Studies done by specialists at the US Environment Protection Agency, CSE adds, also show that the major share of PM came from diesel vehicles. The citations continue ... Quite unfazed by this, the diesel-lot argued that the CSE study presents just one side of the picture. Petrol cars, they say -- even those with catalytic convertors -- give out a lot more carbon monoxide and benzene which is a known carcinogenic. Essentially, it's your-cancer studies versus my-cancer studies, argued the diesel lobby!

A fourth of cigarettes sold overseas, the New York Times of August 26, 1997 is supposed to have said, pass through smuggling rings. And, on December 18, 1996, our local cigarette tycoon informs us, the Asian Wall Street Journal quoted the state-owned CNTC to say 99 percent of foreign cigarettes in China were contraband. In other words, the news items were `evidence' that Rothmans would use its Indian base to do just advertising and marketing, while it would get smuggled cigarettes into the country from other Rothmans units abroad! The Rothmans case is still pending, though it isn't too clear if the local tycoon's newspaper `studies' had anything to do with it.

That's great, but what he forgot to add was that there are no established solar plants above 1 MW anywhere in the world, that solar power costs Rs 40 crore a MW as compared to Maheshwar's 3.9; that put-ting up solar panels uses up 5 hectares of land per MW which is the same as that used by hydro-power. Wind power uses up even more land and, in India, windmills draw more energy from the grid to start working than they actually contribute!