Index Page                                               Archives

World Bank team to visit Baglihar Dam site
by Rajneesh Parihan

     Jammu: A neutral team of experts apppointed by the World Bank will be arriving in Jammu on Sunday to visit the site of the 450 MW controversial Baglihar Hydro Electric Power Project Professor Raymond Lafitte a Swiss civil engineer attached with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology will lead the team of experts .The team will stay in Jammu for four days.The World Bank appointed Lafitte as neutral expert for the contentious project in May this year. Pakistan has been opposing the construction of the Baglihar dam over River Chenab saying that the construction was in violation of the Indus Water Treaty 1960, as it had the possibility of diverting the river's waters according to India's advantage. It has also said that upon completion, the dam would deprive Pakistan of seven-eight thousand cusecs of water per day, which would adversely affect wheat production in Pakistan's Punjab province.

     As India and Pakistan failed to resolve the dispute, Pakistan approached the World Bank for arbitration. The neutral expert for solving the issue, Raymond Lafitte, however, has refused to accept Pakistan's demand that India stop work on the project till he gives a verdict on whether or not the dam conforms to the Indus Waters Treaty. Raymond Lafitte held his first meeting with the India and Pakistan representatives on the Baglihar dispute in Paris on June 9 this year.Lafitte has so far taken the view that it would be too expensive to suspend work on the project and then commence it again if the verdict went in India's favour. Pakistan's Indus Waters Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah visited the Baglihar site at the head of a five- member delegation from July 23 to July 30 and Pakistan's case was based on his report. Once India submits its case to Lafitte he will determine wether the Baglihar issue constitutes a difference or a dispute.

CBI arrests IT commissioner in Mumbai (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today arrested Mumbai-based Commissioner of Income Tax Tribunal B R Meena after searches at his various premises led to recovery of disproportionate assets, including Rs 2.1 million in cash, and recovered Rs. 8 million in cash from a chartered accountant in Bahrampur. The 1977 batch Indian Revenue Service official was raided yesterday by the Economic Offences Wing of the CBI. The CBI also claimed to have recovered documents showing 18 plots belonging to him or his kith and kin who were valued at more than Rs.1 crore.

BCCI reprimands Harbhajan Singh (Go To Top)

     Thiruvananthapuram: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today reprimanded off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for his adverse comments on Indian coach Greg Chappell. In a statement issued here, BCCI secretary S K Nair said a letter has been sent to Harbhajan Singh, severely reprimanding him for his indiscretion in commenting on the spat between Captain Sourav Ganguly and Chappell. Harbhajan's remarks against Chappell that his strict regimen had instilled fear and insecurity among members of the Indian team came at a time when the coach's e-mail on Ganguly's fitness to the BCCI bosses was a hot topic in the media. This led to him being hauled up by the Punjab Cricket Association, which advised him ''to exercise caution while talking to media.''

Tendulkar in, Kumble out for Challenger Trophy series (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: It is official: Sachin Tendulkar will mark his return to first class cricket after a gap of nearly five months. Tendulkar was today officially confirmed as one of the members of the seniors squad for the Challenger Trophy one-day series that is to be played between October 10 and 13. Veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble and paceman Ashish Nehra have been rested for the series. Sourav Ganguly will lead the Seniors, while V.V.S.Laxman and Dinesh Mongia will lead the India A and B squads. The teams are as follows: India Senior: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Y Venugopal Rao, M S Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, J P Yadav, Vidyut Shivaramkrishnan. India A: V V S Laxman (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Hemang Badani, Neeraj Patel, Dheeraj Jadhav, Dinesh Kaarthick, Ramesh Powar, R P Singh, Laxmipathy Balaji, V R V Singh, M Nadeem and Manoj Tiwari. India B: Dinesh Mongia (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Utthappa, S Sriram, Sunny Singh, Satyajit Parab, Parthiv Patel, S Sree Santh, Ranadeb Bose, Amit Bhandari, Ravi Kant Shukla, Piyush Chawla, Srikumar Nair.