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National Forum | Re: ToI Report on CNDP Press Conference in Delhi on March 14 regarding Nuclear Disaster in Japan and Things To Do in India

2011-03-15T00:33:00.000-07:00

In the light of three nuclear reactors exploding within a matter of three days and spreading radiation, forcing the Japanese Govt. to evacuate the population up to 30 Km. radius and enforcing no fly zone in 30Km. radius, the question of the safety of the first two reactors at Tarapur and Narora has been triggered as they too are of similar design.

The undue haste with which Manmohan Singh rushed to sign 123 under pressure from Bush, in spite of advices against the same by most retired Chairmen, but supported by the bought out Kakodkar, has now surfaced again why MM Singh kept the files to his chest even without discussing with his own partner Ministers in Govt. except two.

What is now revearled is that AREVA design reactors are yet to be designed and developed and even French are not familiar with its operations, leave alone Indians for the proposed nuclear plant in Konkan border in Maharashtra, and is fraught with dangers in situ when situations as in Japan arise.

Read the following which is apt to the situation today in the light of dangers of nuclear reactors. Moreover the claim that nuclear power is cheaper has been disproved that, in the iniyisal costs and depreciation/ interests on Capital costs are included, nuclear power is at least 300% costlier than thermal power.

NUCLEAR ENERGY PROGRAMME IN INDIA

Soon after Independence, the 'Indian Atomic Energy Commission' was set up in August 1948 in the new and fledgling Department of Scientific Research. But it was only on August 3, 1954 the fully-fledged Department of Atomic Energy

(DAE) was created under the direct control of the Prime Minister through a Presidential Order. The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) itself was established in the Department of Atomic Energy by a Government Resolution of March 1, 1958. Just three months after the DAE was established, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru unequivocally declared in a conference on 'Development of Nuclear Power for Peaceful Purposes': "We want to utilize atomic energy for generating electricity because electricity is most essential for the development of the nation."

*Long on Talk, Short on Performance*

Quite contrary to all the fanfare and high-pitched public relations exercises by the DAE, it is one of the most under-performing sectors in India. Just to illustrate, in 1954 a grand three stage program for development of nuclear power was announced. It had at that time been projected that there would be 8000 MW of nuclear power in the country by 1980. As the years progressed, these predictions were to increase. By 1962, the prediction was that nuclear energy would generate 20-25,000 MW by 1987 and by 1969 the DAE predicted that by 2000 there would be 43,500 MW of nuclear generating capacity. All of this was before a single unit of nuclear electricity was produced in the country.

As against these promises, the installed capacity in 1979-80 stood at about 600 MW, about 950 MW in 1987 and 2720 MW in 2000. The only explanation that the DAE has offered for its failures has been to blame the cessation of foreign cooperation following the 1974 nuclear weapons test. At the same time, these sanctions also provided the DAE with an opportunity: each development, no matter how small or routine, could be portrayed as a heroic success, achieved in the face of staunch opposition by other countries and impossible odds, while any failures could be passed off as a result of the determination of other countries to block and prevent India achieving technological advancement. Such continuous failures were, however, not because of any paucity of resources. All governments in New Delhi have favoured nuclear energy and the DAE's budgets have always been high except for a brief period in the early 90s.

Currently 17 nuclear power reactors produce 4,120 MW (2.9% of total installed base - as against the current installed base of renewable energy being 13,242 MW which is 7.7% of total installed base with the southern state of Tamil Nadu contributing nearly a third of it, largely through wind power). The DAE is planning to set up 20 units of indigenous 700 MW of pressurised heavy water (PHWR) type reactors. The DAE hopes to be overseeing a $100 billion investment in nuclear energy in the coming decade and importing some 40 light water reactors that will help India stabilize its demand for power by 2020. The DAE predicts that the nuclear share of electricity by 2020 would be 35,000MW.[1]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/ My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftn1

*Big Plans for the Near Future*
According to the present DAE chief, India's Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), which use natural uranium as fuel, "are world class." He claims further: "Our Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) are globally advanced. Our Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is globally unique." He contends that the FBRs would use plutonium-uranium oxide as fuel and the AHWR would have thorium as fuel.

[2]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftn2

Even as the DAE expects to "overcome all the problems" by 2012-2013 relating

to the shortage of natural uranium that has led to a drop in the capacity factor of the reactors, they are making grandiose claims on thorium as nuclear fuel. The DAE chief claims: "In technology terms, we have mastered thorium technology to get energy from it. We have small unit where we use U233 fuel extracted from thorium. We have mastered all aspects of thorium-based energy. It is on a small scale, we have to expand it." [3]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftn3

The DAE leader argues further: "We cannot afford to hasten the thorium programme and we have to go step by step to get to use the thorium for the next 200 years."[4]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My% 20 Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftn4

The DAE has claimed that the PWR, built by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), forms the powerhouse of INS Arihant, India's indigenously built nuclear-powered submarine. It was a joint endeavour of the DAE, the Navy and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). But the Director of BARC has admitted that "we have used the Russians as consultants." [5]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20 Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftn5

The DAE chief claims "We have the technical expertise and capability to build nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and warships of global standards." He declares, "When the government asks us to build such ships, we will do it... we are confident that we can build even supply propelling energy for aircraft carriers."[6]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20 Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftn6 Now the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and BARC scientists also plan to power some parts of Chandrayaan II, an unmanned mission to the Moon, with nuclear energy.[7]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20 Settings /USER/My20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftn7

With the clinching of the nuclear deal with the United States and consequent waiver by the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on September 6, 2008, India is now projected to generate an additional 25,000 MW of nuclear power by 2020. Two sites--in Gujarat (Mithibor in Bhavnagar district) and Andhra Pradesh (Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts)-- reportedly stand "earmarked" for the US companies such as General Electric-Hitachi and Westinghouse in the wake of the July 2009 visit by Hillary Clinton. A French nuclear company Areva has been setting up plants at Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, and at least four additional reactors are in the pipeline from Russia for Koodankulam in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. This is an extremely ambitious and massive expansion program.

Similar large-scale expansion plans are on in the Uranium mining sector also. The DAE claims that the capacity of the reactors would go up because the capacity of the mills at Jaduguda in Jharkhand that convert natural uranium into yellow cake has been augmented. Another mill at Turamdih in Jharkhand has been commissioned and its production of yellow cake is also said to be going up. The expansion program at Jaduguda is said to be complete and the Turamdih expansion will be completed in 2010. The uranium mine and the mill constructed at Tummlapalle in Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh is expected to go on stream in 2013.[8]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My20Documents /Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftn8

Exploration mining is taking place at Gogi (near Gulbarga) in Karnataka, and at Domiasiat in West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya.[9]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftn9>

*Nuclear Nirvana?*
Nuclear energy is being bandied about as THE panacea for all of the country's ills and evils. It is projected as the single solution for the nation's lack of energy security, military security and the over all national security. All this in a country where hundreds of millions of people do not have food security, water security, sanitation security, other basic needs of life or human dignity! In the ruling classes' colonial mode of thinking, "the quality of life greatly depends on amount of energy spent."[10]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20 Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftn10

For a developing country such as India that has many other pressing needs like food, housing, education, health, transportation and so on, energy alone cannot and should not be a top priority.When all is said and done, nuclear energy certainly cannot be the answer for our energy needs because of several important reasons:

[1] *High Cost*: Nuclear energy was once promoted as something which will be "too cheap to meter" but it has actually become "too costly to matter." The most conservative estimate has it that one MW of nuclear energy costs approximately Rs. 6.5 crores. This is definitely more expensive than thermal, hydro and other sources of power. If you factor in reactor construction delays, the exploding costs of material, governmental subsidies, departmental mess-ups, waste management costs, decommissioning expenses, and the other "usual" mega-project costs such as PR expenses, bribes, commissions, kick-backs and so forth, nuclear energy is prohibitively expensive. Furthermore, importing Uranium, reactors and other assorted technologies from foreign companies will impose a huge economic burden on the "ordinary citizens" of India while those companies reap high profits at our cost.

[2] *Dangerous Waste*: The DAE does not reveal what they do with the nuclear waste or how they will deal with the huge amounts of waste that will be produced by all the upcoming nuclear power plants. The director of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) has recently denied news that radioactive waste from IGCAR and other nuclear sites all over India are brought to Kalpakkam and disposed into the sea.[11]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/ Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftn11The DAE is yet to reveal to the public what they plan to do with the radioactive waste and how the safety of our people, our children, our grandchildren and the successive generations will be safeguarded for the next 48,000 years.

[3] *Safety Issues:* Serious hazards are associated with Uranium mining, reactor safety (with the possibilities of damage due to accidents, breakdowns and natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunami), nuclear installation security (with the possibilities of damage due to sabotage, terrorist acts, aerial/missile attacks, or war-time assaults), and short and long-term waste disposal. No one can honestly claim that all these problems of safety and security have been overcome. Neither can anyone guarantee absolute safeguards against the above possibilities. In fact, a major accident in a nuclear power plant would surely be catastrophic in nature as was amply demonstrated by the Chernobyl accident on April 26, 1986. (This is why and how nuclear industry is unique in that no insurance company insures a nuclear power plant). And this possibility alone, which can never be ruled out, disqualifies nuclear power as a rational option.

[4] *Health Hazards:* A heavy dose of radioactivity will cause "radiation sickness" and bring about immediate death. Lower doses can cause fatal cancers, leukaemia, and genetic defects that may not show themselves for 20 years or more and result in delayed death. The carcinogenic hazard associated with nuclear installations is quite severe.

[5] *Environmental Impact:* Uranium mining, thorium extraction, emissions from the nuclear power plants, waste dumping and nuclear weapons production all have a serious impact on our natural resources such as the air, the sea, fish catch, the land, ground water, food production, farm animals and so on. These operations have dangerous impact on our people, especially women, children, marginalized communities such as the tribals, dalits and fisherfolk in places like Jadugoda, Meghalaya, Hyderabad, and the coastal villages of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The nuclearization of India exhibits a blatant disregard to the overall environment and to the human rights of millions of people. The land rights, water rights, right to life and livelihood are all seriously impeded by the nuclear estate and its institutions and agents.

[6] *'Developmental' Perils:* All the nuclear installations and activities will displace hundreds of thousands of people across the country. Many more people will lose their traditional livelihood activities and there will be a very high people-cost in our highly and densely populated country. Moreover, with highly centralised power generation, nuclear power would militate against decentralised development and further accentuate the "development" pattern, which, in the first place, has brought the humanity to the brink of total ecological destruction. Thus nuclear power is neither 'green' nor 'sustainable' and is definitely NOT a valid answer for climate change concerns.

[7] *Decommissioning Woes:*Our future governments will have to incur heavy expenses to decommission the nuclear power plants, maintain those installations and keep them safe for the public for years to come. Similarly, our future generations will have to deal with this deathly heritage just so we can have electricity for 40 years.

[8] *Deadly Weapons & Arms Race:* Worst of all, nuclear energy has a strong technical linkage with and thereby provides a strong push for nuclear weaponization program and India itself is a graphic illustration. We are being pushed into a nuclear arms race with both Pakistan and China that renders us all more impoverished, vulnerable and unsafe.

[9] *Wrong Choice:* Contrary to the "nuclear renaissance" claims, many countries around the world are phasing out nuclear energy because of the high cost, waste management issues and other complexities. The United States has not constructed a new nuclear power plant for more than 30 years and Russia has not erected a new plant since the Chernobyl accident in 1986. When we should be focussing on renewable sources of energy, planning micro generation of power, and emphasizing demand-based local generation through appropriate technology with popular participation, we are being forced to accept supply-based centralized power generation with dangerous advanced technology and absolute elite control. Squandering the chance to focus on sustainable development and appropriate technology and become a natural world leader in this day and age of climate change, our colonized leaders are taking us down the same old path of 'development of mass destruction.'

*Nuclear "Power"*
Nuclear power in India has always enjoyed official patronage, financial power, and military backing. Now it is also gaining political power. The most dangerous is the trend of the nuclear estate gaining more prominence, power and a forcible say in the country's socioeconomic-political power structures and decision-making processes. Their gaining an upper hand in the political circles with their autocratic values and tendencies is deleterious to the democratic fabric of our country.

To give just one example, the Land Transfer Act of Meghalaya, introduced in 1972, bars non-tribals from buying or transferring land in that state. Hence the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd. (UCIL) cannot go ahead with Uranium mining activities without clearance from the District Council and the state government. To circumvent this dilemma, the Meghalaya government is being pressurized to exempt the Land Transfer Act from the uranium rich belt in Mawthabah so that UCIL can set up a processing unit there for Uranium mining.[12] file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftn12

The nuclear estate is getting ready for joint ventures in nuclear energy sector where private companies, both Indian and foreign, could join hands with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, Ltd. (NPCIL). Secretive efforts are on to rewrite the Indian Atomic Energy Act 1962 in order to facilitate private participation in nuclear activities. This combination of profiteering capitalists, secretive government and careerist scientists and engineers will not auger well for the country.

*Kanyakumari Declaration*

As a significant step toward addressing some of these important issues, a National Convention on "The Politics of Nuclear Energy and Resistance" was held in Kanyakumari (near the upcoming nuclear power plant at Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu) on June 4-6, 2009. The Convention that founded the "National Coalition of Anti-nuclear Movements (NAAM)" to coordinate the ongoing and upcoming local struggles and to back them up with a vigorous national campaign resolved in the Kanyakumari Declaration, *inter alia*:

*In the context of the unprecedented threats facing the world due to global warming and the rapid depletion of conventional energy sources, the nuclear establishment is most opportunistically pushing nuclear energy as a climate-friendly energy source. However, all the activities associated with nuclear power generation - the mining and processing of uranium, the building of nuclear power stations involving huge amounts of cement and steel, the long construction process, the decommissioning of plants and the handling of radioactive waste - are highly unsafe and expensive, and cause enormous climate-changing pollution. Nuclear energy is not cheap, safe, clean or sustainable. It also does not offer a solution to our energy problems.** *

It also further observed:*India's nuclear program has been and continues to be vigorously resisted by the people of this country whose struggles in the past have stopped two nuclear power stations – Peringome and Kothamangalam – from coming up.*[Similarly, huge public protests by the people of Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh stalled a proposed nuclear power plant in 1988 and a proposed Uranium mining project since 2003.]* This convention declares total support and solidarity to the struggles of people resisting the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu. It also declares support and solidarity to people in all other parts of the country such as Jadugoda, Meghalaya, Haripur and Jaitapur who are struggling against uranium mining and nuclear power plants.***

"Delhi Rally"*Given this situation, there is an immediate and urgent need to mobilize public opinion against the reckless nuclearization of the country and to build up resistance on a pan-national scale. In order to do that, all the various anti-nuclear organizations and movements need to come together and put up a united front. In the spirit of the Kanyakumari Declaration and the newly-formed "National Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movements," we must plan some national activities jointly.

