Indian Military

[Stratpost]

Gurmukh Singh, Ottawa

As India and Canada resume nuclear ties after 36 years, Indian companies discussed partnerships with their Canadian counterparts at the Nuclear Industry Conference and Trade Show which ended here Friday. The annual three-day trade show was organized by the Canadian Nuclear Association, a representative body of Canadian nuclear companies.

An Indian delegation led by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) associate director F Vohra also included representatives from L&T Infotech, DM Corporation and Avasarala Technologies Ltd.

“We have started discussions to formalize two or three memorandums of understanding. We met many Canadian companies to discuss joint ventures in India. We offered to become their vendors in the burgeoning nuclear energy market in India,” Vijay Joshi, director of Kolhapur-based DM Corporation, told IANS.

As India plans to raise its nuclear power capacity from 7000 MW currently to 63,000MW by 2032, Joshi said, “Canadian companies have a huge opportunity to bid jointly with India companies for tenders.

TOKYO: Radiation injuries to three workers complicated the battle to control Japan's earthquake-damaged nuclear plant while fear of contamination from the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years grew both at home and abroad.
Engineers trying to stabilize the six-reactor nuclear power station in Fukushima, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, have pulled out of some areas of the plant pending safety checks two weeks after an earthquake and tsunami battered the plant.
About 27,400 people are dead or missing across northeast Japan after the March 11 disasters.
Explosions in three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power station last week made this the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986 and raised fears of a catastrophic meltdown.
While that has not happened, radiation has been leaking and four of the plant's reactors are still volatile.
Engineers from the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), have made some progress in restoring power needed to cool down overheating nuclear fuel.

VANCOUVER: Canadian security officials boarded a cargo ship on Thursday carrying hundreds of Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, including some people Canada has said may be terrorists.

Public safety ministerVic Toews said 490 are onboard and said the vessel MV Sun Sea has declared them to be refugees. But he said the government has concerns that there may be members of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers, on board. Canada has labelled the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist group since 2006.

The ship is off the coast of Vancouver Island and is travelling at a slow rate of speed. The government has been preparing tents on seaside military facilities to house the people from the ship, and jails have been warned they could receive new inmates.

"A vessel carrying 490 individuals claiming refugee status - including suspected human smugglers and terrorists - entered our waters and the Canadian Government is taking action," Toews said. "Human smugglers and human traffickers are now watching Canada's response to judge whether or not they can continue to take advantage of us.