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 Olympic torch relay set off from Fukushima on Thursday, beginning a four-month countdown to the summer Games in Tokyo
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.
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."
Once completed, the 10 reactors of 700 MW each will give much needed fillip to the domestic nuclear industry.
Russia on Tuesday said there is no point in keeping its scientists at protest-hit Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant site in Tamil Nadu after its commissioning remained stalled for months.
With the first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant all set to commence power generation, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday demanded that the entire power produced from it be given to the state.
Superintendent of Police (Uttar Kannada) Rama Gupta had sensed this problem almost a year ago and had shot off two letters in March and July to the plant authorities as well as the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited stating that an inter-union rivalry could lead to the security of the plant being compromised.
A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com spends a day at the Manapaddu beach in Tuticorin where nearly 100 whales were mysteriously beached and many died despite the best efforts of the fishermen and authorities.
In one village, a woman asks, "They are always showing cash seizures on television, you think some of it will escape and we will get money as usual?" "Only 1 percent of cash is actually seized, the rest has arrived, you don't worry," a party worker assures her. Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar reports on the election in the southern-most tip of the country.
Continued instability in Pakistan could impact safety of its nuclear weapons and materials, a latest US Congressional report has said as it described the sale of two nuclear reactors by China to Pakistan a violation of the NSG guidelines.
With their landmark 2005 civil nuclear deal still in limbo, India and the United States have established an inter-agency contact group to sort out outstanding liability and technical issues to fast-track its full implementation.
Russia is reportedly angry that India allowed US officers on board the INS Chakra. But are French lobbyists trying to muddy India-Russia waters?
With the free market in nuclear fuels becoming accessible, India is poised to add a demand for 1,300 mt of uranium to a market already facing a tight supply situation.
Stepping up their protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, anti-nuclear activists have now decided to go in for 'jal satyagraha' throughout the Tamil Nadu coast on September 22.
However, the probe agencies stressed that all angles were being covered in the probe.
Under fire for its handling of the atomic crisis at radiation-leaking Fukushima nuclear complex, the plant's operator on Sunday said it aims to stabilise the facility within six to nine months, as United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton vowed unwavering support to tsunami-hit Japan during a solidarity visit to Tokyo.
The shutdown will affect the power supply to Tamil Nadu during the peak of summer.
Retired justices B G Kolse Patil and P B Sawant of the Lokshasan Andolan are in no mood to withdraw their agitation until the Jaitapur nuclear power plant is abandoned despite the state government's reign of terror against the locals, reports Prasanna Zore.
'We have launched a massive outreach programme, not only at Koodankulam but at all operating projects and those proposed. You will see the change, though this needs time and some healing,' says Kailash Chandra Purohit, the new chairman and managing director of Nuclear Power Corporation
Workers attempting to salvage Japan's tsunami hit Fukushima nuclear reactor had to be evacuated after smoke was seen billowing in a latest in a series of troubles to hit the moves to stabilise the radiation leaking plant.
Russia's global nuclear project company Atomstroyexport, which is building two 1000 MW reactors in Kudankulam, said the "complex issues" need to be addressed before firming up contracts for setting up two more atomic power plants.
The presence of the private sector at a prestigious military training institution is an important acknowledgement of its growing capabilities in designing and manufacturing cutting edge aerospace and defence equipment, reports Ajai Shukla.
Hundreds of anti-nuclear activists and leaders of different political outfits were detained in Chennai on Monday when they attempted to lay siege to the Tamil Nadu assembly demanding scrapping of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. S Saraswathi reports.
Keeping in abeyance suggestions of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, government on Friday said it has no intention to allow private sector to set up nuclear power plants independently.
Canada is the only team out of five that have played in each of the four Olympics tournaments to have never won a medal.
'Modi and Abe are working seriously for India-Japan bonhomie to grow stronger.' 'It is a win-win situation for both countries and the future look promising,' says Rajaram Panda, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations India Chair Visiting Professor at Reitaku University, Japan.
"Russia is a traditional supplier of equipment for nuclear power plants in India," First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov was quoted as saying on Monday. "The recent talks demonstrated that India still regards Russia as a reliable partner, as all stations we have built up till now work fairly well, and there have been no claims to us," the minister said.
Putin's idea was to attack his neighbouring country, he has to stop and then only we can find a solution, said the German ambassador.
The government is expected to defer the mega initial public offering (IPO) of LIC to the next financial year as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has dampened fund managers' interest in the public issue, market experts said on Sunday. The government was looking to sell 5 per cent stake in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) this month, which could have fetched over Rs 60,000 crore to the exchequer. The IPO would have helped meet the curtailed divestment target of Rs 78,000 crore this fiscal.
Scaling up their protest against loading of fuel at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, anti-nuclear activists and fishermen on Saturday laid siege to the port in Tuticorin but work was not disrupted, officials said.
Taking a cue from 'Jal Satyagraha' activists in Madhya Pradesh, opponents of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant today threatened to stand in the sea off Idianthakarai coast from Thursday as a stepped-up form of agitation.
India's nuclear regulator on Friday said it has granted permission for loading of fuel into the much-delayed Kudankulam atomic power plant.
To avoid the kind of nuclear disaster that has happened in Japan, Professor Dirk Matten of the Schulich School of Business, York University, suggests that India should rely more on coal-fired energy generating plants and energy efficiency, instead of going for nuclear reactors in a big way.
The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response of the Centre and the Department of Atomic Energy for allegedly exempting the Russian company involved in setting up of Kudankulam nuclear power plant from paying damages in case of an accident.
Principal Scientific Adviser to the Centre R Chidambaram on Friday said that all concerns regarding Kudankulam nuclear power project have been addressed and expressed confidence that plant will start operating soon."
Chinese companies have 'designed' the sugar syrup which is used to adulterate honey so that it can pass Indian laboratory tests, reveals Sunita Narain.
Preparations are on in full swing by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited to receive the plants and all them will most likely be of the European Pressurised Water Reactor type, a third generation design.
India plans to produce about 20,000 mega watt of nuclear power keeping safety features in mind, former President A P J Abdul Kalam on Friday said as he certified the Kudankulam atomic plant as safe.
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