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Cover-up of uranium news in India

As we shuttled between the police station and the district court in Jamshedpur for a week to get our equipment back, we got a glimpse into the kind of helplessness local villagers experience throughout their lives. If a journalist working for a national newsmagazine could be arrested and booked for visiting villages that have an overview of the mine, who would listen to the villagers?

Uranium mines afecting health of workers and local communities, India Info Online, 20 Sept 10, “…….UCIL seems to believe that national interest overrides the baggage of liabilities the pursuit of nuclear ambitions carries. Is it in our national interest to stand by silently as this scenario plays out in other uranium mines in the next year? Continue reading

September 21, 2010 Posted by | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties, Uranium | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Delhi University teachers demand action on radiation scandal

Exposure to radioactive Cobalt-60 in the scrap market in Mayapuri in West Delhi had led to the death of one person and injuries to ten others in Delhi in April this year. The material landed there after an auction of some items from the DU chemistry lab.

VC Subverting Radiation Exposure Probe: DU Teachers, news.outlookindia.com , 16 Sept 10, The association of Delhi University teachers today accused Vice Chancellor Deepak Pental of trying to subvert an inquiry into the disposal of radioactive material by the institution and demanded that he be arrested to make way for an “unbiased” probe. Continue reading

September 17, 2010 Posted by | India, safety | , , , , | Leave a comment

In 15 years, America’s nuclear firms will be liable for accident costs!

Indians have little to gain from caving to U.S. pressure….nuclear electricity is still one of the most uneconomical ways for it to meet its near and mid-term power requirements……..

More important, domestic U.S. legal nuclear liability caps will sunset in 15 years and leave firms totally exposed in the case of a nuclear accident…….

India Unmasks America’s Nuclear Liabilities – WSJ.com, * SEPTEMBER 13, 2010 Private companies should insure themselves, not ask Delhi to do it for them. By HENRY SOKOLSKI

India’s parliament last week gave the U.S. nuclear industry the legal equivalent of a Bronx cheer: It passed a law that denied American firms legal immunity from being sued in the event of a nuclear accident. Continue reading

September 15, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, India, USA | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

India’s nuclear weaponry in the skies

The most likely candidates to unleash an atomic holocaust are rivals India and Pakistan, who share a border, a legacy of war, and a tendency to test nuclear weapons.

Neither country is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),

India’s Nuclear Weapons Take to the Skies, TakePart –  Adam Trunell 15 Sept 10, With most of the Armageddon-fearing planet apparently losing its taste for nuclear weapons, India’s upped its investment in the end of civilization with the planned purchase of 40 nuclear-capable fighter jets. Continue reading

September 15, 2010 Posted by | India, weapons and war | , , , , , | Leave a comment

India ramping up its nuclear weapons

Strategic Command to acquire 40 nuclear capable fighters – Hindustan Times, Press Trust Of India New Delhi, September 12, 2010, With an aim of increasing its lethal power, India’s tri-services strike force is planning to acquire 40 fighter planes capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) has submitted a proposal to the Defence Ministry for setting up two dedicated squadrons of fighteraircraft which will act as “mini-Air Force”, ministry sources said.This will be the first time that SFC, which at present depends on the Indian Air Force for delivering nuclear weapons under its command, will have its own aerial assets, they said……..Strategic Command to acquire 40 nuclear capable fighters – Hindustan Times

September 13, 2010 Posted by | India, weapons and war | Leave a comment

India refusing to be a stooge for USA nuclear salesmen

Coming in the backdrop of the recent judgment of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy and the events thereafter, Indian opposition parties, and in many cases, even the Indian intelligentsia, is putting pressure on the government to make sure that the country is not seen as a ‘U.S. stooge’ within or outside the country.

Civil Nuclear Bill – The slip is showing – International Business Times, 10 Sept 10, It was meant to be a quid-pro-quo in return for the Bush administration-led efforts to get India into the global nuclear league. In return, the U.S. expected India to return the favor by ensuring that the U.S. industry benefits the most from the country’s civil nuclear effort. However, the bill, as passed by the India parliament last fortnight is anything but satisfactory to the U.S. industry. Continue reading

September 11, 2010 Posted by | India, politics | , , , , , | Leave a comment

India’s govt resisting pressure from USA firms desperate to sell nuclear reactors

Well placed sources said the law could not now be amended in any way having been forged with the overwhelming backing of Parliament. “There is no likelihood of any changes…...

On US ‘advice’ to change nuclear liability law, govt says no,  The Times of India, Rajeev Deshpande, TNN, Sep 10, 2010, NEW DELHI: Though expected to be a sweetner in India- US ties, the nuclear liability law is likely to remain an irritant, with Indian government ruling out any possibility of amendments in keeping with concerns voiced by American suppliers and echoed by the Obama administration. Continue reading

September 10, 2010 Posted by | India, politics international | , , , , | Leave a comment

USA needs to make India change its law, in order to sell U.S. nukes

the nuclear ndustry in the US too seems to have been taken aback by the Civil Liability for the Nuclear Damages Bill, 2010……..the legislation would be “a significant deterrent not only to US nuclear business but, equally importantly, to Indian and other international private business as well”.

