MeraPahad Community Of Uttarakhand Lovers

Excellent News.

But kin kin routes per news buses aayengi.. iska kooi idea?

अनछुए मार्गो पर दौडेगी रोडवेज   

देहरादून। यात्रियों की सुविधा को देखते हुए परिवहन निगम ने पर्वतीय क्षेत्रों में नए मार्गो पर बसें चलाने का निर्णय लिया है। इसके तहत निगम ने करीब चालीस मार्ग चिह्नित भी कर लिए हैं। अगस्त अंत तक निगम के बेड़े में नई बसें आने के बाद यात्रियों को सुविधा मिलने लगेगी। फिलहाल इनमें अधिकांश मार्गो पर प्राइवेट आपरेटर्स बसों का संचालन कर रहे हैं।

परिवहन निगम के बस बेड़े में अगले पखवाड़े तक 190 नई बसें शामिल की जाएंगी। इनमें से तकरीबन सौ बसें छोटी व्हील बेस की हैं। इन बसों के लिए परिवहन निगम नए रूटों की सूची को अंतिम रूप दे रहा है। परिवहन निगम में इस समय तकरीबन ढाई सौ मार्गो पर बसें चलाने के लिए अर्जियां व संस्तुतियां आ रखी हैं। इनमें कई मार्ग नए और कई ऐसे हैं जिन पर यूपी के समय में बसें चलती थीं, मगर बाद में किन्हीं कारणों से संचालन बंद कर दिया गया। निगम ने देहरादून और कुमाऊं मंडल में रूटों की स्थिति और आय आदि का विवरण लेकर इनकी सूची तैयार की है। इनमें तकरीबन चालीस मार्ग ऐसे पाए गए, जिन पर बसों का संचालन किया जा सकता है। इन रूटों का किराया आदि भी निकाल लिया गया है। इस संबंध में निगम के उच्चाधिकारियों की जल्द ही बैठक होगी। इसके बाद इन रूटों पर अंतिम मुहर लगा दी जाएगी। निगम में इस समय एक हजार चार बसों का बेड़ा है। इसमें से इस वर्ष तकरीबन 110 बसें आयु पूरी करने के बाद बेड़े से बाहर हो जाएंगी। ऐसे में नई बसें इस कमी को पूरा करेंगी। इसके अलावा नए मार्गो पर तकरीबन सत्तर बसें चलाई जाएंगी। अन्य बसें प्राफिटेबल रूट पर चलाई जाएंगी। परिवहन निगम के प्रबंध निदेशक एसएस रावत का कहना है कि निगम ने नई बसों को रूट पर उतारने के लिए होमवर्क किया हुआ है। नई बसें आने के बाद औपचारिकताएं पूरी कर इन्हें रूटों पर उतार दिया जाएगा।

No Plan B’ but plenty of alternative plants
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
 
A prototype of the Nano 
Mumbai, Aug. 22: The Tatas have strenuously denied it, but is there a Plan B that they could quickly activate if they decided to pull out of Singur?

On Friday, Ratan Tata was emphatic: “There is no Plan B at this time.”

But the Tatas have been equally emphatic that the Nano — four years in the making — will roll out sometime in October.

Observers reckon that the Tatas won’t have to go looking for a new location as they have plants that could easily churn out the Nano.

The best bet is the plant in Pant Nagar, Uttarakhand, where Tata Motors makes the Ace — the small pickup vehicle. The plant, spread over 1,000 acres like Singur, has the capacity to produce 2.25 lakh units and currently uses about half of it.

Various state governments are expected to soon start pitching for the small-car project with the Tata group chief sounding a clear warning over Singur.

Since the protests began in Singur, the Pant Nagar facility has been touted as the alternative site.

Senior Tata Motors officials have indicated in the past that though there were no plans to make the Nano there, the plant had a built-in flexibility to accommodate other vehicle platforms.

An added advantage is that Uttarakhand offers significant tax breaks like income-tax exemption for the first five years and a waiver on central excise duty.

Tata Motors has manufacturing units at five locations. These include Jamshedpur (822 acres), which produces trucks and engines, and the Pune unit, which is spread over two regions — Pimpri (800 acres) and Chinchwad (130 acres). This site makes passenger cars, utility vehicles, medium commercial vehicles and heavy commercial vehicles. The prototypes for the Nano were developed in Pune.

