Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today compared the 2011 polls in West Bengal as a cyclonic storm that would wash away all bad things, including the Left Front, and dump them into the Bay of Bengal.
Addressing a poll campaign in Burdwan district, the veteran Congress leader criticised the Left Front's industrial and agricultural policy saying that its 34 years of ruling has eroded everything, and even undone what the Congress government did during 25 years in the post Independence period.
Citing examples of development during the Congress rule in West Bengal, the Union Minister said a number of power projects like Durgapur, Santaldih, Bandel, construction of many barrages like DVC and townships like Kalyani and Durgapur and Salt Lake had been set up.
He also dared the Left Front to name development work, if any, that it did during the 34 years of its regime stretching since 1977 and late 60s.
"Can comrade reply us what they did during these years," Mr Mukherjee said.
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Maithon Power 525 MW unit to go on stream soon
The first 525 MW unit of the 2 x 525 Maithon Power Ltd is expected to be commercialized this month.
The unit was synchronized on March 28.
MPL is a 74:26 thermal power joint venture between Tata Power and Damodar Valley Corporation. BHEL was the BTG (boiler-turbine-generator) contractor for the project.
While responses are not available from Tata Power, sources confirmed the synchronization of the unit. The entire 1,050 MW (2 x 525 MW) project is expected to be on stream in July-August 2011. DVC will get 300 MW of power from the project, followed by State utilities of West Bengal (150 MW) and Punjab (300 MW).
Meanwhile, implementation of the first 800 MW unit of Tata Power's Mundra ultra mega power plant is progressing ahead of schedule and the construction of the generation unit may be over as early as next month.
(Sourced from BL)
The unit was synchronized on March 28.
MPL is a 74:26 thermal power joint venture between Tata Power and Damodar Valley Corporation. BHEL was the BTG (boiler-turbine-generator) contractor for the project.
While responses are not available from Tata Power, sources confirmed the synchronization of the unit. The entire 1,050 MW (2 x 525 MW) project is expected to be on stream in July-August 2011. DVC will get 300 MW of power from the project, followed by State utilities of West Bengal (150 MW) and Punjab (300 MW).
Meanwhile, implementation of the first 800 MW unit of Tata Power's Mundra ultra mega power plant is progressing ahead of schedule and the construction of the generation unit may be over as early as next month.
(Sourced from BL)
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
BSL suffers production and financial loss
BOKARO: Bokaro Steel Limited (BSL) is suffering significant production and financial loss with the Bokaro Power Supply Company Pvt Limited (BPSCL), failing to supply adequate electricity after its boiler-VIII went out of order 10 days ago.
BPSCL is a joint venture of BSL and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC). BPSCL is a 200 MW capacity power plant. It supplies its entire power production to BSL for running its steel plant and lighting the township area.
Since the breakdown of boiler from April 3, BPSCL has suffered a production loss of more than 9600 MWH, forcing BSL to compensate electricity by purchasing it from DVC at high rates. An inquiry committee has been constituted by BPSCL to assess the cause of breakdown and revenue loss, said BSL sources.
BSL chief of communication Sanjay Tiwary said the BSL requires 300 to 330 MW electricity for running its steel plant and township. Their power requirement is fulfilled by BPSCL and DVC. While BPSCL supplies about 170 MW electricity, the DVC delivers rest of the 160 MW power to it.
However, there is restriction in drawing power from DVC. To buy extra power, exceeding the limit which DVC supplies normally, BSL has to pay more. With BPSCL not able to supply adequate power, BSL is compensating the need by buying it from DVC, he said.
"We are suffering production loss with load-shedding in Slabbing and Cold Rolling Mills of the plant occurring at intervals. That's because of inadequate supply of electricity from BPSCL. The loss has not yet been assessed," said Tiwari.
Times Of India
BPSCL is a joint venture of BSL and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC). BPSCL is a 200 MW capacity power plant. It supplies its entire power production to BSL for running its steel plant and lighting the township area.
Since the breakdown of boiler from April 3, BPSCL has suffered a production loss of more than 9600 MWH, forcing BSL to compensate electricity by purchasing it from DVC at high rates. An inquiry committee has been constituted by BPSCL to assess the cause of breakdown and revenue loss, said BSL sources.
