BANGALORE/KARWAR: In a nuclear accident that is bound to raise key safety concerns ahead of India’s ambitious atomic expansion programme, about 45 employees of the Kaiga atomic power plant suffered radiation poisoning when radioactive heavy water from the plant contaminated the drinking water. Kaiga is one of India’s newer nuclear reactors.
There was no official word from the usually secretive nuclear establishment. Sources said the employees were in hospital because they experienced a mildly higher level of radiation than permissible on Friday after drinking from a water cooler near an open area in one of the reactors.
Though a tiny amount of radiation is normal, scientists said the contamination was unusual because the affected employees do not go into the actual reactor area but work around it. ‘‘With no exposure to the reactor directly, it was surprising to see them with mildly higher level of radiation,’’ was the only comment Kaiga station director A M Gupta had to offer.
Heavy water molecules have two atoms of deutrium instead of the hydrogen in drinkable water H2O. It can cause fatally high levels of toxicity in humans.
The Nuclear Power Corporation, which runs Kaiga, did not respond to media queries over the nuclear accident. According to the deputy commissioner of Uttara Kannada N S Channappa Gowda, there were no casualties or injuries reported.
‘‘Investigation is on and we’ll probe how the (heavy) water got into the drinking water. For now, we have isolated the cooler and drinking water. Simultaneously, water testing is on,’’ said an NPC official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The contamination was detected when some of the affected employees felt a change in the pattern of urination.
They were rushed to the doctor and all of them were tested and found normal. The employees even got back to work.
However, tests confirmed radioactivity in the urine samples. Sources said some amount of used heavy water, used as a moderator in reactors that use natural uranium as fuel, had got into the cooler containing drinking water and contaminated it. This heavy water caused the higher radiation. NPC has not released the names of those hospitalised at NPC’s medical establishment at Malapur.
No harm to public from Kaiga N-plant leak: Official
BANGALORE: Contamination of drinking water by radiation at the state-run Kaiga atomic power plant in northwest Karnataka has been contained to avert harm to the public, health and environment, a senior official said Sunday.
"The water cooler, which was contaminated by a radioactive element (Tritium) was isolated and put out of use Nov 25. The incidence has, however, not affected public, safety, health and environment," plant director J P Gupta told IANS from Kaiga, about 500 km from here.
Admitting that the radioactive isotope of hydrogen (Tritium) had contaminated the isolated water cooler, Gupta said a thorough survey of the plant areas did not indicate any heavy water leak from the reactor systems.
The 220MW first unit-1 was shutdown Oct 20 for biennial maintenance works, while the second and third units of same capacity (220MW) are operating normally.
"Some of the radiation workers were found affected by the contaminated water in the cooler during their routine bioassay.
"As a precautionary measure, the affected people were checked and advised to consult doctors before resuming their duties," Gupta said.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), which operates the Kaiga unit, is investigating the incident to ascertain how the water cooler got contaminated by Tritium.
Meanwhile, Karnataka education minister V H Kageri, who is the district in-charge of Uttara Kannada where Kaiga is located, allayed fears of radiation leak affecting the people and the surrounding areas.
"There have been no reports of anyone being affected by the radiation incident. It is an isolated case in the unit and precautionary measures have been taken to prevent any harm to the people or nearby areas," Kageri said.
50 CAT centres closed today after system failures disrupt exam
NEW DELHI: The computer-based Common Admission Test (CAT) in around 50 centres across the country was on Sunday rescheduled to allow necessary repairs to be completed at the labs where technical glitches disrupted the exams on the first day, PTI reported.
Prometric, the American firm which has been entrusted with the task of conducting the tests, said, while a significant majority of the candidates successfully completed their exams on Saturday, various technical issues arose at selected computers in approximately 50 labs that prevented approximately 2,000 exams from being delivered.
"Prometric technicians have been dispatched to address these isolated problems. To avoid candidate inconvenience and to allow for the necessary repairs to be completed at the impacted labs, Prometric has scheduled a closure of these labs today," an announcement on the CAT-IIM official website said.
