uttarakhand in the coming few days, there is no hope of improvement in power generation. Director, meteorological department, Dr Anand Sharma, ruled out rain in the next two-three days. “Even after that, the situation may not be positive,” he warned, adding that the heat wave may become more severe in the coming days. |
Corbett set for Operation Monsoon
Dehradun, June 22 This year, the operation is set to begin from July 1 and continue till October 31. According to Park Warden DS Rawat, Corbett is all prepared to start ‘Operation Monsoon’ and the entire programme was being charted out. The exercise would start with long distance patrolling in which as many as 400 employees, including forest guards, beat guards, fire-watchers and others, equipped with global positioning systems etc, would participate. These long distance patrols would cover a distance of 80 to 90 kilometres, criss-crossing the park. The entire exercise would take five to six days and include brief halts at intermittent ranges. The patrol party would have to brave heavy rains, possibility of insect bites and other hassles. Further, frequency of short distance patrolling would also be increased during this period. Forest guards along with camp elephants would also maintain vigil in areas that fall in inhospitable terrain. Boats would be pressed into service in Ramanganga reservoir to make ‘Operation Monsoon’ a foolproof exercise. This is apart from Tiger Protection Force members, who have been assigned territories to conduct patrols. Known for highest density of tigers in Asia, Corbett Tiger Reserve gives maximum importance to their conservation. Apart from 164 tigers, it has a rich faunal wealth, including elephants and leopards. However, incidents of poaching have increased in recent years and ‘Operation Monsoon’ aims at curbing the same. |
Yoga camp ends with cultural programme
Haridwar, June 22 At the four-day camp, participants also took part in communication programmes, discussions and cultural programmes too. Shahaj Yog was founded in the year 1970 by Mata Nirmala Devi and now it has spread its branches across 120 countries. Jag Pal Singh convener of the camp said that participants were given training of Shahaj Yoga and were apprised of the health benefits. Participants performed cultural programmes on the last day of the seminar. Vimal Kumar, general manager BHEL, inaugurated the ceremony and said that Shahaj Yog is a way to connect with God and lauded that such programmes take us on spiritual journey. Secretary of the trust Suresh Kapoor said that the programme is equally popular in several other countries as it is in India. Those who played a major role in successful conduct of the seminar were Uttarakhand convener Col P Tiwari, PK Saxena, Dr Ashok Kumar, Devendra Arora, singer Deepak Sharma, Mukhi Ram, Dr Rajesh Kumar, DK Chawla among others. |
‘In daughter Raksha, I see my dream coming true’
Dehradun, June 22 Not letting go of his passion for football, Pawar joined Dehradun Cantt Blues Club as a coach, and it is here that he got a chance to groom his daughter - Raksha Pawar - as a footballer. And his dream came true when Raksha was recently named captain of the under-14 national team. “My greatest dream was to play for the national team, but due to poor financial background I faced a lot of difficulties. Albeit I have played many national-level tournaments, I could not make it to the Indian team. Being from a large state, Uttar Pradesh, I had to face intense competition,” said Deepak. He also had had plans of moving out to Delhi to play for reputed clubs, but finances came in his way. Later, he got in touch with Govind Singh Thapa who started the football club Cantt Blues and started coaching youngsters. The club has been performing well for the last 17 years. Around four years back, Deepak realised that his daughter Raksha had an inclination towards football. “Little did I know Raksha was interested in the game, before she requested me to coach her. I never took it seriously, albeit I decided to give her tips,” said Deepak. However, in the first few days of practice, Deepak realised that his daughter had potential to turn into a good footballer. “I had no idea to which level Raksha will rise, but realised she had potential to play good football. I made her play with boys and started guiding her properly,” he said. His efforts finally paid off when Rakhsha was selected for u-13 girls team for Uttarakhand in 2007. She performed brilliantly and scored four goals in the tournament. Based on her this, she was selected for the Indian camp held at Bhopal that very year. This year, she was named captain of under-14 National team. Propped up by Raksha’s success, Deepak now has the sole aim that his daughter becomes a senior national-level footballer. Deepak makes her practice regularly for two hours in the morning and evening, working on her skills of dribbling, dodging, push-passing, heading, thigh-trapping, shooting and so on. “All I want now is that she should make her career in football and be a regular feature in the Indian team,” said Deepak. Even Raksha believes that her father takes too much pain during her practice sessions. “In and out of the field, he just talks of football and keeps advising me on various aspects. No doubt, he is a very loving father,” said Raksha. Albeit Deepak is a only a contractor by profession and hardly earns enough for a handsome living, he is a completely devoted father who wants to leave no stone unturned to see Raksha carve a niche for herself. |
Varsity-industry pact vital: Experts
Dehradun, June 22 Over 60 senior academicians and representatives of industry, who attended the session, highlighted the need for developing a strong mutually beneficial industry- university interface that could bring about a paradigm change in higher education. They were of the view that time had come to give a practical shape to the idea of enhancing employment opportunities as well as to chart out a new path of development in the state. It was suggested that representatives of industry must be included on the education boards of universities. Prof Grijesh Pant, Vice Chancellor, Doon University, expressed keenness in starting courses to meet the requirements of industry. “The country’s biggest asset is its young population. However, this demographic dividend can be leveraged only if we are able to give skills to our youth,” he said. In order to make higher education in universities practically relevant to industrial and business applications, it is important for the two to interact, understand each other's requirements and evolve together, observed Rakesh Oberoi, chairman of CII State Council. He said that the CII had already constituted the University Industry Council (UIC) for the purpose. Sharing the industry’s experience and perspective, Deepak Tikle, Assistant Vice-President, ABB Limited, Haridwar, said that most manufacturing companies require professionals from specialised fields like supply-chain management and logistics for which few professionals were available. So, universities should run programmes relevant to the industry. Other areas of focus, he said, should be short-term courses for imparting skill sets along with regular university curricula. Hemant Kochar, Director, Madhuban Academy of Hospitality Administration and Research, stressed on bridging the skill gap in the state by constant interaction with industry to identify new skills. He added that universities should incorporate on-the-job training as mandatory for courses as this would enhance practicality in education and scope of employability. |
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