It is precisely in this context, we propose to organize a "Delhi Rally" on October 2, 2009 (Gandhi Jayanti) in a location as close to Rajghat as possible. The "Delhi Rally" can be a display of our combined strength and a platform to meet each other and plan a national strategy. We all together must monitor the national energy strategy and the developments on the energy market, undertake economic analysis of the development of nuclear energy, carry out independent risk assessments of various nuclear projects and activities, and plan regional and national joint future actions.
Below are a few suggestions for the "Delhi Rally" and the Organizing Committee would finalize the program on the basis of available resources, time and other practicalities. The idea, however, is to connect with Gandhi's powerful image as a symbol of peace and justice and utilize that to strive for nuclear-free status and environmental redemption for India and humane development for Indians:

[1] The day-long program may begin with a group of youth and children gathering and wailing at the Father of Nation's grave about the Indian government's nuclear policies and programs and the bleak future these are going to bring about for them.
[2] Activists could make a national appeal from Rajghat to all the Gram Sabhas across the country to pass a resolution against the nuclearization of the country and send it to relevant authorities.
[3] These activities may be followed by deliberations by anti-nuclear activists from across the country, songs and dances, exhibitions and demonstrations.
[4] Anti-nuclear activists may cook food with solar cookers and serve the participants lunch.
[5] In the afternoon the activists from across the country may rally to the nearby 'Delhi Gate' carrying a giant piece of (fake) yellow cake, (balloon models of) nuclear power plants, (mock) nuclear waste and (imitation) nuclear weapons to highlight the grave dangers that Uranium mining, nuclear power plants, nuclear waste, and nuclear weapons pose to the Indian public.
[6] A Press Meet could be organized at the 'Delhi Gate'.

[7] A delegation could meet with the President of India and other select leaders with a memorandum exhorting them to make India nuclear-free.

No Deals, No Mines, No Reactors, No Dumps, No Bombs!
Don't Nuke Our Children's Futures!
We Say 'NO' to Nuclear!

[1]<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftnref1>

*The New Indian Express*, May 31, 2009.

[2]<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftnref2>
 *The Hindu*, August 3, 2003.

[3]<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftnref3>
 http://news.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/aug/05/slide-show-1-anil-kakodkar-on-nuclear-energy.htm
 [4]<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftnref4>
 *The New Indian Express*, August 6, 2009.

[5]<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftnref5>
 *The Hindu*, August 3, 2009.

[6]<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftnref6>
 http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/001200908051712.htm

[7]<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftnref7>
 *The New Indian Express*, August 8, 2009.

[8]<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftnref8>
 *The Hindu*, August 3, 2009.

[9]<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftnref9>
 *The New Indian Express*, August 10, 2009.

[10]<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftnref10>Op.
 Cit., Note 3.

[11]<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftnref11>"Baldev allays radiation fears,"
 *Deccan Chronicle*, August 2, 2009.

[12]<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/Downloads/Concept%20Note%20(2).doc#_ftnref12>
 *The Indian Express* (New Delhi), August 11, 2009.

========================================================

From: Sukla Sen <sukla.sen@gmail.com>
To: IHRO <ihro@yahoogroups.com>; issueonline <issuesonline_worldwide@yahoogroups.com>; arkitectindia@yahoogroups.com; indiathinkersnet <indiathinkersnet@yahoogroups.com>; mahajanapada <Mahajanapada@yahoogroups.com>; bahujan <Bahujan@yahoogroups.com>; invitesplus@yahoogroups.com; humanrightsactivist <humanrightsactivist@yahoogroups.com>; national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.co.in
Sent: Tue, March 15, 2011 10:32:27 AM
Subject: [issuesonline_worldwide] ToI Report on CNDP Press Conference in Delhi on March 14 regarding Nuclear Disaster in Japan and Things To Do in India

[The complete text of the CNDP statement dated March 12 is available at <
http://greenyouth.googlegroups.com/attach/69ba8faf453a6a4e/statement+cndp.pdf?view=1&part=2&hl=en
>.]

http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/7706118.cms

<http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/7706118.cms>
Naysayers call for shunning nuke energy
15 Mar, 2011 0208hrs IST TNN

NEW DELHI: The crisis in Japan's nuclear power plant has triggered a fresh
debate over safety of India's nuclear safety with naysayers claiming
vindication of their stand that the country should shun the path of nuclear
energy.

The Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) on Monday demanded a
complete moratorium on India's civilian nuclear activity and a safety audit
of all nuclear facilities. CNDP's Praful Bidwai called for a transparent
public safety audit of all nuclear facilities involving members of civil
society and independent experts.

"India must radically review its nuclear power policy for appropriateness,
safety, costs, and public acceptance, based on a holistic view of our energy
needs and best ways of sustainably meeting them," said Bidwai, describing
the nuclear meltdown as a wake-up call for India.

The statement came on a day when activists from Jaitapur on Maharashtra's
Konkan coast – the proposed site of what will be the world's largest nuclear
power complex – protested in Mumbai demanding a total scrap of the project.

Bidwai readily supported the demand. "There should be a moratorium on all
further civilian nuclear activity.

The ministry of environment and forests must revoke all conditional
clearances granted to nuclear projects, including Jaitapur and other
reactors," he added.

CNDP activists argued that the Fukushima reactor crisis had proved

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National Forum | ToI Report on CNDP Press Conference in Delhi on March 14 regarding Nuclear Disaster in Japan and Things To Do in India

2011-03-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

[The complete text of the CNDP statement dated March 12 is available at <http://greenyouth.googlegroups.com/attach/69ba8faf453a6a4e/statement+cndp.pdf?view=1&part=2&hl=en>.]

http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/7706118.cms

Naysayers call for shunning nuke energy

15 Mar, 2011 0208hrs IST TNN

NEW DELHI: The crisis in Japan's nuclear power plant has triggered a fresh debate over safety of India's nuclear safety with naysayers claiming vindication of their stand that the country should shun the path of nuclear energy.

The Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) on Monday demanded a complete moratorium on India's civilian nuclear activity and a safety audit of all nuclear facilities. CNDP's Praful Bidwai called for a transparent public safety audit of all nuclear facilities involving members of civil society and independent experts.

"India must radically review its nuclear power policy for appropriateness, safety, costs, and public acceptance, based on a holistic view of our energy needs and best ways of sustainably meeting them," said Bidwai, describing the nuclear meltdown as a wake-up call for India.

The statement came on a day when activists from Jaitapur on Maharashtra's Konkan coast – the proposed site of what will be the world's largest nuclear power complex – protested in Mumbai demanding a total scrap of the project.

Bidwai readily supported the demand. "There should be a moratorium on all further civilian nuclear activity.

The ministry of environment and forests must revoke all conditional clearances granted to nuclear projects, including Jaitapur and other reactors," he added.

CNDP activists argued that the Fukushima reactor crisis had proved that despite the best preparations, all nuclear reactors are vulnerable to the risk of a catastrophic accident.

"India is planning the world's largest nuclear complex in Jaitapur and several other nuclear power parks along the coast and inland. However, India does not even have an independent nuclear regulatory authority that can evaluate and certify reactor designs and set its own safety regulations and standards. Under the circumstances, further nuclear expansion is deeply irrational," Bidwai said.

--
Peace Is Doable

__._,_.___

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Re: National Forum | Re: Japan Disaster Raises the Larger Question (once again): Is Nuclear Power Safe?

2011-03-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

The important thing is to anticipate possible outcomes and impact of nuclear power in India. Western Ghats is ecologically and culturally sensitive. Other places may be densely populated. It is not enough to think about the loss of lives and show our sympathies. It's time to act, to build up pressure on state and policy and to push with all our collective might to pre-empt such disasters.
Arnab Sen

On Sun, Mar 13, 2011 at 9:23 PM, shadi katyalsearch <shadikatyal@yahoo.com> wrote:

Kumar ji,

It is not the time to bring out all the know how against India -US pact but to think of the circumstances such accident happened and the loss of life. Our thoughts should be for the losses and disappearance of many families. It is time to show some sympathy for the Japanese people. We should be praying for the welfare of the nation and her p[eople.
Shadi

--- On Sat, 3/12/11, S kumar <kumar_8134@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: S kumar <kumar_8134@yahoo.com>
Subject: [media_monitor5] Re: [issuesonline_worldwide] Japan Disaster Raises the Larger Question (once again): Is Nuclear Power Safe?
To: issuesonline_worldwide@yahoogroups.com, "IHRO" <ihro@yahoogroups.com>, arkitectindia@yahoogroups.com, invitesplus@yahoogroups.com, "indiathinkersnet" <indiathinkersnet@yahoogroups.com>, "mahajanapada" <Mahajanapada@yahoogroups.com>, "bahujan" <Bahujan@yahoogroups.com>, national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.co.in
Cc: media_monitor5@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, March 12, 2011, 11:52 PM

>>>In the worst-case scenario, the core melts through the bottom of the reactor vessel and falls onto the floor of the containment vessel - an outer sealed unit.

This is designed to prevent the molten reactor from penetrating any further. Local damage in this case will be serious, but in principle there should be no leakage of radioactive material into the outside world.>>>

The Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Commssion stated in a TV interview telecast last night, that EXCEPT FOR KOODANKULAM COMPLEX UNDER COMMISSIONING NEAR KANYAKUMARI, NO OTHER REACTOR IN THE COUNTRY HAS THIS FACILITY OF COLLECTING IN A CONTAINMENT VESSEL, AND ANY DISASTER WOULD LEAD TO AN UNCONTROLLED CHAIN REACTION AND EXPLOSION, SPREADING RADIATION IN A 20 km RADIUS.

The alacrity and secretness in which the UPA rushed through the 123 agreemenet with U.S. prompted by former President Bush, reveals that the US was apparently attempting to palm off the 13 year old reactors lying in the godowns of Northrop, Westinghouse and GE due to the ban on further assembly of reactors in U.S., to India, with obsolete technology and controls 13 years old, with all accompanying risks of disasters due to malfunctioning.

This is why U.S. introduced the "Hyde Clause" of absolvimng itself of all responsibilities once the plant is loaded on the ships sailing to Indian ports. The Manmohan Singh gang told outright lies to Indian public that Hyde Act is not applicable to India and this was disproved when the 123 details were put on website by U.S. authorities after these were signed at Tokyo.

No wonder the Maharashtra Coastal villages are protesting against the location of nuclear reactor apprehending impending dangers of pollution, radiation and inabiliyty of Indian authorities to dispose off the radio active waste material

From: Sukla Sen <sukla.sen@gmail.com>
To: IHRO <ihro@yahoogroups.com>; issueonline <issuesonline_worldwide@yahoogroups.com>; arkitectindia@yahoogroups.com; invitesplus@yahoogroups.com; indiathinkersnet <indiathinkersnet@yahoogroups.com>; mahajanapada <Mahajanapada@yahoogroups.com>; bahujan <Bahujan@yahoogroups.com>; national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.co.in
Sent: Sun, March 13, 2011 8:29:20 AM
Subject: [issuesonline_worldwide] Japan Disaster Raises the Larger Question (once again): Is Nuclear Power Safe?

Quote
The word "meltdown" goes to the heart of the big nuclear question - is
nuclear power safe?
Unquote

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12723092

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12723092>
12 March 2011 Last updated at 13:44 GMT
Exodus from Japan nuclear plant

By Richard BlackEnvironment correspondent, BBC News

The word "meltdown" goes to the heart of the big nuclear question - is
nuclear power safe?

The term is associated in the public mind with the two most notorious
accidents in recent memory - Three Mile Island, in the US, in 1979, and
Chernobyl, in Ukraine, seven years later.

You can think of the core of a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR), such as the ones
at Fukushima Daiichi, as a massive version of the electrical element you may
have in your kettle.

It sits there, immersed in water, getting very hot.

The water cools it, and also carries the heat away - usually as steam - so
it can be used to turn turbines and generate electricity.

If the water stops flowing, there is a problem. The core overheats and more
of the water turns to steam.

The steam generates huge pressures inside the reactor vessel - a big, sealed
container - and if the largely metal core gets too hot, it will just melt,
with some components perhaps catching fire.

In the worst-case scenario, the core melts through the bottom of the reactor
vessel and falls onto the floor of the containment vessel - an outer sealed
unit.

This is designed to prevent the molten reactor from penetrating any further.
Local damage in this case will be serious, but in principle there should be
no leakage of radioactive material into the outside world.

But the term "in principle" is the difficult one.

Reactors are designed to have "multiply redundant" safety features: if one
fails, another should contain the problem.

However, the fact that this does not always work is shown at Fukushima
Daiichi.

The earthquake meant the three functioning reactors shut down. But it also
removed the power that kept the vital water pumps running, sending cooling
water around the hot core.

Diesel generators were installed to provide power in such a situation. They
did cut in - but then they cut out again an hour later, for reasons that
have not yet been revealed.

In this case, redundancy did not work.

And the big fear within the anti-nuclear movement, as used in the film The
China Syndrome, is that the multiple containment of a molten core might not
work either, allowing highly radioactive and toxic metals to burrow into the
ground, with serious and long-lasting environmental impacts - total
meltdown.

However, the counter-argument from nuclear proponents is that the partial
meltdown at Three Mile Island did not cause any serious effects.

Yes, the core melted, but the containment systems held.

And at Chernobyl - a reactor design regarded in the West as inherently
unsafe, and which would not have been sanctioned in any non-Soviet bloc
nation - the environmental impacts occurred through explosive release of
material into the air, not from a melting reactor core.

To keep things in perspective, no nuclear accident has caused anything
approaching the 1,000 short-term fatalities stemming from Friday's
earthquake and tsunami.
'Subcritical' reactors

Whether a partial meltdown is under way at Fukushima Daiichi is not yet
clear.

The most important factor is summed up in a bulletin from the Tokyo Electric
Power Company (Tepco) that owns the facility: "Control rods are fully
inserted (reactor is in subcritical status)."

Control rods shut off the nuclear reaction. Heat continues to be produced at
that stage through the decay of radioactive nuclei - but that process in
turn will begin to tail off.

Intriguingly, Ryohei Shiomi, an official at Japan's Nuclear Safety
Commission, is widely quoted as having said a meltdown was possible and that
officials were checking.

Meanwhile, a visually dramatic explosion in one of the reactor buildings has
at least severely damaged the external walls.

In principle, this should not cause leakage of radioactive material because
the building is just an outside shell; the job of keeping dangerous
materials sealed in falls to the the metal containment vessel inside.

Chief cabinet secretary Chief Yukio Edano confirmed this was the case,
saying: "The concrete building collapsed. We found out that the reactor
container inside didn't explode."

