Following is the chronology of Bhopal gas tragedy case in which a Delhi Court today allowed CBI to seek extradition of the then Chairman of Union Carbide Corporation Warren Anderson.Dec 2-3, 1984: Leakage of toxic Methyl Isocynate (MIC) gas from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal reported. Several people died on the same day which later rose to 15,000 over a period of time. Several thousand animals were also killed.
Dec 3, 1984 : Bhopal Police registers FIR after observing that people were dying around the factory and arrests several UCIL employees, including Jai Mukund (Works Manager), Satya Prakash Chaudhary (Assistant Works Manager), K V Shetty (Plant Superintendent), R B Roy Chaudhary (Assistant Works Manager), Shakeel Ibrahim Qureshi (Production Assistant).
Dec 6, 1984: Case transferred by state government to CBI.
Dec 7, 1984: Police arrests Warren M Anderson, Chairman of Union Carbide Corporation, Keshub Mahindra, Chairman of UCIL and Vijay Prabhakar Gokhle, Managing Director of UCIL.
Dec 7, 1984: Warren Anderson released on bail.
Dec 9, 1984: CBI takes over the case and starts investigation.
Feb 1985: Indian government files claim for USD 3.3 billion from Union Carbide in a US court.
1986: US District Court judge transfers all Bhopal litigations to India.
Nov 30, 1987: CBI files charge sheet in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Bhopal, charging the accused under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder)/326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 429 (mischief by injury to works of irrigation or by wrongfully diverting water) read with section 35 of IPC.
Dec 1, 1987: CJM, Bhopal issues summons against Anderson.
July 7, 1988: CJM, Bhopal issues fresh summons against Anderson.
Sept 20, 1988: Letter received from Embassy of India at Washington that summons had been served on Anderson.
Nov 15, 1988: CJM, Bhopal issues bailable warrants against Anderson.
1989: Indian government and Union Carbide strike out-of-court deal, Union Carbide gives USD 470 million.
Jan 1, 1992: Proclamation against Anderson issued by CJM, Bhopal, publishes in the ‘Washington Post’ newspaper.
Apr 10, 1992: CJM, Bhopal issues Non-Bailable Warrant of arrest against Anderson for arranging extradition proceedings against him.
May 25, 1992: CJM, Bhopal separates the trial of Anderson, Union Carbide Corporation (USA) and Union Carbide Eastern Inc. (Hong Kong) from rest of the other accused persons.
June 22, 1992: CJM, Bhopal commits the case to the sessions court against rest of the nine accused persons.
1992: CJM, Bhopal declares Anderson as Proclaimed Offender after he jumped bail.
Nov 1994: Despite numerous petitions by survivors’ groups, the Supreme Court allows Union Carbide to sell stake in UCIL to McLeod Russell (India) Ltd of Calcutta.
Sept 13, 1996: After the accused moved the Supreme Court, it diluted the charges framed against them by the trial court which was earlier upheld by Madhya Pradesh High Court.
A bench comprising the then Chief Justice of India A M Ahmadi and Justice S B Majmudar said the accused will be tried under section 304 (A) (causing death by negligence), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and other sections of IPC.
Mar 10, 1997 : The Supreme Court dismissed the petition filed by an NGO, Bhopal Gas Peedith Sangharsh Sahayog Samiti, seeking a review of its 1996 judgement diluting the charges framed against the accused by the trial court.
Oct 11, 2002: CJM, Bhopal issued fresh arrest warrant under section 304, 324 and 429 read with section 35 of IPC. The arrest warrant was not executed by the US authorities and returned.
July 22, 2009: CJM, Bhopal issued fresh NBW against Anderson to appear before the court.
June 7, 2010: After more than 25 years, Bhopal Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohan P Tiwari held guilty all the eight accused persons and sentenced them to two years of jail term along with fine. However, all the eight convicts were granted bail.
Aug 31, 2010: CBI filed a curative petition before the Supreme Court to re-examine its own September 1996 judgment, which had ruled in favour of the trial of various Bhopal gas leak tragedy accused on charges of causing death due to negligence rather than the harsher penal provision of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Feb 28, 2011: A five-judge bench of Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia also said it will hear on day-to-day basis from April 13 the Centre ‘s plea for restoration of the stringent charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the accused and enhancement of compensation for the victims.
Mar 22, 2011: CBI moves Delhi court to obtain a Letter Rogatory to extradite Anderson from the United States to face trial in India.
Mar 23, 2011: Delhi court allows CBI plea seeking to extradite Anderson from the US.
Filed On: Mar 23, 2011 20:07 IST , Edited On: Mar 23, 2011 20:07 IST
Month: March 2011
QUEEN: Killer Queen (perfect for a rainy day!)
via youtube.com
Heard it on the radio coming in to work this AM; perfect for a wet and gray day! “Dynamite with a laser beam– guaranteed to blow your mind!”
The Tower of the Americas & Hemisfair Park in San Antonio, Texas
So, in continuation with the amazing week-long vacation that I took with my honey in the lovely city of San Antonio, Texas, recently, one stop that we made was at the Tower of the Americas and the adjoining Hemisfair Park.
The Tower is a 750-foot observation tower/restaurant and offers the most breathtaking views of the city on a clear day. We did happen to go up on a clear day, as you’ll see from the pictures below. Also, the Hemisfair Park is a beautifully manicured set of lawns and grounds that evidently hosted the World’s Fair in 1968. For more on the official site of these two venues, click here. Lovely views on a lovely day. See for youself:
Coconut Milk Matar Pulao (Fried Rice): A Recipe, For a Change!
