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Tribune Special
Life paralysed by Eastern, North Eastern Grid failure
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Haryana, Uttar Pradesh were overdrawing from BBMB grid
Stern warning to Southern states
Grid failure fallout: Industry and agriculture severely affected across
Haryana, Punjab, Himachal and J&K 6-hour blackout in hapless J&K
Nightmare come true: No power, water in Gurgaon
Textile hub Panipat takes to streets
Health services hit, routine surgeries put off
Uttarakhand banks on its hydel units
HP power projects shut, manufacturing units suffer
Metro stops, trains get stuck in tunnels
Routine surgeries put off in Delhi
Production down 30%, Punjab industry loses
Rs 1,000 cr
Paddy farmers’ woes worsen
Monsoon silver lining in power gloom
M’rashtra mulls cloud seeding to beat insufficient monsoon
CBI: No evidence against ex-Prasar Bharati CEO Lalli
Army jawan killed, 6 injured in blast
K’taka suspends 40 officials named in
illegal mining report
Ex-Army Chief VK Singh hints at joining politics
Balkrishna’s bail plea rejected
Will end agitation if violence continues: Anna
India set to induct submarine launched N-missile
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Tribune Special
New Delhi, July 31 The grid is threatened when frequency of power drops below 49.5 hertz, but the states did not stop overdrawing even when the frequency dropped below critical levels. When the frequency drops to 48.8 hertz, the under frequency relays (UFRs) installed on the high tension lines start working. These are programmed to start shutting down the grid to prevent a blowout. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) yesterday issued instructions to the northern regional load dispatch centre (NRLDC) asking it to disconnect supplies to erring states when such a level of overloading takes place. The NRDLC has states as its members. It manages the Northern Grid on a real time basis. The CERC issued instructions on July 10 telling states that the officers managing the power lines in the states would be personally responsible for overdrawal. The CERC yesterday asked UP, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir officials to personally appear before it on August 14 and explain why they should not be liable for penalty for ignoring warnings and instructions. “We are convinced that urgent actions are called for to maintain the grid at the specified frequency (more than 49.5 hertz),” the CERC said in its instructions yesterday. The NRLDC was so fed up with the erring states that it petitioned the CERC and provided the data of overdrawal. On July 10, the CERC observed: “We concluded that some of the constituents of the Northern Region had resorted to overdrawal from the grid when the frequency was 49.5 Hz or below”. The June data with the NRLDC says Uttar Pradesh was overdrawing 43.32 million units (MU) of power per day. Haryana and Punjab followed with overdrawals of 27.83 MU and 18.33 MU per day, respectively. Between July 10 and July 16, there were 31 warnings of overdrawal issued to UP, 17 to Haryana, 15 to Punjab, 19 to Utttarakhand and 15 to Rajasthan. The number of warnings issued in June are: UP (371), Haryana (248), Punjab (202) and Uttarakhand (145). Even as all this was happening, a representative of the Punjab Government submitted before the CERC saying the state was “strictly following the grid code and it is suffering on account of the non-compliance of the grid code by other constituents (states)”. A hapless NRLDC that does not have punitive powers sought directions from the CERC asking the states to ensure safety and security of the grid. “The states did not care, it was evident and the system buckled under,” as senior power engineer said.
