SC orders Karnataka to release 1.25 tmc ft water to Tamil Nadu
New Delhi,Tuesday, September 03, 2002: In a big victory to Jayalalithaa Government, the Supreme Court today ordered the Karnataka Government to release from its four reservoirs 1.25 tmc feet water every day to Tamil Nadu starting from tomorrow.
Brushing aside all legal objections of the Karnataka Government, a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice B N Kirpal said "We direct Karnataka to release water from its reservoirs so as to ensure that 1.25 tmc feet of water is made available in Tamil Nadu's Mettur reservoir everyday till a final decision is taken by the Cauvery River Authority (CRA)."
The Bench, also comprising Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice Arijit Pasayat, made it clear that this interim order, to be operative from tomorrow, "shall stand automatically superseded by the decision taken by CRA."
Giving the final decision taking authority to the CRA headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Bench said "The CRA is requested to finally decide the dispute between the states with regard to pro-rata sharing of water by the Cauvery river basin states specially in times of distress."
Karnataka tried its level best to avert an interim order of the Court, first by saying that the quantum of water to be released should be worked out by experts and later submitting that would it be legal for the court to decide the issue in the interim when Cauvery Monitoring Committee (CMC) was to give a report to CRA by September 15.
"The legal gymnastics can wait," the Bench said observing that the storage quantity in the four reservoirs of Karnataka had increased from 41 tmc ft to 73 tmc feet in August.
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90 Delhi children fall ill after drinking contaminated water
New Delhi,Tuesday, September 03, 2002: At least 90 children were taken ill and hospitalised after drinking water suspected to have been contaminated in a North-West Delhi school this morning, police said.
They said one of the students vomitted after consuming water while others complained of stomach ache and giddiness and were rushed to various hospitals where they were kept under observation for sometime before being discharged.
Police suspect "some mischief" as a bottle containing some greenish liquid was found near the water cooler.
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Contract for Howitzer gun was abruptly awarded to Bofors: CBI
New Delhi,Tuesday, September 03, 2002: CBI today alleged that the decision to award contract to Swedish firm A E Bofors for the 155mm Howitzer gun was abrupt and sudden appearance of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochhi in the deal showed that there were several beneficiaries in the contract signed in March 1986.
"All of a sudden an abrupt decision was taken with a view to cut-short the issue and the contract was awarded to Bofors," CBI prosecutor U S Prasad told the Special Judge Prem Kumar, alleging that Swedish firm clinched the deal because of Quattrochhi's close connection with the family of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
He said other accused in the case, W N Chadda, alleged Bofors agent, S K Bhatnagar, the then Defence Secretary, Martin Ardbo, President of A B Bofors, and the Hinduja brothers were involved in the deal from the beginning but the Italian businessman who was not associated with it suddenly came into the fray.
The CBI counsel during the arguments on charge in the Rs 64 crore Bofors pay-off case, submitted that despite the assurance that no middlemen would be engaged in the deal, Chadda, Hindujas and Quattrocchi acted as agents for the Bofors company.
He said the statements of some witnesses clearly indicate that the Italian businessman and his wife Maria Quattrochhi were frequent visitors to Gandhi's residence at 7 Race Course and later at 10 Janpath.
The agency alleged that Quattrochhi recieved commission through A E Services and he transferred the money to Channel Island.
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Farooq sabotaging peace process, says Shah
(PTI)
Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah has accused the BJP-led NDA government of succumbing to the "pressure" of the Farooq Abdullah regime in J&K to sabotage the peace process initiated by the Kashmir Committee.
"The Centre is acting under pressure of Abdullah and making repeated attempts to scuttle the peace process initiated by Kashmir Committee Chairman Ram Jethmalani," Shah, who had been in the Capital for the last six days, said on Tuesday before his return to Srinagar.
He rejected the contention that the denial of a meeting with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani was a setback to him. He said: "This is a setback to them for the people of this country have understood that the government is not serious to resolve the Kashmir issue."
"Today or tomorrow, the government will have to come forward and hold talks," Shah said.
Terming his meeting with the Kashmir Committee as fruitful, Shah said the next round of talks would either be held in Kashmir or at some other place so that people were apprised of the situation in the state.
"The next round is likely to be held in October," he said.
Shah had a meeting with Jethmalani and other members of the committee on Monday night where a decision to continue the dialogue was taken.
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Pakistan to build two more Nuclear power plants
Islamabad,Tuesday, September 03, 2002: Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission said today it would build two more Nuclear Power Plants at Chashma in Punjab and Karachi in the coming years to meet the growing energy demand of the country.
