Calcutta, 31 May 2006

La Opala RG Limited, a city-based premium glassware company, has selected Uttaranchal for its second plant.

The plant, which will start operations by February 2007, would come up at the Eledeco Sidcul Industrial Park in Sitarganj. To be built at an investment of Rs 35 crore, the plant will have a capacity of 4,000 tonnes.

“We wanted to set it up in Bengal and had looked at land in Durgapur. We also considered Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, besides Uttaranchal and Bengal. However, incentives like income tax exemption for five years and 30 per cent exemption for the next five and excise exemption for 10 years in Uttaranchal were too attractive to let go,” said Sushil Jhunjhunwala, managing director of La Opala.

The company will fund the project through a mix of internal accruals and equity expansion.

The free reserve of Rs 27.63 crore would mostly be ploughed back into existing operations as the company, though debt free, has a small capital base of Rs 5.3 crore, Jhunjhunwala said.

The electricity rates are also cheaper in Uttaranchal, he added.

The company has a factory at Madhavpur in Jharkhand that can produce 3,500 tonnes of opalware and 1,600 tonnes of crystalware.

News Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com

26 May 2006

By Ashish Goel, Dehradun: Believe it or not, but an old system of keeping a vigil on law and order and collecting revenue from the public through a “Patwari” or, the local revenue officer, still prevails and keeps order in the rural areas of Uttaranchal!

Though it is the State police, which is now responsible for law and order in the rural areas of Uttaranchal, hi-tech methods of law enforcement are a distant dream.

Traditionally, local Patwaris are responsible for resolving disputes and crimes in villages, not the police.

It is said that the Patwari system has been in existence since 1861 because of the State’s wide geographical dimensions and the remoteness of the villages.

With the police, counselling centres and support schemes mostly located in towns and the three major cities of Uttranchal, the access to these facilities is often difficult for rural folk.

According to the patwaris, the public prefers the patwari system to the police system.

“This system is functioning here since 1861. The reputation of local revenue officers is far better than the regular police. About 75 per cent of public residing in rural areas prefers patwari. Yes, we do agree that we have a shortage of basic infrastructure and the force is not adequate. In the name of arms and ammunition, we just have a stick as compared to the regular police,” said Ganga Prasad Patewal, the Patwari of New Tehri, Garhwal.

The system is also considered ‘beneficial’ as the Patwari understands the village and is a part of its inherent culture. It also helps in reducing the police force and any stranger’s interference by strangers. Villages can settle their own issues. The revenue system covers 65 percent of the areas.

Though, the patwari system is perceived as a good system to solve local disputes, the regular police think otherwise.

“We do regular patrolling, we make proper history sheets, we maintain records of criminals and do regular surveillance. We do a lot of preventive action and patwaris do not follow any such organised system. They cannot control criminal activities. They can only perform duties like undertaking basic investigation of an incident,” said G S Martolia, the Superintendent of Police in Tehri, Garhwal.

“Regular Police is better than the revenue officers or Patwaris who only register cases,” said R.V. Sharma, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Tehri.

Rural residents feel both systems are needed.

“Patwaris manage disputes and matters of interior areas and maintain peace in the region. The regular police handle criminal offence of big scale. Both are doing a good job,” said Virender Singh, a resident.

But lack of coordination between the two systems of controlling untoward incidents usually leads to increase in criminal activities.

Interestingly, when it comes to serious crimes, residents prefer the police to the local Patwari.

News Source: http://www.newkerala.com

Kathmandu , 21 May 2006

India’s Border Security Force conquered the ultimate border, the highest point in the world, when six of its men summited Mt. Everest, the first for the agency as well as the first ascent of the 8,848-metre-high peak this summer by Indian climbers.

Loveraj Singh Dharmshaktu, 33, from Pithoragarh in India’s Uttaranchal state, Kamlesh Kumar Bounthiyal, 36, from Pauri Garhwal, also in Uttaranchal, and four mountaineers from New Delhi, Praveen Singh Lohis, 31, Kedar Singh, 30, Bhagat Singh Rawat, 28, and Manoj Dahal, 28, were the first to reach the summit from Nepal Saturday.

Six Nepali Sherpas working as their high-altitude guides and porters also ascended with the team.

The climbers began their last push Friday night, summiting at 6 a.m. After they reached the top, 16 more mountaineers from different expeditions also summited the same day, making it a total of 28 climbers on a single day.