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Life paralysed by Eastern, North Eastern Grid failure
Kolkata, July 31 The grid failure severely affected train services inconveniencing lakhs of suburban and long-distance passengers. The West Bengal Government declared a holiday in its offices after 3 pm to enable employees to return home early, especially those who commute by train. Metro Rail services in Kolkata and the NSC Bose International Airport were, however, normal. Around 200 miners were stuck in four underground mines of ECL in Burdwan district, but were evacuated, ECL sources said. “The Eastern grid collapsed at 1 pm. It is a catastrophic power disaster. There is no power in any district in the state,” Power Minister Manish Gupta said. On the reason for the failure, the minister said: “Such a catastrophe can happen in case of excess drawal of power illegally from the grid by a state.” He said the Central government should ensure that states maintained discipline. “We are restarting generation at the state-owned Bandel and Kolaghat power plants,” he said, adding it would take some more time to restart power in other plants. In Bihar, state capital Patna went totally without power and work was paralysed at the secretariat. Officials worked using lamps and emergency set ups. East Central Railway (ECR) Chief Public Relations Officer Amitabh Prabhakar said more than 30 trains, including 18 mail and express and over 48 goods trains were stranded at various places since 1 pm. In Odisha, power at the state secretariat and buildings housing important government offices was restored within an hour, a senior official said. Train services in the state were hit barring western areas like Sambalpur, Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Bargarh and Bolangir, where there was no disruption in power supply, official sources said. In Assam, State Load Despatch Centre (ASLDC) Executive Engineer Ashok Saikia said: “All of a sudden, there was heavy load and power frequency came down from the normal 49.9 per cent to 38.34 per cent leading to the collapse of the grid.” The collapse led to large-scale power cuts throughout the state, but the situation was likely to improve with additional power inputs from Samaguri, Kathalguri and Namrup Thermal Power Plants which were unaffected by the grid failure, he said. In Jharkhand, DVC’s Chief Engineer (Chandrapura unit) R Basuri said several units were hit following failure of North-East Grid section, resulting in power breakdown in the state. — PTI
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Haryana, Uttar Pradesh were overdrawing from BBMB grid
Chandigarh, July 31 BBMB sources said though the reason for the successive collapse will be investigated by the Northern Regional Load Despatch Centre (NRLDC), jerks due to overdrawals could be one of the reasons for the grid failure. The sources said the constant overdrawals by partner states had been debated at NRLDC meetings this summer. Sources said Haryana was withdrawing 25 per cent more than its schedule yesterday, Uttar Pradesh 20 per cent and Punjab 5 per cent. They said when the grid collapsed today, Haryana was withdrawing 22 per cent more than its schedule, UP 6 per cent and Punjab 1 per cent. BBMB Member Power Ashok Thapar said the system had been restored completely by 6 pm today. He said power supply had been facilitated to the thermal plants of Punjab and Haryana which had a totalled installed capacity of 4,000 MW. He said power supply had also been facilitated to NHPC’s Bairasuil thermal plant. Thapar said as of 7 pm, the BBMB’s total generation was 2,146 MW against the schedule supply of 1,547 MW. BBMB sources said in July, Haryana had withdrawn 17 per cent more than its schedule, UP 31 per cent and Punjab 4 per cent. The sources said overdrawals by UP have been a source of concern for the BBMB management with the state overdrawing by as much as 50 per cent on occasions during June-July. Punjab has an average base schedule of 4,700 MW while Haryana and UP have a base schedule between 1,500 and 2,000 MW. PSPCL sources said Punjab had not gone in for overdrawals from the grid as it was meeting its power requirements by going in for short-term power purchases. The state has already purchased power worth Rs 6,500 crore this year.
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Stern warning to Southern states
Chennai, July 31 It has asked Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry to reduce the load, maintain the grid frequency above 49.5 Hz, grid security and discipline, the release from Tamil Nadu Electricity Board said today. The release added that grid discipline was being "strictly maintained" by Tamil Nadu to avoid grid power collapse. —
PTI
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People continue to bear brunt in Haryana
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 31 For the record, partial supply to the state was restored by 4.30 pm — almost four hours after it all went haywire. State-owned thermal plants were able to crank up the system only late in the evening. The Tribune team visited various districts to experience first-hand what the disruption meant for the people. HISAR: Hours of outages appear to have hit small-scale industrial units the hardest. Devender Leekha, who owns a surgical cotton unit, said the pressure vessel of the machine in his small factory had just reached the optimal level when electricity went off again. He said there was no way he could be compensated for the financial loss. A spokesperson for the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam said the supply was gradually restored with the help of the Eastern Grid, which is powered mostly by hydel power units. ROHTAK: The power supply that was restored by 10 am on Monday after the first grid failure came to an abrupt halt again around 1.20 pm today. Many areas had to go without power till late in the evening. Sources in the PGIMS Hospital