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Karnataka water resources department has identified alternative land across the districts of Ramanagara, Mandya and Chamarajanagara to compensate for the 5,000 acres of forest land that will be submerged due to the Mekedatu project. The initiative aims to provide an equivalent area to offset the ecological impact of constructing a balancing dam on the Cauvery River, Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited (CNNL) executive engineer Mohan Gowda said on Sunday. The identified land will replace the 5,096.22 hectares of forest land required for the project, including 4,776.67 hectares within the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and 229.6 hectares of protected forest. To compensate for this, 7,404.62 hectares of C&D and DEEMS forest land have been earmarked, with Ramanagara district contributing the largest share at 53%. The process of formal land acquisition and its transfer to the forest department is yet to begin, but authorities have indicated that work will soon commence to finalise pricing and other formalities. Deputy commissioners of the three districts will participate in an upcoming meeting to discuss the acquisition process and compensation mechanisms for those affected by the project. This includes private landowners in five villages—Sangama, Muttathi, Madiwala, Koggedoddi, and Bommasandra—where 160.81 hectares of private land will be submerged. The displacement is expected to impact 233 families, and plans are being formulated to relocate them and provide adequate compensation. Gowda expressed optimism about the progress. “The Mandya district administration has identified 1,825 hectares of land, and the forest department has issued a feasibility certificate for this. Similar efforts are underway in Chamarajanagara and Ramanagara districts. We hope all processes will be completed in another six months,” Gowda told HT. The Mekedatu project is envisioned to provide a sustainable drinking water supply to Bengaluru, addressing the city’s growing demand due to rapid urbanisation. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the balancing dam has been submitted to the Union ministry of forests and awaits approval. The proposal is also under review by the National Wildlife Council, a necessary step before the construction can begin. Despite its potential benefits, the project has faced delays due to environmental clearances and concerns from various groups about the ecological and social impacts. Environmentalists have raised alarms over the submersion of forest areas in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, while local communities fear displacement and disruption of their livelihoods. The Karnataka government remains hopeful that the approval process will be expedited, resource department officers said. Authorities are working to address ecological concerns and ensure fair compensation and relocation plans for affected families. As the state government pushes forward, the Mekedatu project stands as a crucial yet contentious step towards meeting Bengaluru’s future water needs. Highlighting the environmental cost, the India State of Forests Report (ISFR) for 2021 said that Karnataka has lost 64 sq km of moderately dense forest in comparison to the 2019 findings. Karnataka’s forest cover currently accounts for only 20.2% of its total geographical area, which falls below the national average of 21.7% and significantly lags behind the global recommendation of 33%. As per the report on Mekedatu prepared by water resource department officers, there will be a submergence of 4,996 hectares of wildlife, forest and revenue land and its total requirement is 5,252.40 ha. This includes 3,181.90 ha of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and 1869.50 ha of reserve forest land which is home to elephant migratory routes, honey badgers, grizzled giant squirrels, Deccan Mahseer fish and the smooth-coated otters among hundreds of other exotic, and potentially endangered, species of animals. Experts argue that the actual ecological situation is far graver. “At a time when we should be augmenting our forest ecosystem, we are depleting and plundering it. Ideally, 33% of the Indian landscape should be reserved for forests. But we barely have 20%,” wildlife activist Joseph Hoover said.
Jeremy Clarkson has backpedalled on his previous comments about why he bought his farm, saying he thought it would be a “better PR story if I said I bought it to avoid paying tax”. The TV presenter and journalist defied doctors’ orders by joining thousands of farmers in London on Tuesday to protest against agricultural inheritance tax changes. The 64-year-old, who fronts Prime Video’s Clarkson’s Farm, which documents the trials of farming on his land in Oxfordshire , wrote in a post on the Top Gear website in 2010: “I have bought a farm. There are many sensible reasons for this: Land is a better investment than any bank can offer. The government doesn’t get any of my money when I die. And the price of the food that I grow can only go up.” Clarkson also told the Times in 2021 that avoiding inheritance tax was “the critical thing” in his decision to buy land. Addressing the claim in a new interview with The Times , the former Top Gear presenter said: “I never did admit why I