In the mid-1980s, India and the US struggled to arrive at sufficient confidence for Washington to even sell a supercomputer to India for monsoon prospecting. Now, the most sensitive military technologies, data, and intelligence resources are being shared. This would not have happened without that one, big deal that changed the fundamentals of India-US relations, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Construction work at the controversial Koodankulam nuclear power plant has been stopped but essential maintenance activities are underway, Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office V Narayanasamy said on Thursday.
Grappling with Japan's worst atomic crisis, workers at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant on Wednesday kept removing highly toxic water from a reactor as a new test showed the radiation levels in nearby seawater had risen, amid protests by angry evacuees demanding compensation.
In the backdrop of nuclear radiation fears in Japan after a tsunami, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednessay discussed the need for reviewing safety mechanisms of atomic reactors of the two countries besides pushing for safety reviews of such facilities at international level.
'While economic ties are making incremental progress, it is in the security and strategic domains that the India-Japan synergy is more compelling,' says Dr Rajaram Panda.
A tsunami warning has been issued in north-eastern Japan after an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck off the east coast of Honshu. The Japan meteorological agency has issued a tsunami warning for a wave of up to one meter.
A fresh fire broke out at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northern Japan in the wee hours of Wednesday, the BBC reported.
Another explosion rocked the Fukushima nuclear power plant in northern Japan on Tuesday, as the country continued to face the threat of a nuclear meltdown.
Putin's visit comes at a time when Russia's economy is stalling as oil prices tumble
China vowed to take its military ties with Pakistan to a "new high" and defended its nuclear cooperation with Islamabad to build two new reactors for the country.
A strong aftershock of magnitude 5.9 on Saturday jolted Japan as its workers scrambled hard to stabilise radiation-leaking Fukushima nuclear plant, where the level of highly toxic water in a reactor's tunnel had risen.
A report by a Pakistani daily newspaper alleges that India, Israel and the US, among others, are using satellite technology to monitor sensitive areas in Pakistan.
Here's your weekly digest of the most weird, true and funny news from the across the world.
There is a lot that seems to set Fukushima apart from Chenobyl, it is not clear why, after over three weeks, the Japanese have suddenly chosen to upgrade to Level 7 skipping Level 6. Have they and other countries that are helping them given up hope of retrieving the situation, asks nuclear safety expert L V Krishnan.
Japan's second nuclear reactor in the quake-stricken north experienced serious troubles on Sunday after its emergency cooling system failed, triggering a fresh radiation threat, a day after a blast rocked the site following a massive quake and tsunami in which thousands of people are feared dead.
Furthering Indo-US cooperation on terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama on Tuesday agreed to make "joint and concerted efforts" to dismantle safe havens for terror and criminal networks like Lashkar-e-Tayib, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Dawood-company, Al Qaeda and the Haqqani network.
'The biggest lacuna in this agreement is it is called 'full civil nuclear cooperation agreement.' Actually, it is anything but full.'
India on Monday signed a key safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency to allow inspection of additional civilian reactors, clearing the decks for supply of atomic fuel and technology by the international community after a 34-year-old nuke trade embargo was lifted last year.
The night before Dr Singh was to meet President Bush, he said he could not sign the agreement.
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.
'By his very presence in Delhi on Republic Day, Obama is revisiting the most defining relationship of the 20th century after a period of stagnation,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Today, the worry is that a change in incentives against saving may tip the balance in favour of those who don't save.
Over 20 Russian sailors were killed when a firefighting system went off during sea trials of a nuclear submarine in Russia's Pacific Fleet, Igor Dygalo, a senior navy commander was quoted as saying by the ITAR-TASS news agency on Sunday.
The US dismissed a report suggesting that India is covertly enriching its nuclear weapons capabilities, describing it as "speculative".
Ahead of his India visit on February 24-25, Trump said that India has not treated his country 'very well' on the trade front and indicated that a 'very big' bilateral deal with New Delhi may not be signed before the American presidential election in November.
"My visit has cleared the air and created a positive atmosphere for future relationship with the IAEA," ElBaradei told a crowded press conference.
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
The US on Tueday released new set of documents that it recovered from the Abbottabad hideout of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
US-India defence cooperation must not adversely affect the India-Russia interface, which has its own strategic meaning and content, asserts Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
The US dismissed a report suggesting that India is covertly enriching its nuclear weapons capabilities, describing it as "speculative".
A pandal, just outside the local church, that once had thousands of protesters flocking there and shouting slogans, is strangely silent.
In first high-level engagement between India and Russia after National Democratic Alliance government came to power, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry O Rogozin on Wednesday held extensive talks on crucial bilateral issues including trade and energy security.
Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal Saturday said India "converted adversity into opportunity" by developing its own civilian fast-breeder reactors when it was denied nuclear technology post-Pokhran.
Cooperation between India and Russia is expected to receive a major fillip in various fields, including energy and space during the two-day visit of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov who arrived in New Delhi Thursday.
President Musharraf will discuss the matter with President Bush in New York.
It currently has between 140 and 150 nuclear weapons in its control and stockpiled around 200 to 300 kilogram of plutonium.
Former President A P J Abdul Kalam kindly answered rediff.com's questions for an exclusive interview.
India and France on Monday inked an Inter-Governmental Agreement on the sale of 36 French fighter jets, Rafale, but were unable to sign the final deal due to some "financial" aspects, which are expected to be sorted out in "couple of days".
Nehru's faith in science and technology, his genuine respect for Bhabha, and their burning ambition worked synergistically to place India on the nuclear map of the world. Atomic energy developed and prospered because of Nehru's vision fulfilled by Bhabha's mission, recalls K S Parthasarathy, former secretary of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, on the occasion of India's first prime minister's 119th birthday today.