PAEC Chairman Parvez Butt said at Chashma that work on the projects - KANUPP-2 and CHASNUPP-2 with installed capacity of 600 Megawatts (MW) and 300 MW respectively would star soon but did not specify whether they would come up with foreign assistance or would be built indegenously.
"The projects are under consideration for formal approval with the government and the construction activity will commence in near future," he was quoted by the official APP newsagency.
Pakistan currently has two nuclear power plants producing three per cent of the country's total energy. The proposed additional units were expected to meet 10 per cent of the country's demand, it said.
Kanupp-1, located in Karachi was built with Canadian help in 1970s. The Chasma plant, built with Chinese assistance, was commissioned early this year. The plant will close temporarily this month for maintenance operations, an official said.
Claiming that Pakistan had achieved a certain degree of expertise in Nuclear power technology, Butt said the country neede nuclear power as a "stablising factor in the energy mix for supporting predominant hydel power which was highly dependent on seasons".
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Angry officials leak secret documents on US-Pak cooperation
A web newspaper run by a senior Pakistani journalist has published a "secret" document purportedly containing minutes of meetings between US and Pakistani officials and issues which, it claims, are to be raised during President Pervez Musharraf's forthcoming visit to United States.
The South Asia Tribune claimed the document, a five-page 'non-paper', was "leaked to the media" apparently to embarrass Musharraf as he prepared for his visit. It also printed the full document, claiming that the issues would be discussed at the Pak-US Joint Working Group (JWG) during the talks.
he document showed such a wide range of relations between the two countries that the US presence would become inevitable at every security point, the paper, edited by former editor of The News Shaheen Sehbai, said.
"The documents revealed that millions of dollar were to be pumped by the US into Pakistan on projects such as centralisation of passport issuance, training to intelligence operatives, latest investigative methods to probe crimes on the scene and major police and legal reforms in law enforcement fields," it said.
"Releasing such sensitive papers to the media, specially involving US-Pak relations, also indicated the extent to which some officials were feeling betrayed by Musharraf's policies," it said.
According to the document, 16 items are listed as 'action items for the USG' (US government) and another 14 as 'action items for GoP' (Govt of Pakistan).
The paper said the document showed that the range of US-Pak cooperation was "so wide that almost at every security point, US presence would become inevitable, either in the form of physical troops or machines, cameras or spying equipment relaying images and data to US officials sitting close by somewhere".
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Tear down ‘offensive’ hoardings in Mumbai: HC
(Express News Service)
In an order that could redraw the crowded, hoarding-filled skyline and trim the thicket of advertisements that looms over the city’s streets, the Bombay High Court today made it clear that hoardings will not be allowed to stand where they do not belong. Today’s order, delivered on a petition filed by Dr Anahita Pundole, specifically refers to hoardings cramming open spaces, land that falls under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and heritage structures that have been defaced by hoardings, mammoth or otherwise.
A division bench of Justice A P Shah and Justice Ranjana Desai accordingly directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) not to grant licences to hoardings in ‘‘compulsory open spaces’’’ without its prior permission. It also directed the municipal commissioner not to renew/grant licences in respect of prima facie ‘‘offending hoardings’’ without the court’s permission. Significantly, it also directed the commissioner to revoke all permissions granted in respect of hoardings/advertisements on heritage buildings and in their compounds.
Owners of hoardings/advertising companies have been given two months to remove these hoardings, failing which the BMC will dismantle them and take appropriate action. The municipal authorities have been told to remove such hoardings within six weeks from expiry of the two-month deadline.
The bench today also transferred all pending suits in respect of hoardings from the City Civil Court and others before it to a single judge on the original side of the high court.
In cases where notices have been issued, the BMC and the licensing authority has been directed to complete the proceedings and pass final orders within six weeks. The BMC has also been directed to take action to remove hoardings and deface advertisements in cases where there is no interim order. The court has directed that a compliance report be filed within six weeks.
The bench also passed orders in respect of hoardings that crowd the banks of the Mahim creek. During the hearing, it had been brought to the notice of the court that these hoardings were permitted to be erected in an area that falls under the CRZ in total violation of the February 19, 1991, notification issued by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. It was also pointed out that permission was granted prior to 1991 and no review was undertaken after that. The court was apprised that licences were issued by the BMC while permission was granted by the railways.
In its order today, the bench directed the BMC to revoke forthwith licences of hoardings/advertisements on the Mahim creek and call upon the licencees to remove their hoardings/advertisements within four weeks. If no action is taken by the licences with the said period, the BMC would be at liberty to deface these hoardings and seek further directions from the court to remove them. The judges also ordered that notices be issued by the court to the general managers of both the Central and Western railways to explain why no action should be taken against the railways for violating the CRZ notification of 1991 by granting permission to creek hoardings/advertisement in CRZ areas. The notices have been made returnable by September 19.