said power was partially restored partially by 4.15 pm. It usually takes at least three hours to fully restore the the system'', said K.L Khatri, superintending engineer, UHBVN. JIND: The district remained without electricity since 11 am today. "We have hardly received 10-hour supply in the past 24 hours,'' claimed Kuldeep, a resident of Patiala Chowk locality. He said the maximum period of power supply at one go was just an hour while the outage could prolong to two hours. SONEPAT: Train services were brought to a stand still. Seven trains including goods trains on up-and-down tracks in the district were forced to halt soon after the power failure. The Bandra-Chandigarh Express train, despite being run by a diesel engine, was halted at the Sonepat station as the track was not clear. Many passengers had to switch to buses for their onward journey. (With inputs from Manish Sirhindi and Suman Bhatnagar in Ambala, Raman Mohan in Hisar, Bijendra Ahlawat in Rohtak and BS Malik in Sonepat)
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6-hour blackout in hapless J&K Jammu, July 31 Official sources said the Power Development Department (PDD) tried to run hydroelectric projects, including Baglihar and Salal, in isolation but could not. “Like yesterday, the PDD in coordination with the NHPC and the State Power Development Corporation, made efforts to operate the two hydroelectric projects in isolation, but in vain,” a source said. Ajay Gupta, chief engineer (system and operation), Jammu, said: “We restored the power supply in some parts of the state around 5 pm. The supply was restored in a phased manner to avoid sudden overloading on the grid. The supply was restored in all districts of the state at 6 pm.” After the collapse of the Northern Grid in the afternoon, the department was left with 200 MW to 300 MW of power. “We tried to draw power from the Baglihar and Dulhasti hydropower projects but in vain,” he said, adding that the department supplied the available power (around 300 MW) to essential services and some towns on rotation. Currently, around 1,500 MW power was being supplied to Jammu and Kashmir (700 MW in Jammu and 800 MW in Kashmir) as against the demand of 2,300 MW. The power department said the Kashmir region also faced major power crisis following the breakdown. The Valley is importing 400 MW from the Northern Grid through the Kishenpur-Wagoora transmission line, while its local power houses are generating 500 MW electricity. Anil Suri, president, Bari Brahmana Industrial Association, said the breakdown rendered about 15,000 industrial units non-functional in the state for almost six hours.
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Nightmare come true: No power, water in Gurgaon
Gurgaon July 31 Hundreds of trains either came to a halt or were cancelled today. The Delhi-Gurgaon Metro came to a halt and passengers were trapped inside trains. Services were partially restored after more than one-and-a-half hour. The effect of the power Grid failure was felt in the city's traffic movement too. Non-functional traffic signals nearly doubled the waiting time at intersections. The water woes left all cribbing as it worsened in several parts of city including the posh sectors.
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Textile hub Panipat takes to streets
Panipat, July 31 The Federation of Small Scale Industry Associations spearheaded the protest. Its members were upset that despite paying commercial rate of Rs 6 per unit, power was not available for industrial units. Thousands of members took out a protest march and submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the local SDM, demanding 24-hour power supply to Panipat. The annual turnover of the small and medium industry of Panipat is about Rs 23,000 crore of which Rs 18,000 crore is from the domestic market. “Power cuts have crippled the industry and are resulting in a daily loss of over Rs 60 crore,” association chairman Yashpal Malik said. “As per the schedule, industries should be supplied 16 hours electricity but we don’t power for even six hours. Even during the period, supply is interrupted,” he said, alleging a bias in favour of VVIPs. A hotline has been provided to VVIPs and the private school of former minister Om Prakash Jain while we suffer, he said. “We are using generators to fulfill our commitment, which pushes up production cost by three times,” Malik added.
Health services hit, routine surgeries put off
New Delhi, July 31 Many patients and their kin had a tough time due to power disruption. One such was Nargis from Muzaffarpur who had come this morning for her child’s treatment of blood cancer but got stuck after the metro services collapsed around noon. “I have to go to New Delhi Railway Station as I have a train back to my home. But was told at metro station (at Rajiv Chowk) that the train cannot go,” said Nargis. As most of the generators supplied back-up only for the emergency procedures, work even in some of the testing labs and classes were also hit. At the registration counters too, there were several patients facing the brunt seen standing in long queues as most of work was being done manually. There were students in many hostels who too had to face trouble due to the long-hours of load-shedding.
Uttarakhand banks on its hydel units
Dehradun, July 31 It was in the evening at 4 pm that the Load Dispatch Centre (LDC) at Rishikesh managed to get 40 MW from Chibro hydropower house (capacity 240 MW) and Khodri (capacity 120 MW) with the help of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL), but the restored supply, too, tripped after some time due to imbalance of power frequency and load distribution. Rajiv Gupta, in-charge of LDC, said the problem of tripping arose due to overdrawal from power substations in the state. In this situation, the crisis was triggered by the collapse of the Northern Grid. Without giving any assurance, Gupta said the supply will be restored soon.