He attributed the explosion to a build-up of hydrogen, related in turn to
the cooling problem.
Under pressure

The only release of any radioactive material that we know about so far
concerns venting of the containment vessel.

When steam pressure builds up in the reactor vessel, it stops some of the
emergency cooling systems working, and so some of the steam is released into
the containment vessel.

However, according to World Nuclear News, an industry newsletter, this
caused pressure in the containment vessel to rise to twice the intended
operating level, so the decision was taken to vent some of this into the
atmosphere.

In principle, this should contain only short-lived radioactive isotopes such
as nitrogen-16 produced through the water's exposure to the core. Venting
this would be likely to produce short-lived gamma-ray activity - which has,
reportedly, been detected.

One factor that has yet to be explained is the apparent detection of
radioactive isotopes of caesium.

This is produced during the nuclear reaction, and should be confined within
the reactor core.

If it has been detected outside the plant, that could imply that the core
has begun to disintegrate.

"If any of the fuel rods have been compromised, there would be evidence of a
small amount of radioisotopes in the atmosphere [such as] radio-caesium and
radio-iodine," says Paddy Regan, professor of nuclear physics at the UK's
University of Surrey.

"The amount that you measure would tell you to what degree the fuel rods
have been compromised."

It is an important question - but as yet, unanswered.
Cover-ups and questions

In fact, the whole incident so far contains more questions than answers.

Parallels with Three Mile Island and Chernobyl suggest that while some
answers will materialise soon, it may takes months, even years, for the full
picture to emerge.

How that happens depends in large part on the approach taken by Tepco and
Japan's nuclear authorities.

As with its counterparts in many other countries, Japan's nuclear industry
has not exactly been renowned for openness and transparency.

Tepco itself has been implicated in a series of cover-ups down the years.

In 2002, the chairman and four other executives resigned, suspected of
having falsified safety records at Tepco power stations.

Further examples of falsification were identified in 2006 and 2007.

In the longer term, Fukushima Daiichi raises several more very big
questions, inside and outside Japan.

Given that this is not the first time a Japanese nuclear station has been
hit by earthquake damage, is it wise to build such stations along the east
coast, given that such a seismically active zone lies just offshore?

And given that Three Mile Island effectively shut down the construction of
civilian nuclear reactors in the US for 30 years, what impact is Fukushima
Daiichi likely to have in an era when many countries, not least the UK, are
looking to re-enter the nuclear industry?

--
Peace Is Doable

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

__._,_.___

__,_._,___

National Forum | The Unity of India - Dr. Rajendra Prasad, First President of India

2011-03-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

The Unity of India

Dr. Rajendra Prasad

http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20071103095046/http://www.caip.rutgers.edu/~kanth/jwz/mbm/tuoi.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The diversity which I find in the local cultures and various
traditions of India fascinates me. Perhaps it is not the diversity
alone which is fascinating but the unifying thread of certain basic
concepts and beliefs which binds them all together.

...In her long history, India has never known regimentation of
thought. Even at the time when her thought touched Elysian heights and
the various systems of Indian philosophy were in the making, the most
interesting feature of Indian thought was its diverse pattern based on
the fullest freedom of thinking and philosophising. What greater proof
can there be of this freedom than that not fewer than half of the six
schools of Indian philosophy may be said to be atheistic in nature and
that, in each of the remaining three which believe in God, the
underlying idea of the Supreme Being is quite different? Nevertheless,
this amazing diversity characterising the intellectual and emotional
levels of the people never seriously underminded their cultural unity
and their beliefs in things and matters important in everyday life.

------------------------------------

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Re: National Forum | Japan's Nuclear Disaster and Response of Indian "Experts"!

2011-03-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

No wonder that Manmohan Singh who has never ever threatened to resign
on issues of mind boggling corruption, had threatened to do so unless
the nuclear deal was cleared. There has been no other issue on which
he has acted so shamelessly as an agent of the USA.

On 14/03/2011, Sukla Sen <sukla.sen@gmail.com> wrote:
> When the whole world is talking of two major explosions at two nuclear
> reactor sites in Fukushima blowing off parts of protective structures,
> (forced) radioactive releases, pumping of seawater to cool down the core as
> a *desperate* measure, ongoing "meltdown" of the cores and various possible
> (spine chilling) scenarios resulting therefrom; the Indian *experts* without
> batting an eyelid are telling us that there is nothing untoward happening
> and "(i)t is a well planned emergency preparedness programme which the
> nuclear operators of the Tokyo Electric Power company are carrying out to
> contain the residual heat after the plants had an automatic shutdown
> following a major earthquake".
> What a bunch of brazen liars!
> Of what great value are their assurances as regards the safety of Indian
> nuclear power plants!
>
> Sukla
>
> http://www.dailypioneer.com/324441/No-nuclear-accident-in-Fukushima-Indian-N-experts.html
>
> <http://www.dailypioneer.com/324441/No-nuclear-accident-in-Fukushima-Indian-N-experts.html>
> *No "nuclear" accident in Fukushima: Indian N-experts*
> March 14, 2011 10:47:31 PM
>
> *PTI | Mumbai*
>
> Top officials of Department of Atomic Energy today said the Indian civil
> nuclear programme will continue, without any compromise on safety
> parameters, and also claimed that what has happened in Japan's Fukushima
> plant was not a "nuclear accident".
>
> "Safety is the overriding parameter and DAE can not take any shortcut and
> Indian plants are safe but after analysing the situation in the nuclear
> reactors of Fukushima which have been affected due to an unprecedented
> tsunami preceded by high magnitude earthquake, we will revisit the safety
> aspects of our plants," top DAE officials said.
>
> "There is no nuclear accident or incident in the Japan's Fukushima plants.
> It is a well planned emergency preparedness programme which the nuclear
> operators of the Tokyo Electric Power company are carrying out to contain
> the residual heat after the plants had an automatic shutdown following a
> major earthquake," said S K Jain, the Chairman and Managing Director of
> Nuclear Power Corporation.
>
> "Once the plant shuts down after an emergency situation automatically, the
> fission reaction stops and it is only the residual heat that has to be
> quenched and that is what the Japanese were doing," Chairman, Atomic Energy
> Commission, Dr Srikumar Banerjee said.
>
> "Because of the unprecedented tsunami, the external power was unavailable
> for the emergency diesel generators to take over... During the process the
> pressure was building up in the reactor which had to be released in a phased
> manner. Which resulted in the exothermic reaction due to hydrogen
> generation," he said.
>
> "It was purely a chemical reaction and not a nuclear emergency as described
> by some section of media," Banerjee said.
>
> "It is a big challenge for our colleagues in Japan to fight an unusual
> situation due to natural disaster and we salute them as they are managing in
> spite of the danger," Banerjee said.
>
> Talking about Indian reactors, Jain said they are safe but there is "no
> complacence on safety."
>
> Regarding the French EPR reactors which are proposed for Jaitapur plant in
> Ratnagiri district, Banerjee and Jain said the design of EPR is based on the
> design experience of 58 reactors running in Europe, and when the Indian EPR
> will come up it would have seen the experience of five such similar plants
> in Finland, France, China and UK.
>
> In the case of Japanese nuclear plants it was the station blackout which was
> the root cause and such a thing will not happen in the existing as well as
> future Indian reactors, they said.
>
> Talking about Jaitapur site again, Banerjee said it is much above the sea
> level, and on the western coast, probability of tsunami is also very less.
>
> Jain said India is uniquely placed as it has a centralised emergency
> operating centre with well drawn procedures scrutinised by regulators.
>
> "Our plants also have multiple level of heat removal system," he said.
>
>
> --
> Peace Is Doable
>

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National Forum | The nuclear industry lies all the time - False safety reports

2011-03-14T15:24:00.000-07:00

The failure of emergency systems at Japan's nuclear plants comes as no
surprise to those of us who have worked in the field.

Nuclear plants the world over must be certified for what is called
"SQ" or "Seismic Qualification." That is, the owners swear that all
components are designed for the maximum conceivable shaking event, be
it from an earthquake or an exploding Christmas card from al-Qaeda.

The most inexpensive way to meet your SQ is to lie. The industry does
it all the time. The government team I worked with caught them once,
in 1988, at the Shoreham plant in New York. Correcting the SQ problem
at Shoreham would have cost a cool billion, so engineers were told to
change the tests from "failed" to "passed."

The company that put in the false safety report? Stone & Webster, now
the nuclear unit of Shaw Construction, which will work with TEPCO to
build the Texas plant. Lord help us.

There's more.

http://www.truth-out.org/tokyo-electric-build-us-nuclear-plants-the-no-bs-info-japans-disastrous-nuclear-operators68457

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Re: National Forum | Life in Jharia Coalfield Underground Fire Areas

2011-03-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

I WOULD REQUEST THAT THIS SHOULD BE SENT TO NEW CZAR MR RAMESH SO
HE CAN JUDGE THE ENVOIRNMENTAL PROBLEMS SINCE HE DOENOT BELEIVE THAT COAL SHOULD BE USED FOR POWER.
Shadi

--- On Mon, 3/14/11, sudesh.kumar@jharkhand.org.uk <sudeshkumar@jharkhand.org.uk> wrote:

From: sudesh.kumar@jharkhand.org.uk <sudeshkumar@jharkhand.org.uk>
Subject: National Forum | Life in Jharia Coalfield Underground Fire Areas
To: "national-forum-of-india" <national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.co.in>
Date: Monday, March 14, 2011, 3:11 AM

Jharia Coalfield Underground Fire

A laborer chips away at a seam of coal on Jan. 7, 2011 as she scavenges at an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

A young laborer chips away at a seam of coal as he scavenges at an open-cast mine on Jan. 6, 2011 in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

A laborer chips away at a seam of coal as he scavenges at an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 7, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

A coal scavenger carries a block of coal illegally taken from an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 7, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

Laborers carry baskets of coal illegally gathered from an open-cast mine on Jan. 5, 2011 in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

Laborers carry large baskets of coal as they illegally scavenged from an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 6, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

Laborers carry baskets of coal illegally taken from an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 7, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

People carry baskets of coal scavenged illegally at an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 7, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

Youths fly a kite as coal fires from scavenged coal burn near an open-cast mine in the Jharia District of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 6, 2011.

A girl dances near plumes of smoke from fires of coal scavenged by her family in the New Colony village in Jharkand, India on Jan. 7, 2011.

Children stand near a Hindu temple in the New Colony village where a community of coal scavengers lives and works in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.

A person stands next to small piles of coal burning after scavenging from an open-cast mine in the Jharia district of Jharkand, India on Jan. 6, 2011.

Laborers stand next to small piles of coal burning after scavenging it from an open-cast mine in the Jharia district of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 6, 2011.

Stray dogs stand on the parched and burnt earth where underground coal fires are burning in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 6, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

Smoke from an underground coal fire rises from the ground near an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari, where a community of coal scavengers live and work in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 5, 2011.

Men stand next to the glowing embers of an underground coal fire in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 6, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

A man and child stay warm next to small piles of burning coal illegally scavenged near an open-cast mine in the Jharia district of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 5, 2011.

Young coal scavengers stand together next to a burning pile of coal in Jharia in Jharkand, India on Jan. 5, 2011.

Coal scavengers warm themselves by a pile of burning coal near an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 5, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

A building demolished by authorities to keep residents from returning in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 7, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

A view of new apartments in Belgarhia on Jan. 6, 2011 in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand built by the government to house relocated coal scavengers and residents of the Jharia district.

Photo Credit: Kevin Frayer

Save Jharia from Underground Fire
Email: jharia@jharkhand.org.in

Website: http://jharia.jharkhand.org.in

--
Sudesh Kumar
J H A R K H A N D
www.jharkhand.org.in

Email: sudesh.kumar@jharkhand.org.uk or sudesh.kumar@jharkhand.org.in

__._,_.___

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National Forum | Japan's Nuclear Disaster and Response of Indian "Experts"!

2011-03-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

When the whole world is talking of two major explosions at two nuclear reactor sites in Fukushima blowing off parts of protective structures, (forced) radioactive releases, pumping of seawater to cool down the core as a desperate measure, ongoing "meltdown" of the cores and various possible (spine chilling) scenarios resulting therefrom; the Indian experts without batting an eyelid are telling us that there is nothing untoward happening and "(i)t is a well planned emergency preparedness programme which the nuclear operators of the Tokyo Electric Power company are carrying out to contain the residual heat after the plants had an automatic shutdown following a major earthquake".

What a bunch of brazen liars!

Of what great value are their assurances as regards the safety of Indian nuclear power plants!

Sukla

http://www.dailypioneer.com/324441/No-nuclear-accident-in-Fukushima-Indian-N-experts.html

No "nuclear" accident in Fukushima: Indian N-experts
March 14, 2011 10:47:31 PM

PTI | Mumbai

Top officials of Department of Atomic Energy today said the Indian civil nuclear programme will continue, without any compromise on safety parameters, and also claimed that what has happened in Japan's Fukushima plant was not a "nuclear accident".

"Safety is the overriding parameter and DAE can not take any shortcut and Indian plants are safe but after analysing the situation in the nuclear reactors of Fukushima which have been affected due to an unprecedented tsunami preceded by high magnitude earthquake, we will revisit the safety aspects of our plants," top DAE officials said.

"There is no nuclear accident or incident in the Japan's Fukushima plants. It is a well planned emergency preparedness programme which the nuclear operators of the Tokyo Electric Power company are carrying out to contain the residual heat after the plants had an automatic shutdown following a major earthquake," said S K Jain, the Chairman and Managing Director of Nuclear Power Corporation.

"Once the plant shuts down after an emergency situation automatically, the fission reaction stops and it is only the residual heat that has to be quenched and that is what the Japanese were doing," Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, Dr Srikumar Banerjee said.

"Because of the unprecedented tsunami, the external power was unavailable for the emergency diesel generators to take over... During the process the pressure was building up in the reactor which had to be released in a phased manner. Which resulted in the exothermic reaction due to hydrogen generation," he said.

"It was purely a chemical reaction and not a nuclear emergency as described by some section of media," Banerjee said.

"It is a big challenge for our colleagues in Japan to fight an unusual situation due to natural disaster and we salute them as they are managing in spite of the danger," Banerjee said.

Talking about Indian reactors, Jain said they are safe but there is "no complacence on safety."

Regarding the French EPR reactors which are proposed for Jaitapur plant in Ratnagiri district, Banerjee and Jain said the design of EPR is based on the design experience of 58 reactors running in Europe, and when the Indian EPR will come up it would have seen the experience of five such similar plants in Finland, France, China and UK.

In the case of Japanese nuclear plants it was the station blackout which was the root cause and such a thing will not happen in the existing as well as future Indian reactors, they said.

