desalination plant rejected: The Chennai water forum has appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to drop its proposed Rs 500 crore desalination plant at Minjur in the state capital. The proposed plant, with a daily capacity of 100 million litres, would consume 5 kilowatts for every kilolitre (KL) of seawater, implying a cost of Rs 30-50 per KL. The forum instead suggested reviving the 2,000 waterbodies located in the peri-urban areas around Chennai and also treating and reusing wastewater.

us beef ban lifted: South Korea and Singapore follow Japan and Hong Kong in lifting their two-year ban on US beef imports due to fear of mad cow disease. They have agreed to accept meat from calves only under 30 months old. But a prohibition on ribs and other bones in beef remains. US exports to South Korea totalled US $815 million while those to Singapore were nearly US $5.9 million in 2003 before the ban was imposed.