really bought it.” The fan of game bird shooting added: “I wanted to have a shoot – I was very naive. I just thought it would be a better PR story if I said I bought it to avoid paying tax.” Clarkson was among the thousands who took to the streets this week to protest over the changes in the recent Budget to impose inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million and he addressed the crowds at the march in central London. He told the newspaper he is not happy to be the public face of the movement, saying: “It should be led by farmers.” The presenter said he does not consider himself a farmer because there are “so many basic jobs” which he cannot do, but he feels his role is to “report on farming”. Earlier this month, it was confirmed Clarkson’s Farm, which has attracted huge attention to his Diddly Squat farm shop, had been renewed for a fifth series. Asked whether the issue behind the tax protest is that rural poverty is hidden, Clarkson agreed and said his programme was not helping to address the situation. “One of the problems we have on the show is we’re not showing the poverty either, because obviously on Diddly Squat there isn’t any poverty”, he said. “But trust me, there is absolute poverty. I’m surrounded by farmers. I’m not going out for dinner with James Dyson. “It’s people with 200 acres, 400 acres. Way past Rachel Reeves’s threshold. They are f*****.” The newspaper columnist also presents Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? on ITV. The Grand Tour, his motoring show with former Top Gear colleagues Richard Hammond and James May, ended in September. Discussing whether he might move into politics, Clarkson said: “I’d be a terrible political leader, hopeless. “I’m a journalist at heart, I prefer throwing rocks at people than having them thrown at me.” However, he said he would be “100% behind any escalation” after the farmers’ march. Clarkson revealed last month he had undergone a heart procedure to have stents fitted after experiencing a “sudden deterioration” in his health which brought on symptoms of being “clammy”, a “tightness” in his chest and “pins and needles” in his left arm. He said in a Sunday Times column that one of his arteries was “completely blocked and the second of three was heading that way” and doctors said he was perhaps “days away” from becoming very ill. Asked if he is thinking about retiring, the Doncaster-born celebrity said: “Probably not. It depends when you die, I always think. “You’d be surprised, us Northerners are made of strong stuff.”Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Shares Bought by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.Milton High School faces Lee County High School in the 2024 GHSA State Semifinal Football Playoff Game on Friday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Here’s how you can watch the game on NFHS Network. Watch: Milton VS. Lee County LIVE STREAM How can I watch Milton vs. Lee County? Fans can subscribe to NFHS Sports Network , a nationwide streaming platform for more than 9,000 high school sports. You can find the list of available schools here. How much does an NFHS subscription cost? Is there a free trial to NFHS Network ? An annual subscription costs $79.99, or you can pay monthly for $11.99 per month. Can you watch NFHS on your phone or TV? NFHS Network is available on smart TVs like Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Google Chromecast, as well as on iOS and Android smartphones. Top 25 high school football rankings (MaxPreps) 1. Mater Dei (Santa Ana, California) 2. Milton (Milton, Georgia) 3. Duncanville (Duncanville, Texas) 4. Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nevada) 5. Carrollton (Carrollton, Georgia) 6. North Shore (Houston, Texas) 7. St. John Bosco (Bellflower, California) 8. St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Maryland) 9. North Crowley (Fort Worth, Texas) 10. Buford (Buford, Georgia) 11. Archbishop Spalding (Severn, Maryland) 12. Lakeland (Lakeland, Florida) 13. Orange Lutheran (Orange, California) 14. Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood, Florida) 15. Centennial (Corona, California) 16. Corner Canyon (Draper, Utah) 17. Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, California) 18. IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida) 19. Venice (Venice, Florida) 20. Atascocita (Humble, Texas) 21. Bergen Catholic (Oradell, New Jersey) 22. De La Salle (Concord, California) 23. DeMatha (Hyattsville, Maryland) RECOMMENDED • nj .com How to watch the Milton vs. Lee County game today (12/6/24) | LIVE STREAM for Georgia state playoffs game Dec. 6, 2024, 6:00 p.m. Parker vs. Saraland LIVE STREAM (12/6/24) | How to watch Alabama state playoffs game Dec. 6, 2024, 6:00 p.m. 24. DeSoto (DeSoto, Texas) 25. Lee County (Leesburg) Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The NFL removed New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers from the commissioner exempt list on Monday, making him eligible to participate in practice and play in the team’s games. Peppers missed seven games since being placed on the list on Oct. 9 after he was arrested and charged with shoving his girlfriend’s head into a wall and choking her. The league said its review is ongoing and is not affected by the change in Peppers’ roster status. Braintree, Massachusetts, police