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300 trains disrupted
New Delhi/Ferozepur, July 31 Forty-one trains of the Northern Railway were affected. Important trains that were affected included Swaran Shatabdi, Shane Punjab, Gomti Express, Duronto Express, Swatantrata Senani Express, Garib Rath Express, Unchahar Express, Pathankot Express, Chandigarh Super fast Express, Neelanchal Express and Shaheed Express. Passengers had no information of rescheduling of their trains. Narender Singh said he had to go to Saharanpur from Delhi by train at 2.50 pm but the service was suspended due to power failure. The Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi and Delhi-Amritsar Shan-e-Punjab trains got stranded at Beas and Jalandhar cantonment railway stations for around 1.5 hours. Diesel-run engines were pressed into service to bring them to the Amritsar railway station. The Amritsar-Delhi Shatabdi departed at the right time while departure of the Amritsar-Delhi Shan-E-Punjab got delayed by an hour and a half.
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HP power projects shut, manufacturing units suffer
Shimla, July 31 The breakdown occurred at around 1.30 pm and normal supply could not be restored in the entire state till late in the evening. Efforts of the state power board to start generation in some of its projects failed to yield due to a mismatch in voltage. The Nathpa Jhakri project resumed generation in the evening and at the time of the filing of this report, five of the six units had been made operational. The blackout hit the functioning of banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions requiring online connectivity the most. Working of government offices and business establishments was also affected and long queues were seen at public counters as the online connectivity was snapped abruptly. Inclement weather coupled with the blackout of traffic signals created more problems for motorists. There were traffic jams at many places.
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Metro stops, trains get stuck in tunnels
New Delhi, July 31 A DMRC spokesperson said, “To ensure the safety and security of its passengers, the Delhi Metro immediately evacuated all the passengers from trains, including eight trains inside tunnel of Line-2 (Jahangirpuri to Huda City Centre) in Gurgaon. The passengers fully cooperated with the DMRC staff and within an hour, entire Metro system was declared closed to avoid any inconvenience to the public.” The power supply was restored for the Delhi Metro at 2.45 pm after which the services were again resumed on all lines at 2.50 pm with a frequency of 10 minutes to begin with. People had to leave the metro trains and boarded buses to reach their destinations.
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Routine surgeries put off in Delhi
New Delhi, July 31 Many patients and their kin had a tough time. Nargis from Muzaffarpur who had come this morning for her child’s treatment of blood cancer got stuck as the Metro collapsed. “I have to go to New Delhi Railway Station as I have a train back to my home. But was told at metro station that the train cannot go,” said Nargis. Work in some of the testing labs and classes were also hit.
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Production down 30%, Punjab industry loses
Rs 1,000 cr
Ludhiana, July 31 Industry insiders say cost of production has increased by 10-15 per cent, while the production has plummeted by at least 30-35 per cent in the last one week. If the already grim power situation that was compounded by the Northern Grid failures continues, Ludhiana may lose its coveted position of being the industrial hub of Northern India. It is learnt that some industries have decided to shift base to Andhra Pradesh and talks are in the “project report” phase. With compulsory offs, the weekly work hours of the general industry total to around 32, while those of the induction and arc furnace industry work out to be approximately 24 hours. The industries have told the labour force that it would not be possible to pay them for 30 days work since the actual work was not more than 12 days. This, predictably, has not gone well with the workforce. Some of them have already informed the industries that they would quit. Already, there is a shortage of skilled and unskilled labour. “It is a difficult choice. We cannot afford to pay the workforce as usual, but if we cut down their monthly salary, we run the risk of losing already scare labour,” says Bandish Jindal, president of the Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association. Industrialists complain that their “export credibility” has taken a beating. “We are unable to supply orders in time. We are not accepting any new export orders as we are not sure whether we would be able to supply the finished product in time,” says Jindal. He adds that the industry was unable to meet even its domestic market commitments.
