PRADEEP NANDRAJOG, J.

1. The nature around us is colourful and diverse. It is but natural that man saw, studied and unravelled nature and its laws. The great physicists Dr.R.P.Feynman gave a wonderful description of what is 'understanding the nature'. Suppose we do not know the rules of chess but are allowed to watch the moves of the players. After some time we make out some of the rules. With the knowledge of these rules we may try to understand why a player played a particular move. However, this may be a very difficult task. Even if we know all the rules of chess, it is not so simple to understand all the implications of a game in a given situation and predict the correct move. Knowing the basic rule is, however, the minimum requirement if any progress is to be made.

2. By partially watching a game we may guess at a wrong rule. The experienced player may make use of a rule for the first time and the observer of the game may get surprised. Because of the new move some of the rules guessed at may prove to be wrong and the observer will frame new rules.

3. Physics goes the same way. Events in nature are like the moves of a chess game. We guess the basic rules according to which the events take place. We may come across new events which do not follow the rules guessed earlier. Therefore, we declare the old rules inapplicable or wrong and discover new rules.

4. Nature operates with its own rules. No one has the authority to frame the rules of nature. We only discover the rules that are operating in nature. A new phenomenon can be observed any day and if existing rules are not able to explain the phenomenon, no one will hesitate to change these rules.

5. Before a rule is accepted as explaining a phenomenon, we try and replicate the phenomenon under controlled conditions in a laboratory. This is experimentation. While experimenting several errors can enter into the result. Errors may be due to faulty equipment, carelessness of the experimenter or random causes. The first two types of errors can be removed after detecting their cause but the random error would always remain. No specific cause can be assigned to such errors. Random errors are thus inherent in any experimentation.

6. Since life must go on and random errors would always be there in any experimentation; the unknown harmonics would not deter us from accepting technological revolution.

7. Of the many discoveries which have revolutionised the world, discovery of the wheel and electricity find primacy. It is difficult to think of the world without electricity. It has become a basic necessity. The electoral slogan of "Roti, Kapda Aur Makan" stands replaced by the slogan "Bijli, Pani Aur Sadak". Unfortunately, the primacy of electricity in the social life was not backed up with prudent economic policies. The magnitude of the problem can be gauzed from the fact that in the report submitted to the Government of India on 11.5.2001 by the expert group on settlement of the State Electricity Board Dues, para 3 of the report noted that dues of the State Electricity Board have accumulated to Rs.41,473/- crores. Rehabilitation Scheme proposed was:

(a) 50% of the interest be waived. (It was noted that out of a liability of Rs.41,473/- crores, interest liability alone was Rs.15,476/- crores).

(b) Remaining outstanding debt be securities through bonds issued by the respective State Governments.

(c) Reforms be introduced in the power sector pertaining to distribution, metering and revenue realization.

8. It was noted that cash crunch faced by the State Electricity Boards was mainly due to faulty tariff structure and distribution losses. This had a spin off effect. Diminishing revenue resulted in hardly any upgradation in the distribution system which became theft prone and prone to other distribution losses.

9. The Accelerated Power Development & Reform Programme (APDRP) was conceived. Since electricity is a concurrent list subject vide Entry 33 of the List III