While the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police have sent men to the summit earlier, this is the first time that a BSF team has performed the feat. Last year, the Indian Air Force (IAF) team’s performance was marred by tragedy when one of its climbers, Squadron leader S.S. Chaitanya, lost his way while descending due to a snowstorm and died on the icy slope.

The 14-member team led by Sharab Chandub Negi was flagged off from New Delhi in March by Home Minister Shiv Raj Patil.

Unlike the other security agencies, the BSF started mountaineering and other adventurous sports much later, debuting in 1978 with its first expedition to Mt. Nun, a 7,135 m Himalayan peak.

To prepare for the 2006 Everest expedition, the BSF team scaled Mt. Satopanth last year.

News Source: http://indiaenews.com

Our Regional Bureau / New Delhi/ Dehra Dun, 19 May 2006

“Through the new system, we will make sure that all investment proposals except in one or two areas are cleared in a month at the outside,” Principal Secretary (Tourism) to the government of Uttaranchal, Alok Jain said.

For this purpose, the tourism department has also established special task force in all the 13 districts. Christened Tourism Mitra, the task force would comprise the district magistrate, the superintendent of police, the chief development officer, an officer from the pollution board and some more members.

The Tourism Mitra would see to it that all proposals related to the tourism sector are cleared in the fixed timeframe. From time to time, the Mitra Tourism would review all the difficulties being faced by investors.

The Tourism Mitra would also try to work as a facilitator in order to provide best facilities to the investors as well as tourists visiting the state.

The task force would also facilitate the setting up of new projects under the Vir Singh Garhwali plan.

In case of a policy decision on a new investment proposal, the Tourism Mitra would pass on the relevant documents and information to the Uttaranchal Tourism Board with immediate effect.

The Uttaranchal Mitra would meet once in every one month to review all the investment proposals and provide relevant information to the Tourism Board.

A special facilitation cell is also being created in the Uttaranchal Tourism Board for the fast clearance of the investment proposals.

In case of the beer bar licenses, the investment clearance timeframe would be of three months. For the renewal of licenses, the timeframe would be only of seven days.

“Our main aim is to finish all the bureaucratic and other hurdles that come in the way of new investment proposals. Above all, all the investors are free to meet me if they so desired,” Jain said.

News Source: http://www.business-standard.com

Our Regional Bureau / New Delhi/ Dehra Dun May 18, 2006

First March, then April, and now June. The long wait for water and electricity from the Tehri hydel project is going to be over, hopefully.

With the water level of the dam reservoir reaching the desired height of 740 metres, officers at the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) hope to start power production next month.

THDC officials believe the project will start producing nearly 250 Mw around June 15. The melting of glaciers in the Himalayas has caused the water level of the Bhagirathi to rise.

With the mercury soaring high in the northern region, the demand for water and electricity from the multipurpose Tehri Hydel project ahead of its commissioning is gradually growing.

Earlier the repeated postponements of the dam’s commissioning due to decrease in the inflow of Bhagirathi river waters had caused concern among Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, which are hoping to fetch the maximum benefit from the project. “We are hopeful that the first phase would be commissioned in the middle of June,” said Principal Secretary Power N Ravishanker in the government of Uttaranchal.

Top officials of the THDC, the nodal agency for the implementation of the project, said that the test run of the turbines would be completed by May 20.

The rise in water level has also given a sigh of relief to people in Haridwar. The holy city of Haridwar had been enduring the brunt of the decrease in the flow of Ganga for quite some time now as its tributary Bhagirarthi was blocked at the Tehri dam. This has also adversely affected pilgrim traffic to Haridwar.

The water scarcity has also raised alarm bells in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, which is mostly dependent on the Ganga for irrigation purposes. Uttar Pradesh being a major stake holder in the dam wants its needs to be fulfilled first before any water is being given to Delhi and Uttaranchal.

On the other hand, Uttaranchal wants its share of 12 per cent of electricity from the dam as soon as it starts producing power, THDC officials said. Delhi wants water for its Sonia Vihar project as well as electricity as early as possible.

Though no exact date has been fixed for the commissioning of the Asia’s highest dam, the project authorities are hopeful that the power plant, which is being built with a whopping cost of Rs 7,000 crore, there may not be another postponement this time.

News Source: http://www.business-standard.com