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Tamil Nadu files contempt petition against Centre for not taking steps to resolve Cauvery dispute, Centre seeks time

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Tamil Nadu files contempt petition against Centre for not taking steps to resolve Cauvery dispute, Centre seeks time

The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday, March 31 filed a contempt petition against the Central government a day after the Supreme Court’s six-week deadline to put in place a mechanism to resolve Cauvery dispute ended.

The Supreme Court in its February 16 judgment in the Cauvery dispute had mandated the Central government to frame a scheme to set up a Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and a Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) to monitor  the allocation of the river water among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.

Tamil Nadu accused the Centre of refusing to act to “protect the interests of the farmers and the larger interests of the State” and urged the apex court to “purge the contempt forthwith” by directing the Centre to frame a scheme in accordance with the judgment by providing for CMB and CWRC vested with all powers to give effect to the decision of the Cauvery Tribunal as well as the judgment of SC.

As per the February 16 judgment in the Cauvery appeals, the Centre had to frame the scheme in six weeks. The deadline ended on March 29. On the eve of the deadline, the Centre moved the Supreme Court for a three-month extension for the implementation of the judgment, citing the model code of conduct due to Karnataka elections. As Karnataka is having Assembly elections on May 12, the Centre wants to deal with the sensitive Cauvery issue after the polls.

The Centre felt that constitution of a scheme under Section 6(A) of the Inter-state River Waters Disputes Act and notification during the assembly election process would lead to massive public outrage, vitiate election process and cause serious law and order problems.

The Centre also sought a clarification on constitution of Cauvery Management Board from the top court asking whether it is open to the Central government to frame the scheme under 6(A) at variance with the recommendations contained in the report of the Cauvery water dispute tribunal regarding Cauvery Management Board.

It also wanted to know whether, if the board as recommended by the tribunal is to be constituted, would the Central government have the flexibility to modify the composition of the board to a mixture of administrative and technical body and not purely a technical body for effect conduct of the business of the board and considering overall sensitivity of the issues involved.

It also wanted a clarification whether the board framed under 6(A) of the act can have functions different from the ones recommended for Cauvery Management Board by the tribunal.

The Centre said in compliance of the February 6 order of the court and in spirit of true federalism, it convened a meeting of the Chief Secretaries of the four states and other officials and initiated consultations for arriving at a consensus. Divergent views were expressed by the states, said the Centre.

Tamil Nadu indicated that the scheme as mentioned by the Supreme Court has been defined in Section 6 which is to implement the final order of the tribunal under the court. The view of Tamil Nadu was that the Central government was mandated to put in place an authority or the body for implementation of the final decision by constituting the board and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee.

Puducherry and Kerala gave similar views but Karnataka was of the opinion that the Supreme Court has left the contents of the scheme to the discretion of the Central government.

It said the contention of Tamil Nadu that the board as formulated by the tribunal should be a part of the Scheme is wholly contrary to the mandate of the judgment and law.

Karnataka also contended that the Scheme contemplated in the Supreme Court judgment is a dispute resolution body as distinct from the management or regulation recommended by the tribunal. Therefore the question of asking Karnataka submit indent does not and should not arise for consideration.

Karnataka said the management and regulation of water of a state namely equitable share of a state determined by the adjudication is the sole prerogative of the state by reference to the entry 17 of the State list to the seventh schedule of the Constitution and therefore a scheme in the form of the board is clearly ultra vires of the Constitution.

Fifthly, Karnataka contended that the Supreme Court has not endorsed or approved the board in its judgment.

On the other hand, Tamil Nadu, which filed the contempt petition through advocate G. Umapathy as soon as the Supreme Court Registry opened on Saturday, reminded that the apex court has clearly, in its February 16 verdict, banned any extension of time to the Centre for framing a scheme.

“Central Government was bound to give effect to the judgment by framing a scheme so that the authorities under the scheme viz. Cauvery management board and Cauvery water regulation committee are put in place within six weeks… It has not taken any concrete steps in this regard,” Tamil Nadu contended.

It pointed that belatedly, after a period of three weeks, the Central government merely convened a meeting of the Chief Secretaries of the party States on 09.03.2018. “The convening of such a meeting does not in any way make any substantial progress in the matter of constitution of a Cauvery management board and Cauvery water regulation committee,” said Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu said it had written to the Centre repeatedly on March 13, March 21 and March 23 for the constitution of a Cauvery management board within the six-week time limit so that farmers do not suffer during the irrigation season commencing from June 1.

“Ensuring timely release of water is apparent in the judgment itself and, therefore, any delay in constituting a Cauvery management board and a Cauvery water regulation committee is to the prejudice to the farmers of State of Tamil Nadu… In the absence of any cogent reasons for not constituting a Cauvery management board and a Cauvery water regulation committee within the time frame and/ or not making any substantial steps in that directions amount to wilful disobedience of the judgment of the Supreme Court,” Tamil Nadu said.

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Ahead of Delhi Elections, Arvind Kejriwal launches Revdi Par Charcha campaign to seek feedback on freebies

Arvind Kejriwal said 65,000 meetings will be held across Delhi at micro levels by the AAP leaders and workers.

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Ahead of Delhi Elections, Arvind Kejriwal launches Revdi Par Charcha campaign to seek feedback on freebies

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday launched a campaign with a tagline Revdi Par Charcha to seek public feedback on freebies. The campaign comes ahead of the assembly elections, which is scheduled to be held in February.