said they were called to a home for an altercation between two people on Oct. 7, and a woman told them Peppers choked her. Police said they found at the home a clear plastic bag containing a white powder, which later tested positive for cocaine. Peppers, 29, pleaded not guilty in Quincy District Court to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a Class “B” substance believed to be cocaine. At a court appearance last week a trial date was set for Jan. 22. “Any act of domestic violence is unacceptable for us,” Patriots coach Jerod Mayo said after the arrest. “With that being said, I do think that Jabrill has to go through the system, has to continue to go through due process. We’ll see how that works out.” A 2017 first-round draft choice by Cleveland, Peppers spent two seasons with the Browns and three with the New York Giants before coming to New England in 2022. He was signed to an extension this summer. He played in the first four games of the season and missed one with a shoulder injury before going on the exempt list, which allows NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to place a player on paid leave while reviewing his case. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflCarson Beck completed 20 of 31 passes for 297 yards and four touchdowns as No. 10 Georgia pummeled UMass 59-21 on Saturday in Athens, Ga. Nate Frazier ran for career highs of 136 yards and three touchdowns, while Arian Smith caught three passes for 110 yards and a score as the Bulldogs (9-2) won their second straight game and 30th straight at home, dating back to 2019. AJ Hairston completed 7 of 16 passes for 121 yards and a score for the Minutemen (2-9), who dropped their third straight. Jalen John ran for 107 yards and a score and Jakobie Keeney-James caught three passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. Peyton Woodring kicked a 53-yard field goal to extend Georgia's lead to 31-14 on the first drive of the third quarter. But UMass wasted little time responding, as Hairston hit Keeney-James for a 75-yard touchdown to get the deficit down to 10. Georgia then finished its sixth straight drive with a score, as Frazier's 9-yard run up the middle gave the Bulldogs a 38-21 lead at the 8:44 mark of the third quarter. After UMass punted, Georgia played add-on in its next possession, with Frazier scoring from 15 yards out with 1:39 left in the third to lead 45-21. Frazier stamped his career day with his third touchdown run, a 2-yarder with 6:33 left, before Georgia capped the scoring with Chris Cole's 28-yard fumble return with 3:28 remaining. UMass took the game's opening drive 75 yards down the field -- aided by Ahmad Haston's 38-yard run -- and scored on CJ Hester's 1-yard run with 9:15 left. Georgia answered on its ensuing drive, as Beck's 17-yard passing touchdown to Oscar Delp tied the game at the 5:05 mark of the first quarter. Following a short punt by UMass, Beck connected with Smith for 49 yards, and a roughing-the-passer penalty put the ball at Minutemen's 14-yard line. Facing a fourth-and-4 from the 8-yard line, Beck found Cash Jones for a touchdown to take a 14-7 lead with 10:30 left in the second quarter. On UMass' next play from scrimmage, Raylen Wilson recovered John's fumble on the Minutemen's 28-yard line. Three plays later, Beck connected with Dominic Lovett for a 15-yard touchdown with 8:56 remaining. UMass then scored after a 14-play, 75-yard drive, finished off with John's 3-yard rushing score with 1:55 left in the first half. Georgia answered quickly, as Beck's 20-yard pass to Cole Speer set up a 34-yard touchdown pass to Smith with 43 seconds remaining, giving the Bulldogs a 28-14 halftime lead. --Field Level Media
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Quebec Premier François Legault says he’s looking at ways to end prayer in public places, including parks, as his government promises to table new legislation to strengthen secularism in schools. Legault made the comments during a press conference in Quebec City on Friday to mark the end of the fall legislative session. He said he wants to send a “very clear message to Islamists” that Quebec will fight against any disrespect of its fundamental values, including secularism. The premier said that recent reports of teachers allowing prayers in classrooms and preventing girls from playing sports, which have triggered an outcry in Quebec, are “totally unacceptable.” “There are teachers who are bringing Islamist religious concepts into Quebec schools,” he said. “I will definitely not tolerate that. We don’t want that in Quebec.” Legault then went a step further when asked by a reporter if he was also bothered by prayer in public places. “Seeing people on their knees in the streets, praying, I think we have to ask ourselves the question. I don’t think it’s something we should see,” he said, adding that his government is considering whether it can legislate on the issue. He went on to say he doesn’t want to see people praying “in public parks or public streets.” When questioned about the constitutionality of banning public prayer, he said the government is “looking at all possibilities, including the use of the notwithstanding clause,” which allows governments to override certain sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Images of