Arvind Kejriwal-led India Against Corruption on Monday came out in support of Koodankulam protesters and jailed cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, accusing the government of using charges of sedition to muzzle voices of dissent. Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav condemned the police action against locals protesting against a nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu's Koodankulam and slapping sedition charges on Trivedi.
An uneasy calm prevailed at nearby Koodankulam on Sunday with anti-nuclear protesters bracing for a showdown with authorities, protesting against the loading of fuel at the controversial nuclear plant.
Stepping up their protest against the Koodankulam nuclear power plant, agitators on Thursday staged a roadblock in front of the plant site, preventing entry of scientists and workers into the complex.
Stalemate over the controversial Koodankulam nuclear power project continued despite efforts by the Prime Minister's emissary to break the ice even as the indefinite fast by locals demanding scrapping of the project entered the 10th day on Tuesday.
Hardening their stand on the controversial Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project, anti-nuclear activists on Sunday appealed to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to take a stand and adopt a cabinet resolution on scrapping it.
Protestors of Koodankulam nuclear plant are evoking memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Chernobyl disaster and the recent Fukushima tsunami to warn people, reports A Ganesh Nadar
Dr Suresh Moses Lee, who was one of the members of the panel of experts constituted by the Centre to examine the reactors of Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project, talks to rediff.com's Shobha Warrier about the safety aspects of the controversial plant.
A day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told her that the stir against the Koodankulam nuclear power project would hit the state's development, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday said that her government would respect the sentiments of locals on the controversial project. "As for as the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project is concerned, the Tamil Nadu government will certainly act after respecting the local peoples' sentiments," she said.
Reviving their protests against the commissioning of Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant, activists of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy on Monday said they would go ahead with their indefinite fast from Tuesday.
Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar visits Idinthakarai, the site of hunger strikes opposing the controversial Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant at Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu, and tells us how the high-voltage agitation met a rather tame end.
The condition of five persons including S P Udhayakumar, who are fasting for the last eight days as part the Koodankulam agitation, worsened on Tuesday with doctors advising shifting them to a hospital, officials said.
Villagers of Idinthakarai in Tamil Nadu are on a relay fast since the last one week protesting the construction of the nuclear power project in neighbouring Koodankulam. Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar spoke to the man heading the protest, S P Udaykumar.
'We are restricting the media because of the difficulties we are facing with the media. The public have been visiting the plant regularly,' says R S Sundar, site director at the controversial Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu. 'The public is knowledgeable. They ask as many questions as journalists. We have faced tough questions from them, clarified their doubts and convinced them.'
Dr Kalam assures the protestors and the country that the technology used in the Koodankulam nuclear project is the best in the world, and tries to allay the fears of the villagers over its safety arrangements, reports A Ganesh Nadar.
The first unit of the Koodankulam nuclear power project is expected to start generating electricity in the next 40 days, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy said on Monday. He said the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board officials were at the Koodankulam project site and inspecting the plant.
Former president A P J Abdul Kalam has submitted a 39-page report to the Central government and the government of Tamil Nadu that recommends ten steps for ensuring the safety and development of the Koodankulam nuclear plant and its surrounding areas.
The People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy, which is spearheading the stir against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power plant, on Friday rejected as "baseless" Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks that foreign NGOs are behind its protest. "It is unfortunate that the prime minister has made the allegations without any documentary proof. We strongly deny his observation that the agitation is being funded by other countries," PMANE convener S P Udayakumar told reporters.
Leader of the anti-nuclear plant project, S P Udaykumar, while boycotting the meeting with Central government-appointed experts, said that his group had lost faith in the Central government and would now only hold meetings with state government officials. Ganesh Nadar reports from Tirunelveli.
Narayanasamy has been deputed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit Koodankulam to talk to the people agitating against the project.
The four-member committee set up by Tamil Nadu Government on the safety aspects of Koodankulam nuclear power plant on Tuesday submitted its report to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa amid indication that it has given a clean chit to the controversial project stalled by protests.
Unhappy with the lack of seriousness being accorded to voices against the nuclear plant, the protestors have been touring the southern-most districts of the state to spread the word.
Since the US has agreed to steer the 123 Agreement with India through the NSG after India has signed an India-specific Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, it would have been difficult for India to go ahead with the signing in Moscow
Amid demands for scrapping the Koodankulam nuclear power project, a top atomic scientist on Saturday vouched for its safety, saying all types of exigencies including a Fukushima-type mishap have been factored in.
Villagers protest against the Koodankulam nuclear power project.
After giving a green signal to the Koodankulam nuclear power plant, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday demanded that the entire 2000 MW power to be generated by its two units be given to the state in view of the "severe power shortage."
Welcoming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that anti-Koodankulam agitators are receiving foreign funds, Janata party president Subramanian Swamy today demanded that they be detained under the National Security Act.
India's nuclear regulator on Friday said it has granted permission for loading of fuel into the much-delayed Kudankulam atomic power plant.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invited foreign money and entities, including the Koodankulam plant, into India like no other PM and most of it is hurting the interests of local communities, says Sandeep Pandey
Anti- Koodankulam nuclear power project leaders held a massive protest meeting opposite the Palayamcottai bus stand in Tirunelveli. Thousands turned up to show their solidarity with this small band of determined activists. Ganesh Nadar reports.
Experts from Atomstroyexports, the Russian firm which supplies equipment to the nuclear power plant at Koodankulam in the district, had left the site as permission was not granted to them by police to visit the area due to ongoing protest by locals against the project.
Upset over the prolonged delay in the commissioning of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant, Russia on Wednesday said it should "start working now" and there should be a "movement" to start the plant. "The machines have to start working now because after several weeks, you will have to spend much more time and money to maintain them. You will pay for nothing. They will be idle but you have to pay for their maintenance," Russian Ambassador to India Alexander M Kadakin said.
The Centre is expected to constitute an expert group after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's return from abroad and would seek the guidance of former President A P J Abdul Kalam on allaying the fears of the locals opposed to the controversial Koodankulam nuclear power project.
Strongly batting for early commissioning of the Koodankulam nuclear power project, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday night said the Centre was probing the flow of funds allegedly received by anti-project activists and would take strong action if the money was supplied in a "wrong way". "Investigation is going on to know how the protestors are getting funds. If there is anything wrong, if the money came in a wrong way, if it was used for wrong purpose," he said.
Giving a thumbs up to the Koodankulam nuclear power project, former President A P J Abdul Kalam on Sunday said he is "fully satisfied" with the safety measures incorporated in the mega power project.
The Koodankulam atomic power project is expected to be commissioned in September, capping months of delays due to non-availability of equipment and anti-nuclear protests.
S P Udayakumar, who is fasting along with his associate M Pushparaya, gives us a first-person account from Idinthakarai, Ground Zero of the protests against the nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.
Carrying different views on the controversial Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project, a delegation of Tamil Nadu Government and activists opposed to the plant will discuss the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Friday.
Russia on Saturday expressed happiness at the resumption of work at the Koodankulam nuclear project and hoped that more units will come with its participation.
A German national was picked up by the Tamil Nadu police in Nagercoil for allegedly assisting the protests against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant and deported from the country in the wee hours of Tuesday.
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