BSL chief of communication Sanjay Tiwary said the BSL requires 300 to 330 MW electricity for running its steel plant and township. Their power requirement is fulfilled by BPSCL and DVC. While BPSCL supplies about 170 MW electricity, the DVC delivers rest of the 160 MW power to it.
However, there is restriction in drawing power from DVC. To buy extra power, exceeding the limit which DVC supplies normally, BSL has to pay more. With BPSCL not able to supply adequate power, BSL is compensating the need by buying it from DVC, he said.
"We are suffering production loss with load-shedding in Slabbing and Cold Rolling Mills of the plant occurring at intervals. That's because of inadequate supply of electricity from BPSCL. The loss has not yet been assessed," said Tiwari.
Times Of India
Monday, 18 April 2011
Burdwan farmer suicide glare on CPM
Burdwan, April 19: When two farmers entangled in a web of poverty and debt chose to end their lives, they created a pre-election quagmire that the CPM had not anticipated.
The alleged suicides by the two farmers over lack of water for irrigation and mounting debts has given the Trinamul Congress added teeth to fight in the CPM dens of Galsi and Ketugram in Burdwan.
Ketugram goes to the polls on May 3 and Galsi on May 7.
Quick on the trigger, district Trinamul leaders blamed the suicides on the Left Front government and the local panchayat for their alleged failure to provide adequate water for irrigation.
Ramchandra Murmu of Bhepur village in Galsi died at the Burdwan Medical College Hospital on Saturday night. Ganesh Majhi of Nirol village in Ketugram passed away early yesterday at the same hospital. Both had allegedly consumed pesticides.
A senior district police officer said: “We are awaiting the post-mortem report to ascertain the real cause behind the deaths.”
Ramchandra’s son, Somnath, said his father, who cultivated paddy on a five-bigha plot, committed suicide because he feared a failed crop, given the lack of rain.
“My father thought he would manage to irrigate his land with water from a shallow tube well. Other farmers also had faced water shortage but they dug their tube wells deeper and got water. My father also tried but he did not get water.
“He was scared that his crop would be destroyed. That is why we think he drank pesticide,” said Somnath.
Ganesh Majhi, a 23-year-old sharecropper, drank pesticide on Sunday night. Elder brother Mahadeb said Ganesh had bought fertilisers and pesticides worth Rs 10,000 on credit to cultivate paddy on a three and a half bigha plot.
“But the shallow tube well he was sharing with a few other farmers was not being able to draw enough water. So, he committed suicide fearing his crop would be destroyed,” said Mahadeb.
“The suicides show the situation a large number of farmers face in these areas. We have decided to use this as an election campaign plank,” Arup Das, the Burdwan Trinamul general secretary, said.
Trinamul has fielded candidates in both Galsi and Ketugram.
An agriculture department official said most of the district got water for irrigation from the reservoirs of the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) in Maithon, Panchet and Durgapur.
“But this year there is not much water in the reservoir to supply for irrigation for the boro crop,” said the official.
A DVC official in Burdwan acknowledged the problem.
“We have informed the state government that we will not be able to supply water for irrigation of boro crops because of lack of adequate water in the reservoirs,” the official said.
Trinamul leaders said the government as well as the CPM-run panchayats in Galsi and Ketugram should have taken steps for construction of new tube wells and repaired those that have become defunct. “The government did not take any step. It should have become alert after three farmers committed suicides in Ausgram in September last year,” Das said.
Trinamul leaders began their campaign yesterday evening with the suicides as the main issue at Ketugram.
“We held street-corner meetings and will be putting up posters and distributing leaflets depicting the plight of the farmers here,” Bikash Majumdar, a Ketugram-based Trinamul leader, said.
Trinamul began campaigning in Galsi today. “We will make the suicide of a farmer in Galsi an issue in our campaigns in this area,” Joydeb Saha, the Trinamul candidate from Galsi, said.
Local CPM leader Durjodhan Sar, however, said the suicides were not because of water shortage. “The farmers killed themselves because of family problems,” he said.
The Telegraph
The alleged suicides by the two farmers over lack of water for irrigation and mounting debts has given the Trinamul Congress added teeth to fight in the CPM dens of Galsi and Ketugram in Burdwan.
