Manmohan embarks on a five-day visit to Russia, China on Sunday

October 19, 2013

New Delhi, Oct 19: Civil nuclear liability issues posing hurdles in clinching a deal with Russia on acquiring two new reactors for Kudankulam project and sticky points over an agreement with China to avoid army face offs on the border await resolution as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh embarks on a five-day visit to the two countries on Sunday.

Hopeful of reaching according on both the issues, officials are said to be working over time to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution so that the deals can be signed during the visit to Moscow and Beijing.

14th annual summit

Dr. Singh, who will be paying an official visit to Moscow, will be participating in the 14th annual summit with Russian President Vladmir Putin on Monday, his fifth in Moscow.

Official sources said in a bid to assuage Russian concerns on the civil liability clause in the nuclear law in India New Delhi has made proposals outlining the parameters for taking insurance on the possible damage that could arise in case of an accident.

They include the quantum of liability on suppliers of equipment both foreign and Indian, which has been made clear that it is not unlimited.

Russia has been opposed to application of the nuclear liability law on the reactors for the proposed III and IV units in Kudankulam power project since the original scheme was conceived under an inter-government accord.

Public sector General Insurance Corporation (GIC) has been tasked to work with the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to work on quantifying the damage and the liability on suppliers of equipment, including the reactors.

Kudankulam accord

Sources are confident that the accord on Unit III and IV will be clinched during Dr. Singh’s visit to Moscow.

The visit to Russia also signifies the deep strategic partnership between the two countries over the years in defence, science and technology and space.

India is also interested in expanding cooperation in the hydro carbons with ONGC’s overseas arm OVL seeking new opportunities in exploration of gas and oil in Russia.manmohan

OVL is already participating in two projects as 20 per cent partner in the Sakhalin one project and as 100 per cent owner and operator of Imperial Energy in Tomsk Region.

After talks and a working lunch with Mr. Putin on Oct 21, the Prime Minister will be conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).

A customary joint statement will be issued at the end of the visit during which a few agreements will be signed in areas like science and technology, energy efficiency and standards. Also on the margins of the Summit, there will be a meeting of the newly-constitute CEOs Council.

Last year, there was a 24 per cent rise in bilateral trade crossing $ 11 billion in 2012 for the first time.

Investment is emerging as an important focus of bilateral trade.

China visit

From Moscow, the Prime Minister flies to Beijing on October 22 for a meeting with his counterpart Li Keqiang on October 23, his second in six months. He will be hosted a luncheon banquet.

Dr. Singh will also be meeting President Xi Jinpeng, who will host a dinner banquet, a rare honour for an Indian leader after such a courtesy was extended to Jawaharlal Nehru in the fifties.

Border issues

The focus of the visit to China will be the proposed landmark Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) to avoid face offs between the two armies along the disputed Line of Actual Control, which officials are hopeful of clinching next week.

The BDCA, which provides for ‘no tailing’ of each other and ‘no shooting’ by troops of both sides, is expected to boost steps to maintain peace, tranquillity and status quo on the border with China.

Coming against the backdrop of the longest face off in Depsang valley in Ladakh this summer, where PLA troops stayed put for over 20 days, it will be a step forward over the 2005 accord that set out standard operating procedures and be part of the confidence building mechanism between the two countries.

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May 25,2020

New Delhi, May 25: The pending class 10 and 12 board exams will be conducted by CBSE at 15,000 centres across the country instead of 3,000 centres planned earlier, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' announced on Monday.

The exams, which were postponed due to a nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25 to contain the spread of COVID-19, will now be held from July 1 to 15.

"The class 10, 12 exams will now be conducted at over 15,000 exam centres across India. Earlier, CBSE was slated to hold exams at only 3,000 centres," Nishank said.

The decision has been taken to ensure social distancing at exam centres and minimise travel for students.

The HRD ministry has already announced that students will appear for exams at schools in which they are enrolled rather than external examination centres.

According to home ministry guidelines, there will be no exam centre in COVID-19 containment zones and states will be responsible for making transport arrangements for students to reach their respective centres.

Usually, board examinations are held at designated test centres to ensure minimum bias from schools and enable independent external invigilators to monitor the examination process.

While Class 12 exams will be conducted across the country, the Class 10 exams are only pending in North East Delhi, where they could not be held due to the law-and-order situation in the wake of protests against the amended citizenship act.

The CBSE class 10 and 12 board exam evaluation is being carried out from home.

The HRD ministry had earmarked 3,000 evaluation centres from where answer sheets would be distributed to teachers at their homes for evaluation and then collected.

Universities and schools across the country have been closed since March 16 when the Centre announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as one of the measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

Later, a 21-day nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24, which came into effect the next day. It has now been extended till May 31. The board was not able to conduct class 10 and 12 exams on eight examination days due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Due to the law-and-order situation in North East Delhi, CBSE was not able to conduct exams on four examination days, while a very small number of students from and around this district were not able to appear in exams on six days.

The board had last month announced that it will only conduct pending exams in 29 subjects which are crucial for promotion and admission to higher educational institutions.

The modalities of assessment for the subjects for which exams are not being conducted will be announced soon by the board.

The schedule has been decided in order to ensure that the board exams are completed before competitive examinations such as engineering entrance JEE-Mains, which is scheduled from July 18-23 and medical entrance exam NEET that will be held on July 26.

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May 24,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, May 24: Keralites on Sunday celebrated a low-key Eid-ul-Fitr amid the coronavirus lockdown in the state as most of the faithful marked the culmination of the fasting month of Ramzan by offering thanksgiving prayers at home.

The festival is being celebrated across Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, while the rest of the country will celebrate Eid on Monday.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan extended Eid-ul-Fitr greetings to all Keralites across the world.

State Governor Arif Mohammed Khan also extended his festival wishes to all the Keralites.

"May we also have the blessing to prevent and eliminate the COVID-19 disease," Khan tweeted.

Vijayan said this year Ramzan is celebrated at a time when the world is going through "an unprecedented crisis and misery" because of pandemic COVID-19.

"Usual celebration during Ramzan is not there anywhere in the world due to the pandemic. Instead of offering prayers at mosques, which is important for Muslims, this time the prayers and the feast is performed in their homes.

Community leaders have taken this important decision to protect the interests of the society" he added.

The chief minister said Eid-ul-Fitr gives out a message of equality, tolerance and repentance.

The state government had earlier announced that the lockdown restrictions in the state onSunday will be relaxed in the view of Eid-ul-Fitr with shops selling essential items remaining open.

The State government had earlier declared that a complete shutdown would be observed in Kerala on Sundays in order to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

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May 8,2020

New Delhi, May 8: The Supreme Court on Friday suggested that states should consider indirect sale and home delivery of liquor as per its statute and law to avoid crowding at liquor shops amid the ongoing coronavirus-induced lockdown.

A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan refused to pass any orders on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking clarity on the sale of liquor and to ensure social distancing while it is being sold in liquor shops during the lockdown.

"We will not pass any order but the states should consider indirect sale/home delivery of liquor to maintain social distancing norms and standards," Justice Ashok Bhushan said while disposing of the petition.

The PIL, filed by one Sai Deepak, sought directions for closure of liquor shops for failing to enforce social distancing, which is essential to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The petitioner told the apex court that he only wants that the life of common people is not affected because of crowding at liquor shops during COVID-19.

Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, another judge in the bench, said that discussion on home delivery is already going on.

The top court, after hearing the petition complaining about flouting of safety norms at liquor shops, observed that it cannot pass any orders to different states but they should consider online sale and home delivery of liquor.

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