It has a 600-acre plant in Lucknow that specialises in designing and manufacturing low-floor and CNG buses and is setting up a unit at Dharwad (900 acres) in Karnataka to make luxury buses and vans.

“While Uttarakhand is a clear favourite, Tata Motors could also choose Dharwad. The Nano may also be made in small numbers in Pune,” said an analyst who did not wish to be identified.

A company spokesperson refused to comment on the alternatives, citing Tata’s statement that there was no Plan B as yet.

However, sources said if Tata Motors had to quit Singur, an alternative location would have to be found. “The small car has to be produced,” a source said.

Vaishali Jajoo, an auto analyst with Angel Broking, said it would be difficult to quantify the losses that Tata Motors would suffer if it were forced to pull out of Singur. “While the company has invested around Rs 1,500 crore, some of the assets there will be moveable and some fixed. It is difficult to assess the impact now.”
 

Government approves mining plan for Askot, India

Pebble Creek Mining Ltd. (the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Indian Bureau of Mines gave its final approval to the Company's Mining Plan for the Askot deposit. Askot is a high-grade copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold massive sulphide deposit in Uttarakhand state, northern India (see news release of August 12, 2008).

The Company's 30-year Mining Lease application on 386 hectares was cleared by the central and state governments last year. Approval of a Mining Plan is a condition of the state's final grant of the Mining Lease as required by India's Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act of 1957 and its rules.

As required by law, the Mining Plan was prepared by two independent mining engineers who are Recognized Qualified Persons ("RQPs") in India, supported by the Company's staff engineers and geologists. Included in the plan were historic data from the United Nations and four government agencies that had previously drilled and tested Askot. In addition to the RQPs, reports by thirteen Indian and western consulting firms engaged by the Company were included or summarized in the plan.

The plan includes comprehensive geologic and assay data; a mineral resource estimate; design of the upper five levels of proposed cut-and-fill underground workings; metallurgical bench test results; design of tailings and waste rock disposal systems; mine, mill and incidental water use and balance; ground water monitoring systems; plans for neutralizing acid mine waters; geotechnical properties of the rocks and underground support systems; blast vibration analysis; discussion of all known species of flora and fauna in the region; environmental and social considerations; and a mine closure plan.

The mine closure plan describes the surface area to be disturbed, which determines the amount of the mine closure bond the Company will be required to post prior to final execution of the Mining Lease. The Company has signed an undertaking to do so in the amount of 1,356,000 Indian rupees, or about Cdn. $33,000 at the present rate of exchange.

Approval of the Mining Plan clears the way for the Company to submit its Environmental Impact Assessment and forest inventory to the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests for clearances, the last step before grant and execution of the Mining Lease. The Company has already obtained approval for development and operation from the state Pollution Control Board.

The Company's Askot project may become the first foreign-owned and private-sector non-ferrous metal mine in India in many decades. Therefore the Company has filed a preliminary application to insure against sovereign risk with the World Bank's Multilateral Insurance Guarantee Agency ("MIGA") and is in communication on the subject with Export Development Canada ("EDC"). Final execution of the Mining Lease will allow the Company to submit final applications for insurance to MIGA and EDC.

The Company intends to resume fill-in and step-out drilling after the summer monsoon subsides.

The Company's President, Andrew Nevin, P.Eng., is the Company's Qualified Person and has reviewed and approved this news release.

On Behalf of the Board

Gyan C. Singhai, P.Eng.

Executive Chairman

Forward-Looking Statements. This news release contains forward-looking statements, which address future events and conditions, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results, programs and financial position could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, some of which may be beyond the Company's control. These factors include: the availability of funds; the timing and content of work programs; results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties; the interpretation of drilling results and other geological data, the uncertainties of resource and reserve estimations, receipt and security of mineral property titles; project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, fluctuations in metal prices; currency fluctuations; and general market and industry conditions.

Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.

<< "The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release." >>

%SEDAR: 00023083E

SOURCE: Pebble Creek Mining Ltd.

Gyan Singhai, Executive Chairman, Telephone: (604) 696-6101; Mike Romanik, Investor Relations, Verenex Capital Corp., Telephone: (204) 724-0613

This is indeed a good step.