Talking about Jaitapur site again, Banerjee said it is much above the sea level, and on the western coast, probability of tsunami is also very less.

Jain said India is uniquely placed as it has a centralised emergency operating centre with well drawn procedures scrutinised by regulators.

"Our plants also have multiple level of heat removal system," he said.

--
Peace Is Doable

__._,_.___

__,_._,___

Re: National Forum | WELCOME - a positive stand taken by the BSF to stop killings, at last

2011-03-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

This is bad news as loss of life was the greatest deterrent.

Now more and more bangladeshis would try to sneak in as the only risk
is - no risk; they will be returned back to their own country.

And this is for a country who has been refusing to take back deported
bangladeshis in india .

Please grow up and leave human rights at home. We are already
struggling with a huge population and your human right stuff will open
the border to more and more trespassers.

Manoj Padhi

On Monday, March 14, 2011, Kirity Roy <kirityroy@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=177508
> No more death on border
>
> BSF to
> use non-lethal weapons, pledges to bring down firing incidents
>
>
>
> Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi
>
>
> India
> yesterday announced to equip its Border Security Force (BSF) with non-lethal
> weapons in order to stop killing of unarmed Bangladeshis along its border.
>
>
> The BSF
> jawans will carry the non-lethal arms in addition to the regular ones, BSF
> Director General Raman Srivastava said. However, he denied elaborating about
> non-lethal arms.
>
>
> He was
> addressing a joint press conference with the Director General of Border Guard
> Bangladesh (BGB) Maj Gen Rafiqul Islam after conclusion of 5-day annual talks
> between the border guard forces here.
>
>
> Initially
> the non-lethal weapons will be used in certain designated points along
> India-Bangladesh border on an experimental basis.
>
>
> "If this
> succeeds in bringing down the number of fatalities, we will expand it further
> to cover the entire border," he added.
>
>
> A joint
> statement issued after the meeting said, "On the issue of death of Bangladeshi
> nationals, both the sides agreed to take steps to reduce such incidents due to
> firing along the border."
>
>
> "We want BSF
> to follow the rules of engagement by arresting and handing over to us any
> trespasser or anybody else involved in cross-border crime," said Maj Gen
> Rafiqul Islam, head of the 20-member BGB delegation.
>
>
>
> He pointed
> out that movement of people across the border has been a 'complex' issue since
> the partition of the Indian sub-continent but firing is not a solution to it.
>
>
> The BSF DG
> assured his counterpart of showing utmost restraint while dealing with
> cross-border crimes.
>
>
> Appreciating
> BSF's stand, Maj Gen Rafiqul said there has been not a single incident of
> killing in BSF firing since January 7 this year, after the killing of
> 15-year-old Felani on Kurigram border.
>
>
> The two
> countries have no option but to go for tough action against drug trafficking
> and illegal movement of people across the border, observed the BGB chief.
>
>
> Bangladesh
> will get 24-hour access to Tin Bigha corridor which connects Dahagram and
> Angarpota enclaves in India with the mainland, he added.
>
> Srivastava
> said the BGB delegation has assured India of taking effective steps to ensure
> there is no illegal movement along the border.
>
>
> Referring to
> a controversy over building structures on Indian side within 150 yards of the
> border, the BSF chief said Bangladesh has agreed to allow India to undertake
> development work like construction of roads, culverts and bridges in the area
> with prior information.
>
>
> "We will
> provide advance information to BGB on our developmental work and if they have
> any objection, we will sort those out. We will go ahead only if there is no
> objection," mentioned the BSF DG.
>
>
> During the
> meeting the BGB team handed over to India a list of criminals and
> anti-Bangladeshi persons, including those of Bangabhumi movement and persons
> smuggling phensedyl syrup.
>
>
>
> The Indian
> side also supplied Bangladesh with their list of miscreants involved in human
> trafficking and those helping passing of counterfeit Indian currency through
> Bangladesh from other countries.
>
>
> Replying to
> a question if the BGB's list contained the name of Risaldar Moslehuddin, an
> absconding killer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Rafiqul said his name
> was in a list handed over at home secretary-level talks in Dhaka sometime ago.
>
>
> Both the
> sides agreed on major aspects of joint border management which awaits approval
> by the government of Bangladesh.
>
>
>
> The two
> border forces have decided to enhance interaction between them through more
> field-level meetings and weekly sector commander-level contacts, said
> Srivastava.
>
>
> In an
> apparent reference to arrest of several ULFA leaders last year, he said India
> has noted with appreciation the help from Bangladesh in bringing Indian
> insurgents to justice.
>
>
>
> In another
> decision to boost the confidence of the two border guard forces, the BGB and
> BSF have decided to arrange a joint retreat ceremony on Benapole-Petrapole
> border.
>
>
>
> Modalities
> of the joint retreat were being worked out and it is expected to begin in a
> couple of months, noted the BSF chief.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Manoj Padhi

------------------------------------

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National Forum | Why Indian hate Police??

2011-03-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

Friends,

I present a clipping of the brutality related with Lucknow police while dealing with a political rally and demonstration.
Having seen this, I am sure all of you will understand why Police in India is not all that loved and people have a general feeling of hatred towards them.
How will all this change, is a big question.
U might comment after having seen the video clipping.
As Human Rights activist, we do feel greatly pained by such brutal and violent behaviour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jNdjVs2zJY

Dr Nutan Thakur

__._,_.___

__,_._,___

National Forum | WELCOME - a positive stand taken by the BSF to stop killings, at last

2011-03-14T05:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=177508

No more death on border

BSF to use non-lethal weapons, pledges to bring down firing incidents

Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi

India yesterday announced to equip its Border Security Force (BSF) with non-lethal weapons in order to stop killing of unarmed Bangladeshis along its border.

The BSF jawans will carry the non-lethal arms in addition to the regular ones, BSF Director General Raman Srivastava said. However, he denied elaborating about non-lethal arms.

He was addressing a joint press conference with the Director General of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Maj Gen Rafiqul Islam after conclusion of 5-day annual talks between the border guard forces here.

Initially the non-lethal weapons will be used in certain designated points along India-Bangladesh border on an experimental basis.

"If this succeeds in bringing down the number of fatalities, we will expand it further to cover the entire border," he added.

A joint statement issued after the meeting said, "On the issue of death of Bangladeshi nationals, both the sides agreed to take steps to reduce such incidents due to firing along the border."

"We want BSF to follow the rules of engagement by arresting and handing over to us any trespasser or anybody else involved in cross-border crime," said Maj Gen Rafiqul Islam, head of the 20-member BGB delegation.

He pointed out that movement of people across the border has been a 'complex' issue since the partition of the Indian sub-continent but firing is not a solution to it.

The BSF DG assured his counterpart of showing utmost restraint while dealing with cross-border crimes.

Appreciating BSF's stand, Maj Gen Rafiqul said there has been not a single incident of killing in BSF firing since January 7 this year, after the killing of 15-year-old Felani on Kurigram border.

The two countries have no option but to go for tough action against drug trafficking and illegal movement of people across the border, observed the BGB chief.

Bangladesh will get 24-hour access to Tin Bigha corridor which connects Dahagram and Angarpota enclaves in India with the mainland, he added.

Srivastava said the BGB delegation has assured India of taking effective steps to ensure there is no illegal movement along the border.

Referring to a controversy over building structures on Indian side within 150 yards of the border, the BSF chief said Bangladesh has agreed to allow India to undertake development work like construction of roads, culverts and bridges in the area with prior information.

"We will provide advance information to BGB on our developmental work and if they have any objection, we will sort those out. We will go ahead only if there is no objection," mentioned the BSF DG.

During the meeting the BGB team handed over to India a list of criminals and anti-Bangladeshi persons, including those of Bangabhumi movement and persons smuggling phensedyl syrup.

The Indian side also supplied Bangladesh with their list of miscreants involved in human trafficking and those helping passing of counterfeit Indian currency through Bangladesh from other countries.

Replying to a question if the BGB's list contained the name of Risaldar Moslehuddin, an absconding killer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Rafiqul said his name was in a list handed over at home secretary-level talks in Dhaka sometime ago.

Both the sides agreed on major aspects of joint border management which awaits approval by the government of Bangladesh.

The two border forces have decided to enhance interaction between them through more field-level meetings and weekly sector commander-level contacts, said Srivastava.

In an apparent reference to arrest of several ULFA leaders last year, he said India has noted with appreciation the help from Bangladesh in bringing Indian insurgents to justice.

In another decision to boost the confidence of the two border guard forces, the BGB and BSF have decided to arrange a joint retreat ceremony on Benapole-Petrapole border.

Modalities of the joint retreat were being worked out and it is expected to begin in a couple of months, noted the BSF chief.

__._,_.___

__,_._,___

National Forum | Life in Jharia Coalfield Underground Fire Areas

2011-03-14T00:11:00.000-07:00

Jharia Coalfield Underground Fire

A laborer chips away at a seam of coal on Jan. 7, 2011 as she scavenges at an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

A young laborer chips away at a seam of coal as he scavenges at an open-cast mine on Jan. 6, 2011 in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

A laborer chips away at a seam of coal as he scavenges at an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 7, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

A coal scavenger carries a block of coal illegally taken from an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 7, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

Laborers carry baskets of coal illegally gathered from an open-cast mine on Jan. 5, 2011 in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

Laborers carry large baskets of coal as they illegally scavenged from an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 6, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

Laborers carry baskets of coal illegally taken from an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 7, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

People carry baskets of coal scavenged illegally at an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 7, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

Youths fly a kite as coal fires from scavenged coal burn near an open-cast mine in the Jharia District of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 6, 2011.

A girl dances near plumes of smoke from fires of coal scavenged by her family in the New Colony village in Jharkand, India on Jan. 7, 2011.

Children stand near a Hindu temple in the New Colony village where a community of coal scavengers lives and works in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.

A person stands next to small piles of coal burning after scavenging from an open-cast mine in the Jharia district of Jharkand, India on Jan. 6, 2011.

Laborers stand next to small piles of coal burning after scavenging it from an open-cast mine in the Jharia district of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 6, 2011.

Stray dogs stand on the parched and burnt earth where underground coal fires are burning in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 6, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

Smoke from an underground coal fire rises from the ground near an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari, where a community of coal scavengers live and work in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 5, 2011.

Men stand next to the glowing embers of an underground coal fire in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 6, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

A man and child stay warm next to small piles of burning coal illegally scavenged near an open-cast mine in the Jharia district of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 5, 2011.

Young coal scavengers stand together next to a burning pile of coal in Jharia in Jharkand, India on Jan. 5, 2011.

Coal scavengers warm themselves by a pile of burning coal near an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 5, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

A building demolished by authorities to keep residents from returning in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Jan. 7, 2011 where a community of coal scavengers live and work.

A view of new apartments in Belgarhia on Jan. 6, 2011 in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand built by the government to house relocated coal scavengers and residents of the Jharia district.

Photo Credit: Kevin Frayer

Save Jharia from Underground Fire
Email: jharia@jharkhand.org.in

Website: http://jharia.jharkhand.org.in

--
Sudesh Kumar
J H A R K H A N D
www.jharkhand.org.in

Email: sudesh.kumar@jharkhand.org.uk or sudesh.kumar@jharkhand.org.in

__._,_.___

__,_._,___

National Forum | A silent candle light vigil to denounce nuclearisation and mourn the dead in Japan as a result of Tsunami and Earthquake on Monday, 14th March 6.30 PM in front of Gandhi Museum , Madurai

2011-03-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

All the best for this vigil. I am with you in solidarity though from this distance.

Walter

Dr Walter Fernandes

Sent: Sunday, March 13, 2011 11:16 PM

Subject: [IHRO] Invitation - A silent candle light vigil to denounce nuclearisation and mourn the dead in Japan as a result of Tsunami and Earthquake on Monday, 14th March 6.30 PM in front of Gandhi Museum , Madurai

Dear Friends and colleagues,

Sub : Invitation - A silent candle light vigil to denounce nuclearisation and mourn the dead in Japan as a result of Tsunami and Earthquake on Monday, 14^th March 6.30 PM in front of Gandhi Museum , Madurai

There is nothing we can do except mourn the dead when tragedies of nature strike us. In solidarity with grieving families in Japan we shall come together to mourn all those who have left this planet as a result of that Tsunami, Earthquake and the volcano.

There is something that all of us can do when plans are made to destroy planet earth and human lives. Nuclearisation is one such conspiracy by governments and policy-makers. With a nuclear leak, Japan is battling to avoid a nuclear disaster. A huge blast has caused damage to nuclear power plants there. Several workers were reported to have been injured and exposed to radiation. The toll had risen to at least 1,700 deaths. As many as 10,000 people were missing in the town of Minamisanriku in Miyagi prefecture. There were also reports that the hourly radiation levels at the damaged Japanese nuclear plant are increasing the risk of developing cancer for anyone exposed to the leak. Japanese TV has warned people living near Fukushima nuclear power station to stay indoors. Residents were being told to turn off air-conditioners and not to drink tap water. People going outside were also been told to avoid exposing their skin and to cover their faces with masks and wet towels.

The reactor's cooling system has failed. Radiation inside the plant soared to 1,000 times its normal level, officials said, triggering evacuation orders for residents. Workers were battling to cool and stabilise the cores of three reactors. It was unclear to what extent the reactors' external structures had been damaged. Officials and scientists were offering conflicting verdicts on the severity to public health. Initially, more than 3,000 people living within two miles of the plant were evacuated, with those within a seven-mile radius told to stay indoors. But with a third of the town underwater after a nearby dam burst and radiation levels continuing to rise, officials warned of a leak and tripled the safety cordon to six miles. The government has ordered the evacuation of 45,000 people. The Japanese do not have the situation under control.

No state could think of the situation under control with nuclear installations and weapons. By its very nature nuclearisation is dangerous.

Come and join us at 6.30 PM on 14^th March at the entrance to the Madurai Gandhi Museum with candles. Inform your friends. We shall add our voices against nuclearisation of India and the globe. Mr. Henri Tiphagne, Executive Director of People's Watch will preside over the event.

This call is presently being jointly issued by the Tamilnadu Theological Seminary, Lady Doak College, SIRD, SOCO Trust, EKTA, PEAL, Womens' Consumer Protection Association, Elders Forum for Social Awareness and Action, People's Watch, IHRE, Sudhanthra, Citizens for Human Rights Movement. This is an inclusive call and all others who are willing to join are kindly requested to consider themselves as part of this call and this I not to exclude anyone from the same. All sections of society from Madurai irrespective of our different professions are invited to participate in large numbers and make it a grand success.