"Candidates affected by this closure will also be notified by Prometric in the manner described above and provided with new appointments within this year's testing period," the announcement said.
It said Prometric has generated new appointments for individuals who could not take the test yesterday and they are in the process of being contacted through SMS and email messages.
The first-ever experiment of the IIMs to conduct its CAT using computers ran into trouble yesterday in many centres across the country.
Soon after the exam started, students faced problems in opening the computers at 11 centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Bhopal.
Among the centres that will be closed today, 11 are in Bangalore, followed by Bhopal (8), Lucknow (6), Mumbai (6), New Delhi (5), Ghaziabad (4), Varanasi (2), Hyderabad (2), Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Kolkata and Coimbatore (1 each).
Anxiety swept scores of examination centres for the Common Admission Test for India’s top business and management schools on Saturday as the exam’s first online version blocked access to candidates. Candidates reported system glitches.
From Bangalore to Delhi, there was massive confusion as students were either refused entry or simply forced to walk out because the system appeared to have collapsed and would not open up for them to answer the questions. ‘‘I was here on time but they are not allowing me to write the test. There is no one here to redress my grievance.
“I do not know what to do,” said Sakthian who was appearing for CAT for the first time. CAT is also meant for entry to the seven IIMs.
In several New Delhi centres, the first session, which was scheduled to start at 10 am, was delayed by roughly half-an-hour. When students tried to log in, computers took ages to boot up and, in many cases, rejected the password. The scene was not very different in the evening session.
‘‘When the system refused to accept the password I thought my world was crashing. I kept on trying for a long time and worse still, the Prometric people there asked me to contact the call centre,’’ said Shashank Shekhar, a candidate at Asia-Pacific Institute of Management in Sarita Vihar.
A statement from Prometric on Saturday claimed that the exam was successfully conducted at most places and the delays were meant to help more students take the test.
In Chennai, students from as far as Madurai, Tiruchi and Puducherry checked into the examination hall two hours before the exam was scheduled to start, as requested by the organizers, only to leave the hall around 11am without taking the test. Technical problems stalled the exam for more than 120 students in Pune.
‘‘To accommodate the maximum number of candidates, Prometric and IIMs delayed the start of the morning session by about half an hour. As a result of isolated technical issues some candidates are being rescheduled and provided a new appointment via email and SMS,’’ said Soumitra Roy, Managing Director, India, Prometric. However, for many like Abhinava Uttam, a 3rd year student in Bangalore, it would mean a year’s set back since he has his semester exams commencing from December 1. ‘‘This means, I will have to appear only next year,” he said.
Complaints of log in, booting and system crashing mid-way came from across centres and according to coaching centres. And there are unique complaints as well such as unavailability of images that are supposed to come with the questions.
Students walked out, some furious others dejected, as the test administrators in the college told them that they would not be able to take the test that day. G Saravanan, a BCom student of Chennai’s Acharya Institute of Arts and Science, who had travelled from Puducherry with five of his friends said, “We started at 4am to get to the centre on time and this is what we got. Why wasn’t a backup prepared?’’
TRS chief arrested ahead of 'fast unto death' for separate statehood for Telangana
HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhara Rao was arrested on Sunday in Andhra Pradesh's Karimnagar district when he was heading to Medak district to launch a 'fast unto death' to demand separate statehood for Telangana region, police said. ( Watch Video )
Chandrasekhara Rao was first taken to Warangal. But in view of the tense situation, he was later taken to Khammam district, a police official said.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, was going to Siddipet town in Medak, about 100 km from here, when he was taken into custody by the police on the outskirts of Karimnagar town amid high drama.
The Mahabubnagar MP had vowed a fight to the finish by sitting on a fast unto death from 11am near the Martyrs Memorial at Siddipet.
TRS ideologue Jayashankar, TRS floor leader in assembly E Rajender and party legislator and KCR's son Tarakarama Rao were also arrested.
