Russia set to turn screws on India

August 14, 2012

RI14v

New Delhi, August 14: If the government decides to bring Kudankulam's third and fourth units under the purview of the nuclear liability law, which makes suppliers liable for compensation in case of accidents, Russia will mount double pressure on India.

Russia will not only increase the cost of the reactors, but also seek a change in the conditions for the credit line being provided by it to build them. Russian officials have warned that any "negative influence" on the 1988 agreement for the first and second unit and the 2008 civil nuclear cooperation agreement could jeopardize collaboration for nuclear power plants between the two countries. "We are still hopeful that a way out will be found for implementation of the roadmap of civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries as per these agreements as that is what PM Manmohan Singh had assured Russian deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin when he called on him recently," a Russian government source said.

"There is some concern though about what is happening and if indeed nuclear liability law comes into play, not just the cost of the reactors will shoot up significantly but the terms and conditions for the credit line being extended for the reactors too will have to be changed," he added. The two nations recently signed a protocol for financing the third and fourth units under which Russia will offer an export credit line of close to $3.5 billion for the two pressurized water reactors. The amount is payable in 14 years, from the start of power generation, at 4% interest per annum.

With Russia insisting all along that work on the third and fourth units, too, be carried out under the 1988 agreement between the two nations, which has ensured immunity for Kudankulam 1 and 2 from the liability law, the government has been in a bind over how to move ahead on the "third-generation" nuclear plants being built by the Russian-owned AtomstroyExport.

The government now seems to have made up its mind with PM Manmohan Singh himself said to be not keen to waive off the right to recourse for Kudankulam's third and fourth units.

Now, matters seem to have reached a head, but the Russian ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin, had warned in March that Russia and India entered into nuclear cooperation only on the basis of deals signed in 1988 and 2008. "We have tried to accommodate India's interests with same terms of credit and we expect that the same conditions will be applicable," he had said.

Singh recently sought to know from DAE who would pay in case of any accident at the new plants at Kudankulam. Not satisfied with the DAE explanation that India's international agreement with Russia would take care of liability issues, he then sought the views of the law ministry.


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News Network
February 29,2020

Feb 29: The "Dadi of Shaheenbagh" on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not understand the pain of losing children, as speakers at an anti-CAA rally here called on protesters to maintain peace and not give in to any provocation.

Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, said that the battle is not for a day or two, but the protesters will have to be prepared to continue it for years to come.

Asma Khatoon, who has earned fame as the "Dadi of Shaheenbagh" in Delhi, asked how can a person take care of the whole country when he cannot maintain his own family.

"He would have realised how it feels to lose a child if he had his own children," she told a gathering at the Park Circus Maidan, which is being termed as the Shaheenbagh of Kolkata with women holding a sit-in for the last 53 days to protest the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, proposed nationwide NRC, and the NPR.

The death toll Delhi's communal violence has gone up to 42.

She said it is not biryani that has attracted women to the protest at Shaheen bagh while holding that such vilification campaigns will have no effect on the agitation.

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh has claimed that "uneducated men and women" are protesting at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh and Kolkata's Park Circus as they get money and biryani purchased with foreign funds.

"Home Minister Amit Shah has called 20 protesters to meet him, but I want to tell him that we are one lakh and I want him to mention the place where he wants us to go for the meeting," she said.

Tushar Gandhi said, "People should stay united and not give in to any provocation," he said.

Gandhi said that the people of West Bengal are lucky to have Mamata Banerjee as their chief minister.

"They will try to break her also and it is necessary that you continue to give her support," he said.

Gandhi claimed that no one can harm a country where its mothers and sisters come out to save it.

He claimed that the CAA is not about Hindus or Muslims, but will really affect the poor people, who will be made to run around to get their papers instead of earning for their basic and daily needs.

"It's a dichotomous government that we have at the Centre. On the one hand, they want us to provide documents to prove our citizenship, while on the other they refuse to accept the papers that one produces before it for the purpose," he said.

He claimed that the government is forcing its people to resort to lies and declare that they are political refugees from countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Gandhi claimed that time and again documents with the government like electoral rolls and land documents have been used to identify people of certain communities during riots.

"So it is dangerous to give too much information to the government," he said.

He called on the people to have faith in non-violence and asked them to maintain peace and harmony.

B R Ambedkar's great-grandson Rajratna Ambedkar claimed that it is the Adivasis who will also be affected by the CAA.

"I want to tell Modi and Shah that the country runs on the Constitution by Ambedkar and not M S Golwalkar (of RSS)," he said, adding that because of the rights conferred on people by the Constitution, those backward people who did not have the right to sit on a bullock cart are now flying jet planes.

He said that Modi and Shah committed an error by enacting the CAA as it has turned the people of the country into Indians only, instead of Hindus, Muslims, Christians or Sikhs.

"Every machinery of the country has been taken control of by the RSS. If one Modi or one Shah goes, they will bring in several more Modi or Shah," he said.

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News Network
April 1,2020

Amaravati, Apr 1: All the 43 patients who were tested positive for COVID-19 in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday have returned after attending the event at Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz, said Chief Minister's Office, Andhra Pradesh.

With 43 new COVID-19 positive cases, the total number of coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh has reached 87, informed the state Nodal Office earlier today.

The 43 new coronavirus positive cases were reported between March 31, 9 pm and April 1, 9 am. A total of 373 samples were tested during this time period and of these samples, 330 were negative and 43 came out to be positive.

There has been an increase of 240 COVID-19 cases in the last 12 hours across the country.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases have reached 1637 in India, including 1466 active cases, 133 cured/discharged/migrated people and 38 deaths.

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News Network
April 28,2020

New Delhi, Apr 28: With 1,594 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the last 24 hours and 51 deaths, India's total count of coronavirus cases surged to 29,974, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday.

The total cases are inclusive of 7,026 cured and discharged patients, one migrated and 937 deaths.

At present, there are 22,010 active COVID-19 cases in the country.

Addressing a press conference here, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, said that in the last 28 days, 17 districts have had no new Covid-19 cases. "This means we need to maintain constant vigil," he added.

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