Chandigarh, July 31 Apart from it, power failure also affected watering the paddy fields, where plantation was done in the past five weeks. Owing to severe rainfall deficit, farmers in Punjab have become dependent on tubewells to water the paddy. On the advice of the state government, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited has been supplying power to farmers in day and night shifts. Paddy has been transplanted in about 27.50 lakh hectares. In absence of adequate rain, the cotton crop has started withering in some parts of the Malwa region. Farmers desperately need adequate power supply at this stage when almost all kharif, including earlier sown paddy, crops are at the flourishing stage. — TNS
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Monsoon silver lining in power gloom
New Delhi, July 31 Talking to the Tribune from Pune, Pai said: “The monsoon situation for the country as a whole, including north-western India, should be better in August than it was in July.” Power deficit in key crop areas has been worsened by a weak monsoon that lowered hydroelectric generation and kept temperatures higher. Considering that the collapse of the northern grid is being attributed to states like Punjab and Haryana drawing more power than they were authorised to meet rising demand during Kharif, good rains predicted in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh will improve water level in rivers feeding key reservoirs of North India and thereby the hydro-power generation. According to Pai, while overall August would be better than July, beginning today, active monsoon conditions would prevail over parts of Central and East India with heavy rainfall over Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Rains would occur at many places along the west coast and over North-East India. “Rains would occur at few places over North-West India during the first half of the week and increase towards the second half, particularly over Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh,” Pai said. Even though Pai is not promising any spectacular changes in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi per se, considering dismal performance of 2012 monsoon season in peak July, the situation perhaps can get better. Though the region has seen a cloud cover in the past 10 hours, it has not materialised in precipitation.
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M’rashtra mulls cloud seeding to beat insufficient monsoon
Mumbai, July 31 The Agricultural Department has revived the Project Varsha, a programme mooted nearly a decade ago to spray chemicals on clouds from the air in order to make it rain. "We have shortlisted companies with experience in spraying fertilisers
from the air to do the job," an official of the state Agricultural Department said. According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, quantum of rainfall can be increased by as much as 20 per cent by resorting to the Project Varsha. Airplanes are deployed to spray hygroscopic salts on clouds so that water in them condenses, becomes heavier and comes down in the form of rain. Most of the state’s 35 districts have reported a shortage in rainfall and water from reservoirs is being reserved for drinking purposes. The state government had first resorted to cloud seeding in 2004. The technique has been used intermittently since then with some bureaucrats questioning the expenditure incurred because the benefits from cloud seeding could not be quantified. Some political parties in the state had also demanded that funds spent on cloud seeding could be used to provide drinking water to parched villages using tankers.
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CWG graft case R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, July 31 In a report filed before Special CBI Judge Talwant Singh, the agency sought closure of the case against Lalli, stating it did not find any evidence to suggest that he had committed fraud or was involved in a conspiracy in connection with a Rs 246 crore contract given to UK-based SIS Live, which subsequently passed it on to Delhi-based Zoom Communications on a sub-contract for Rs 176 crore. The trial court will consider the closure report on August 4. Last year, the CBI had charged both Lalli and the Indian company’s Managing Director Wasim Dehlvi with criminal conspiracy and cheating. In the FIR, the agency had alleged that Lalli had relaxed several conditions, including the provision against sub-contracts. The CBI’s investigation had also covered Doordarshan’s decision against using in-house production facilities for covering 10 of the 17 CWG events allegedly to favour private contractors. The agency’s closure report has come at a time when the Supreme Court is considering a Presidential reference for Lalli’s removal as the CEO on four charges. Even when the reference was being heard by the SC, the tenure of the suspended CEO had ended in December 2011. The non-telecast of T-20 World Cup 2007 by Doordarshan is among the four charges slapped on Lalli on the basis of the reference. Prasar Bharati did not telecast the first ever T-20 World Cup held in South Africa from September 11, 2011 which resulted in a huge loss of advertisement revenue. Another charge related to the arbitrary selection of a revenue management company, while the third charge pertained to engaging lawyers for Prasar Bharati who had association with Lalli’s advocate son. The fourth charge pertained to acquisition of radio rights without referring the issue to the Empowered Committee on Sports Rights.
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Army jawan killed, 6 injured in blast
Guwahati, July 31 Defence spokesman Col SS Phogat said an IED exploded under the Army truck around 1.5 km away from the Naranarayan Setu on the Brahmaputra at Jogighopa. The administrative convoy was moving from Kokrajhar to Agia in Goalpara district. The injured jawans have been shifted to the Army Base Hospital at Basistha in Guwahati. The anti-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) has claimed the responsibility for the blast.