Citizens' Initiative to denounce nuclearisation and mourn the dead in Japan as a result of Tsunami and Earthquake,

C/O People's Watch, 6 Vallabai Road, Madurai 625 002

Issued on behalf of the Citizens Initiative by :

Mr. C.J. Rajan, Director,

Tamilnadu Program on Human Rights and Democracy,

People's Watch

Madurai

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies and the original message. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of this email or any action taken in reliance on this e-mail is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. The recipient acknowledges that People's Watch or the Institute of Human Rights Education or Sudhanthra, are unable to exercise control or ensure or guarantee the integrity of/over the contents of the information contained in e-mail transmissions and further acknowledges that any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and no binding nature of the message shall be implied or assumed unless the sender does so expressly with due authority of People's Watch. Before opening any attachments please check them for viruses and defects.

__._,_.___

__,_._,___

National Forum | Re: Japan Disaster Raises the Larger Question (once again): Is Nuclear Power Safe?

2011-03-13T08:53:00.000-07:00

Kumar ji,

It is not the time to bring out all the know how against India -US pact but to think of the circumstances such accident happened and the loss of life. Our thoughts should be for the losses and disappearance of many families. It is time to show some sympathy for the Japanese people. We should be praying for the welfare of the nation and her p[eople.
Shadi

--- On Sat, 3/12/11, S kumar <kumar_8134@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: S kumar <kumar_8134@yahoo.com>
Subject: [media_monitor5] Re: [issuesonline_worldwide] Japan Disaster Raises the Larger Question (once again): Is Nuclear Power Safe?
To: issuesonline_worldwide@yahoogroups.com, "IHRO" <ihro@yahoogroups.com>, arkitectindia@yahoogroups.com, invitesplus@yahoogroups.com, "indiathinkersnet" <indiathinkersnet@yahoogroups.com>, "mahajanapada" <Mahajanapada@yahoogroups.com>, "bahujan" <Bahujan@yahoogroups.com>, national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.co.in
Cc: media_monitor5@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, March 12, 2011, 11:52 PM

>>>In the worst-case scenario, the core melts through the bottom of the reactor vessel and falls onto the floor of the containment vessel - an outer sealed unit.

This is designed to prevent the molten reactor from penetrating any further. Local damage in this case will be serious, but in principle there should be no leakage of radioactive material into the outside world.>>>

The Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Commssion stated in a TV interview telecast last night, that EXCEPT FOR KOODANKULAM COMPLEX UNDER COMMISSIONING NEAR KANYAKUMARI, NO OTHER REACTOR IN THE COUNTRY HAS THIS FACILITY OF COLLECTING IN A CONTAINMENT VESSEL, AND ANY DISASTER WOULD LEAD TO AN UNCONTROLLED CHAIN REACTION AND EXPLOSION, SPREADING RADIATION IN A 20 km RADIUS.

The alacrity and secretness in which the UPA rushed through the 123 agreemenet with U.S. prompted by former President Bush, reveals that the US was apparently attempting to palm off the 13 year old reactors lying in the godowns of Northrop, Westinghouse and GE due to the ban on further assembly of reactors in U.S., to India, with obsolete technology and controls 13 years old, with all accompanying risks of disasters due to malfunctioning.

This is why U.S. introduced the "Hyde Clause" of absolvimng itself of all responsibilities once the plant is loaded on the ships sailing to Indian ports. The Manmohan Singh gang told outright lies to Indian public that Hyde Act is not applicable to India and this was disproved when the 123 details were put on website by U.S. authorities after these were signed at Tokyo.

No wonder the Maharashtra Coastal villages are protesting against the location of nuclear reactor apprehending impending dangers of pollution, radiation and inabiliyty of Indian authorities to dispose off the radio active waste material

From: Sukla Sen <sukla.sen@gmail.com>
To: IHRO <ihro@yahoogroups.com>; issueonline <issuesonline_worldwide@yahoogroups.com>; arkitectindia@yahoogroups.com; invitesplus@yahoogroups.com; indiathinkersnet <indiathinkersnet@yahoogroups.com>; mahajanapada <Mahajanapada@yahoogroups.com>; bahujan <Bahujan@yahoogroups.com>; national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.co.in
Sent: Sun, March 13, 2011 8:29:20 AM
Subject: [issuesonline_worldwide] Japan Disaster Raises the Larger Question (once again): Is Nuclear Power Safe?

Quote
The word "meltdown" goes to the heart of the big nuclear question - is
nuclear power safe?
Unquote

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12723092

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12723092>
12 March 2011 Last updated at 13:44 GMT
Exodus from Japan nuclear plant

By Richard BlackEnvironment correspondent, BBC News

The word "meltdown" goes to the heart of the big nuclear question - is
nuclear power safe?

The term is associated in the public mind with the two most notorious
accidents in recent memory - Three Mile Island, in the US, in 1979, and
Chernobyl, in Ukraine, seven years later.

You can think of the core of a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR), such as the ones
at Fukushima Daiichi, as a massive version of the electrical element you may
have in your kettle.

It sits there, immersed in water, getting very hot.

The water cools it, and also carries the heat away - usually as steam - so
it can be used to turn turbines and generate electricity.

If the water stops flowing, there is a problem. The core overheats and more
of the water turns to steam.

The steam generates huge pressures inside the reactor vessel - a big, sealed
container - and if the largely metal core gets too hot, it will just melt,
with some components perhaps catching fire.

In the worst-case scenario, the core melts through the bottom of the reactor
vessel and falls onto the floor of the containment vessel - an outer sealed
unit.

This is designed to prevent the molten reactor from penetrating any further.
Local damage in this case will be serious, but in principle there should be
no leakage of radioactive material into the outside world.

But the term "in principle" is the difficult one.

Reactors are designed to have "multiply redundant" safety features: if one
fails, another should contain the problem.

However, the fact that this does not always work is shown at Fukushima
Daiichi.

The earthquake meant the three functioning reactors shut down. But it also
removed the power that kept the vital water pumps running, sending cooling
water around the hot core.

Diesel generators were installed to provide power in such a situation. They
did cut in - but then they cut out again an hour later, for reasons that
have not yet been revealed.

In this case, redundancy did not work.

And the big fear within the anti-nuclear movement, as used in the film The
China Syndrome, is that the multiple containment of a molten core might not
work either, allowing highly radioactive and toxic metals to burrow into the
ground, with serious and long-lasting environmental impacts - total
meltdown.

However, the counter-argument from nuclear proponents is that the partial
meltdown at Three Mile Island did not cause any serious effects.

Yes, the core melted, but the containment systems held.

And at Chernobyl - a reactor design regarded in the West as inherently
unsafe, and which would not have been sanctioned in any non-Soviet bloc
nation - the environmental impacts occurred through explosive release of
material into the air, not from a melting reactor core.

To keep things in perspective, no nuclear accident has caused anything
approaching the 1,000 short-term fatalities stemming from Friday's
earthquake and tsunami.
'Subcritical' reactors

Whether a partial meltdown is under way at Fukushima Daiichi is not yet
clear.

The most important factor is summed up in a bulletin from the Tokyo Electric
Power Company (Tepco) that owns the facility: "Control rods are fully
inserted (reactor is in subcritical status)."

Control rods shut off the nuclear reaction. Heat continues to be produced at
that stage through the decay of radioactive nuclei - but that process in
turn will begin to tail off.

Intriguingly, Ryohei Shiomi, an official at Japan's Nuclear Safety
Commission, is widely quoted as having said a meltdown was possible and that
officials were checking.

Meanwhile, a visually dramatic explosion in one of the reactor buildings has
at least severely damaged the external walls.

In principle, this should not cause leakage of radioactive material because
the building is just an outside shell; the job of keeping dangerous
materials sealed in falls to the the metal containment vessel inside.

Chief cabinet secretary Chief Yukio Edano confirmed this was the case,
saying: "The concrete building collapsed. We found out that the reactor
container inside didn't explode."

He attributed the explosion to a build-up of hydrogen, related in turn to
the cooling problem.
Under pressure

The only release of any radioactive material that we know about so far
concerns venting of the containment vessel.

When steam pressure builds up in the reactor vessel, it stops some of the
emergency cooling systems working, and so some of the steam is released into
the containment vessel.

However, according to World Nuclear News, an industry newsletter, this
caused pressure in the containment vessel to rise to twice the intended
operating level, so the decision was taken to vent some of this into the
atmosphere.

In principle, this should contain only short-lived radioactive isotopes such
as nitrogen-16 produced through the water's exposure to the core. Venting
this would be likely to produce short-lived gamma-ray activity - which has,
reportedly, been detected.

One factor that has yet to be explained is the apparent detection of
radioactive isotopes of caesium.

This is produced during the nuclear reaction, and should be confined within
the reactor core.

If it has been detected outside the plant, that could imply that the core
has begun to disintegrate.

"If any of the fuel rods have been compromised, there would be evidence of a
small amount of radioisotopes in the atmosphere [such as] radio-caesium and
radio-iodine," says Paddy Regan, professor of nuclear physics at the UK's
University of Surrey.

"The amount that you measure would tell you to what degree the fuel rods
have been compromised."

It is an important question - but as yet, unanswered.
Cover-ups and questions

In fact, the whole incident so far contains more questions than answers.

Parallels with Three Mile Island and Chernobyl suggest that while some
answers will materialise soon, it may takes months, even years, for the full
picture to emerge.

How that happens depends in large part on the approach taken by Tepco and
Japan's nuclear authorities.

As with its counterparts in many other countries, Japan's nuclear industry
has not exactly been renowned for openness and transparency.

Tepco itself has been implicated in a series of cover-ups down the years.

In 2002, the chairman and four other executives resigned, suspected of
having falsified safety records at Tepco power stations.

Further examples of falsification were identified in 2006 and 2007.

In the longer term, Fukushima Daiichi raises several more very big
questions, inside and outside Japan.

Given that this is not the first time a Japanese nuclear station has been
hit by earthquake damage, is it wise to build such stations along the east
coast, given that such a seismically active zone lies just offshore?

And given that Three Mile Island effectively shut down the construction of
civilian nuclear reactors in the US for 30 years, what impact is Fukushima
Daiichi likely to have in an era when many countries, not least the UK, are
looking to re-enter the nuclear industry?

--
Peace Is Doable

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

__._,_.___

__,_._,___

National Forum | RSS CAPRICE:

2011-03-13T05:01:00.000-07:00

Sir,

The Hindu right wing party RSS is in the process of giving up its natural
leather belt and shoes for synthetic ones since its cadre feels uncomfortable
wearing leather items given the fact that they're manufactured from the hides of
slaughtered cattle.

Will this move solve the problem?

While their collective conscience may be assuaged by this measure, what about
the environmental consequences?

Is the contribution of green house gases emitted by millions of cattle reared
for the table going to diminish?

Is the pressure put by large animal farms on valuable land and water resources
and grain consumption going to ease?

Is animal slaughter and conservation of precious natural resources and
protection of the environment going to end by this cosmetic gesture in view of
the fact that most Indians are taking to eating non-vegetarian food these days?

What about the process of tanning the natural leather that is, due to the use of
chromium and other harmful chemicals, damaging to the health of the workers and
the environment?

Besides, the glue used to hold the shoes together is highly toxic for people and
the environment.

Moreover, is synthetic leather eco-friendly, non-toxic and energy saving?

Is the move to switch to artificial leather a wise one considering its adverse
impact on the environment due to its non-biodegradability, intensive use of
non-renewable and carbon emitting fossil fuels in manufacture and incorporation
of toxic substances in the materials during processing?

If compassion to animals, conservation of finite resources and protection of the
environment have to be taken into account then the best move for the RSS or for
vegans would be switch to buying shoes and belts made from organic materials
like hemp, wool, cork, cotton denim or leather made from the hides of animals
who've died a natural death and that are tanned with natural chemicals and using
wooden or recycled rubber soles and heels that're renewable, biodegradable and
safe. Further, shoes can also be sewn together with natural fibers for a less
toxic alternative to glue.

Thanking you,

Arup K Isaacs

------------------------------------

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National Forum | Nuclear power industry watches warily as Japan's aging reactor is hit hard

2011-03-13T03:54:00.000-07:00

[Quote

We're against nuclear power because of this very reason: a nuclear power accident can turn into a disaster of huge proportions in just a short period of time, and it's not worth taking that risk.

Unquote

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/12/AR2011031205482.html

Nuclear power industry watches warily as Japan's aging reactor is hit hard

By Joel Achenbach
Sunday, March 13, 2011; A01

It's one of the oldest nuclear reactors in Japan, a boiling-water unit made by General Electric, just a couple of weeks shy of 40 years old and close to retirement age. On Saturday, something went very wrong. The explosion at Fukushima Daiichi's unit 1 rattled an already shaken nation and renewed anxiety that the exquisite technology of nuclear power may yet be overmatched by the natural violence of the earth.

The situation is exceedingly tense in a nation uniquely sensitive to the dangers of radiation - no other country knows the pain of being attacked with atomic weapons. Japan prides itself on the nation's preparation for calamity but now finds itself tested by a technological crisis piled mercilessly upon a horrific natural disaster.

The incident at Fukushima Daiichi has been felt across the planet's nuclear power industry.

"Obviously, anytime you have an incident at a nuclear plant that involves any kind of damage or an explosion, it's not good," said Mitch Singer, spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's lobbying arm. "But in the scheme of things, is it a disaster? We don't think so."

The explosion was not nuclear. Industry officials said it was created by the release of hydrogen gas that mixed with oxygen and exploded.

The building around the reactor vessel is partially destroyed, but Japanese officials say the primary vessel and the reactor core within are intact.

"If the reactor vessel is breached . . . then this radioactive stuff starts coming out in copious amounts," said Robert Alvarez, a former senior adviser to the Department of Energy who studies nuclear power at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington.

The three operating nuclear units at the complex all shut down automatically when the earthquake hit. But stopping a fission reactor isn't quite like throwing a switch. The reactors use nuclear fission to boil water, create steam, power turbines and generate electricity. But Friday the Fukushima complex was hit by a double whammy: violent shaking from the historic magnitude-8.9 earthquake, and then the battering-ram tsunami that crashed ashore.

During the shutdown, rods dropped into the reactor core to absorb neutrons and halt all nuclear fission. But radioactive elements continue to give off heat through radioactive decay.

To sap that heat, the plant needed power to circulate cooling water through the core. The temblor, however, knocked out the electrical grid, and the tsunami took the backup generators offline. Engineers then switched to batteries. But the batteries have limited duration, and the backup generators were brought in.

The term "meltdown" does not necessarily mean that the entire nuclear core has turned into a molten glob of metal and ceramic. It can be any event in which the core overheats and damages the apparatus. Such an event carries with it the danger of a release of radiation into the environment.

The Japanese nuclear regulatory agency reported a jump in radiation near the main gate of the complex over the course of five hours Saturday. Another spike in radiation, including the radioactive isotope cesium-137, was reported at a nearby observation post. Japanese authorities later said the radiation had dropped again. But the cesium-137 was the equivalent of a flare, a dramatic sign of something seriously awry.

