Mescom can't account for power worth Rs245 crore

[email protected] (Subhash Chandra N S, DHNS)
September 11, 2011

mescom

Bangalore, September 11: The Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (Mescom) has said it cannot account for power it purchased for its consumers at a cost of Rs 245.77 crore.

Seeking a tariff revision for 2011-12, the company has told the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KREC) that it bought 525.77 million units (MU) of energy for its customers, but the latter had not consumed the power.

In its Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) for 2011-2012, Mescom has admitted that it has not received the mysterious 525.77 mu, although it had paid for it. The commission has scheduled the escom's submission for hearing on September 19, when the company would have to explain the discrepancy.

In its submission, Mescom has said that it is not aware where the power has gone, leaving the power consumers furious. “We want to know why the Mescom paid for the unused power. The company owes an explanation to the consumer,” says Satyanarayana Udupa, General Secretary, Bharathiya Kissan Sangh from Udupi.

Mescom told KERC that it supplied its consumers 4,275.86 MU during 2010-11, while the actual consumption was 3750.09 MU. It, however could not account for 525.77 mu.

When the commission questioned the power supplier about the discrepancy, a sheepish Mescom asked that its consumption figure for the forthcoming year be reduced by

Rs 151.84 crore to adjust for the discrepancy.

“Mescom purchased power at a cost of Rs 1,131.51 crore. The missing Rs 245.77 crore was included in that figure. They have made a false subm­is­sion stating that they purc­h­ased power at a cost of Rs 2.888 per unit, but they actually purchased it for Rs 4.67,” said Sridhar Prabhu, a power expert and an advocate, citing the company's ARR (Annual Revenue Requirement).

“Mescom should have argued that the power purchase rate was Rs 4.67 paise a unit and not at Rs 2.888, and they could have sought a reduction of Rs 240.27 crore from their ARR, which would have reduced the burden on consumers by Rs 88.43 crore,” said another power expert, speaking on condition of anonymity.

However, statistics apart, what happened to the power that Mescom is supposed to have bought, remains a mystery. Neither any distribution company in the State nor the State Load Dispatch Centre has claimed to have utilised 525.77 mu purchased by Mescom, deepening the mystery. Even the KERC daily report has been unable to account for the missing power.

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News Network
May 23,2020

Mangaluru, May 23: In order to ensure that students do not miss out on their studies due to educational institutions being shut owing to the coronavirus lockdown, Dakshina Kannada Pre-university College Principles Association (DKPUCPA) is conducting online classes on YouTube for pre-university students.

The online lessons are shot by lecturers at St Aloysius College and the lectures are then uploaded on YouTube enabling students to watch them online.

"The whole world is currently in a crucial situation because of COVID-19, and because of the lockdown, all are forced to stay indoors. Usually, we used to conduct lectures in a class full of students, but now it is a new experience that we are providing the same information to students in their absence," Rajaram Rao, a lecturer said while speaking to news agency.

He said at present these classes are being conducted for second year pre-university students.

If any student has a doubt on any concept, he said they can contact the teachers. "At present, students also are getting information about the teachers who have uploaded the videos. All the information about the teachers is already being uploaded on the system so that they can contact the teacher," he said.

Dhanya, a student, hailed the DKPUCPA for the setting up of the online classes despite the prevailing situation.

"The teachers who have taught in these classes have taught very well, as if they are teaching right in front of us. It has been very useful for me during this time," she said.

The nationwide lockdown imposed to combat the threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic has been extended to May 31.

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coastaldigest.com news network
June 15,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 15: A total of over 4,000 COVID patients have been discharged in Karnataka so far, as the state on Monday reported 213 new cases of coronavirus and two related fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 7,213 and the death toll to 88.

On Monday alone 180 patients were discharged in the state after recovery. As of June 15 evening, cumulatively 7,213 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 88 deaths and 4,135 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.

Out of the 2,987 active cases, 2,931 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 56 are in Intensive Care Units. Among the two deaths were a 65-year-old man from Dharwad, who was the contact of another patient already tested positive.

He was admitted on June 14 at a designated hospital and died the same day. The other was a 75-year-old woman from Bengaluru, diagnosed with ILI (Influenza Like Illness) A known case of Diabetes mellitus and Hypertension , she was admitted on June 13 at a designated hospital and died on June 15.

Out of 213 new cases 103 are returnees from other states, a majority of them from neighbouring Maharashtra, while 23 are those who returned from other countries.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Kalaburagi accounted for 48, followed by Bengaluru urban 35, Dharwad 34, Dakshina Kannada 23, Raichur 18, Yadgir 13, Bidar 11, Ballari 10, Koppal 4, three each from Vijayapura, Bagalkote and Shivamogga, two each from Udupi, Haveri and Ramanagara, and one each from Hassan and Davangere.

Udupi district tops the list of positive cases with a total of 1,028 infections, followed by Kalaburagi 944 and Yadgir 822.

Among discharges also Udupi is on top with total of 736 discharges, followed by Kalaburagi 459 and Bengaluru urban 329. A total of 4,49,331 samples have been tested so far, out of which 5,362 were tested on Monday alone.

So far 4,32,346 samples have been reported as negative, out of which 4,738 reported negative today, the bulletin said.

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coastaldigest.com news network
February 21,2020

Mangaluru, Feb 21: The local units of Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal today staged a protest in the city against Amulya Leona, who raised pro-Pakistan slogans yesterday in Bangaluru.

Amulya is the daughter of Wazi Noronha, a former leader of minority of wing of BJP in Koppa taluk of Chikkamagaluru district. He had worked in support of hardline BJP leader and Udupi-Chickmagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje, and D N Jeevaraj, who had represented Sringeri constituency last time.

The 19-year-old B.A. student was arrested on sedition charge after she raised pro-Pakistan slogans to embarrass the organisers of a peaceful protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Bengaluru.

Demanding stringent action against Amulya, a group of activist of VHP and Bajrang Dal staged protest at Kadri Mallikatte Circle in the city. Speaking on the occasion, M B Puranik and Sharan Pumpwell demanded NIA probe into the incident.

Also Read: Amulya Leona — a Naxal or Sangh Parivar stooge?

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