Japan has decided to raise the severity level of the crisis at its tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to the maximum seven on an international scale from the current status of five.
The first 1,000 MW unit of the much-delayed Kudankulam nuclear power project could be commissioned in the next few days and every step is being taken to ensure safety, a senior official said.
Taking cognisance of the threat of nuclear terrorism, 47 countries, including India, have vowed to prevent non-state actors from obtaining information or atomic technology and effectively cooperate globally to advance security in the field.
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.
United States president-elect Donald Trump's tweet for strengthening and expansion of country's nuclear arsenal is indicating a major policy change as against the Obama Administration which had pushed for reduction and ultimately elimination of nuclear weapons.
In the letter, they have demanded the halting of the construction of the plant claiming that it violated the International Atomic Energy Agency safety guidelines as 'the nuclear plant is in a tsunami and earthquake prone region, which has also experienced small volcanic eruptions and is affected by water shortages".
Pakistan has pressed its demand for an atomic deal similar to the one granted to India by the US, saying the security of its strategic assets and growing energy needs qualify it for "civil nuclear cooperation at the international level".
The first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant was synchronised with the southern power grid on Tuesday, marking a major milestone in power generation of the ambitious Indo-Russian nuclear collaboration in Tamil Nadu.
The United States is worried over the safety of Pakistan's nuclear assets and believes that they are 'vulnerable', as the army continues to consider India as a prime threat.
Dravida Munetra Kazhagam treasurer M K Stalin on Monday urged Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to withdraw cases filed against agitators, including fishermen, in Kudankulam in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling.
'If the jihadi infiltration attempts are assisted by the Pakistan army, the Indian Army will retaliate strongly.'
Shaun Gregory, a professor at Britain's Bradford University and an expert on Pakistan's nuclear weapons, said though severely bruised in its own back yard, the Pakistan Army is the only determining factor that stands between the nuclear weapons and terrorist organizations such as the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Modi said Kudankulum 1, an Indo-Russian project, was an important addition to the continuing efforts to scale up production of clean energy in India.
Pakistan on Sunday junked as "rubbish" a report that elite US troops were ready to counter any move to hijack the country's nuclear arsenal and said it was "a figment of the imagination".
The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant will attain criticality by mid-night on Saturday, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman S K Sinha announced in Tirunelveli.
The current system of the Indian Railways is on the brink of collapse. The Indian railways working model is not financially viable either. The railways coffer have gone, almost, bankrupt, that is the outcome of the intense review undertaken by the committee consisting of galaxy of experts that was given task to review the Indian railways safety.
In a statement a couple of days ago, the business chamber said, 'The Indo-US civilian nuclear initiative will bring India into the international nuclear non-proliferation mainstream and enhance the safety of India's civil program. The initiative will also help to revitalize the US nuclear industry and create thousands of high-tech American jobs.'
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.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has expressed confidence about concluding a civil nuclear deal with India within weeks, asserting that prejudices of the past would not be allowed to come in the way. "We were anxious to conclude the agreement. But there is still some amount of work to be done," Harper, who held talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday, told television channel NDTV.
As protests rage in Kudankulam and reach a crescendo, V Ponraj, scientific advisor to Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, speaks about the report he and the former Indian President prepared in this interview with rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
In an exclusive conversation with rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar, KNPP director K Balajee says his team worked 15 hours a day to get the plant ready, and now they are sitting idle thanks to the escalating protests.
In an exclusive conversation with rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar, KNPP director K Balajee says his team worked 15 hours a day to get the plant ready, and now they are sitting idle thanks to the escalating protests.
Noted anti-nuclear activist and convener of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy S P Udayakumar has quit Aam Aadmi Party, saying he was doing so as he felt it was not paying attention to people of south Tamil Nadu.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will on Friday meet an all-party delegation from Tamil Nadu to discuss the state administrations' concerns over the Kudankulam nuclear project. He will meet the delegation at his residence in 7 Race Course Road in Delhi to dispel apprehensions about the safety of the nuclear project. The delegation will be headed by Tamil Nadu Finance Minister O Paneerselvam, who will present a memorandum to the prime minister.
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.
Denuclearising North Korea and stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons are the goals of the US, said Trump.
India's Civil Nuclear Liability Bill will not have an immediate adverse impact on Indo-Russian cooperation in atomic power generation, but Russian contractors would not like to see safety issues raise their project costs. Director for the Centre of Energy and Security Studies and Editor-in-Chief of the Nuclear Club magazine Anton Khlopkov said the legislation passed by the Indian Parliament "is raising concerns in Russia".
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.
A 'pause-and-review' approach to nuclear power isn't extreme. Safety is too precious to be sacrificed to appease our nuclear lobby, writes Praful Bidwai
Against the backdrop of a terror attack on a Karachi naval base, Defence minister A K Antony on Wednesday asked the forces to maintain operational readiness as India is living in a "volatile neighbourhood".
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.
Boosting trade and simplifying visa regime, apart from security and defence cooperation, were among the key bilateral issues. The two leaders also discussed regional and international matters of mutual interest.
Pitching for greater use of "clean" and "dependable" nuclear power, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday made it clear that India will need large amount of energy to maintain the tempo of growth which averaged 7.9 per cent during the last 10 years despite two bouts of global recession.
Now, as before, India's vote at the UN was dictated by paramount national interests. Though the Indian vote was 'neutral', its explanation was explicit in its criticism of the Russian actions. India took back with the left hand what it had given with the right, explains Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Tuesday demanded an immediate halt to the setting up of a nuclear power project in Jaitapur and the environment clearance given to it, saying the crisis in nuclear reactors in Japan following the tsunami warranted a re-examination of the project.
Seeking to allay fears, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday told Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa that the Centre will give full regard to "safety, livelihood and security of the people" while implementing the Kundankulam Nuclear Power Project.
National Conference general secretary and former minister Ali Mohammed Sagar, who wields a support base in downtown city, was served with a PSA notice public order by the authorities.
The latest cache of WikiLeaks lays bare the deep concern of the US over the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons and the fact that Islamabad is producing them at a "faster rate than any other country in the world".
Painting a damning picture of its "ally", American officials expressed serious misgivings about the possibility of elements within the Pakistan establishment smuggling enough material out to eventually make a rogue nuclear weapon. The Pakistan-focussed cache of US embassy cables published by The Guardian reveal American and British diplomats fear that Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme could lead to fissile material falling into the hands of terrorists.
A day after an explosion at a village near Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, Tirunelvei claimed six lives, police formed a team to probe it and stepped up security even as two live bombs were recovered from the area.
