Shimla, January 15
With the state electricity board projecting a steep increase in the annual revenue requirement (ARR) for 2012-13 filed with the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, mainly on account of rising power purchase and government employee cost, a huge hike in the power tariff in the hill state is inevitable.

As against the expenditure of Rs 3,069 crore approved by the commission for 2011-12, the board has projected a revenue requirement of Rs 4,040 crore for the coming financial year. The revised estimates project the revenue requirement for the current year itself at Rs 3,833 crore. The additional burden on account of the true up for the first control period comes to Rs 712 crore. If the commission allows the ARR as it is, the average power tariff will go up by Rs 1.50 per unit to touch Rs 6 per unit.

Apart from the ever-increasing employee cost, which is the highest in the country, the sharp increase in the power purchase cost has pushed up the expenditure. As against the approved power purchase cost of Rs 1,629 crore for 2010-11, the revised cost for the current year comes to Rs 2,254 crore and it is projected to go up further to 2,264 crore next year. Similarly, the employee cost is projected to go up from the approved Rs 845 crore for 2010-11 to Rs 1,071 crore for the current year and further to Rs 1,270 crore next year. If the commission allows the cost as it is, the per unit employee cost will zoom to Rs 1.70 per unit.

The board has been raising short-term loans to bridge the revenue gap of Rs 1,500 crore and as a result the interest burden has been increasing.

Worse, the interest on such loans is not admissible and thus the commission is not likely to include it in either the true up for the last control period or the annual revenue requirement. As such the true up amount will be curtailed by about Rs 400 crore.

With the consumption within the state going up sharply due to rapid industrialisation following the grant of an industrial package to the state, the quantum of power available for sale outside the state is decreasing. The inter-state sale of power has declined from 1,705 million units (MU) in 2010-11 to 1,472 MU in the current year and is projected to go further down to 1,186 MU. Accordingly, the revenue from the inter-state sale will dwindle from Rs 264 crore to Rs 174 crore.

The total sale within the state will increase from 6,641 MU in 2010-11 to 7,501 MU in 2012-13 with the maximum rise in the large industrial power supply from 3,993 MU to 4,537 MU, followed by high-tension supply from 2,169 MU to 2,498 MU and extra high-tension supply from 1,824 MU to 2,039 MU.

The government is already providing a subsidy of Rs 167 crore to keep the tariff for domestic consumers at a reasonable level and it will have to increase the quantum of subsidy, particularly in view of the fact that it is an election year.

Shimla, January 15
A fresh spell of snow and rain threw normal life out of gear as most roads in mid-hill areas again came under snow.

As predicted by the Met office, the region started experiencing rain and snow since last night. Tribal areas, the famous tourist resort of Manali, Narkanda, Dalhousie and other high-altitude areas across the state are having incessant snow while the lower hills are experiencing intermittent rain. Till this evening, the Rohtang Pass, Dhundi, Hatu Peak, Churdhar and higher reaches of the Dhauladhar ranges had received 40 cm to 60 cm of snowfall.

The famous tourist destinations of Dalhouise and Manali got a fresh coat of snow. With the Solang Nullah already under 5 to 6 ft of snow, the stage is set for a busy skiing season.

The tribal areas of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur, which did not get much snow last week, are having snow since last night and Kelylong and Kalpa are already under around 40 cm of snow.

Narkanda, which had 3 ft of snow last week, had received 40 cm of fresh snow and Khara Pathar was also having heavy snow since the wee hours of the day. The higher areas of Shimla city like Mount Jakhoo were having snow while lower areas were being lashed by incessant rain and sleet accompanied with snowflakes.

The weather god put to nought the efforts of the Public Works Department which managed to open most of the roads after last week’s snow as they were again covered with a thick white blanket, disrupting vehicular traffic beyond Shimla. The state road transport corporation was plying some buses to the Rampur area via Basantpur and to the Rohru area via Vikasnagar. The Bharmour area of Chamba is without power for the past one week.

Seobagh in Kullu recorded the maximum 30 mm of rainfall, followed by Sudnernagar 29 mm, Hamirpur 25 mm, Solan 23 mm, Una 22 mm and Mandi 21 mm.

The in charge of the local Met office said the heavy precipitation would continue for another 24 hours after which the weather would start clearing. The concentration of clouds was more towards the Mandi area.

Manali, January 15
The tourist town of Manali and the adjoining areas experienced a fresh spell of snowfall today, resulting in a considerable fall in the day temperature.