Activist lawyer Shiraz Rustomjee, who is a member of the committee constitued by the court, told the court today that the committee had conducted a survey of the area south of S V Patel Road. The committee has made a list of prima facie offending hoardings, which was sent to the BMC on August 13. Rustomjee told the court that two hearings were held on August 17 and 27, but there has been no response from the BMC since. The bench has directed BMC to submit its report before the committee within eight weeks.
The judges declined to grant a stay on its order but allowed aggrieved persons the liberty to move court. The matter has been adjourned to September 30, for further directions.
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Leopard 'protests' captivity, dies of starvation
(Excerpted from an Indian Express news article)
One male leopard, trapped and caged at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) at Borivali, starved himself to a slow death in captivity last week. The cat was one of 12 leopards confined in this ‘‘protected area’’ and which will duck the state government’s controversial new order to shoot man-eaters. But the forest where they were born free now has no room or money to keep them alive and healthy.
‘‘I don’t consider these leopards man-eaters. I cannot bear to see them suffering in cages that allow no movement,’’ Deputy Conservator of Forests A R Bharti told Newsline. ‘‘We need to study the mental trauma they are undergoing. A serious example of trauma is the recent death of a leopard that refused food, water and medication.’’
Of the 12 leopards caged at the Tiger Safari, seven were trapped over the last two months which recorded 12 attacks on humans. Of the park’s census count of 42 leopards, only 30 now roam free. Nobody at the SGNP knows what to do once the cats are trapped. So the park has pinned its hopes on the Central Zoo Authority to finance a ‘leopard rescue centre’.
‘‘The number of trapped leopards is increasing and with it the problem of rehabilitation. Last week, one leopard died after just 10-12 days in the cage. He just wouldn’t eat,’’ says Assistant Conservator of Forests R Pakhre.
The SGNP has identified two acres near the mini-train tracks for chain fencing, large feeding and secondary cages designed to recreate a wild forest environment. ‘‘Securing central funding for the rescue centre is my top priority but it may take two to three years to arrive,’’ says Bharti.
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BMC will repair all city’s potholes by Ganesh Chaturthi: Mayor Deole
City Mayor Mahadeo Deole, today stated that the Brihanmumbai Municipal administration will repair potholes that lie unattended to on the city’s streets before September 10, the day when Ganesha Chaturthi festival kicks off.
Assuming that the BMC plans to fulfil its promise, Deole’s assurance would come as a relief to many who hope that the civic body will get its act together and plug gaping street potholes before the religious festivities get underway.
Addressing a press meet at the civic headquarters in CST on Monday, Deole said that up to August 30, a total of 59,117 potholes had been detected by the civic departments, out of which 58,476 have been repaired.
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Euro-III petrol, diesel from 2005: Naik
New Delhi,Tuesday, September 03, 2002: Petrol and diesel conforming to Euro III emission norms would be supplied in metro cities from 2005, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik has said.
Euro-II compliant Petrol (with 0.05 per cent sulphur content and one per cent benzene) and diesel (with 0.05 per cent sulphur), currently being supplied in metro cities, would be extended to the rest of the country by 2005, Naik said in his keynote address at the 17th World Petroleum Congress in Brazil.
Speaking on "Sustainable Development: The Petroleum Industry, Perspective and Response", Naik said it was the responsibility of oil and gas industry to provide communities with affordable and eco-friendly energy sources, while also continuously adapting their operations to the needs of a fragile environment.
Oil industry has to continue the efforts to reduce pollution, improve quality of effluents and recycle resources, and promote conservation, he said adding their endeavour should be to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"It makes good business sense for companies to holistically integrate the concept of sustainable development into their corporate vision, mission and strategies; the earlier they bring this exercise, the more benefits they will reap in the future," Naik said.
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Sebi needs only limited search and seizure powers: DCA
New Delhi,Tuesday, September 03, 2002: The Department of Company Affairs (DCA) wants Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to be given only limited search and seizure powers in respect of listed companies, official sources said here today.
"DCA has already made it clear to the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) in a meeting last week that if Sebi is to be given search and seizure powers, these should be limited for listed companies. Sebi's powers will be additional and in no way impinge on DCA's existing powers of search and seizure," they said.
Reacting to media reports that government was likely to issue an ordinance to transfer these powers from the DCA to Sebi, official sources said Sebi needs to search company premises or seize documents only in the case of companies which are listed on the stock market.
"Sebi wants omnibus powers. But DCA thinks it needs to be empowered only in cases of insider trading charges or those relating to stock market manipulations," they added.
