In Time, executive editor Raghunandan Dhar terms this move "callous". "Dr B Shyamala of the Mumbai weather bureau did communicate this proposal to us once before. I replied that ours is a news organisation, not a commercial one. We do not believe in cheque-book journalism. Moreover, paying Rs 425 a day only for the weather bulletin makes my budget go haywire."

Dhar will air his decision to discontinue the weather bulletin for a whole week because hewants to make sure viewers of In Time are aware of the "funny" decision of the weather bureau.

However, officials at the meteorological department in the city stress that other private TV channels have started paying to receive their reports. "Both Zee TV and Star TV pay our counterparts in New Delhi to receive the bulletin," states Sudevan of the Mumbai weather bureau. "Our headquarters in Delhi have instructed us to levy this charge."

S R Kalsi of the Northern Hemisphere Analysis Centre (NHAC) in Delhi that Star TV has been paying them "for some time now". "According to the rules, all private networks have to pay. We work within policy guidelines," he asserts.

Raghunandan Dhar counters that the requirements of satellite TV networks are different. "Like BBC and CNN, Zee TV and Star TV require satellite images which are used to prepare computer graphics. We, on the other hand, are merely asking for a weather report: temperatures and forecasts."

Interestingly, private TV channels are free to access andair the weather bulletin that is supplied to news agencies like PTI and UNI. Dhar discloses that In Time is already negotiating with UNI. But Kalsi shrugs off the loophole. He says the bulletin supplied to news agencies is general and does not cover any specific requirements the TV networks might have. However, he offers some consolation saying that an Internet site of the weather bureau is being set up, from which private TV channels will be allowed to download certain basic information for free. Looks like a stormy debate lies ahead.