These are the highlights of the Union Budget 2025-26 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday.
Forty domestic companies, including the Videocon group, Jindal Power and Tata Power, have formed a group to convince the central government to allow private participation in generation of civilian nuclear energy.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday opposed 'artificial restrictions' on the peaceful use of nuclear technology
India and Argentina on Wednesday signed an agreement in civil nuclear cooperation and nine other pacts with a desire to establish strategic partnership.
With Pakistan obviously on his mind, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned on Tuesday, of the dangers posed by nuclear explosives falling into the hands of non-state actors posing danger to India and other countries. Addressing the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, he pitched for "zero tolerance" against individuals and groups which engage in illegal trafficking of atomic explosives and announced India's decision to set up a 'Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership'.
Crossing a significant milestone, the Indo-French civil nuclear agreement was unanimously adopted by the French Parliament, paving the way for companies to build nuclear power plants in India. The French National Assembly on Tuesday adopted a law authorising the ratification of the Cooperation Agreement between India and France on the Development of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, a French Embassy statement said. The French Senate had adopted the law on October 15.
Modi will arrive in France on Thursday evening and straightaway head for talks with Macron, who will also host a working dinner for the visiting leader.
The Indo-Japanese nuclear deal may not come easy considering India's Civil Nuclear Liability Act provisions which had earlier put off suppliers like General Electric, says Debalina Ghoshal.
Pakistan launched its nuclear weapons programme after its 1971 military defeat to India in order to 'augment its inferior conventional forces,' a Congressional report has said."Pakistan's nuclear energy programme dates back to the 1950s, but it was the loss of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in a bloody war with India that probably triggered a political decision in January 1972 (just one month later) to begin a secret nuclear weapons programme," the Congressional report said.
Keeping in view the ever-increasing energy requirement, India is all set to establish at least four nuclear reactors besides the world's first thorium-based reactor by 2020.
The French move assumes significance as it comes close on the heels of conclusion of Indo-US civilian nuclear deal.
'We need abundant affordable clean energy to help lift out of poverty the remaining part of humanity that is still living in poverty. I don't see any other viable candidate on the scene for doing that except advanced generation nuclear power,' says Dr James Hansen, a stout opponent of energy based on fossil fuels.
Pakistan, with some help from China, will demand its share in the changing nuclear order.
An anti-graft panel in Bangladesh has launched an investigation against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her family in connection with the allegations of embezzling $5 billion in the Rooppur nuclear power plant, according to a media report.
Iran on Tuesday said it will not succumb to the western pressures to compromise its 'inalienable right' to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Trump announced that India and the US agreed to work together to build the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and called it one of the greatest trade routes. He said that the route will operate from Israel to Italy and onward to the US.
India and South Korea have reached an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation.
India has accused Pakistan of violating the spirit of the Indus Waters Treaty by engaging in acts of terrorism and refusing to modify the treaty. India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, addressed the UN Security Council, highlighting Pakistan's disinformation regarding the treaty and its continued support for cross-border terrorism. He stated that India has always acted responsibly as an upper riparian state and that Pakistan's actions have jeopardized civilian lives, religious harmony, and economic prosperity. India has suspended the treaty until Pakistan ends its support for terrorism.
China tacitly acknowledged on Thursday that it will build two new nuclear reactors in Pakistan in a deal that could re-ignite persistent concerns about proliferation and safety of atomic materials in the restive South Asian nation.
Power equipment supplier Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd plans five joint ventures in the nuclear sector and locomotive manufacturing. The company has decided to invest Rs 1,000 crore in a castings and forgings joint venture, Chairman and Managing Director K Ravi Kumar said.
Of the total proposed allocation, over Rs 1 lakh crore is meant for BSNL and MTNL-related expenses, including Rs 82,916 crore infusion in BSNL for technology upgradation and restructuring at BSNL.
India and Russia on Tuesday set a target of $100 billion in annual trade volume by 2030 and vowed to develop a robust bilateral payment settlement mechanism using national currencies. The two sides also inked a total of nine agreements to further broadbase cooperation in a range of areas including in the economic domain following summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday batted for nuclear power as a "dependable and clean option", even as he underlined the need to ensure that all ingredients by which nuclear fuel is made remain safe and do not fall in the hands of terrorists and anti-social elements.
India and Russia are expected to sign a nuclear deal for the construction of four additional reactors at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant and expansion of other sites during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's three-day visit to New Delhi beginning Thursday, a top official has said."We plan to sign on Friday an inter-governmental agreement with India to build another four reactors for the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, and envisaging cooperation," said a Russian official.
The Imagindia Institute, an independent think-tank, on Sunday raised concerns about a major hurdle in US-India co-operation in civil nuclear energy, that may unravel the plans of US nuclear companies and their Indian partners to set up projects in India.
TotalEnergies will acquire 25 per cent shareholding in Adani New Industries Ltd -- the firm that houses Adani Group's new energy business -- for an undisclosed amount, the two firms said in separate statements. "TotalEnergies has entered into an agreement with (Adani Group's flagship) Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) to acquire a 25 per cent interest in ANIL," the French energy giant said.
Both countries have always supported the peaceful use of civil nuclear energy and an agreement in this connection is expected to be signed during the President's visit to China which began Tuesday, Ambassador Masood Khan said. The two countries will ink several agreements in the fields of technology, agriculture and minerals. They will also sign an investment protocol to their existing free trade agreement to boost investments in Pakistan, he told Geo News channel.
'Bharat Small Reactors are essentially similar to the existing 220 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors. The existing regulations are applicable for BSRs.'
The People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy, leading the protest against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant, on Saturday threatened to sue the Prime Minister's Office for linking the stir to foreign funding.
The newspaper said that, in trying to give India a special exemption, the US President was threatening the NPT's carrot-and-stick approach.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the world has seen the power of India's indigenous weapons during Operation Sindoor, which is 'not over yet'.
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said enough time was required to allow diplomatic efforts to resolve Iran's nuclear issue and India was encouraging the European Union and Russia to help in accomplishing this.
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said enough time was required to allow diplomatic efforts to resolve Iran's nuclear issue and India was encouraging the European Union and Russia to help in accomplishing this.
Amid concerns over waste management at the proposed nuclear power plant at Jaitapur in Maharashtra, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said it was not an immediate problem for India and lamented a lack of balanced environmental approach towards nuclear energy.
Nuclear energy cooperation is just one of the promising features of the relationship between the two nations, says Jinwoog Kim
United States President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the extradition of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana to India and said he will face justice.
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