Chennai, Sep 14,2023: Asserting that there was no scope for talks with Karnataka on the Cauvery river water dispute after it refused to release water as per the orders of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC), Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan said Supreme Court is the last resort for us.
Assuring the farmers of the Cauvery delta districts that the ruling DMK would make all efforts to ensure that they were not affected in any way after Karnataka’s refusal to release 5,000 cubic feet per second water to Tamil Nadu per day as per the directions of CWRC, Mr Duraimurgan said the case comes up before the Supreme Court on September 21. “We have to observe the formal response of the Karnataka government to the CWRC’s direction”, he told reporters here last night, reacting to Karnataka’s decision not to release water to the State taken at an all party meeting on Wednesday.
“The last resort for us is the Supreme Court where the matter will come up for hearing on September 21. By that time we will know the stand to be taken by Karnataka”, he said, while assuring that the Tamil Nadu government will definite secure relief for the farmers.
Despite Karnataka has all along been opposing every development (in favour of Tamil Nadu) in the dispute, the Minister said, “We have been safeguarding our rights.”
To a query on whether the Tamil Nadu Government will convene an all party meeting as desired some farmers associations in the wake of the one convened by the neighbouring state yesterday, Mr Duraimurugan it could be considered after the outcome of the hearing of the case in the Apex Court on Thursday next.
On whether any scope of talks with Karnataka to resolve the row, the Minister shot back saying Tamil Nadu went in for adjudication only because talks did not yielded any fruitful results.
He said as on September 12, the storage of four Karnataka reservoirs in the Cauvery basin is around 63.801 tmc ft. As the Met department has forecast rains in September for Karnataka, 10 tmc ft would become available.
Besides, in the month of October, the four reservoirs would receive at least 30 tmc ft of water, he added.
“The CWRC has ordered only 5,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) for 15 days (from September 13) which will be equivalent to 6.48 tmc ft. It is lower than the quantum suggested under the distress-sharing formula,”
Mr. Duraimurugan said.
New Delhi, Sep 12,2023: Supreme Court, in its order on Tuesday, referred to at least a five-judge Constitution bench in the batch of petitions challenging the sedition law 124-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, led by CJI Dr Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, referred the batch of pleas to at least a five-judge larger bench for a detailed hearing and to effectively deal with the constitutional validity of 124-A of the sedition law.
The Apex Court also took into record the submissions and arguments by the AG and SG that, at this stage, it was appropriate to defer reference to the five-judge bench having regard to the fact that parliament is in the process of reenacting the law. The court, however, in its order, said that we are not inclined to defer the consideration.
The Atrorney General (AG) of India, R Venkataramani, the top law officer representing the Union of India, argued that the new law is there and has been sent to a parliamentary standing committee. “The parliamentary standing committee is looking into it,” Venkataramani said.
Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, for one of the petitioners, opposed it and told the Top Indian Court that the new law is much worse and the prosecutions will go on.
He said in 1973, this section 124-A was made a cognisable offence. Prior to that, it wasn’t cognisable. Therefore, they started arresting people invoking this section.
Sibal, while narrating Section 124-A, said , “disaffection towards the government”. As far as 19(1)(a) [Right to freedom of speech and expression], is concerned, it refers to “state”, not government.
“What is fundamentally wrong is disaffection towards the government is not disaffection towards the state; the state is not the government, and the government is not the state,” Sibal said.
We have to decide on this law as it stands today. We can’t wait for the parliament to decide on this, Sibal said.
To this, the Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta argued that, at the highest level, it was being seriously considered. And it is done now. But the government stated that let all parties be referred to in this context; let us wait for the government. It is at the highest level of being reconsidered; it has now been reconsidered.
In May last year, the court, in an interim order, suspended the use of Section 124-A, staying pending criminal trials and court proceedings under Section 124A across the country.
The Editors Guild of India (EGI), Major General (Retd) S.G. Vombatkere, former Union minister Arun Shourie, and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), along with others, have filed a batch of petitions against the penal provision in the Supreme Court.