Muslims praying in Montreal have sparked controversy in recent months, including when a group gathered in a city park to celebrate Eid al-Adha last June, prompting the borough mayor to muse about banning all religious events in public parks. In a statement, the Canadian Muslim Forum said Legault’s comments suggest that some politicians view Muslims as second-class citizens. “These remarks add to a pattern of political rhetoric that unfairly targets Quebecers, especially those of Muslim faith, based solely on their backgrounds,” the statement reads. Legault’s comments come as the province grapples with a series of reports about Muslim religious practices appearing in some of the province’s public schools. On Friday, Education Minister Bernard Drainville declared the government will introduce a new bill aimed at reinforcing secularism in Quebec schools. The announcement followed a Friday report in La Presse that documented students at a high school in Laval, north of Montreal, praying in classrooms and hallways and disrupting a play focused on sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy prevention. Drainville told reporters in Quebec City that the behaviour does not represent “our Quebec” and is “completely intolerable and unacceptable.” “These acts of a religious nature clearly contravene secularism obligations,” he said in a social media statement. “One can easily imagine the psychological impact that some of these behaviours may have had on students.” The news story is the latest in a growing number of incidents reported at Quebec schools involving Muslim teachers and students. The wave of allegations was sparked by a government investigation, made public in October, that found a toxic climate at a Montreal elementary school. The report found that a group of teachers at Bedford school, mostly of North African descent, yelled at and humiliated students. Some teachers didn’t believe in learning disabilities and attributed students’ difficulties to laziness. Subjects like science and sex education were either ignored or barely taught, and girls were prevented from playing soccer. Eleven teachers have since been suspended from the school. The government is now looking into 17 schools it believes may have breached the province’s secularism law. The report on those schools is expected in January, but Drainville says he can already confirm that the government is going to act. Quebec used the notwithstanding clause to shield the province’s controversial secularism law, Bill 21, from constitutional challenges. That law prevents certain public sector workers, including teachers and police officers, from wearing religious symbols on the job. The government also invoked the clause to protect its contentious language law, Bill 96. On Friday, Legault said the protection of Quebec’s identity has been one of his top priorities over the last year and repeated his claims that temporary immigration is threatening the French language in Montreal. He also reiterated that he’s “open” to the idea of a Quebec constitution, following a recent recommendation from a committee tasked with coming up with ways to boost Quebec’s autonomy. He said a constitution could enshrine Quebec’s values, including secularism and equality between men and women.Magnus Carlsen says D Gukesh is no longer a favourite against Ding Liren in World Chess Championship 2024Last week, we concluded our discussion on positives from the 1987 coup. This time I got many more responses from readers than ever before. I think it had to do with the fact that I included that snippet about the “Guns of Lautoka”. Also, many wanted to know about the unnamed characters who featured so strongly in the aftermath of May 1987. Let me thus, begin with a bit more on those characters. Enterprising characters LET me start with the character who managed to procure the arms that finally landed on our shores. Rafik Khan had many other aliases. Ralph Khan, Ralph Conn, Rafik Conn and Ralph Kahan are just a few monikers that I have managed to confirm over the years. Also, I have not come across any clear profile on this guy, but let me try to present it here because my first encounter with one of his names goes back to 1975 when I was in Form 2 at what was then Wairiki Junior Secondary School. One of our teachers was a Peace Corp volunteer called Master John Olson. Master John, as we fondly called him, would intersperse his classes with (what some of us used to refer to as) “knowledge” lessons. He would tell us about the two world wars, the American civil war, the American war of independence, the civil rights movement, the British monarchy and some of the more famous monarchs, etc. And he would later quiz us on what we learnt. These quizzes came unexpectedly. In an environment of keen inter-house competition, we waged war during those quizzes as that meant points for our houses. One day, Master John told us about “Fiji’s Jesus Christ”. Of course, we were all rapt when he said this because our school was a catholic institution and we were keen learners of the Bible. Apparently, Ralph Conn was nabbed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police while on the run from authorities, expatriated to the US and presented in court for some of his many colourful deeds. There, he presented himself as the “Saviour” of the people