Ketugram goes to the polls on May 3 and Galsi on May 7.
Quick on the trigger, district Trinamul leaders blamed the suicides on the Left Front government and the local panchayat for their alleged failure to provide adequate water for irrigation.
Ramchandra Murmu of Bhepur village in Galsi died at the Burdwan Medical College Hospital on Saturday night. Ganesh Majhi of Nirol village in Ketugram passed away early yesterday at the same hospital. Both had allegedly consumed pesticides.
A senior district police officer said: “We are awaiting the post-mortem report to ascertain the real cause behind the deaths.”
Ramchandra’s son, Somnath, said his father, who cultivated paddy on a five-bigha plot, committed suicide because he feared a failed crop, given the lack of rain.
“My father thought he would manage to irrigate his land with water from a shallow tube well. Other farmers also had faced water shortage but they dug their tube wells deeper and got water. My father also tried but he did not get water.
“He was scared that his crop would be destroyed. That is why we think he drank pesticide,” said Somnath.
Ganesh Majhi, a 23-year-old sharecropper, drank pesticide on Sunday night. Elder brother Mahadeb said Ganesh had bought fertilisers and pesticides worth Rs 10,000 on credit to cultivate paddy on a three and a half bigha plot.
“But the shallow tube well he was sharing with a few other farmers was not being able to draw enough water. So, he committed suicide fearing his crop would be destroyed,” said Mahadeb.
“The suicides show the situation a large number of farmers face in these areas. We have decided to use this as an election campaign plank,” Arup Das, the Burdwan Trinamul general secretary, said.
Trinamul has fielded candidates in both Galsi and Ketugram.
An agriculture department official said most of the district got water for irrigation from the reservoirs of the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) in Maithon, Panchet and Durgapur.
“But this year there is not much water in the reservoir to supply for irrigation for the boro crop,” said the official.
A DVC official in Burdwan acknowledged the problem.
“We have informed the state government that we will not be able to supply water for irrigation of boro crops because of lack of adequate water in the reservoirs,” the official said.
Trinamul leaders said the government as well as the CPM-run panchayats in Galsi and Ketugram should have taken steps for construction of new tube wells and repaired those that have become defunct. “The government did not take any step. It should have become alert after three farmers committed suicides in Ausgram in September last year,” Das said.
Trinamul leaders began their campaign yesterday evening with the suicides as the main issue at Ketugram.
“We held street-corner meetings and will be putting up posters and distributing leaflets depicting the plight of the farmers here,” Bikash Majumdar, a Ketugram-based Trinamul leader, said.
Trinamul began campaigning in Galsi today. “We will make the suicide of a farmer in Galsi an issue in our campaigns in this area,” Joydeb Saha, the Trinamul candidate from Galsi, said.
Local CPM leader Durjodhan Sar, however, said the suicides were not because of water shortage. “The farmers killed themselves because of family problems,” he said.
The Telegraph
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Munda renews demand for shifting DVC hqs to Jharkhand
PTI | 09:04 PM,Apr 15,2011
Ranchi, April 15 (PTI)
Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda today renewed his demand for shifting Damodar Valley Corporation's headquarters to Jharkhand from West Bengal and urged that the next DVC chairman be from the state. "It has been the demand for several years, and it is a legitimate demand as Jharkhand is deprived of revenue," Munda told newsmen here. "We have also written a letter to the Union Power Ministry to appoint the next chairman of DVC from Jharkhand," he said and added some names were also recommended in this regard.He reminded that earlier chairmen used to be appointed on rotational basis between Bihar and West Bengal before Jharkhand was carved out.
Ranchi, April 15 (PTI)
Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda today renewed his demand for shifting Damodar Valley Corporation's headquarters to Jharkhand from West Bengal and urged that the next DVC chairman be from the state. "It has been the demand for several years, and it is a legitimate demand as Jharkhand is deprived of revenue," Munda told newsmen here. "We have also written a letter to the Union Power Ministry to appoint the next chairman of DVC from Jharkhand," he said and added some names were also recommended in this regard.He reminded that earlier chairmen used to be appointed on rotational basis between Bihar and West Bengal before Jharkhand was carved out.
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