Nuclear liability bill: US looks to ‘changes’; BJP cries foul – The Times of India, NEW DELHI: 8 Sept 10, Even before the collective sigh of relief in the government over safe passage to the nuclear liability bill in Parliament could end, the US on Tuesday queered the pitch yet again by stating that it was already looking at “changes” in the bill. Continue reading

September 9, 2010 Posted by | India, politics international | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

USA’s nuclear salesmen in a turmoil over India’s Nuclear Liability Bill

The US India Business Council, representing 300 top US companies doing business with India, wanted India to adopt a nuclear liability regime “channelling absolute and exclusive liability to nuclear power plant operators, [not to the USA nuclear reactor suppliers]

US fears Indian nuclear liability law may deter foreign suppliers – The Economic Times, 7 Sept 10, WASHINGTON: The passage of a nuclear liability bill by Parliament making suppliers of nuclear equipment also potentially liable threatens to cast a long shadow over India’s plans to open an estimated $150 billion nuclear market to foreign companies. Continue reading

September 8, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, India | , , , , | Leave a comment

Secrecy over India’s nuclear radiation

a significant nuclear accident that took place on 21 January 2003 at the Kalpakkam Atomic Reprocessing Plant….Since plant operations began in the early 1980s, incidents of cancer and auto-immune thyroid diseases in the surrounding villages have increased….

30,000 villagers have been asked to leave once the Kudankulam plant is functional.”

Accident Sites – radiation, cancer, blindness, tardiness, cover-ups.The lessons from the Kalpakkam nuclear facility, Tehelka – India’s Independent Weekly News Magazine, BY KUNAL MAJUMDER, 4 Sept 10, Continue reading

September 4, 2010 Posted by | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Not India, but General Electric, Westinghouse, France, Russia benefit from Nuclear Liability Bill

The first to benefit may be American companies like General Electric and Westinghouse Electric, followed by French and Russian nuclear power equipment suppliers……

Cracks in India’s nuclear law, Asia Times, By Indrajit BasuKOLKATA, Sep 2, 2010Pleasing neither supporters nor its critics, India this week passed a Nuclear Liability Bill, opening up the country’s US$150 billion nuclear power market to global equipment suppliers. Continue reading

September 2, 2010 Posted by | India, politics international | , , , , | Leave a comment

India’s Nuclear Liability Bill makes it hard for nuclear reactor sellers to get insurance

Nuclear damage: Should suppliers be liable? sify finance, | 2010-09-01 Nilendra Kumar lThe nuclear damage Bill has crafted a pragmatic provision to bind operator and supplier under contractual liabilities, but suppliers may find it tough to obtain insurance to back such contracts Continue reading

September 1, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, India | , , | Leave a comment

Indian villagers resist nuclear power plant

Kovvada villagers stage protest against nuclear expert team – Hyderabad – City – The Times of India, 31 Aug 2010, RANASTALAM (SRIKAKULAM): The experts team of nuclear energy and oceanography faced the ire of the local fishermen when they visited the proposed nuclear power plant site at Kovvada Matyalesam here on Tuesday.About ten members team accompanied by plant chief engineer and liaison officer G Venkata Ramesh were asked to go back by the local fishermen.The central government proposed a 10,000 MW nuclear power plant at Kovvada Matsyalesam villa ge in the mandal with technical support from GE and Westing House companies of America.The plant is one of the six nuclear plants proposed in the country…… The district authorities had planned to organize an awareness meeting with the people, mostly fisherfolk, on Wednesday to discuss the feasibility of the nuclear plant. But it was cancelled following the revolt from the people of the area, sources said.Kovvada villagers stage protest against nuclear expert team – Hyderabad – City – The Times of India

September 1, 2010 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | , , | Leave a comment

India to place nuclear-capable ballistic missiles near Tibet?

India mulls nuclear-capable missiles near China’s border – Tibetan Review Aug 30 2010 India is considering deploying nuclear-capable ballistic missiles in the North-East, close to its border with Chinese occupied Tibet, in an attempt to enhance its military preparedness, said a PTI report Aug 28. The plan follows the recent release of the US Defence Department’s annual report on China which said Beijing had moved its new advanced, longer range CSS-5 missiles closer to India’s border and developed contingency plans to shift airborne forces to the region at short notice.
The report cited sources in India’s Defence Ministry as saying New Delhi was considering the deployment of the 2,000 km range Agni-II and 350 km range Prithvi III surface to surface ballistic missiles for this purpose…… India mulls nuclear-capable missiles near China’s border – Tibetan Review

August 31, 2010 Posted by | India, weapons and war | , , | 1 Comment

Indian government’s dangerous rush to get nuclear power

the Indian government  tried to limit liability to only if it could be proved that a supplier had done an act ‘with the intent to cause nuclear damage’. This astounding insertion left a huge loophole for contractors doing shoddy work to wriggle out of paying any damages if things go wrong………Given India’s pervasive culture of poor management and corruption, Mr Singh’s government should think carefully before plunging headlong into a risky track from which there is no going back.

Dangers in India’s path to nuclear energy, THE BUSINESS TIMES, By YOGI AGGARWAL, August 31, 2010, THERE have been few acts by the Indian government in recent months that have given rise to as many misgivings as its attempt to push through the nuclear liability Bill. Continue reading

August 31, 2010 Posted by | India, politics | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment