Participation of local people in water management: evidence from the Mae Sa Watershed, northern Thailand

"In the early 1990s, Thailand launched an ambitious program of decentralized governance, conferring greater responsibilities upon sub-district administrations and providing fiscal opportunities for local development planning. This process was reinforced by Thailand's new Constitution of 1997, which explicitly assures individuals, communities and local authorities the right to participate in the management of natural resources.

INTERNATIONAL LAW-IMMUNITY OF EMPLOYEE OF UNITED NATIONS DELEGATION FROM IN REM PROCEEDINGS IN MUNICIPAL COURTS

A landlord\u27s summary proceeding for recovery of possession was brought in a New York municipal court against a secretary of the Argentine delegation to the United Nations. The defendant appeared specially and moved to vacate the service of the precept, claiming immunity from suit by virtue of the grant of diplomatic privileges and immunities to official employees of member delegations under Article V of the Headquarters Agreement between the United States and the United Nations. Held, motion denied. Realty not directly pertaining to a delegation\u27s employee\u27s official position is not removed from the jurisdiction of the local courts by the grant of diplomatic immunity.Agostini v. De Antueno, (N.Y. Mun. Ct. 1950) 99 N.Y.S. (2d) 245

TAXATION-FEDERAL INCOME TAX-ACCOUNTING FOR MONEY MISTAKENLY RECEIVED UNDER A CLAIM OF RIGHT

The plaintiff taxpayer, as the general manager of a manufacturing corporation, received a bonus of approximately $22,000 for the 1944 calendar year, pursuant to a percentage-of-net-profits bonus arrangement. In 1946, a state court found that this bonus had been erroneously computed, and that the terms of the agreement only called for a payment to the plaintiff of about$11,000 for the prior year. As a result of this adverse judgment, the plaintiff repaid the excess to the corporation, and filed an amended tax return and a timely claim for a refund of the prior tax on such amount with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Although the Commissioner disallowed the claim, the Court of Claims ruled that the plaintiff was entitled to a refund. On certiorari to the Supreme Court to review the Court of Claims ruling, held, with Justice Douglas dissenting, that the claim was properly disallowed by the Commissioner. United States v. Lewis, 340 U.S. 590, 71 S.Ct. 522 (1951)

A double-blind study of the efficacy of apomorphine and its assessment in "off-periods in Parkinson's disease

Five patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease with severe response fluctuations were selected for a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study, concerning the clinical effects of subcutaneous apomorphine and its assessment in `off¿-periods. The study was designed as five n = 1 studies, in which every patient was his own control. The effect of apomorphine was studied by using the Columbia rating scale and quantitative assessments, using tapping, walking and pinboard. There was a significant positive effect of apomorphine, in a mean optimal dose of 2.7 mg, with a mean latency of onset of 7.3 min and a mean duration of response of 96 min. After pretreatment with domperidone, no significant adverse effects were observed. Tapping showed the highest correlation with rigidity and bradykinesia. Walking showed a high correlation with stability and gait. Pinboard testing did not give additional information. The first conclusion was that apomorphine proved to be a significantly effective dopamine agonist, proven now also by a double blind placebo-controlled study. Secondly it was concluded that assessment of clinical effect in parkinsonian patients can be performed best by combining the Columbia item tremor with tapping and walking scores

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-COMMERCE CLAUSE-STATE TAXATION OF COMMERCE

Plaintiff, a Massachusetts manufacturing corporation operating on a mail order-f.o.b. delivery basis, maintained a branch office and warehouse in Chicago. While some over-the-counter sales were consummated in Chicago, this office acted mainly as a headquarters for an engineering staff maintained as a service to customers, and as a conduit for orders placed by Illinois customers with the company. Orders received at the branch office were forwarded to Massachusetts for acceptance or rejection, and some filled orders were shipped to customers by way of the local outlet as a means of reducing freight costs. Although the Chicago office did not solicit orders, and often had no connection whatsoever with sales made by the home office to Illinois customers, the plaintiff was compelled to pay, under protest, a state occupation tax measured by the entire gross receipts of the company from sales to persons in the state. On certiorari from the decision of the Illinois Supreme Court upholding the tax over federal constitutional objections, held, that sales channeled through the local office are taxable, but transactions directly between the home office and Illinois customers are interstate sales beyond the taxing power of the state. Norton Co. v. Dept. of Revenue of Illinois, 340 U.S. 534, 71 S. Ct. 377 (1951)