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I had broken the story in The Indian Express of July 8, 2004. It was one of the top secret moves of Amarinder Singh but I had written about the date, time and the man behind the SYL canal-blocking bill. Senior officers involved strictly on a need to know basis were dumbfounded to see the news item. Meanwhile, I continued to chase the story.

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	"Newspapers always excite curiosity. No one ever lays one down without a feeling of disappointment." Charles Lamb, 1833 "Frankly, despite my horror of the press, I’d love to rise from the grave every ten years or so and go buy a few newspapers." Luis Buñuel, Spanish filmmaker "I often wonder what future historians will say about us. One sentence will suffice to describe modern man: he fornicated and he read newspapers." Albert Camus, French novelist, dramatist, philosopher, 1956

CM to meet Sorabjee today

S P Singh

Chandigarh

PUNJAB Government is going all out to bring a bill before the Assembly to escape the SYL canal handover to a Central government agency, and Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh will meet former Attorney General Soli A Sorabjee in this context tomorrow.

Though tied with political problems ever since the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries was put on hold, the CM is expected to keep his date with Sorabjee.

Lakhanpal himself remained unavailable, and his office did not return calls.

The proposed Bill is aimed at wriggling out of a contractual obligation that Punjab took upon itself after signing an agreement with the two other states and the Centre on December 31, 1981.

Government officials tackling the fallout of the Supreme Court's June 4 judgement on the SYL, directing Punjab to handover the canal construction work in its territory to Haryana, are of the view that it hinges on this obligation imposed by the 1981 agreement.

As per the 1981 pact, signed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Punjab CM Darbara Singh, Rajasthan CM Shiv Charan Mathur and Haryana CM Bhajan Lal, the suits filed in the apex court by Haryana (arguing that the March 24, 1976 notification allocating 3.5 MAF to it and the same amount to Punjab is final and binding) and Punjab (challenging the Centre's competence to enact Section 78 of the Punjab Reorganization Act 1966, thus questioning the validity of the 1976 notification) were to be withdrawn. Both did withdraw the suits, resulting in digging of the SYL canal. It left Punjab with 4.22 MAF and Haryana with 3.5 MAF and the annual mean supply was pegged at 17.17 MAF.■

July 8, 2004

Also See:

― Govt plans legislation to escape SYL
― Govt mulled tweaking 131-yr-old Act for SYL
― Punjab annuls all Ravi-Beas pacts...
― My days numbered, said CM
― SYL: Centre’s eyes were wide shut
― How CM’s Team Legal found an enabling loophole
― Experts say Punjab Act dilutes riparian concept
― Capt plays to the gallery, works the back-channels
― Capt finds solace in Narmada Tribunal’s report
― State suggested Presidential Reference
― ‘Presidential Reference is good news’
― Capt changes tune
― Amarinder demanded this in '87

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Pacifism

The French ambassador to Washington, Jean Jusserand, once found himself discussing pacifism with Theodore Roosevelt's wife. "Why don't you learn from the United States and Canada?" she suggested. "We have a three-thousand-mile unfortified peaceful frontier. You people arm yourselves to the teeth." "Ah, madame," Jusserand replied. "Perhaps we could exchange neighbors."

(Source: Paul Boller, Presidential Anecdotes)

Malcolm Muggeridge: Loopy Reasoning

Malcolm Muggeridge once told former "Tonight Show" host Jack Paar that he had voted only once in his entire life. "On that occasion I just had to," Muggeridge explained. "There was this one candidate who had been committed to an asylum and upon discharge was issued a Certificate of Sanity. Well, now, how could I resist? What other politician anywhere has an actual medical report that he is sane? I simply had to support him!"

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