सूबे में खेती-बाड़ी की स्थिति को और मजबूत करने की दिशा में काम तेजी से हो रहा है। इसके लिए सबसे पहले राज्य की अपनी कृषि नीति तैयार की गई है। विभागीय स्तर पर इसका अंतिम परीक्षण किया जा रहा है। वित्त विभाग ने सहमति दी तो सूबे के किसानों को खेती के लिए ब्याज मुक्त ऋण का रास्ता भी साफ होने जा रहा है। राज्य में पर्वतीय और मैदानी दोनों ही इलाके हैं। दोनों में खेती की स्थिति ठीक नहीं है। इसकी एक खास वजह राज्य की अपनी कृषि नीति न होने को माना गया। अब विभाग से इस दिशा में तेजी से काम किया है। सूत्रों ने बताया कि विभाग ने सूबे की अपनी कृषि नीति का मसौदा तैयार कर लिया है। विभागीय स्तर पर इसका अंतिम परीक्षण एक-दो रोज में पूरा कर लिया जाएगा। सूत्रों ने बताया कि इस नई नीति से कृषि को एक नई दिशा मिलेगी। इसमें प्रावधान किया गया है कि प्रदेश के किसानों को खेती की जरूरतों को पूरा करने के लिए ऋण पूरी तरह से ब्याज मुक्त कर दिया जाए। इसके लिए एक विशेष कोष स्थापित किया जाना है। सूत्रों ने बताया कि इस ऋण को ब्याज मुक्त रखने के लिए वित्त विभाग की भी सहमति ली जानी है। नई नीति में सूबे में चकबंदी की व्यवस्था को अधिक दुरुस्त करने के पुख्ता इंतजाम किए जा रहे हैं। राज्य के मैदानी जिलों में चकबंदी की प्रक्रिया सालों से लंबित है और पर्वतीय इलाकों में तो इसकी कोई जरूरत ही आज तक महसूस नहीं की गई। अब नई नीति में दोनों ही इलाकों में चकबंदी पर जोर दिया गया है। कृषि नीति से विभागीय कर्मियों को भी फायदा होने जा रहा है। केंद्रीय कृषि मंत्रालय के कर्मियों को तकनीकी कर्मी माना गया है पर राज्यों में ऐसा नहीं है। विभाग ने अपनी नीति में कर्मियों को तकनीकी घोषित करने की भी व्यवस्था की है।
 

Ganga declared national river

Statesman News Service
NEW DELHI, Nov. 4: The government today decided to declare the Ganga as the first ‘national river’ and set up a high powered Ganga River Basin Authority headed by the Prime Minister to protect the ancient river from pollution and degradation.
“It was decided that there is a need to replace the current piecemeal efforts taken up in a fragmented manner in select cities with an integrated approach that sees the river as an ecological entity and addresses issues of quantity in terms of water flows along with issues of quality,” a PMO release said after a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by ministers of water resources, environment and forests and urban development. Dr Manmohan Singh told the meeting that there was a need to set up a model for cleaning of rivers through the new institutional mechanism. The proposed Authority headed by the Prime Minister would have as its members chief ministers of states through which the 2510 km long river flows. It flows through Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.
The details of the authority to be vested with appropriate powers would be worked out in consultation with state governments and Central ministries. Dr Singh referred to the special place Ganga has in the hearts and minds of all Indians and stated that this emotional link needs to be recognised. “The country should set up a model for river cleaning through the new institutional mechanism,” said the PMO statement.
The proposed authority will promote inter-sectoral coordination for comprehensive planning for the river. Various agencies working on different aspects of river conservation and pollution management would be brought together under this proposed authority.
The Ganga with its source at Gangotri glacier in Gaumukh in Uttarakhand which has been receding rapidly enters the Bay of Bengal at the Sunderbans delta and the industries along its banks cause immense pollution, a cause of concern for the government.
Dr Singh wanted detailed final proposals to be prepared within two months after necessary consultations. It was also recognised that the spirit of the Ganga Action Plan as conceived in 1985 by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of making the cleaning of the Ganga a people’s movement should be restored. Last month, the PM had met a delegation led by Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati and Magsaysay awardee Rajendra Singh who pressed for making the Ganga a national river as it continued to be polluted despite the government having spent a huge amount on pollution control projects.