Tourists were elated to see the town covered with fresh snow. They came out from their hotels to have fun in the snow on Mall Road. After the snowfall, a festive atmosphere again prevailed in the town as winter revellers wee seen having photo sessions and throwing snowballs at each other.

However, besides bringing joy, the snow also brought its share of miseries. Due to the thick layer of snow on the road, it become slippery and tourists and local residents had a difficult time driving their vehicles.

The famous ski slopes of the Solang valley also experienced a fresh spell of snowfall today. The snow on the ski slopes brought a smile on the faces of winter sports lovers who have come from different parts of the country to participate in the basic ski course, which is being conducted by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali.

Heavy snowfall on the 14,000-foot-high Bhrigu ski slopes and the 12,000-foot-high Hamta slopes, which are internationally famous for their helicopter-skiing, also brought cheer on the faces of heli-ski lovers.

The entire higher reaches in the Kullu valley, including the 13,050-foot-high Rohtang Pass, the gateway to the Lahaul-Spiti valley, the Pir Panjal range, Marhi, Gulaba, Kothi, Dhundi and the Chanderkhani Pass also received moderate to heavy snowfall today.

Kullu, January 15
Incessant rain in lower parts of this district and heavy snowfall on higher reaches around Kullu have hit life. Most link roads have been blocked due to landslides or snow. The main road between Kullu and Bhuntar is being strengthened and has been dug up for the purpose.

The heavy rain added to the woes of the commuters between the two towns. Traffic jams for hours together have become routine. Most buses have changed their routes by avoiding Kullu town forcing people to catch them either at the bypass bridge or at Bhuntar (10 km from Kullu).

The peaks of Mattikochhar, Mount Nag, Phungni Devi and Bijli Mahadev experienced heavy snowfall since yesterday. The road between Banjar and Ani passing through the Jalori Pass has been closed for traffic due to heavy snow on the pass.

Shimla, January 15
The government is promoting organic farming on priority as part of its efforts to make agriculture a sustainable, environment-friendly and remunerative proposition for small hill farmers.

After framing a comprehensive organic farming policy delineating short-term and long-term measures to be taken for systematic propagation of organic farming, the government has started the implementation of the Rs 321-crore crop diversification project with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the main focus of which is development of basic infrastructure for organic farming. Already 25,000 farmers across the state have been registered for organic farming and four lakh vermi-compost units have been set up.

Efforts are afoot to make the state self-sufficient in foodgrain production and also to improve the economy of the farmers. Agriculture has been the mainstay of the people and provides direct employment to about 71 per cent population of the state. The government allocated 12 per cent of its Plan resources for agriculture and allied sectors, which is the highest in the country. The foodgrain production has increased from 2 lakh tonnes in 1951-1952 to 15.79 lakh tonnes in 2010-2011 with maize (7.40 lakh tonnes) and wheat (6.70 lakh tonnes) contributing the maximum. The vegetable production has also witnessed a phenomenal rise to touch the 12.69-lakh-tonne mark.

A target of producing 7.41 lakh tonnes of foodgrains, 3,300 tonnes of oilseeds, 27,000 tonnes of potato and 5.20 lakh tonnes of vegetables has been fixed for the current rabi season. Various agencies have supplied 7,200 tonnes of improved seeds, 29,500 tonnes of fertilisers, 10 tonnes of organic manure and 50,000 improved agriculture implements to the farmers.

“Krishak mitras” are being appointed in all panchayats and the government has exempted marginal and small farmers from paying stamp duty on land mortgage deeds up to Rs 10 lakh and waived the recovery under the “Taccavi Loan” and loans raised for soil conservation and land development for the 1950-1960 period, benefiting 43,485 small and marginal farmers to the tune of Rs 4.95 crore.

Dharamsala, January 15
The first day of the winter sojourn of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was washed away due to heavy rain that lashed the region throughout the day today.

The Chief Minister was scheduled to arrive at Dharamsala for the winter sojourn today at 11 am. However, sources said the helicopter in which he was to arrive could not take off due to bad weather. The Chief Minister then started his journey from Shimla to Dharamsala by car.

According to the scheduled programme, the Chief Minister was to meet people in the Dharamsala mini-secretariat. However, the programme had to be put off as the Chief Minister’s helicopter could not take off from Shimla.

Inclement weather and the Punjab elections are likely to shorten the winter sojourn of Dhumal in lower areas of the state, including Kangra, Chamba, Una and Hamirpur districts. According to the schedule, the Chief Minister will stay in Dharamsala tomorrow and hold a meeting with the Chamba and Una deputy commissioners to review the progress of various development works.

