The amounts of various radioactive releases into the environment are unknown, as are the winds and other factors that determine how radioactivity will disperse. The different radioactive materials reported at the nuclear Accidents in Japan range from relatively benign to extremely worrisome. The central problem in assessing the degree of danger is that the amounts of various radioactive releases into the environment are now unknown, as are the winds and other...

Stating that seismic activity in India differs from that in Japan, Anil Kakodkar, former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, said here on Monday that the possibility of a tsunami at Jaitapur, the site for a proposed nuclear power plant, was low. “Seismic activity in Japan and India are two different things. There are certain locations in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. So, I won't say a tsunami will...

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairperson Srikumar Banerjee on Monday said the EPR technology proposed at Jaitapur would have to be evaluated for safety from the context of earthquakes and tsunamis coming together. Addressing a press conference here, Dr. Banerjee and other heads of India's nuclear establishment sought to dispel myths about the Accident in Japan. They were also categorical that neither India's nuclear programme nor the Jaitapur nuclear power project will...

A person attempts suicide in depression He needs help, not punishment The Supreme Court on Monday recommended to Parliament that it consider the feasibility of deleting Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code (attempt to commit suicide) from the statute. Making this recommendation, a Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra said though a Constitution Bench in Gian Kaur's case had held Section 309 IPC constitutionally valid, “the time has come...

The GoM to determine the norms for coalmine clearance in reserve forests, largely in tribal areas, and the parallel exercise to give back forest lands to tribals is not about the environment, but about forest policy. The divergence of interests between national use of forests, ecological balance and needs of local people should be recognised. However, the tribal affairs ministry is responsible for the Forest Rights Act and the coal...