Indian n-facilities under IAEA safety umbrella

Paving the way for import of fuel for its nuclear reactors, India will complete the process of placing its civilian reactors under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards in the next two days.
Sources said the last two reactors — units 1 and 2 of the Narora Atomic Power Station in Bulandshahar in Uttar Pradesh — will come under the safeguards of the international atomic energy body in the next two days and the necessary paper work is under way.
So far 20 facilities have been placed under IAEA safeguards. These reactors are now eligible to use imported uranium.
This includes unit 1 and 2 of the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS), units 1 to 6 of Rajasthan Atomic Power Station, units 1 and 2 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, and units 1 and 2 of Kakrapar Atomic Power Station.

In addition to the reactors, the Nuclear Material Store, Away from Reactor (AFR) fuel storage facility, both at Tarapur, the Uranium Oxide Plant, the Ceramic Fuel Fabrication Plant, Enriched Uranium Fuel, Enriched Uranium Oxide Plant, Enriched Fuel Fabrication Plant and the Gadolinia Facility and the entire Nuclear Fuel Complex in Hyderabad have been placed under the IAEA safeguards.

Indian nuclear reactors have been running below capacity “due to the mismatch of power and supply demand of uranium.” The development comes ahead of the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama to India, completing the mandatory process under the Indo-U.S. Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. Under the deal Indo-U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement, India was to sign and ratify the Additional Protocol of the IAEA. A separation plan was chalked out after the deal, segregating the military and civilian reactors. The civilian reactors were to be placed under the IAEA safeguards by December 2014, which will enable India to use the much needed international fuel for civilian reactors.

Assam has potential to produce purple tea

Assam can emerge as the only place in the world after Kenya to become a producer of health-rich purple tea, a senior scientist and tea expert in the Tocklai Tea Research Institute has said .

Currently, Kenya is the only country that produces unique purple tea which fetches three to four times the price of black tea and has established both a domestic as well as export market.

The clone TRFK 306/1 for purple tea of Kenya was originally from Assam and wild bushes of the tea have been found in the hilly forested areas of Karbi Anglong district and Longai area of Cachar district in Barak Valley while there was also possibility of its presence in some areas of Upper Assam.

"The germplasm collection at Tocklai has purple tea plants, commonly known as 'ox blood'," Tocklai Tea Research Institute 's senior advisory officer Pradip Baruah said.

Purple tea has been found to have a host of medicinal properties and is rich in anthocyanins and contains lower catechins and caffeine, is high in antioxidants that provide anti-cancer benefits and improve vision, lower cholesterol and blood sugar metabolism.

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NDFB(S) attacks trigger exodus

10,000 Bodos and Adivasis from 35 villages displaced

The terror attacks by the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit) on Adivasi villages on the night of December 23 have triggered a humanitarian crisis, displacing over 10,000 Bodos and Adivasi forest dwellers from 35 villages within an eight-km radius from this settlement in Kokrajhar district for the third time.

After being displaced during ethnic clashes between the Bodos and the Adivasis in 1996 and 1998, most of them started rebuilding their lives only about eight years ago.

The border settlement, with Bodo, Adivasi and Nepalese populations, is about 65 km from Kokrajhar town, the headquarters of the Bodoland Territorial Council. The number of people in the relief camps continues to swell as panic gripped inhabitants of the Ultapani reserve forests, who do not possess land rights.

On Sunday, scores of people were seen flocking to the relief camps, leaving behind their granaries full of paddy harvested just before the trouble broke out and taking along whatever little belongings — utensils, solar plates, buckets, clothes and so on — they could carry on their bicycles and pull carts or in their hands.

The 39-km road connecting the National Highway passing through Kokrajhar district with this small border settlement and those of Bodo and Adivasi forest dwellers on patches inside the reserve forests under the Haltugaon forest division on both sides of the road wore a deserted look.

‘Idea of homogeneous nation problematic’

Amid the raging controversy over the Sangh Parivar’s Hindutva agenda, Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Sunday cautioned against connecting faith with history and propagating a “homogeneous” national identity when there were over 4,600 communities in the country.

“Our 4,635 communities, according to the Anthropological Survey of India, is a terse reminder of the care that needs to be taken while putting together the profile of a national identity,” Mr. Ansari said while inaugurating the 75th session of the Indian History Congress at Jawaharlal Nehru University here.

“The global scene in modern times has been replete with complexities and tensions of what has been called the national question. We live in a world of nation-states but the idea of a homogeneous nation-state is clearly problematic. Diversity is identifiable even in the most homogeneous of societies today,” he said.

Warning against any straight-jacket edifice for national identity “that came to grief” in other societies, Mr. Ansari said the pluralist structures in India that had stood the test for over six decades needed “constant nurturing.” — PTI

Woman killed, three injured in blast on Church Street

It appears like an act of terror essentially to cause panic and fear, says City Commissioner of Police M.N. Reddi

A woman was killed and three persons were injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded on the crowded Church Street at 8.35 p.m. on Sunday.

The deceased woman, hailing from Chennai, was identified as Bhavani Devi (38). The injured persons were identified as Karthick, Sandeep and Vinay. While Sandeep and Vinay were admitted to HOSMAT Hospital, Karthick and Bhavani Devi were shifted to Mallya Hospital.

No organisation has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.

Director-General and Inspector-General of Police Lalrokhuma Pachau said that there were intelligence reports about terror strikes in the city in the light of Christmas and New Year. However, it was not specific to Bengaluru.

‘We have certain leads’

City Commissioner of Police M.N. Reddi told presspersons that “we have certain leads” that the police could not disclose at the moment. “It appears like an act of terror essentially to cause panic and fear,” he said.

Additional police forces have been deployed across the city and a high alert has been sounded. Security has been tightened in all exit points of the city.

Centre’s assurance

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who spoke to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on phone following the incident assured the State government of all necessary help and assistance. Mr. Siddaramaiah is rushing back to Bengaluru from Mysuru tonight.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the blast site late in the night. He said that police had taken all necessary precautions after the arrest of pro-IS tweeter Mehdi Masroor Biswas.

Frantic search for missing AirAsia flight

Indonesia called off till monday morning the search for an AirAsia plane with 162 people on board that went missing early on Sunday , after pilots asked to change course to avoid bad weather during a flight from Indonesia's Surabaya city to Singapore.

Tatang Kurniadi , head of Indonesia's National Committee of Safety Transportation , said it was too early to detect any of the so- called electronic  pings from its Black Box recorder.

Indonesia AirAsia is 49 % owned by Malaysia- based budget carrier AirAsia, which has had a clean safety record since it began operating 13 years ago.

3 Indian ships on standby

The Indian Navy has put three ships(one in Bay of Bangal and other two in Andaman Sea) and a maritime surveillance aircraft on standby for search and rescue operation for the AirAsia flight QZ8501 that has been missing.