He is scheduled to stay for a day in Hamirpur district. After that he is likely to go out of state for campaigning in Punjab and Uttarakhand where the Assembly elections are scheduled for January 30.

The Chief Minister is likely to return to Dharamsala on January 28.

During this winter sojourn, the Chief Minister will be on an inauguration spree and will unveil various development projects. The buildings of nine mini-secretariats, including those at Palampur, Kangra, Dehra and Nurpur, are nearing completion and will be inaugurated by the Chief Minister during the winter sojourn after January 28.

At Dharamsala also, the building of new mini-secretariat is under construction. After the building is completed, offices of the district administration will be moved to the new building. The old mini-secretariat will have permanent offices of all nine Cabinet ministers in the state government.

Kangra, January 15
Life was thrown out of gear today by heavy rain which lashed the Kangra valley since morning with most people remaining indoors and roads and markets wearing a deserted look.

The higher reaches of the Dhauldhar range experienced snow. The rain brought down the temperature considerably, forcing people to remain indoors. The pilgrims who thronged the town since yesterday were the worst sufferers.

The valley shivered on the second day today after a few sunny days last week. Reports of rain were received from different areas of the valley, including Nagrota Bagwan, Gaggal, Mallan, Shahpur, Dehra, Jawalamukhi and Ranital. Dharamsala and McLeodganj also witnessed rain.

New Delhi, January 15
The Supreme Court (SC) has stayed a Bar Council of India (BCI) order suspending the right of Himachal Pradesh advocate Om Prakash Patyal to practise in courts for allegedly forging his two clients’ signatures.

A Bench comprising Justices RM Lodha and HL Gokhale passed an order to this effect on January 13 after hearing the contentions of his counsel Anil Nag that the BCI had suspended the advocate for 18 months merely on the basis of an unsubstantiated inference.

The clients of Patyal, who practised in the civil courts of Barsar town in Hamirpur district, had lodged a complaint that he had forged their signatures on a written statement and the relevant affidavit in a case relating to some land dispute.

The complaint had come to the BCI as the state Bar Council had failed to dispose it of within the stipulated one-year period. The BCI had passed the suspension order after its disciplinary committee had held that the specimen signatures taken from Patyal’s clients did not match with the signatures on the affidavit and the written statement.

Nag argued in the SC that the BCI could not have held Patyal guilty by assuming that he had committed forgery merely because of the mismatch in the signatures. Since misconduct on the part of an advocate was in the nature of a criminal charge, the BCI could have drawn the inference against Patyal only if there had been “some proof beyond reasonable doubt.”

Bilaspur, January 15
The police here succeeded in making a big haul of smuggled English wine and desi liquor from two vehicles, a truck (PB-07-2575) and a Tata tempo (PB-07-AC-2090), at Kathyun near Gandhir under Shah Talai police station here today.

Superintendent of Police Santosh Patial said a police team, led by ASI Pradip Kumar, and consisting of Head Constables Brij Lal and Rakesh Kumar and Constable Chander Shekhar, intercepted these vehicles at a police naka and found them carrying total 965 boxes of liquor which was being smuggled into Himachal Pradesh from adjoining areas of Punjab without valid documents or permission.

Patial said truck driver Surender Singh of Duyut Khurd village, Hoshiarpur district, and tempo driver Rakesh Kumar of Gandhir village, Bilaspur district, were arrested on the spot after registering cases under Sections 61-1-14, Excise and Taxation Act.

The preliminary investigation has revealed that the truck was loaded with liquor at Mullanpur and the tempo at Bangana and the vehicles were going to Sarkaghat in Mandi district.

Solan, January 15
With the Himachal Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (HPSIDC) failing to execute various developmental works in Sirmaur district on time, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has sought a report from the managing director in this regard.

Chief Minister Dhumal told The Tribune that no laxity would be tolerated in these developmental works as the due budget had been allocated.

General Manager, District Industries Centre, Nahan, GS Chauhan said officials of the HPSIDC had assured them that they would speed up various pending works, including the widening of Kala Amb barrier, which was assigned to the HPSIDC six months ago.

DC, Sirmaur, Mira Mohanty said since the Chief Minister had announced Rs 10 lakh for widening of the Kala Amb barrier they would ensure the work would begin soon. The offices of the Excise and Taxation and the RTO would be relocated and provided with proper space. Additional funds of Rs 10 lakh had also been provided for this work.

While lack of budgetary sanction acted as a major deterrent for executing developmental activities in industrial areas, it was the tardy pace of executing work that was delaying the completion of various works despite availability of ample funds.