So, I visited with an old friend over the weekend, and brought her some Coconut Milk Matar Pulao (Fried Rice) that I’d made the night before. Leftovers, really, that I took her, but she’s been raving about it and has asked for a recipe, so I thought I’d put down some approximations that will, I hope, translate to a half-decent recipe.
3 cups Basmati
1 can of Coconut Milk
1 frozen bag of Peas & Carrots
Cooking Oil – Canola is good
For the tempered seasoning: Cumin (teaspoonful), Cardomom (4-5 small green ones), Cinnamon Sticks (a couple will do); two Bay Leaves; Salt to taste
Get a nice broad flat-bottomed pot. Place on stove, get it somewhat hot, then pour about 3 tablespoons of oil. In moments the oil will be hot enough (but not smoking-hot!). Add the ingredients in the order listed to create your tempered seasoning. Everything should be done real fast and the cumin must instantly start to sputter, and the fragrance of the other spices should fill the air around you instantly. Next, add your three cups of dry rice to this seasoning and stir away; within moments they’ll look toasted. Next, open your bag of frozen veggies and add it to the rice. Stir some more; reduce your heat a bit, if necessary, because you do not want to let the rice stick to the bottom.
Now: put your coconut milk into a measuring cup (I use a large 4-cup measure), and to this add boiling-hot water to make a full-six cups. Add this coconut-milk liquid to the pot, and it will come to a rolling-boil almost instantly. Stir for a few minutes until the rice begins to cook and the liquid begins to disappear. In a few minutes, cover the pot (lid should be secure), reduce heat to a complete simmer, and forget about it for fifteen minutes. Do not open the lid for any reason whatsover until the fifteen minutes are up!
When you do open the lid, you ought to be able to see each individual grain of the Basmati rice separate. Needless to say, it mustn’t be sticky in the least. You’ve got your Coconut Milk Matar Pulao ready to serve with anything you wish, or just as is! Yeh Hui Na Baat!
The Doobie Brothers – Long Train Runnin'
via youtube.com
One of my all-time faves; heard it on the radio coming in to work this AM. Somebody induct them into the R&R Hall of Fame already!
Why Didn't Obama Go To Congress? – The Daily Dish
David Frum muses:
In his mind, he may have been signaling: this is a humanitarian police action (like Somalia or Bosnia), not a real war (like the Gulf war, the invasion of Afghanistan or the invasion of Iraq). But he opened the door to his critics alleging: Obama is a liberal one-worlder who thinks that a Security Council vote can substitute for American democratic processes. Did he possibly fear that Congress would say No? Is he hoping that he’ll wrap this thing up faster than the debate would have required?
Is he signaling inner discomfort with his own decision, a preference for talking about almost anything else? Or is he just recklessly forgetting the old rule: if you don’t invite them to join you at the takeoff, they won’t be there for the landing?
The other obvious explanation: there was no time. But I think this blatant breaking of a core campaign promise strengthens the hand of those insisting that this be a short, limited engagement with no troops on the ground and no alliance with rebels we scarcely know anything about.
Of course, the Republican position on this is a fantastic example of opportunism.
They loved an executive branch under Bush that declared its unilateral power to declare war and peace at will, to simply reinterpret the law as something to be gotten around rather than complied with, and that summed up its ethos in one piece of cult-lingo: “the Decider.” There was only one “moment of accountability” for the last Republican president – his re-election in 2004. In matters of war, outside the law, he was a monarch.
Nonetheless, even granting this massive piece of situational politics, I’m glad the right has now remembered the things it wilfully forgot under Bush: that you have to live within your means, and that the Congress has the ultimate say on whether to go to war. I’m also relieved to see some Democrats not shifting, in reverse fashion, to back the imperial presidency, but insisting on accountability from the executive branch.
If we are ever to restrain the Washington machine from its addiction to unfunded and unbudgeted and unending war, now is as good a time to start as any.
Didn’t feel right the first time around, and doesn’t feel right this time around either.
We Love 1994 Old Navy!
Sweetest Priscilla / You and me in Old Navy / Two pods in a pea!
Note on picture: My sweetest cousin in Dallas, Texas wearing the Old Navy hoodie I brought her! Pity we didn’t take a picture together, but next time for sure!
El Mercado in San Antonio: An Assault of Colorful Wares
Well, when you go on holiday, there comes a time, no matter how tranquil your environs, or even how hectic your sightseeing that you will either wilfully stop by a gift-shop or will be lured into one with a view to look for a souvenir or two. It is the most universal of holidaying customs, and I was therefore no exception to this on my most recent holiday to the lovely city of San Antonio, Texas.
I found myself at this huge indoor mall called the El Mercado, spanish for The Market, I think. And what a colorful market it was! It was an assault on the eyes– an assault of colors in every bright and beautiful hue for all kinds of things you really have no need of at all but suddenly feel you so very much would like to be the owner of! Things such as pottery pieces, fancy cowboy-style hats, paintings, sketches, fancy belts, tapestries, handbags, jewelry, you name it. And given that the Mexican border is barely hours away from the city, these colorful wares were all imported from the south of the border. Only, we didn’t pay in Pesos, you see; they wanted only the US Dollar!
Well, here are some pictures my camera captured of my visit to the El Mercado. Enjoy!
