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'15,000 tonnes of uranium needed to achieve supply security of fuel for nuclear plants'

Agencies
December 30, 2018

New Delhi, Dec 30: A stockpile of 15,000 tonnes of uranium is required for achieving supply security of fuel for nuclear plants in the country, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), which manages atomic energy installations, has told a parliamentary panel.

The panel report, which was tabled before the Lok Sabha in the on-going Parliament session, also recommended that necessary steps should be taken to ensure new uranium mines are opened as soon as possible to reduce the dependance on the imported uranium.

Currently, a major portion of domestic production of uranium comes from the Jaduguda mines of Jharkhand, which are "old" and the ore is found at "great depths." Moreover, the high extraction cost makes it "unviable" as compared to imported uranium, the panel noted.

Besides the Jaduguda mines, the uranium is extracted from the Tummalapalle mines in Andhra Pradesh. Apart from Jaduguda, uranium reserves are available in Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

India has 22 nuclear power reactors and domestic uranium is used in nuclear plants which are not under the international nuclear energy watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

India currently imports uranium from Kazakhstan, Canada and Russia.

"The committee notes that the DAE aims at a stockpile of 15,000 tonnes of uranium for achieving a level of comfort in so far as achieving supply security of nuclear fuel for nuclear plants is concerned," the panel said in its report.

The government also plans to build a Strategic Uranium Reserve to ensure that there is no shortage of uranium for its power reactors.

For the 10 Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), there will be a requirement of about 1250 metric tonnes of natural uranium dioxide fuel, the report said.

The panel also noted that although nuclear plants are heavily capital intensive, the cost per unit power generation is low. It stated that the tariff for the two Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) of Tarapur Nuclear Power Plant with a capacity of 160 MW each is as low as 90 paise per unit whereas it is Rs 2.70 per unit for the new plants.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Patna, Jun 10: A man in Bihar has willed half his property to two elephants after one of them foiled an attempt on his life by a pistol-totting criminal.

Akhtar Imam, chief manager of the Asian Elephant Rehabilitation and Wildlife Animal Trust (AERAWAT), said he has been looking after elephants since the age of 12.

"Once, there was an attempt of murder made against me. At that time the elephants saved me. When some miscreants armed with pistols tried to enter my room my elephant started trumpeting. It woke me up and I was able to shout and raise an alarm due to which the miscreants ran away," Imam said.

Imam says the two elephants, named Moti and Rani are like family for him and he cannot live without them.

However, the man claims that he fears threats to his life from his family members after he transferred his land to his two elephants. Imam's wife and sons have been living away from him for the last 10 years due to some dispute in the family.

He recounted that his son had allegedly filed a wrong case against him and also got him locked up. He eventually was let away after the charges levelled against him were proven wrong.

Imam said that his son Meraj had tried to sell the elephant to smugglers but was fortunately caught.

Imam says he has willed half of his property to his wife and his share of property worth Rs 5 crore to elephants said that if the jumbos die then the money would go to AERAWAT organisation.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Ayodhya to lay the foundation of the Ram temple. He participated in the bhoomi poojan rituals at the temple site and offered prayers. He will shortly lay the foundation of the temple with a sliver brick.

From Varanasi to Tamil Nadu, many devotees have sent gifts for the ceremony, like silver bricks and coins.

Special prayers were started on Monday and will culminate with the PM laying the foundation stone for the temple. The city has been decorated with paintings depicting scenes from the Ramayana. The Uttar Pradesh government has also made elaborate security arrangement for the event.

Apart from the state police, the NSG commandos have also been kept on stand-by. The invitations for the ceremony have been kept limited due to the coronavirus pandemic. Veteran BJP leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi will witness the event from New Delhi via video-conferencing.

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News Network
May 19,2020

New Delhi, May 19: In a fresh blow to saffronite journalist Arnab Goswami, the Supreme Court of India today rejected his plea seeking transfer of the investigation of a case, filed against him for defaming Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, to the CBI. The court also refused to quash the FIRs filed against him.

Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic TV, has been booked in connection with a TV show on the gathering of migrants outside Bandra railway station on April 14. This apart, multiple FIRs have been filed against him for his show on Palghar lynching. In that show, he had posed certain questions on the incident to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, following which Congress workers lodged complaints against him in various states.

Extending Goswami’s interim protection from arrest by three weeks, the Supreme Court said, “Right of a journalist under 19 1 (a) higher…Free citizens can’t exist if news media can’t speak.”

During the earlier hearing, Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Goswami, had urged the court to transfer the probe to an agency like CBI. He said the “nature of the” second FIR against Goswami over a show on the migrant gathering outside Bandra station on April 14 “shows that it’s arm-twisting tactic”. 

“They are trying to stifle an unpleasant voice. This is a political party targeting a journalist. All complainants are members of one political party. They have a problem with the government. They want to teach this journalist a lesson,” he added.

Objecting to Salve’s plea to transfer the case to the CBI, Maharashtra government counsel, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, had said, “CBI investigation will go into your hands”. 

Sibal denied that Goswami was being harassed and said he was only asked relevant questions. He said Goswami should “stop this communal violence and communal mongering”.

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