News 360° - Briefs

WATER RESOURCES RAIN SAVES MURRAY For the first time since 2002 dredging has stopped at the Murray river mouth in south Australia. Rains across the Murray-Darling Basin, one of the world’s largest river systems, improved water flow down the country’s longest river with an estimated 48,000 megalitres passing through the mouth each day. Dams, irrigation and droughts between 2000 and 2007 had made the river dry and saline.

Dangerous liaisons

Sri Lanka is becoming a power hungry nation. Several coal power plants with a total generation capacity of 3,200 MW are on the anvil. The country’s new energy minister, Champika Ranawaka, wants a nuclear power plant by 2025. That’s a sure sign of change: Ranawaka started his career as an activist against coal power. He was the environment minister in the last government.

Cabinet push to nuclear bill

ON NOVEMBER 19, the Union cabinet cleared the civil nuclear liability bill meant to help companies in the US and France export nuclear technology and fuels to India without any liability. The multinational corporations won't be responsible in case of a mishap in the power plants set up with their technology; the bill proposes to transfer all liability to the operator. In other words, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), the sole operator of power plants in India, would compensate victims. The bill limits the compensation amount to Rs 2,500 crore

Radioactive mirage

India's desperate pursuit of nuclear energy will be expensive and risky. Small wonder industry wants to dilute its liability

Uranium Rush

Can the Grand Canyon survive it?

Russia and US strike nuclear deal

with the India-usa nuclear deal making little progress, Russia and the us signed an agreement for bilateral cooperation in the field of civilian nuclear energy to facilitate trade and joint ventures in other countries.

Sign NPT if you want uranium, Canberra tells Delhi

In a volte-face, Australia's new government told an Indian envoy that it will not sell uranium to India unless New Delhi signs the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

No assurance from China on help for nuclear fuel

prime minister Manmohan Singh got some support from the Chinese on India's civilian nuclear programme. But Beijing hasn't given any assurance that it will help India get fuel from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (nsg) for its nuclear reactors.

In Short

>> The World Food Programme is working with the Ethiopian government to extend drought insurance. The US $230 million insurance will cover about 6.7 million people, which will be disbursed in case of a severe drought comparable to 2002-2003. >> The Democratic Republic of Congo closed its lake and land border with Uganda, and shut down two markets as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the ebola virus. Several traders in Congo's North Kivu province who visited Uganda recently, have been placed under quarantine.

Bush, Putin on nuclear energy consolidation drive

on august 3, 2007, India and the us declared a bilateral agreement on full civil nuclear energy cooperation after two years of tortuous negotiation. Nuclear energy propagators cheered, sensing a revival for the ailing sector.