DCA Secretary and the Sebi representative have expressed their divergent views on the matter before the government in a meeting last week but no decision has yet been taken on it, sources added.
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Pak EC rejects Imran Khan's nomination
(AFP)
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani election officials have rejected cricket legend Imran Khan's bid to run for Parliament from one of three constituencies in which he has been nominated, a party spokesman said on Monday.
Election authorities turned down the cricketer-turned- politician's application to run as a candidate in Bahawalpur in Punjab province, the spokesman for Khan's Tehreek-i-Insaf party said.
The spokesman, Saifullah Nyazee said Khan's nomination was rejected on Sunday because a copy of his degree from Oxford University was not certified.
"It was such a petty reason, ridiculous," Nyazee said of the decision after a rival candidate complained to returning officers that Khan had not provided a certified copy of his bachelors degree.
Under tough new electoral laws, all candidates must have at least a bachelors degree from recognised universities or religious schools to run for public office.
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TeX Users Group Annual Meet To Focus On Indian Scripts
(From a Financial Express news article)
Thiruvananthapuram: As part of its efforts to bridge the digital divide, TeX Users Group (TUG) has decided to tackle the geographical divide. For the first time, the annual meeting of the TUG is to be held at a venue outside Europe or North America.
The 23rd annual conference of this free software users association will be held in Thiruvananthapuram Technopark this week, Mr Dominik Wujastyk, Director, Welcom Centre of Medicine, University College, London told a press conference, here. Mr Wujastyk, a Sanskrit scholar and a member of the programme committee of TUG-2000 said the three-day meet starting September 4 will be chaired by Mr Sebastian Rahtz, Information Manager, Oxford University Computing Services.
The conference will have 32 delegates from Australia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Iran, the Netherlands, the UK and the USA. There will be 32 Indian delegates too.
Mr Satheesh Babu, chairperson of the TUG-2002 organising committee said the meet would give a fillip to the wider utilisation of TeX in India. The organisers of the meet in India are Indian TeX Users Group, department of IT of the Kerala government and Thiruvananthapuram Technopark.
Apart from the more specialized talks devoted to technical aspects of TeX, TUG 2002 will feature talks on typesetting traditions in India, an overview of TeX usage in India, an Indian perspective of new horizons in free software, fonts and packages to typeset Bengali script using TeX, and typesetting in Hindi, Sanskrit and Persian.
TeX (derived from the Greek letters “tau”, “epsilon” and “chi” and pronounced “tech”, also alludes to “techne”, the Greek root meaning art as well as technology) is a computer program written and designed by famed computer scientist Donald Ervin Knuth of Stanford University for preparing publishable documents, especially those of a technical or mathematical nature.
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India may retain same team for final Test : Wright
London,Tuesday, September 03, 2002: India look set to pick the same side that routed England in the third Test when the two teams clash for the series-decider at the Oval beginning on Thursday.
"I think you'll find that our combinations will be pretty similar to Headingley," coach John Wright said in an interview to BBC Sport Monday night, hinting that India would go in with the dual spin attack of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. "We may look at one or two things but we seemed to get the formula right there," he said.
India dominated throughout the five days of the third Test at Headingley, winning by an innings and 46 runs to level the series at 1-1.
And Wright singled out Sanjay Bangar, who scored 68 after being brought into the side to open the batting, for special praise.
"I think having Bangar open the batting made the difference and we had a good first day following on from that," Wright said.
"In fact it was a pretty good team performance and we caught well - we took some good catches at some critical juncture particularly in the second innings".
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Tendulkar hopes to make 100th Test memorable with a victory
London,Tuesday, September 03, 2002: Playing his 100th Test was one of his dreams, Sachin Tendulkar said today, hoping that the team would mark this milestone by winning the current series against England.
"Each and every moment I've enjoyed and cherished.... this was one of my dreams to play 100 Test matches for India," Tendulkar told reporters at a press conference here.
"That's when a player feels you have achieved something in life and you have contributed to the best of your ability," said Tendulkar who will only be the fourth Indian to play 100 Test matches.
India have not won a Test series outside the sub-continent in 16 years and Tendulkar hopes his joy is doubled and India manage to create history at the Oval.
"It's (winning a series abroad) is so important because that's what we've been trying to do for so many years," the maestro said.
And all these years have been a great learning experience for the little genius. "Reaching 100 Tests is special, Not many have done it in India... I have learnt a lot in the last 13 years and there is still a lot more to learn."
Tendulkar, who just needs 144 runs to become the first cricketer in history to aggregate 20,000 international runs, said the coming five days of the Oval Test were going to be extremely crucial days for the series.
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