The petitions contended that the law causes a “chilling effect” on free speech and is an unreasonable restriction on free expression, a fundamental right.
Chennai, Sep 10,2023: The third earth-bound manoeuvre of the Aditya-L1, India’s maiden solar exploratory mission to study the sun, was successfully performed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The orbit raising was performed at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bengaluru at 0230 hrs early on Sunday morning.
ISRO’s ground stations at Mauritius, Bengaluru, SDSC-SHAR and Port Blair tracked the satellite during this operation.
The new orbit attained was 296 km x 71767 km.
The next manoeuvre (EBN#4) is scheduled for September 15, 2023, around 02:00 Hrs IST.
In an update ISRO said “Aditya-L1 Mission: The third Earth-bound manoeuvre(EBN#3) is performed successfully from ISTRAC, Bengaluru. ISRO’s ground stations at Mauritius, Bengaluru, SDSC-SHAR and Port Blair tracked the
satellite during this operation.”
“The new orbit attained is 296 km x 71767 km. The next manoeuvre (EBN#4) is scheduled for September 15, 2023, around 02:00 Hrs. IST”, it said.
Srinagar, Sep 8,2023: The polls for Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Kargil (LAHDC-K) would be held on October 4, according to the latest notification issued by the Union Territory of Ladakh.
The administration also reserved the “plough” symbol for the National Conference(NC).
The announcement comes after the Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the August 5 notification of the election department for the Ladakh hill council polls and directed the issuance of a fresh notification within seven days for it.
The apex court had also rejected the appeal filed by the Union Territory of Ladakh against the Jammu and Kashmir High Court order allotting the “plough” symbol to the National Conference.
Ladakh Union Territory reserved the “plough” symbol for NC.
“In pursuance to the order of the Supreme Court dated September 6, 2023, in Civil Appeal No. 5707 of 2023 (SLP No. 18727 of 2023), the symbol “Plough” is hereby reserved for the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference Party for the ensuing elections to the 5th Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil,” reads a notification issued by the Administration of the Union Territory of Ladakh.
The administration also announced new dates for the polls as per the SC orders.
In compliance with the SC judgement, the Administration of the Union Territory of Ladakh announced the polls for LAHDC-K would be held on October 4. The counting would be held on October 8.
The LAHDC-K polls will be the first such elections in Kargil since Ladakh was carved out as a Union Territory from Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.
Sept 06,2023: A top White House official has said North Korea would pay “a price” if it sells weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine, after Washington warned that Pyongyang was in talks with Moscow about a potential arms deal.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that the United States believes the negotiations between North Korea and Russia are “actively advancing”.
“Providing weapons to Russia for use on the battlefield to attack grain silos and the heating infrastructure of major cities as we head into winter, to try to conquer territory that belongs to a modern sovereign nation – this is not going to reflect well on North Korea, and they will pay a price for this in the international community,” Sullivan told reporters.
His comments come after another official in US President Joe Biden’s administration said on Monday that Washington expected North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to hold a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin has refused to comment on the US claims, stressing that it has “nothing to say” about reports of potential direct talks between the two leaders.
Tokyo, Sep 6,2023:The Japanese government will be closely monitoring the situation and working with the international community and the United States against the background of media reports of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s possible visit to Russia, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Wednesday.
“We are aware of such reports. [The United Nations] Security Council resolutions completely prohibit the transfer of arms or materials for their production from North Korea. We plan to monitor this issue closely with a high degree of concern, including the possibility that violations [of the resolutions] may take place,” Matsuno told a news conference when asked to comment on the reports.
He added that Tokyo “will continue to maintain close contact with the international community and primarily with the US on this issue.”
The New York Times reported Monday, citing US and allied officials, that North Korea’s leader plans to visit Russia in September to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discuss military cooperation.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that he could not confirm media reports about the possible meeting between Kim and Putin in Russia in the near future, adding that he had “nothing to say on this topic.”