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K’taka suspends 40 officials named in
illegal mining report
Bangalore, July 31 Responding to a question of Tanveer Sait (Congress) in the Legislative Assembly, he said as per the recommendations in those reports, 66 officials and staff have been transferred from Bellary district. The then Lokayukta Justice (Retd) N Santosh Hegde had submitted the preliminary report on illegal mining
on December 18, 2008 and the final report on July 27, 2011, and Sait wanted to know the
action initiated by the government on their recommendations. Shettar said show-cause notices have been issued to five IAS officers and one IPS, and disciplinary action has been taken against three officials of Mysore Minerals Ltd. "After the Lokayukta reports, we have taken all action. There is no question of shielding anybody," the chief minister said. Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah (Congress) said the loss to the state exchequer because of illegal mining and non-payment of royalty is to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore. "Message has gone out that the government is trying to cover-up (the scam) and there is a debate in the public domain," he said. "The government should take action without hesitation, without coming under influence and pressure." Sait
sought a detailed discussion on the issue of illegal mining and the
government action, and Speaker K G Bopaiah agreed for a half-hour debate
at a later time. — PTI
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Ex-Army Chief VK Singh hints at joining politics
Fatehabad, July 31 On whether he would visit Jantar Mantar, where Anna is sitting on fast, Singh replied it was not necessary to be seen sitting with somebody to support a cause. “For me, individuals are not important. The issues definitely matter. Anything that concerns my country is important for me,” he said. On being asked what would be his decision if the people wanted him to join politics, the ex- Army Chief said: “Let the people make up their mind. I am a soldier and a soldier never shows his back.”
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Balkrishna’s bail plea rejected
Dehradun, July 31 Balkrishna's supporters, who gathered around the court, accused the Congress of conspiring against Ramdev and Balkrishna. Ramdev met Balkrishna in the Sudhowala jail today in the evening. Balkrishna was arrested on July 20 on the charges of forgery and violation of the Indian Passport Act. Chief Judicial Magistrate SS Rawat had extended his remand for 14 days till August 13 yesterday.
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Will end agitation if violence continues: Anna
New Delhi, July 31 Team Anna offered several apologies to the media for last night’s incident when several persons were heckled by protesters. At Jantar Mantar, hundreds of people kept coming since early morning despite the continuous rains. “I am saddened due to all this and if this continues, I may be forced to end this fast. Non-violence has a lot of power and if you resort to violent methods, it won’t take long for the government to suppress the movement for a strong Lokpal,” said Anna as he entered the third day of his indefinite hunger protest, joined by scores others wearing Anna caps and chanting pro-Anna slogans today. The 74-year old fighter, a Padma Bhushan recipient, also threatened to return the national honour while declining the idea of any negotiation with the government after strong confrontational messages from the leading Congress leaders of the UPA government poured in during the day.
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India set to induct submarine launched N-missile
New Delhi, July 31 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was with top scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), today gave away the technology leadership award to scientist AK Chakrabarti of the Hyderabad-based DRDL lab. The citation for Chakrabarti read for “successful development” of the country's first SLBM. Besides the Prime Minister, Defence Minister AK Antony was also present at the function. The citation went on to say “Now, the SLBM system is ready for induction”. Apart from India, the US, Russia, France and China have such capabilities. Unlike the public announcements New Delhi has made over the 5000-plus km range Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and the Agni V, there has been no acknowledgement in public about the SLBM being developed under the project codenamed ‘K-15’. However, the actual induction of the SLBM may be at least two-three years away. The Arihant will be ready for commissioning by the middle of 2013 and few user trials of the SLBM will have to follow. So far, the DRDO has conducted several tests of the K-15 using submersible pontoons to mimic an underwater launch. This may be fairly successful method but the missile will need to be tested from one of the four missile tubes of the Arihant for some finality to be arrived at. The K-15 carries a one-tonne warhead. A submarine carrying a nuclear-tipped missile is considered one of the most potent responses. Since India has no first-strike policy in case of nuclear weapons, a submarine fired missile is considered an ideal second strike as its location will be secret.
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Chandigarh, July 31
The National Capital went without power for the second successive day, bringing essential services like Metro rail, trains and water distribution system, to a standstill.
Thousands of Delhi Metro passengers had a harrowing time when trains stopped in tunnels. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation authorities used their power back-up arrangement to bring trains to the nearest stations.