The cesium-137 could come only from the radioactive fuel within the reactor core, Alvarez said. That means it escaped either from the reactor vessel itself, which would indicate a catastrophic breach, or from piping outside the reactor.

The nuclear power industry speaks of "defense in depth," a concept of multiple layers of containment and backup plans to ensure that, even if something goes wrong, catastrophe won't ensue. The failure of these systems in Japan carries an echo of the BP oil spill disaster, in which backup safety devices and redundancies turned out to be unequal to the unfolding blowout.

"The problem with the BP event is that they didn't have a Plan B," said Alex Marion, vice president of nuclear operations for the Nuclear Energy Institute. "We have, I would say, sufficient defense in depth. We have Plan B, C, D and possibly E."

Tom Clements, southeastern nuclear campaign coordinator for Friends of the Earth, said the damaged Japanese reactor was of a design "haunted by questions about its ability to survive a severe accident."

Clements added, "We're against nuclear power because of this very reason: a nuclear power accident can turn into a disaster of huge proportions in just a short period of time, and it's not worth taking that risk."

The nuclear industry has had two previous high-profile calamities: a partial meltdown in 1979 at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, and the far more disastrous 1986 fire at a plant near the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl.

As at Fukushima, the Three Mile Island accident was triggered by a disruption of water flow to the reactor. Several instruments failed and operators did not realize that pressure was building inside the reactor. A heavy secondary containment shield ultimately prevented all but a tiny amount of radiation from escaping into the environment.

The Chernobyl disaster, in contrast, was caused by a crude reactor design and at least six fatally flawed decisions by operators during a risky test. A huge power spike and the bad decisions drove the reactor out of control. An explosion then blew the reactor apart and spewed radioactive debris for a week.

Unlike U.S. and Japanese nuclear plants, Chernobyl lacked the heavy shielding that eventually halted the Three Mile Island disaster - and that all of Japan desperately hopes will prevent Fukushima Daiichi's unit 1 from melting down.

Staff writer Brian Vastag contributed to this report.

--
Peace Is Doable

__._,_.___

__,_._,___

Re: National Forum | Japan Disaster Raises the Larger Question (onceagain): Is Nuclear Power Safe?

2011-03-13T00:02:00.000-08:00

There is no 'risk-free' technology. The benefits and risks should balance out in favour of the benefits. Safety precautions should minimize risks. The enormous number of deaths in air and road accidents have not deterred any one from travelling. There are more risks in the house as well. The mishaps should be used to learn how we can strengthen safety measures. The earth quake and tsunami are no one's handiwork and if these did not happen the question of safety of the nuclear power plants would not have now arisen. The few and far in between accidents should not be used as an argument against a useful technology. Do not work against technology, fight for safety measures.

C Kameswara Rao

----- Original Message -----
From: Sukla Sen <sukla.sen@gmail.com>
Date: Sunday, March 13, 2011 8:36 am
Subject: National Forum | Japan Disaster Raises the Larger Question (onceagain): Is Nuclear Power Safe?

> Quote
> The word "meltdown" goes to the heart of the big nuclear question - is
> nuclear power safe?
> Unquote
>
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12723092
>
> <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12723092>
> 12 March 2011 Last updated at 13:44 GMT
> Exodus from Japan nuclear plant
>
> By Richard BlackEnvironment correspondent, BBC News
>
> The word "meltdown" goes to the heart of the big nuclear question - is
> nuclear power safe?
>
> The term is associated in the public mind with the two most notorious
> accidents in recent memory - Three Mile Island, in the US, in 1979,
> andChernobyl, in Ukraine, seven years later.
>
> You can think of the core of a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR), such as
> the ones
> at Fukushima Daiichi, as a massive version of the electrical
> element you may
> have in your kettle.
>
> It sits there, immersed in water, getting very hot.
>
> The water cools it, and also carries the heat away - usually as
> steam - so
> it can be used to turn turbines and generate electricity.
>
> If the water stops flowing, there is a problem. The core overheats
> and more
> of the water turns to steam.
>
> The steam generates huge pressures inside the reactor vessel - a
> big, sealed
> container - and if the largely metal core gets too hot, it will
> just melt,
> with some components perhaps catching fire.
>
> In the worst-case scenario, the core melts through the bottom of
> the reactor
> vessel and falls onto the floor of the containment vessel - an
> outer sealed
> unit.
>
> This is designed to prevent the molten reactor from penetrating any
> further.Local damage in this case will be serious, but in principle
> there should be
> no leakage of radioactive material into the outside world.
>
> But the term "in principle" is the difficult one.
>
> Reactors are designed to have "multiply redundant" safety features:
> if one
> fails, another should contain the problem.
>
> However, the fact that this does not always work is shown at Fukushima
> Daiichi.
>
> The earthquake meant the three functioning reactors shut down. But
> it also
> removed the power that kept the vital water pumps running, sending
> coolingwater around the hot core.
>
> Diesel generators were installed to provide power in such a
> situation. They
> did cut in - but then they cut out again an hour later, for reasons
> thathave not yet been revealed.
>
> In this case, redundancy did not work.
>
> And the big fear within the anti-nuclear movement, as used in the
> film The
> China Syndrome, is that the multiple containment of a molten core
> might not
> work either, allowing highly radioactive and toxic metals to burrow
> into the
> ground, with serious and long-lasting environmental impacts - total
> meltdown.
>
> However, the counter-argument from nuclear proponents is that the
> partialmeltdown at Three Mile Island did not cause any serious
> effects.
> Yes, the core melted, but the containment systems held.
>
> And at Chernobyl - a reactor design regarded in the West as inherently
> unsafe, and which would not have been sanctioned in any non-Soviet
> blocnation - the environmental impacts occurred through explosive
> release of
> material into the air, not from a melting reactor core.
>
> To keep things in perspective, no nuclear accident has caused anything
> approaching the 1,000 short-term fatalities stemming from Friday's
> earthquake and tsunami.
> 'Subcritical' reactors
>
> Whether a partial meltdown is under way at Fukushima Daiichi is not
> yetclear.
>
> The most important factor is summed up in a bulletin from the Tokyo
> ElectricPower Company (Tepco) that owns the facility: "Control rods
> are fully
> inserted (reactor is in subcritical status)."
>
> Control rods shut off the nuclear reaction. Heat continues to be
> produced at
> that stage through the decay of radioactive nuclei - but that
> process in
> turn will begin to tail off.
>
> Intriguingly, Ryohei Shiomi, an official at Japan's Nuclear Safety
> Commission, is widely quoted as having said a meltdown was possible
> and that
> officials were checking.
>
> Meanwhile, a visually dramatic explosion in one of the reactor
> buildings has
> at least severely damaged the external walls.
>
> In principle, this should not cause leakage of radioactive material
> becausethe building is just an outside shell; the job of keeping
> dangerousmaterials sealed in falls to the the metal containment
> vessel inside.
>
> Chief cabinet secretary Chief Yukio Edano confirmed this was the case,
> saying: "The concrete building collapsed. We found out that the
> reactorcontainer inside didn't explode."
>
> He attributed the explosion to a build-up of hydrogen, related in
> turn to
> the cooling problem.
> Under pressure
>
> The only release of any radioactive material that we know about so far
> concerns venting of the containment vessel.
>
> When steam pressure builds up in the reactor vessel, it stops some
> of the
> emergency cooling systems working, and so some of the steam is
> released into
> the containment vessel.
>
> However, according to World Nuclear News, an industry newsletter, this
> caused pressure in the containment vessel to rise to twice the
> intendedoperating level, so the decision was taken to vent some of
> this into the
> atmosphere.
>
> In principle, this should contain only short-lived radioactive
> isotopes such
> as nitrogen-16 produced through the water's exposure to the core.
> Ventingthis would be likely to produce short-lived gamma-ray
> activity - which has,
> reportedly, been detected.
>
> One factor that has yet to be explained is the apparent detection of
> radioactive isotopes of caesium.
>
> This is produced during the nuclear reaction, and should be
> confined within
> the reactor core.
>
> If it has been detected outside the plant, that could imply that
> the core
> has begun to disintegrate.
>
> "If any of the fuel rods have been compromised, there would be
> evidence of a
> small amount of radioisotopes in the atmosphere [such as] radio-
> caesium and
> radio-iodine," says Paddy Regan, professor of nuclear physics at
> the UK's
> University of Surrey.
>
> "The amount that you measure would tell you to what degree the fuel
> rodshave been compromised."
>
> It is an important question - but as yet, unanswered.
> Cover-ups and questions
>
> In fact, the whole incident so far contains more questions than
> answers.
> Parallels with Three Mile Island and Chernobyl suggest that while some
> answers will materialise soon, it may takes months, even years, for
> the full
> picture to emerge.
>
> How that happens depends in large part on the approach taken by
> Tepco and
> Japan's nuclear authorities.
>
> As with its counterparts in many other countries, Japan's nuclear
> industryhas not exactly been renowned for openness and transparency.
>
> Tepco itself has been implicated in a series of cover-ups down the
> years.
> In 2002, the chairman and four other executives resigned, suspected of
> having falsified safety records at Tepco power stations.
>
> Further examples of falsification were identified in 2006 and 2007.
>
> In the longer term, Fukushima Daiichi raises several more very big
> questions, inside and outside Japan.
>
> Given that this is not the first time a Japanese nuclear station
> has been
> hit by earthquake damage, is it wise to build such stations along
> the east
> coast, given that such a seismically active zone lies just offshore?
>
> And given that Three Mile Island effectively shut down the
> construction of
> civilian nuclear reactors in the US for 30 years, what impact is
> FukushimaDaiichi likely to have in an era when many countries, not
> least the UK, are
> looking to re-enter the nuclear industry?
>
>
> --
> Peace Is Doable
>

------------------------------------

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National Forum | Dalit causes: A perennial money source for NGOs

2011-03-12T23:38:00.000-08:00

Published in 2005, but all the more relevant today. v

A Global Caucus To "Protect' Dalits"

http://www.hvk.org/articles/1005/38.html

Crystal Hsu, P N Benjamin
Publication: Vijay Times
Date: October 5, 2005

The Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) is organising a two-day international
conference in Washington D C on October 5 and 6 to globally raise the
issue of reservation for Dalits in the private sector and caste-based
discrimination. In this connection, addressing a press conference in
New Delhi on 15 September, the chairman of the All India Confederation
of SC/ST Organisations, Udit Raj, has said: "In the era of
globalisation it is imperative to fight certain causes globally".

The meeting will seek to "expose" the Sangh Parivar, sensitise the
U.N. for protection of Dalit human rights, and will seek US help to
Dalits to get reservation in the Indian private sector. It will also
appeal to the United States to provide work opportunities to Dalits.

One does not have any quarrel on the fact that Dalits have been and
are discriminated but simply because a meeting in the US will give
greater focus, one cannot inter-mix social facts. NGOs get enormous
funds for Dalit causes. It is perennial money- drawing sources for the
NGOs and hence they unite on this to catch the world attention and
boost the funding prospect. To my mind, the DFN meeting is not simply
an event but a part of an agenda to isolate the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes from the Hindu society and create social disorder in
the country.

Caste discrimination, particularly untouchability, in the Hindu
society was one of the major concerns of the Government in the
post-colonial India. The adoption of a Constitution on 26 January 1950
that officially abolished untouchability and caste discriminations,
and directs the State to reorganise Indian society along democratic
lines, is a milestone. Lest ambiguity should become a tool to browbeat
constitutional verdict, as spelt out in its Preamble, the Indian State
is directed to accord due representation to outcastes and tribals, in
every branch of the State and complement it with various
socio-educational-economic measures.

The Supreme Court, Human Rights Commission and Scheduled Caste
Commission have reviewed various laws enacted by India Parliament and
reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the
governance of the country as well as in educational institutions and a
number of other measures adopted by Government.

Instead of educating the discriminated section of Indian population to
avail themselves of the opportunity provided by the Government, the
Dalit Rights activists work as a tool in the hands of national and
international forces of vested political and personal interests. Even
the affluent sections from amongst the Dalits come under the influence
of the foreign funded NGOs and exploit their own people for their
political and personal interests.

Despite the known stand of anthropologists and sociologists that caste
cannot be equated with race, the NGOs working for Dalits cause
maintain, "caste discrimination is racism". In India there are a
number of castes and sub castes belonging to the same race and there
has been discrimination even within the various sub sects of Dalits
due to various reasons. By lampooning discrimination of the SCs, the
discrimination within the SCs sub sects has been largely overlooked.
Discrimination, apart from being violation of human rights, is also
poignant when one realises that it is by the same race against the
same race.

Similarly, the benefits and the concessions given to the SCs are
mostly cornered by the upper castes of the SCs. There are several
instances of fight within the Dalits for garnering the benefits being
provided by the Government to them.

The on-going caste consolidation for sharing political power is
another important factor for caste tension in the country, though it
has no similarity with the caste discrimination as it was before
Independence. Social segregation of different castes and sub castes
does not mean any discrimination against each other. It is more or
less a segregation of different clans, which is prevalent in some form
or other in different parts of the world.

Raising their voices against caste discrimination from an alien soil
is against the concept of national sovereignty. The NGOs are doing it
to garner more foreign funds from the international agencies in the
name of Dalits cause. With huge amounts of foreign funds at their
disposal the main job of the social activists are to alienate the
Dalits from the cultural mainstream of the country and provide an
opportunity to damn the Hindu organisations.

Outwardly, the activities of the NGOs working for Dalit's cause may
look quite rational, but in the absence of any specialized agency at
Government level to scrutinize their hidden agenda and the alleged
misuse of the huge amount of foreign funds being received by them
gives an impression that their intentions are not as pious as they
claim to be.

It is well known that these foreign funded NGOs are the safe houses of
the lobbyists, who are working for various international agencies
engaged in destroying the cultural heritage of the country.
Unfortunately, the media has hardly taken any interest to look into
the allegations in depth and bring out the truth. The media has not
come forward to counter the aggressive voices raised by the NGOs for
discussing the domestic issues at international for a. Instead it has
always projected the views of the NGOs without any scrutiny. This has
created an adverse impact on the credibility of the media.

The NGOs responsible for raking up the on going controversy have only
contributed to the rise of social tension without any visible benefits
to the Dalits.

Some pertinent questions could be asked at this stage. What is the
social vision of NGOs? Or, to be precise, what is NGOs' perception of
the Indian Republic and society? Where do Dalits stand today vis-a-vis
institutions of the state, and institutions that are outside the
state? Is there any institution or NGOs other than the Indian State
that make specific provision of representation to Dalits? What is the
proportion of Dalits in the corporate-like offices of the NGOs? What
is the position of Dalits in their workforce and what percentage of
the money funding agencies granted has been utilised for the
upliftment of Dalits?

