A unique programme in Nagaland, which aimed at and achieved community participation in local governance, has been selected for a top UN award for public service. The award will be given to Union Steel Secretary RS Pandey tomorrow at New York, on the occasion of the UN Public Service Day. Pandey will be given the award for his pioneering efforts, during his stint as the Nagaland Chief Secretary in 2002-04, for better public utilities.

While the Delhi government has been talking of making the power sector competitive by permitting open access for domestic consumers, Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC), the power regulator, is perplexed at the poor response from stake holders for the public hearing on open access scheduled for June 27. Much below expectations, the Commission has received only about 20 to 25 comments of participants till June 17, the last date of submitting applications.

Even as Punjab farmers have been hard hit due to the acute shortage of farm workers for sowing paddy, the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has added to their woes by refusing to provide temporary power connections for tube wells. It has been a regular practice of the PSEB to grant temporary agricultural power (AP) connections for the past three years in succession. Last year, a little more than 27,000 applications for temporary AP connections were disposed of by June 20 against charges of Rs 1,500 per BHP.

Two of the six power units that had collapsed in Kolaghat on Tuesday were revived this evening, but the districts still stayed dark because generation was low. The 210MW units had collapsed after the switchyard of the Kolaghat thermal power plant got flooded. Six pumps helped clear the water in the switchyard. "But there was a thick layer of slush in the switchyard which had to be cleared. This led to delay in repairs,' a power department official said.

Times of India, Jaipur, 19 June 08 JAIPUR: A day after the city faced severe problems of waterlogging when the first showers of the monsoon hit the city, JMC, JDA and the district administration held a joint consultation at the JDA headquarters on how to deal with the problem. As the city is not yet ready to provide the basic civic amenities, the mayor on Wednesday announced some emergency measures to tackle a repeat of Tuesday-like situation in the city.

The people of Assam are likely to get a respite in the current summer season as a power tariff is unlikely with the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) and its subsidiary companies are yet to place its demands to the Assam State Electricity Regulatory Commission (ASERC) and as per the regulations, the Commission will have to give its orders within 120 days from the date of placing of the demands.

B.S. Satish Kumar With tax cuts, Yeddyurappa will find it tough to fund poll promises Money for milk, rice subsidy remains a problem Escoms want quarterly payment of power subsidy BANGALORE: The promise of supplying free power to irrigation pumpsets of farmers will be an expensive affair for the B.S. Yeddyurappa Government as it may have to find an additional subsidy of about Rs. 875 crore a year. This will push up the power subsidy to Rs. 2,575 crore from Rs. 1,700 crore now.

NEW DELHI: North Delhi Power Limited has been awarded the Edison Award by Edison Electric Institute of the United States for its operational excellence in the power industry and for utilising and integrating its Geographical Information System (GIS) with other applications for network planning, operations, commercial and asset management. The prestigious annual award is given to international as well as American electric companies for outstanding contributions to advancement of the power industry.

North Delhi Power Limited(NDPL) has been awarded Edison Award, thus becoming the first power distribution utility from India to be honoured at an international level. NDPL officials said the award was presented to discom for operational excellence in the electric industry and for innovative utilization and using Geographical Information System (GIS) for network planning, operations, commercial and asset management.

Congress is set to hit the agitational pitch in Gujarat on