This includes the setting up of a Common Facility Centre in Kala Amb with a sanctioned budget of Rs 2.26 crore. Though the HPSIDC could not make any headway in this work even after a year, they have now assured the district administration of speeding up the work. The project will put in place a common centre where various departments like State Pollution Control Board, ESIC, Labour and Employment, Excise and Taxation, Industries, ATMs, banks, etc will be provided under one roof for facilitating the industry.

Mandi, January 15
Fourteen towns, including Mandi, Sundernagar and Kullu, in the state are set to get rid of the frequent breakdown of power supply and low voltage as the state electricity board is overhauling its jaded electrical and distribution system under the centrally sponsored Accelerated Power Development and Restructuring Programme.

Funded by the Rural Electrification Corporation, Government of India, the first phase of the programme in the state will be carried out in 14 towns and may cost over Rs 200 crore. The project aims at cutting down the transmission and distribution losses to below 15 per cent and taking care of the low voltage and erratic power supply in these 14 towns.

However, according to engineers, the REC has put a condition to the state board that if it does not succeed in cutting down the transmission and distribution losses and providing good voltage, the funds would be treated as loan.

The engineers said the board had to recover outstanding arrears of over Rs 100 crore from faltering government departments to better its financial health.

The SE, Mandi Central Circle, Kapil, said a 22 kV system would be upgraded, overhead wires would be replaced by insulated “airbunched” cables and at places these would be replaced by underground cables. As many as 58 transformers would be replaced by new ones, he added.

To give easy access to the staff for billing, private consumers would be given new meters that would be installed outside the houses. It would save time and speed up the billing system. Kapil said they had submitted a Rs 24-crore project for Mandi town. The company would complete the work in one-and-a-half-years’ time in Mandi, Sundernagar, Kullu, Bilaspur and Hamirpur in the first phase.

Chief Engineer, Operation, RS Rana said the work in 14 towns would be carried out by each circle. The other towns included Paonta Sahib, Baddi and Barotiwala in the industrial corridor, he added.

Dharamsala, January 15
Tibetan authorities in exile here have reported another self-immolation by a Tibetan man in Ngaba. The authorities here have maintained that the self-immolation has triggered a mass demonstration.

Sources said self-immolation, the 16th since March last year, occurred yesterday in the Ngaba region of Tibet. Tibetan sources here said, Chinese security personnel arrived at the scene of self-immolation and beat up the Tibetan while putting off the flames. As the Chinese security personnel were taking away the man, who was believed to be dead by then, local Tibetans gathered at the site and demanded that the body to be handed over to them.

In the ensuing mass protest, Chinese security personnel fired on the crowd and used teargas shells. One elderly Tibetan woman died after receiving bullet injuries.

Dharamsala-based Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in a press note issued today condemned the use of violence against civilians and appealed to the international community to intervene so as to restrain the Chinese government from further use of violence.

The CTA said the Chinese government must take full responsibility for cases of self-immolation. It is within its power to end these unfortunate incidents by adopting liberal policies for Tibet and Tibetan people.

The Ngaba region in Tibet, seat of the besieged Kirti monastery, has seen 11 Tibetans - monks, nuns, and laymen - set themselves on fire since March last year.

This year alone, four Tibetans have died after setting themselves ablaze protesting against China’s continued occupation of Tibet and demanding the return of the Dalai Lama.

The Chinese authorities have condemned the Dalai Lama for trying to use self-immolations in Tibet for their cause. The 17th Karmapa, Oygen Trinley Dorjee, is the only prominent Tibetan Buddhist leader who has openly condemned self-immolations by stating that self-immolation was against the tenets of their religion.

Shimla, January 15
Four students from the hill state have been placed in the merit list of Aakash National Talent Hunt Examination-2011 (ANTHE-2011) held on December 25, 2011.

In all, over 46,000 candidates participated in the national-level hunt for which 115 test centres were set up across the country. A total of 3,500 students appeared from the region in the initial phase and 133 qualified for the main round. Supriya of St Mary Convent School, Kasuali, Siddhant Rohela and Shivam Kansra of St Lukes School, Solan, and Samriti Sharma of DAV Centenary Public School, Mandi, cleared the final stage.

Dr Yash Pal, Centre Head (Chandigarh), Aakash Educational Services Limited, said the result had revealed that students hailing from the state were prepared enough to face national-level examination. He said their performance in the test was remarkable.

All selected candidates will together share a scholarship worth Rs 14 crore at the all-India level. It is the maximum amount of scholarship given to students in any national-level talent hunt examination in India. The objective of conducting this examination is to recognise the talent of brilliant students and nurture it by providing them free coaching.