Tepid power consumption in Chhattisgarh despite soaring temperature

The demand for power in Chhattisgarh is not rising in sync with the temperature in the state, which has reached about 40 degress in the capital, Raipur. Instead there has been a decline in electricity offtake in the state

Air-conditioners and coolers in major cities in the state were indeed switched on to beat the heat during the first week of April.

However, the state-owned Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company (CSPDC) is in a fix, because power consumption is down to almost 1,000 Mw in what the company considers as peak season.

“Normally the demand increases to 4,500-Mw in April, but this year it is only 3,500 Mw,” CSPDC officials said. A plausible explanation offered was that consumption has been lower this season due to the Covid-19 lockdown, which has forced shut industrial units and commercial establishments, which are large consumers.

 The industrial sector only consumed about 40 per cent of the total demand. Following the decrease in offtake, the Chhattisgarh State Power Feneration Company had curtailed production at its units.

While the generating company has been able to cut production costs the distribution company would have to take a loss of about Rs 500 crore, the officials said. It has already beem reeling under a crisis as the state government had subsidised power for consumer by halving electricity tariff.

The lockdown didn't make matters any better. This is because steel makers and small industrial units in the sate had come out with a fresh demand to revive their sectors. They had urged the state government to reduce power tariff for the industrial sector, which is a major customer of the power distribution company in the state.

Modi launches PM-Kisan scheme, transfers Rs 2,021 cr to over 10 mn farmers

Economy & Policy:

Gautam Pawar, a farmer with a wiry build, hailing from Maharashtra, was mobbed by news channels, jostling for his “bite” after he had shared the stage with PM Narendra Modi at the Fertiliser Factory Ground here. The occasion was the launch of arguably the world’s largest farm sector scheme, titled the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-Kisan). Modi handed over Kisan Credit Cards to a few farmers, including Pawar. The yojana is estimated to cost the exchequer Rs 75,000 crore annually.

It will benefit more than 120 million small and marginal farmers in India, including 21.4 million in Uttar Pradesh (UP), the biggest beneficiary among the states of the country.

With the farmer outreach through the launch of the scheme, the BJP laid down its template for the Lok Sabha polls, with the development agenda of 2014 having been replaced with the farm narrative. This comes at a time when the Congress has been insisting on farm loan waiver, especially after the party tasted success in the recent Assembly polls in the Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

Modi in his speech was high on symbolism. He wore a light green kurta along with a saffron-hued waistcoat, subtly signifying the balance between the BJP’s twin agendas of agriculture and Hindutva.
The high turnout on the concluding day of the BJP Kisan Morcha’s two-day national convention was aimed at blunting the Opposition tirade on the purported farm distress under the Modi dispensation.

 Modi spiced his modulated speech with descriptions of farm-related achievements of his government. “You know when the PM-Kisan scheme was announced in Parliament, the faces of Opposition leaders became grim,” he said, alleging Opposition leaders had launched a misinformation campaign or just spreading lies...Read More

BJP trying to make West Bengal a laboratory for its experiments: Congress

Current Affairs:

The Congress Sunday said the BJP was "unsuccessfully" trying to build a laboratory in West Bengal for its experiments, on a day the Bengal government denied permission to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to land his chopper in the eastern state.

"What would have happened had he (UP CM) gone? He had also gone to Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. What did he do? He revealed the caste of Hanuman and you know the results," Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said at a news conference here.

"People voted for the party it wanted. They (BJP) want to make West Bengal a laboratory for its experiments and they are not achieving any success in it," he said.

The tussle between the TMC and BJP got uglier Sunday, with the West Bengal government denying permission to Adityanath's chopper to land in the state and let him address two scheduled rallies.
Adityanath had to address the rallies via telephone. He later lashed out at the "anti-people" Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in the state, saying the days of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's rule were "numbered".


 Responding to a question on the Centre's decision to accord sanction to prosecute former Union home minister...Read More