Former Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal launched the campaign with his colleagues at the party office, saying while the opposition calls freebies as revdi, the party calls it services. This campaign will start on November 25 and will continue for 15 days until December 10, discussing the issues with common man.

Notably, the opposition has been targeting the AAP for providing free electricity, water and free public buses for women among other facilities. However, AAP feels freebies help citizens live a life of dignity.

Gopal Rai, AAP’s Delhi unit chief, said that so far, politicians used to enjoy the facilities, while citizens paid taxes. He continued that Arvind Kejriwal’s government decided that the people should also get the facilities like the politicians, adding the BJP called their attempt revdis. He said that AAP is launching the ‘Revdi Par Charcha’ campaign to discuss with the people in the city if the government should provide the facilities or not.

Launching the campaign, Arvind Kejriwal said 65,000 meetings will be held across Delhi at micro levels by the AAP leaders and workers. He said that AAP has six revdis for the people of Delhi. Mentioning that the Prime Minister and BJP have said several times that Kejriwal is providing freebies to the people that should be stopped, the former Chief Minister said that now people will now tell them if they want these six freebies.  He further concluded that if the BJP is elected here, they will stop these services immediately.

While listing the six services, the AAP national convenor said that Delhi is getting free electricity round the clock. He added that there was a time when Delhi used to see power cuts for 8-10 hours, but AAP ensured that the situation changed. He also noted that his party is providing free water, free pilgrimage to senior citizens, free bus rides to women, free world-class education and free medicine and treatments. Additionally, the pamphlet launched by Arvind Kejriwal also listed that soon the women in Delhi will get Rs 1,000 per month as well, later termed as the seventh revdi by the former Chief Minister.

Reports said that the paper will be circulated across the national capital. The paper also reads that if the reader feels they are getting huge water bills, they should not pay it. It mentioned that AAP will waive all water bills once Arvind Kejriwal is re-elected.

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Rahul Gandhi says air pollution in North India a national emergency, tourism declining, global reputation crumbling

“We need a collective national response, not political blame games,” the Congress leader said on his X handle.

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Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the air pollution in North India is a national emergency that needs a collective national response and not a political blame game. The Congress leader added that due to air pollution tourism is declining and “our global reputation is crumbling”.

It is a public health crisis that is stealing children’s future and suffocating the elderly, Gandhi said, adding an environmental and economic disaster that is ruining countless lives.

“As Parliament meets in a few days, MPs will all be reminded of the crisis by our irritated eyes and sore throats. It is our responsibility to come together and discuss how India can end this crisis once and for all,” the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said.

The former Congress chief said the poorest “among us suffer the most”, unable to escape the toxic air surrounding them. Families are gasping for clean air, children are falling sick, and millions of lives are being cut short, he added.

The Rae Bareli MP noted that the pollution cloud covers hundreds of kilometres. He said cleaning it up will require major changes and decisive action from governments, companies, experts, and citizens.

“We need a collective national response, not political blame games,” the Congress leader said on his X handle.

Gandhi also shared a video on a social media platform where he discussed the capital’s air pollution with environmentalist expert Vimalendu Jha. In the video, the Congress leader said he has been facing eye-burning and breathing issues and how the last week in Delhi has been terrible.

He said, “I tell my mother to leave town this month.” Jha explains to Gandhi that the sources of air pollution in Delhi are episodic and perennial. Episodic sources are firecrackers and stubble burning, which affect the month of November. “Vehicular contributes 50 per cent of Delhi’s pollution and construction-related roadside dust is another 30 per cent,” Jha said.

The Air Quality Index in Delhi has been severe since November 16, making it five consecutive days till Wednesday. On November 15, the average AQI was 396 (very poor).

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Indian Navy submarine collides with fishing boat near Goa coast, 2 fishermen missing

A spokesperson from the Navy told the media that eleven crew have been rescued so far.

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Indian Navy submarine collides with fishing boat near Goa coast, 2 fishermen missing

Indian Navy officials on Friday said that an Indian fishing vessel with a crew of 13 collided with an Indian Naval submarine near the Goa coast. 

Following the incident, a massive search and rescue operation has been launched by the Indian Navy, which has deployed six ships and aircraft. Reportedly, while 11 crew have been rescued, two are still missing.

The Ministry of Defence issued a statement and said that the vessel, Marthoma, collided with a Scorpene-class submarine about 70 nautical miles off the Goa coast. It added that search and rescue efforts for the remaining two are underway and are being coordinated with Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre Mumbai (MRCC). It further mentioned that additional assets including from the Coast Guard have been diverted to the area to augment the efforts.

The statement said that the cause of the incident is being investigated. Notably, Scorpene-class submarines are a major part of India’s naval power in the Indian Ocean as they can undertake multifarious types of missions, including anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying, and area surveillance.

Reports said that the state-of-the-art technology utilised for the construction of the Scorpene-class submarines has ensured superior stealth features such as advanced acoustic silencing techniques, low radiated noise levels, hydro-dynamically optimized shape and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision-guided weapons. Furthermore, the attack can be launched with both torpedoes and tube-launched anti-ship missiles, whilst underwater or on the surface.

Meanwhile, the Indian Navy in its statement said that 13 crew members were aboard the fishing vessel at the time of the collision. It added that while 11 crew have been rescued so far, two fishermen are still reported missing.

A spokesperson from the Navy told the media that eleven crew have been rescued so far. He stated that search and rescue efforts for the remaining two crew members of Marthoma are in progress and are being coordinated with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mumbai. Additional assets including from the Coast Guard have been diverted to the area to augment the efforts, he continued.

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