An individual's or organisation's social doctrine is best reflected by
its actions. If an organisation, as against the constitutional verdict
of 22.5 per cent representation to the Dalits, is not prepared to
accord at least one per cent representation, it has no legal sanctity
to exist. If NGOs cannot give representation to Dalits, what is the
guarantee that they are not working against the interests of the
Dalits? The NGOs thrive on Hindu- bashing but can we recall one major
NGO, which has produced a worthwhile critique of the Varna or caste
order?

NGOs have, slowly but steadily, not only robbed the Indian Republic,
corporate houses, and foreign funding agencies but also robbed space
available to social movements. If every institution in India must
justify its existence before the judgment seat of the Constitution,
can the NGOs which are only legitimising Dalits' exclusion and
questioning the State's sovereign authority, and that too from a
higher `moral' pedestal, be permitted to go scot free?

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Re: National Forum | Jean DrÃ¨ze, Aruna Roy, Arundhati Roy and Others on Niyamat Ansari Murder

2011-03-12T20:52:00.001-08:00

The people should also think about the incident happened by the Maoists in a Tribal SEVASHRAM School of Bishra Block of Sundragarh district, Odisha. The have entered the school campus, beaten the students and teachers brutally and ransacked the school. The consequency was all the students were left the school. They had been to loot the public property. So Maoists are working for hoose interest ?

Pradipta Nayak

Bhubaneswar

--- On Fri, 11/3/11, Subhashini Ali <Subhashini_Ali@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Subhashini Ali <Subhashini_Ali@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: National Forum | Jean Drèze, Aruna Roy, Arundhati Roy and Others on Niyamat Ansari Murder
To: national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.co.in
Date: Friday, 11 March, 2011, 11:01 AM

Please always use the term CPI (Maoist) otherwise my party will unnecessarily be blamed. This is a horrifying endorsement of some of the things we have been saying about the real nature of the Maoists. And why do you want them to apologise? One can't apply different yardsticks for the same crime. I mean if the police/mafia/contractors/politicians were involved would you ask them to apologise? Maybe you still think of Maoists as errant comrades. Well, please think again.
Subhashini Ali

From: Sukla Sen <sukla.sen@gmail.com>

Sender: national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.co.in

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:15:49 +0530

To: national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.co.in

Subject: National Forum | Jean Drèze, Aruna Roy, Arundhati Roy and Others on Niyamat Ansari Murder

[Quote

We are disturbed to learn from reliable sources that the murder was executed by a local Maoist squad. In fact, the South Latehar sub-zonal committee of the

CPI(M) itself claimed responsibility for it and attempted to justify the murder by making absurd allegations such as Ansari and Singh being police informers. Are we to understand from this incident that there is truth in the rumour of a nexus between the local Maoist squad of that area and corrupt contractors involved in the loot of NREGA funds?

Unquote]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Setting-the-record-straight/Article1-671876.aspx

Jean Drèze, Aruna Roy, Arundhati Roy and others

March 10, 2011

First Published: 22:21 IST(10/3/2011)

Last Updated: 07:55 IST(11/3/2011)

Setting the record straight

We condemn in the strongest possible terms the recent murder of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) activist Niyamat Ansari in Kope gram panchayat, Jharkhand, and a similar attempt — on the same day, March 2 — on the life of his associate Bhukhan Singh.

The murder was the culmination of a series of acts of harassment, including at least one earlier attempt on their lives. Ansari and Singh fearlessly continued to fight for the rights of NREGA workers and stood up against the nexus of corruption and crime in the area. Ansari was killed just a few days after he and others exposed a flagrant NREGA scam in Rankikalan gram panchayat.

We are dismayed by the insidious allegations that have been made about Ansari in sections of the mainstream media, attempting to project him as a 'criminal' to divert attention from the real issues and culprits. These reports were factually incorrect and the concerned publication carried an apology the following day.

We are disturbed to learn from reliable sources that the murder was executed by a local Maoist squad. In fact, the South Latehar sub-zonal committee of the

CPI(M) itself claimed responsibility for it and attempted to justify the murder by making absurd allegations such as Ansari and Singh being police informers. Are we to understand from this incident that there is truth in the rumour of a nexus between the local Maoist squad of that area and corrupt contractors involved in the loot of NREGA funds?

We demand the immediate arrest of the prime suspects (named in the FIR), compensation for Ansari's family, protection for Singh, and a CBI inquiry into Ansari's murder. We also demand an apology and explanation from the central committee of the CPI(M) and a guarantee of safety for Bhukhan Singh who is still 'wanted' by the sub-zonal committee. No explanation, however, can justify the brutal murder of a defenceless person, let alone someone who was bravely fighting for people's rights. This is a wholly reprehensible act and all those responsible for it must be punished.

(Jean Drèze is with Allahabad University, Aruna Roy is with Mazdoor Kisan Shatki Sangathan and Arundhati Roy is a
writer and activist.)

*The views expressed by the authors are personal.

--
Peace Is Doable

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National Forum | Re: Japan Disaster Raises the Larger Question (once again): Is Nuclear Power Safe?

2011-03-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

>>>In the worst-case scenario, the core melts through the bottom of the reactor vessel and falls onto the floor of the containment vessel - an outer sealed unit.

This is designed to prevent the molten reactor from penetrating any further. Local damage in this case will be serious, but in principle there should be no leakage of radioactive material into the outside world.>>>

The Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Commssion stated in a TV interview telecast last night, that EXCEPT FOR KOODANKULAM COMPLEX UNDER COMMISSIONING NEAR KANYAKUMARI, NO OTHER REACTOR IN THE COUNTRY HAS THIS FACILITY OF COLLECTING IN A CONTAINMENT VESSEL, AND ANY DISASTER WOULD LEAD TO AN UNCONTROLLED CHAIN REACTION AND EXPLOSION, SPREADING RADIATION IN A 20 km RADIUS.

The alacrity and secretness in which the UPA rushed through the 123 agreemenet with U.S. prompted by former President Bush, reveals that the US was apparently attempting to palm off the 13 year old reactors lying in the godowns of Northrop, Westinghouse and GE due to the ban on further assembly of reactors in U.S., to India, with obsolete technology and controls 13 years old, with all accompanying risks of disasters due to malfunctioning.

This is why U.S. introduced the "Hyde Clause" of absolvimng itself of all responsibilities once the plant is loaded on the ships sailing to Indian ports. The Manmohan Singh gang told outright lies to Indian public that Hyde Act is not applicable to India and this was disproved when the 123 details were put on website by U.S. authorities after these were signed at Tokyo.

No wonder the Maharashtra Coastal villages are protesting against the location of nuclear reactor apprehending impending dangers of pollution, radiation and inabiliyty of Indian authorities to dispose off the radio active waste material

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National Forum | Japan Disaster Raises the Larger Question (once again): Is Nuclear Power Safe?

2011-03-12T18:59:00.000-08:00

Quote

The word "meltdown" goes to the heart of the big nuclear question - is nuclear power safe?

Unquote

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12723092

12 March 2011 Last updated at 13:44 GMT

Exodus from Japan nuclear plant

By Richard BlackEnvironment correspondent, BBC News

The word "meltdown" goes to the heart of the big nuclear question - is nuclear power safe?

The term is associated in the public mind with the two most notorious accidents in recent memory - Three Mile Island, in the US, in 1979, and Chernobyl, in Ukraine, seven years later.

You can think of the core of a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR), such as the ones at Fukushima Daiichi, as a massive version of the electrical element you may have in your kettle.

It sits there, immersed in water, getting very hot.

The water cools it, and also carries the heat away - usually as steam - so it can be used to turn turbines and generate electricity.

If the water stops flowing, there is a problem. The core overheats and more of the water turns to steam.

The steam generates huge pressures inside the reactor vessel - a big, sealed container - and if the largely metal core gets too hot, it will just melt, with some components perhaps catching fire.

In the worst-case scenario, the core melts through the bottom of the reactor vessel and falls onto the floor of the containment vessel - an outer sealed unit.

This is designed to prevent the molten reactor from penetrating any further. Local damage in this case will be serious, but in principle there should be no leakage of radioactive material into the outside world.

But the term "in principle" is the difficult one.

Reactors are designed to have "multiply redundant" safety features: if one fails, another should contain the problem.

However, the fact that this does not always work is shown at Fukushima Daiichi.

The earthquake meant the three functioning reactors shut down. But it also removed the power that kept the vital water pumps running, sending cooling water around the hot core.

Diesel generators were installed to provide power in such a situation. They did cut in - but then they cut out again an hour later, for reasons that have not yet been revealed.

In this case, redundancy did not work.

And the big fear within the anti-nuclear movement, as used in the film The China Syndrome, is that the multiple containment of a molten core might not work either, allowing highly radioactive and toxic metals to burrow into the ground, with serious and long-lasting environmental impacts - total meltdown.

However, the counter-argument from nuclear proponents is that the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island did not cause any serious effects.

Yes, the core melted, but the containment systems held.

And at Chernobyl - a reactor design regarded in the West as inherently unsafe, and which would not have been sanctioned in any non-Soviet bloc nation - the environmental impacts occurred through explosive release of material into the air, not from a melting reactor core.

To keep things in perspective, no nuclear accident has caused anything approaching the 1,000 short-term fatalities stemming from Friday's earthquake and tsunami.

'Subcritical' reactors

Whether a partial meltdown is under way at Fukushima Daiichi is not yet clear.

The most important factor is summed up in a bulletin from the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) that owns the facility: "Control rods are fully inserted (reactor is in subcritical status)."

Control rods shut off the nuclear reaction. Heat continues to be produced at that stage through the decay of radioactive nuclei - but that process in turn will begin to tail off.

Intriguingly, Ryohei Shiomi, an official at Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission, is widely quoted as having said a meltdown was possible and that officials were checking.

Meanwhile, a visually dramatic explosion in one of the reactor buildings has at least severely damaged the external walls.

In principle, this should not cause leakage of radioactive material because the building is just an outside shell; the job of keeping dangerous materials sealed in falls to the the metal containment vessel inside.

Chief cabinet secretary Chief Yukio Edano confirmed this was the case, saying: "The concrete building collapsed. We found out that the reactor container inside didn't explode."

He attributed the explosion to a build-up of hydrogen, related in turn to the cooling problem.

Under pressure

The only release of any radioactive material that we know about so far concerns venting of the containment vessel.

When steam pressure builds up in the reactor vessel, it stops some of the emergency cooling systems working, and so some of the steam is released into the containment vessel.

However, according to World Nuclear News, an industry newsletter, this caused pressure in the containment vessel to rise to twice the intended operating level, so the decision was taken to vent some of this into the atmosphere.

In principle, this should contain only short-lived radioactive isotopes such as nitrogen-16 produced through the water's exposure to the core. Venting this would be likely to produce short-lived gamma-ray activity - which has, reportedly, been detected.

One factor that has yet to be explained is the apparent detection of radioactive isotopes of caesium.

This is produced during the nuclear reaction, and should be confined within the reactor core.

If it has been detected outside the plant, that could imply that the core has begun to disintegrate.

"If any of the fuel rods have been compromised, there would be evidence of a small amount of radioisotopes in the atmosphere [such as] radio-caesium and radio-iodine," says Paddy Regan, professor of nuclear physics at the UK's University of Surrey.

"The amount that you measure would tell you to what degree the fuel rods have been compromised."

It is an important question - but as yet, unanswered.

Cover-ups and questions

In fact, the whole incident so far contains more questions than answers.

Parallels with Three Mile Island and Chernobyl suggest that while some answers will materialise soon, it may takes months, even years, for the full picture to emerge.

How that happens depends in large part on the approach taken by Tepco and Japan's nuclear authorities.

As with its counterparts in many other countries, Japan's nuclear industry has not exactly been renowned for openness and transparency.

Tepco itself has been implicated in a series of cover-ups down the years.

In 2002, the chairman and four other executives resigned, suspected of having falsified safety records at Tepco power stations.

Further examples of falsification were identified in 2006 and 2007.

In the longer term, Fukushima Daiichi raises several more very big questions, inside and outside Japan.

Given that this is not the first time a Japanese nuclear station has been hit by earthquake damage, is it wise to build such stations along the east coast, given that such a seismically active zone lies just offshore?

And given that Three Mile Island effectively shut down the construction of civilian nuclear reactors in the US for 30 years, what impact is Fukushima Daiichi likely to have in an era when many countries, not least the UK, are looking to re-enter the nuclear industry?

--
Peace Is Doable

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Re: National Forum | TOI: Aryan-Dravidian divide a myth: Study

2011-03-11T20:02:00.000-08:00

Now even the BBC recognizes the Aryan invasion as a myth, as a colonial construct. They had posted this sometime back on their website

Aryan Invasion Theory

One of the most controversial ideas about Hindu history is the Aryan invasion theory.

This theory, originally devised by F. Max Muller in 1848, traces the history of Hinduism to the invasion of India's indigenous people by lighter skinned Aryans around 1500 BCE.

The theory was reinforced by other research over the next 120 years, and became the accepted history of Hinduism, not only in the West but in India.

But many people argue that there is now evidence to show that Muller, and those who followed him, were wrong.

Others, however, believe that the case against the Aryan invation theory is far from conclusive.

The matter remains very controversial and highly politicised. The article below sets out the case made by those who believe that the Aryan invasion theory is seriously flawed.

The case against the Aryan invasion theory

The Aryan invasion theory was based on archaeological, linguistic and ethnological evidence.

Later research, it is argued, has either discredited this evidence, or provided new evidence that combined with the earlier evidence makes other explanations more likely.

Some historians of the area no longer believe that such invasions had such great influence on Indian history. It's now generally accepted that Indian history shows a continuity of progress from the earliest times to today.

The changes brought to India by other cultures are not denied by modern historians, but they are no longer thought to be a major ingredient in the development of Hinduism.

Dangers of the theory

Opponents of the Aryan invasion theory claim that it denies the Indian origin of India's predominant culture, and gives the credit for Indian culture to invaders from elsewhere.

They say that it even teaches that some of the most revered books of Hindu scripture are not actually Indian, and it devalues India's culture by portraying it as less ancient than it actually is.

