28.11.2006

• Taj heritage corridor case: Mayawati to face probe
• The case is about the Rs. 175 cr project to lay a corridor linking various heritage sites in Agra that was undertaken without the mandatory environmental clearance. This was in violation of the Supreme Court’s order banning construction activity around the Taj Mahal.

• Sanjay Dutt gets sentence in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case

o The court found him guilty of charges framed under the Sections 3 and 7 read with Section 25 of the Arms Act.

o While the court found Dutt guilty under the Arms Act, it acquitted the actor of the criminal conspiracy charges under TADA.

o The minimum sentence he gets for the charges proved against him is 5 years. He has spent almost 18 months in jail as an undertrial.

o The court acquitted him of charges framed under Section 120-b of the Indian Penal Code (conspiracy) and Section 3 (3) of TADA.

o Dutt received three AK-56 rifles, its ammunition, 9 mm pistol, its cartridges and hand grenades, which were part of the consignment smuggled by Tiger Memon to set off a series of blasts in Mumbai on March 12, 1993.

• Natural gas market. City gas distribution projects.
• Gas is the cleanest fossil fuel; but it accounts for only 8% of our energy mix.
• For bringing about city gas distribution networks, the investment estimate is that about Rs. 40,000 cr would be required to construct the terminals, pipelines, processing facilities and city gas networks.
• At present as much as 70% of total gas available is earmarked for power and fertilizer sectors at subsidized and administered rates.
• To bring about competitive market determined pricing to natural gas what needs to be done is:
• In fertilizer sector, we need to step-up production in areas of cheap feedstock, like the Persian Gulf. (Feedstock means any material that is converted to another form or product.)
• In power, we need to introduce time-of-day-metering so that a dearer fuel like gas can be used for peak-load supply.