Adding to Japan's misery, the strongest aftershock since the devastating March 11 quake and tsunami killed at least four people, knocked out power to millions of houses and sparked fresh concerns about the radiation-leaking Fukushima nuclear plant where the crisis is far from over.
The plant, with a capacity to produce 330 MW of electricity, is being constructed with China's assistance.
Appearing before a bench of justices K S Radhakrishanan and Deepak Misra, Attorney General G E Vahanvati said the Kudankulam plant is absolutely safe beyond all doubts and all the apprehensions are misplaced.
The quake struck on Tuesday morning at about 06:00 local time (2:30 am IST on Tuesday), the Japan Meteorological Agency said, adding that the epicentre of the quake, which was felt in Tokyo, was off the coast of Fukushima prefecture at a depth of about 25km, the agency said.
A strong 6.0 magnitude aftershock on Saturday rocked Japan's Fukushima prefecture, a day after a devastating earthquake triggered a tsunami that has left at least 1,700 people dead or unaccounted for. The quake with a preliminary magnitude occurred at 10.15 pm local time, the Kyodo news agency said.
United States President Barack Obama has said that he was not worried about radiation from the quake hit Japanese nuclear power plant reaching Hawaii.
The two countries also asked all nations to stop cross-border movement of terrorists and asserted that a decisive collective response from the international community without 'double standards and selectivity' was required to combat the threat of terrorism.
An overall assessment of the Chinese civilian nuclear programme reveals that the objectives are well defined, the roadmap is clear, assistance from western countries is forthcoming readily and will be appropriately exploited to establish a strong, comprehensive indigenous capability. In contrast, India would appear to be behind in all the above aspects
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.
"Relevant cooperation is in strict accordance with the two countries' international responsibility and is for peaceful aim. We also receive the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.
The Meghalaya government has sought a nuclear power plant either in Meghalaya or any other suitable part of the Northeast India as a pre-condition for uranium mining in Meghalaya provided there would be no health or environment hazards because of the mining process.
The expansion into nuclear is part of the group's plan to invest as much as $ 50 billion by 2014 to expand its business in the world's second-most populous nation. The group has already concluded talks with overseas companies which can offer technological and related support to enter the business. "There will be a flood of American investments in the country once the deal is concluded," S P Hinduja said.
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.
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.
Japan's nuclear nightmare worsened on Wednesday with radiation levels surging at a quake-crippled reactor at Fukushima plant, forcing authorities to briefly pull out emergency workers even as another fire erupted slowing desperate efforts to avert a meltdown.
Unsatisfied by the minister's reply during the Question Hour, the Congress members including former prime minister Manmohan Singh staged a walkout.
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Anil Kakodkar has said work on India's nuclear programmes will continue despite media reports of the country's nuclear power plants being placed on alert and being made more secure to prevent a terror strike.
'This government is not in the hands of M K Stalin but in the hands of the bureaucracy -- the IAS and IPS.'
The officials attributed the delay to the failure of Iran to pay what it owes, not on nuclear proliferation.
Today, the worry is that a change in incentives against saving may tip the balance in favour of those who don't save.
The CCPA meeting reviewed the internal security situation in the wake of reports of growing terror threats to key installations, including nuclear plants.
India for the first time on Wednesday voted against Russia during a "procedural vote" at the United Nations Security Council on Ukraine, as the 15-member powerful UN body invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address a meeting through a video tele-conference.
It was meant to be the start of a triumphant march to the Tokyo 2020 Games: the torch relay would begin on Thursday in Fukushima, battered by the 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster, as a poignant symbol of the "Recovery Olympics." But instead, it was like any other day for this prefecture in northeast Japan after the relay was scrapped following the Games' postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic.
'I think some of us, like Mukesh Ambani, myself and those of us who head industrial units, ought to really focus on what we can really do to make the world a safer place, maybe 50 or 100 years from now.' 'For instance, how can we deal with climate change and global warming, right now?' 'The effects of it may not be felt now; in fact, we may pay a price for it today, but it will help the generations to follow.'
As engineers race to commission the nuclear power plant at Kudankulam, the government has given its nod to build two more such units of 1,000 MW at the site in Tirunelveli district of power-starved Tamil Nadu.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday told a delegation that a high-level committee would address their concerns on safety of the Kudankulam nuclear power project.
The West Fertilizer Plant is located about 30 km north of Waco, which is observing the 20th anniversary of the deadly confrontation between federal authorities and heavily armed locals. About 76 people were killed in that operation.
The committees set up by the Centre and Tamil Nadu government to resolve the standoff over the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant met in Tirunelveli on Tuesday for the first time when representatives of the protesters presented a charter of demands including a paper on plant's status.
SK Jain, who heads NPCIL and Bhavini, tells Vandana Gombar Ayyagary and Sumana Guha Ray about how NPCIL is best placed to take India's nuclear power ambitions forward.
Within days of India approaching International Atomic Energy Agency for country-specific safeguards for nuclear power plants, the ministry issued advertisements in newspapers explaining what the uranium extracted energy can do to the nation's energy security. Energy-hungry India has a huge unmet power demand and the heavily subsidised diesel is being used as fuel to generate electricity.
Electricity and heating outages across Ukraine caused by Russian missile and drone strikes to energy infrastructure have added urgency to the Ukrainian preparations for winter.
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Perwaiz Butt said Pakistan was an energy-deficient country and needed nuclear power to meet its future electricity needs.
Jaishankar said he was confident that Prime Minister Modi and President Putin will meet for an annual summit next year.
Ignoring all previous protests and opposition to the deal, the saffron party has changed its stance, without providing any explanation. What has changed? Accountability and explanations on this U-turn will be welcomed.
Pakistan's fourth heavy water reactor at Khushab nuclear site which allows it to build a larger number of miniaturised plutonium-based nuclear weapons now appears to be operational, a US think-tank has said.
Delhi and Mumbai will have particularly high security covers.
The United States has said it is strongly supportive of India's investment in the civil nuclear power sector and does not favour its NGOs opposing anti-nuclear activities in the country. "We are supportive, as a government, of India's investment in civil nuclear power. That's not what we support NGOs to do in India," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said when asked about recent statements by Indian authorities that American NGOs are involved.
The two PMs may also explore ways to further deepen ties between the navies of the two countries to check China's heightened activities in the Indian Ocean.
While top officials of the force, which protects the country's vital installations like nuclear plants and airports, say the service tax is to be paid by its clients and not by CISF and hence there is nothing to be worried about, middle level and ground personnel say they are upset on being 'compared to guards of other private security agencies'.