The theory was not just wrong, some say, but included unacceptably racist ideas:

it suggested that Indian culture was not a culture in its own right, but a synthesis of elements from other cultures
it implied that Hinduism was not an authentically Indian religion but the result of cultural imperialism
it suggested that Indian culture was static, and only changed under outside influences
it suggested that the dark-skinned Dravidian people of the South of India had got their faith from light-skinned Aryan invaders
it implied that indigenous people were incapable of creatively developing their faith
it suggested that indigenous peoples could only acquire new religious and cultural ideas from other races, by invasion or other processes
it accepted that race was a biologically based concept (rather than, at least in part, a social construct) that provided a sensible way of ranking people in a hierarchy, which provided a partial basis for the caste system
it provided a basis for racism in the Imperial context by suggesting that the peoples of Northern India were descended from invaders from Europe and so racially closer to the British Raj
it gave a historical precedent to justify the role and status of the British Raj, who could argue that they were transforming India for the better in the same way that the Aryans had done thousands of years earlier
it downgraded the intellectual status of India and its people by giving a falsely late date to elements of Indian science and culture

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National Forum | Earthquake in Japan and Prospect of Nuclear Catastrophe

2011-03-11T18:23:00.000-08:00

I/III.

http://allthingsnuclear.org/post/3788886037/nuclear-crisis-at-fukushima

MARCH 11, 2011 • 20 NOTES • 0 COMMENTS

Nuclear Crisis at Fukushima

| by Ed Lyman | nuclear power | nuclear power safety |

As of 2:30 pm EST Friday 3/11/11:

The massive earthquake off the northeast coast of Japan has caused a potentially catastrophic situation at one of Japan's nuclear power plants. The situation is still evolving, but here is a preliminary assessment based on the facts as we currently understand them.

The plant's owner, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), reported that at 2:46 p.m. local time (12:46 a.m. EST) "turbines and reactors of Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 … and Units 2 and 3 … automatically shut down due to the Miyagiken-oki Earthquake."

These reactors are 3 of the 6 operating reactors at the Fukushima I nuclear facility. All are boiling water reactors. Unit 1 has a rated output of 460 megawatts, and Units 2 and 3 each have a rated output of 784 megawatts.

TEPCO went on to state the shutdowns were caused by the loss of off-site power "due to malfunction of one out of two off-site power systems." This loss of power triggered emergency diesel generators, which automatically started to provide backup power to the reactors.

However, at 3:41 p.m. local time (1:46 a.m. EST), the emergency diesel generators shut down "due to malfunction, resulting in the complete loss of alternating current for all three units," according to TEPCO. The failure of the diesel generators was most likely due to the arrival of the tsunami, which caused flooding in the area. The earthquake was centered 240 kilometers from Japan, and it would have taken the tsunami approximately an hour to reach the Japanese islands.

This power failure resulted in one of the most serious conditions that can affect a nuclear plant—a "station blackout"—during which off-site power and on-site emergency alternating current (AC) power is lost. Nuclear plants generally need AC power to operate the motors, valves and instruments that control the systems that provide cooling water to the radioactive core. If all AC power is lost, the options to cool the core are limited.

The boiling water reactors at Fukushima are protected by a Reactor Core Isolation Cooling (RCIC) system, which can operate without AC power because it is steam-driven and therefore does not require electric pumps. However, it does require DC power from batteries for its valves and controls to function.

If battery power is depleted before AC power is restored, however, the RCIC will stop supplying water to the core and the water level in the reactor core could drop. If it drops far enough, the core would overheat and the fuel would become damaged. Ultimately, a "meltdown" could occur: The core could become so hot that it forms a molten mass that melts through the steel reactor vessel. This would release a large amount of radioactivity from the vessel into the containment building that surrounds the vessel.

The containment building's purpose is to keep radioactivity from being released into the environment. A meltdown would build up pressure in the containment building. At this point we do not know if the earthquake damaged the containment building enough to undermine its ability to contain the pressure and allow radioactivity to leak out.

According to technical documents translated by Aileen Mioko Smith of Green Action in Japan, if the coolant level dropped to the top of the active fuel rods in the core, damage to the core would begin about 40 minutes later, and damage to the reactor vessel would occur 90 minutes after that.

Concern about a serious accident is high enough that while TEPCO is trying to restore cooling the government has evacuated a 3-km (2-mile) radius area around the reactor.

Bloomberg News reported that the battery life for the RCIC system is eight hours. This means that the batteries would have been depleted before 10 a.m. EST today. It is unclear if this report is accurate, since it suggests that several hours have elapsed without any core cooling. Bloomberg also reported that Japan had secured six backup batteries and planned to transport them to the site, possibly by military helicopter. It is unclear how long this operation would take.

There also have been news reports that Fukushima Unit 2 has lost its core cooling, suggesting its RCIC stopped working, but that the situation "has been stabilized," although it is not publicly known what the situation is. TEPCO reportedly plans to release steam from the reactor to reduce the pressure, which had risen 50% higher than normal. This venting will release some radioactivity.

More information about the cooling issue is available in this New York Timesstory.

II.

http://www.ips-dc.org/blog/on_the_brink_of_meltdown_the_fukushima_nuclear_power_plant

On the Brink of Meltdown: The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant

March 11, 2011 · By Robert Alvarez

The devastating Japanese quake and its outcome could generate a political tsunami here in the United States.

In the aftermath of the largest earthquake to occur in Japan in recorded history, 5,800 residents living within five miles of six reactors at the Fukushima nuclear station have been advised to evacuate and people living within 15 miles of the plant are advised to remain indoors.

Plant operators haven't been able to cool down the core of one reactor containing enormous amounts of radioactivity because of failed back-up diesel generators required for the emergency cooling. In a race against time, the power company and the Japanese military are flying in nine emergency generators. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced today that the U.S. Air Force has provided cooling water for the troubled reactor. Complicating matters, Japan's Meteorological Agency has declared the area to be at high risk of being hit by a tsunami.

The plant was operating at full power when the quake hit and even though control rods were automatically inserted to halt the nuclear reaction, the reactor core remains very hot. Even with a fully functioning emergency core cooling system, it would take several hours for the reactor core to cool and stabilize. If emergency cooling isn't restored, the risks of a core melt, and release of radioactivity into the environment is significantly increased. Also, it's not clear if piping and electrically distribution systems inside the plant have been damaged. If so, that would interfere with reactor cooling.

A senior U.S. nuclear power technician tells me the window of time before serious problems arise is between 12 and 24 hours.

Early on, Japanese nuclear officials provided reassurances that no radiation had been released. However, because the reactor remains at a very high temperature, radiation levels are rising on the turbine building – forcing to plant operators to vent radioactive steam into the environment.

The devastating Japanese quake and its outcome could generate a political tsunami here in the United States. For instance, it may become impossible for the owners of the San Onofre and Diablo Canyon reactors to extend their operating.

These two California reactors are sitting in high seismic risk zones near earthquake faults. Each is designed to withstand a quake as great as 7.5 on the Richter scale. According to many seismologists, the probability of a major earthquake in the California coastal zone in the foreseeable future is a near certainty. The U.S. Geological Survey reports the largest registering 8.3 on the Richter scale devastated San Francisco in 1906.

"There have been tremblers felt at U.S. plants over the past several years, but nothing approaching the need for emergency action," Scott Burnell, a spokesman at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Reuters.

As the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe approaches next month, Japan's earthquake serve as a reminder that the risks of nuclear power, when things go seriously wrong. The Chernobyl accident required nearly a million emergency responders and cleanup workers. More than 100,000 residents from 187 settlements were permanently evacuated because of radioactive contamination. And area an equal to half of the State of New Jersey was rendered uninhabitable.

Fortunately, U.S. and Japanese reactors have extra measures of protection that were lacking at Chernobyl, such as a secondary concrete containment structure over the reactor vessel to prevent escape of radioactivity. In 1979, the containment structure at the Three Mile Island reactor did prevent the escape of a catastrophic amount of radioactivity after the core melted. But people living nearby were exposed to higher levels of radiation from the accident and deliberate venting to stabilize the reactor. With one hour, the multi-billion dollar investment in that plant went down the drain.

Meanwhile, let's hope that the core of the Japanese reactor can be cooled in time. We shouldn't need yet another major nuclear power accident to wake up the public and decision-makers to the fact that there are better and much safer ways to make electricity.

III.

http://nukefree.org/editorsblog/japans-quake-could-have-irradiated-entire-us

MAR 11, 2011

Japan's Quake Could Have Irradiated the Entire US

Had the massive 8.9 Richter-scale earthquake that has just savaged Japan hit off the California coast, it could have ripped apart at least four coastal reactors and sent a lethal cloud of radiation across the entire United States. (http://nukefree.org/ace-hoffman-computerized-graphic-what-if-chernobyl-h... )

The two huge reactors each at San Onofre and Diablo Canyon are not designed to withstand such powerful shocks. All four are extremely close to major faults.

All four reactors are located relatively low to the coast. They are vulnerable to tsunamis like those now expected to hit as many as fifty countries.

San Onofre sits between San Diego and Los Angeles. A radioactive cloud spewing from one or both reactors there would do incalculable damage to either or both urban areas before carrying over the rest of southern and central California.

Diablo Canyon is at Avila Beach, on the coast just west of San Luis Obispo, between Los Angeles and San Francisco. A radioactive eruption there would pour into central California and, depending on the winds, up to the Bay Area or southeast into Santa Barbara and then to Los Angeles. The cloud would at very least permanently destroy much of the region on which most Americans rely for their winter supply of fresh vegetables.

By the federal Price-Anderson Act of 1957, the owners of the destroyed reactors---including Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison---would be covered by private insurance only up to $11 billion, a tiny fraction of the trillions of dollars worth of damage that would be done. The rest would become the responsibility of the federal taxpayer and the fallout victims. Virtually all homeowner insurance policies in the United States exempt the insurers from liability from a reactor disaster.

The most definitive recent study of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster puts the death toll at 985,000. (http://nukefree.org/link-full-text-chernobyl-its-consequences ) The accident irradiated a remote rural area. The nearest city, Kiev, is 80 kilometers away.

But San Luis Obispo is some ten miles directly downwind from Diablo Canyon. The region around San Onofre has become heavily suburbanized.

Heavy radioactive fallout spread from Chernobyl blanketed all of Europe within a matter of days. It covered an area far larger than the United States. (http://nukefree.org/astonishing-computerized-graphic-reconstruction-cher... )

Fallout did hit the jet stream and then the coast of California, thousands of miles away, within ten days. It then carried all the way across the northern tier of the United States.

Chernobyl Unit Four was of comparable size to the two reactors at Diablo Canyon, and somewhat larger than the two at San Onofre.

But it was very new when it exploded. California's four coastal reactors have been operating since the 1970s and 1980s. Their accumulated internal radioactive burdens could exceed what was spewed at Chernobyl.

Japanese officials say all affected reactors automatically shut, with no radiation releases. But they are not reliable. In 2007 a smaller earthquake rocked the seven-reactor Kashiwazaki site and forced its lengthy shut-down.

Preliminary reports indicate at least one fire at a Japanese reactor hit by this quake and tsunami

( http://nukefree.org/preliminary-report-indicates-fire-quake-tsunami-stricken-reactor ).

In 1986 the Perry nuclear plant, east of Cleveland, was rocked by a 5.5 Richter-scale shock, many orders of magnitude weaker than this one. That quake broke pipes and other key equipment within the plant. It took out nearby roads and bridges.

Thankfully, Perry had not yet opened. An official Ohio commission later warned that evacuation during such a quake would be impossible.

Numerous other American reactors sit on or near earthquake faults.

The Obama Administration is now asking Congress for $36 billion in new loan guarantees to build more commercial reactors.

It has yet to reveal its exact plans for dealing with a major reactor disaster. Nor has it identified the cash or human reserves needed to cover the death and destruction imposed by the reactors' owners.

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Peace Is Doable

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National Forum | Re: Humor: Various Classes of Indians

2011-03-11T04:31:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the most appropriate joke on todays reality. Beware of JPC .No body is disclosing the money JPC might be spending on digging out the 2Gspectrum ghotala. India seems to be in the clutches of different type of TAALIBANS s Pakistan is having...Solomon.

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Re: National Forum | Jean Drèze, Aruna Roy, Arundhati Roy and Others on Niyamat Ansari Murder

2011-03-11T03:01:00.000-08:00

Please always use the term CPI (Maoist) otherwise my party will unnecessarily be blamed. This is a horrifying endorsement of some of the things we have been saying about the real nature of the Maoists. And why do you want them to apologise? One can't apply different yardsticks for the same crime. I mean if the police/mafia/contractors/politicians were involved would you ask them to apologise? Maybe you still think of Maoists as errant comrades. Well, please think again.
Subhashini Ali

From: Sukla Sen <sukla.sen@gmail.com>

Sender: national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.co.in

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:15:49 +0530

To: national-forum-of-india@yahoogroups.co.in

Subject: National Forum | Jean Drèze, Aruna Roy, Arundhati Roy and Others on Niyamat Ansari Murder

[Quote

We are disturbed to learn from reliable sources that the murder was executed by a local Maoist squad. In fact, the South Latehar sub-zonal committee of the

CPI(M) itself claimed responsibility for it and attempted to justify the murder by making absurd allegations such as Ansari and Singh being police informers. Are we to understand from this incident that there is truth in the rumour of a nexus between the local Maoist squad of that area and corrupt contractors involved in the loot of NREGA funds?

Unquote]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Setting-the-record-straight/Article1-671876.aspx

Jean Drèze, Aruna Roy, Arundhati Roy and others

March 10, 2011

First Published: 22:21 IST(10/3/2011)

Last Updated: 07:55 IST(11/3/2011)

Setting the record straight

We condemn in the strongest possible terms the recent murder of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) activist Niyamat Ansari in Kope gram panchayat, Jharkhand, and a similar attempt — on the same day, March 2 — on the life of his associate Bhukhan Singh.

The murder was the culmination of a series of acts of harassment, including at least one earlier attempt on their lives. Ansari and Singh fearlessly continued to fight for the rights of NREGA workers and stood up against the nexus of corruption and crime in the area. Ansari was killed just a few days after he and others exposed a flagrant NREGA scam in Rankikalan gram panchayat.

We are dismayed by the insidious allegations that have been made about Ansari in sections of the mainstream media, attempting to project him as a 'criminal' to divert attention from the real issues and culprits. These reports were factually incorrect and the concerned publication carried an apology the following day.

We are disturbed to learn from reliable sources that the murder was executed by a local Maoist squad. In fact, the South Latehar sub-zonal committee of the

We demand the immediate arrest of the prime suspects (named in the FIR), compensation for Ansari's family, protection for Singh, and a CBI inquiry into Ansari's murder. We also demand an apology and explanation from the central committee of the CPI(M) and a guarantee of safety for Bhukhan Singh who is still 'wanted' by the sub-zonal committee. No explanation, however, can justify the brutal murder of a defenceless person, let alone someone who was bravely fighting for people's rights. This is a wholly reprehensible act and all those responsible for it must be punished.

(Jean Drèze is with Allahabad University, Aruna Roy is with Mazdoor Kisan Shatki Sangathan and Arundhati Roy is a
writer and activist.)

*The views expressed by the authors are personal.

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Peace Is Doable

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