of Raiwaqa. This connection with Raiwaqa needs a bit of winding back in this story. You see, Ralph was a lad from Milverton Rd, Raiwaqa. His beginnings were just like any other from the lower rungs of society in that area. The difference with him was that he kept himself apart, presented himself as being special and always dreamed of hitting the big time. The only problem was that his plans always moved beyond the normal to the shady – often to the criminal. He was also gifted with the fresh innocent looks of a dreamy, starry-eyed aunty’s boy. This was enhanced by the fact that he was always clean shaven and neatly dressed. His baby face and grandiose dreams took him to the Middle-East in the 1970s. There, his gift of the gab took him into the inner circles of an oil sheik. Anyone who knows about the culture of those desert people will have to marvel at this feat. Those guys used to have difficulty distinguishing the throat of a human from that of a sheep. Here was our very own Rafik Khan from Raiwaqa sitting in the court of an Arab Sheik and partaking of the hospitality therein. He was truly in Jannat (Muslim heaven)! And in Jannat, our boy espied a likely damsel who would make a good wife; incidentally tying him up with an oil family. This is where a little bit more on how he endeared himself to the sheik comes to light. Apparently, he presented himself as the latest in a string of established and distinguished heirs to an estate in Suva, the capital of Fiji. He had photos to prove it and the most cherished of these was one of the truly distinguished Borron House. That, we would all have to agree, is an icon of Suva. Khan presented it as a family heritage. And the opulent sheik lapped it up. The con job was to get even better. He delicately proposed for the hand of the sheik’s niece and jubilantly married her at the expense of numerous unlucky sheep and goats. For some unspecified reason, he decided to return with his trophy bride to Fiji. The first suspicion arose when there was no distinguished reception party at Nadi International Airport for an heir apparent to a prominent and connected local family. This was apparently brushed aside amid the adrenalin and novelty that befuddles anyone who travels from the deserts to a tropical paradise. A taxi was reluctantly hailed and the couple travelled to Suva with Rafik in full blast as his bride attempted to imbibe the wonders of her illustrious husband’s country of birth. When they arrived at Milverton Rd as directed by our boy, the princess realised that the house before them was a “shack”. He said they had to pay their respects to his mother there. She asked him to take her to their real house so that she could freshen up and then visit his mother. He was having none of that. This is where suspicions began to creep in and I would love to have interviewed the bride to get her side of the picture. Anyway, to cut a long story short, as Rafik was surrounded by a gaggle of family members who looked very much like paupers to the stunned bride, she decided she wanted clear crisp desert air to shrug off the cobwebs that appeared to be cloying at her very being. The sheik blood in her directed the driver back to Nadi from where she made her return to her familiar deserts with distant memories of the disaster that she had barely managed to escape from. Rafik was left looking at his banana trees as he began on his next scheme. This time the idea was even more grandiose because it involved helping the people of Raiwaqa who were apparently being ripped off by the local supermarkets – B Kumar’s, Bajpai’s and Morris Hedstrom’s. Our man (now he had grown) concocted a grand business plan that involved selling shares in a proposed supermarket to the people of Raiwaqa. The purchase price of these shares was a pittance, but he still collected on it. More importantly, the idea resonated with community leaders, politicians and local wholesalers. Our man was suddenly being hailed as a hero while (we are told) many bearded Bedouins sharpened their knives in the deserts and looked balefully towards Fiji. Anyway, the ever-enterprising businessman promptly stocked up his shop with merchandise obtained on credit from eager local wholesalers. Customers flocked in as business fired up briskly until one day Rafik suddenly disappeared into thin air as he abandoned the supermarket, its customers, shareholders and suppliers. Of course, he took the money bag with him. There is no information on where he went, but he next surfaced in the news in the US as he was presented in court with a raft of charges involving dishonest enterprise. This is where he talked about his failed attempt to “save” the people of Raiwaqa. The handing over from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to US authorities is also obscure. What we do know is that Ralph Conn, as he was known then, did time in the US before being deported to Fiji. He popped up in Korovou Prison in 1981 and made the rounds through Naboro. The story I have presented so far comes from personal conversations with the man himself over an extended period of time, his acquaintances in jail and news items gleaned over the years. I will complete this story next week. In the meantime, let’s hope for the best in Cape Town. Toso Viti!
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