Police personnel, including the Rapid Action Force (RAF), used force to disperse and arrest dozens of KCR's supporters who had squatted on the road to prevent his arrest. Two workers also doused themselves with petrol in an attempt to immolate themselves.
Police held hundreds of party leaders and workers in different districts of Telangana when they were heading towards Siddipet.
Tension prevailed in Karimnagar, Warangal, Medak and other districts of Telangana as TRS workers took to the streets, damaging buses to protest KCR's arrest.
Fearing more violence, police have sounded an alert in Telangana region, comprising 10 districts including Hyderabad. Personnel of the elite anti-Maoist force, Greyhounds, have also been deployed to deal with the situation.
In Siddipet, TRS legislator Harish Rao and other leaders launched a fast unto death after hearing about the arrest of the party chief.
"The arrest of KCR will not stop the movement. He will continue his fast even in jail and we will continue our fast here," Harish Rao told reporters.
TRS, which was floated by KCR in 2000 to revive the movement for separate statehood to Telangana, has given a call for the shutdown in the region on Monday.
In Hyderabad, KCR supporters damaged the statue of former chief minister Kasu Brahmanand Reddy, who is blamed by Telangana protagonists for suppressing the violent Telangana movement in 1969.
Tension also prevailed in Osmania University here on Saturday night as students supporting the demand for separate Telangana tried to take out a rally. Police used force to arrest several students.
India-Canada clinch civil nuclear deal
Port of Spain: India and Canada have reached a landmark agreement on civil nuclear cooperation after months of hectic negotiations, paving the way for supply of Canadian atomic technology, equipment and uranium to New Delhi after a gap of 34 years.
The negotiations on the nuclear deal were concluded at a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper here on the margins of Commonwealth Summit, with the two leaders describing the development as a "milestone" opening up "tremendous opportunity" for their countries.
"The civil nuclear agreement is a very important step forward, a milestone for the development of our relationship," Singh said.
Canada, which is the world's largest producer of uranium, has become the eighth country with which India has reached a civil nuclear agreement since the NSG lifted a 34-year-old ban on New Delhi to join global nuclear trade in September last year.
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The other countries with which India has already signed the civil nuclear deal are the US, France, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Argentina and Namibia.
"We have now got an agreement which means this is a tremendous opportunity for both countries," Harper said after the negotiations were firmed up.
The Canadian Prime Minister was in New Delhi on November 17 when the two countries had announced that they were working to complete the civil nuclear deal.
Pointing out that the civil nuclear agreement with Canada was hanging fire for sometime, Singh said Harper "proved to be absolutely true to his words" as he had said the negotiations should be completed in a short period of eight to ten days.
Indian Business News
Dubai crisis not a threat: PMEAC
New Delhi: The Prime Minister's economic panel does not expect the Dubai debt crisis to trigger another meltdown in the world and has retained its forecast of Indian economic growth rate to 6.5 per cent for the current fiscal.
"I don't expect really a slip back as far as the economic recovery is concerned. Most countries in the West have shown positive growth in the third quarter of 2009 and this trend will continue. But as we all know recovery is going to be slow and modest," Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan said.
Rangarajan said probably the West Asian countries would come to the rescue of Dubai, which may not plunge the world into another financial meltdown.
Dubai's $80 billion debt woes have sent shock waves around the world, showing how fragile the economic recovery is.
Asked whether the crisis in Dubai would lead his council to revise its forecast for India's economic growth this fiscal, he said, "I do not think so, because Indian economy is driven primarily by the domestic demand."
The council pegged Indian economy to grow by 6.5 per cent this fiscal against 6.7 per cent a year ago.
Rangarajan attributed the expected slow down to adverse weather conditions. "Otherwise, growth rate could have been around seven per cent," he said.
Last year, the economy slowed down from nine per cent growth rate in the preceding three years.
The Dubai government has promised to pump in resources to ensure long-term success of Dubai World, whose 59 billion dollar debt pile-ups led to the fear of the crisis.
Key WTO ministerial begins on Monday
Geneva:The Doha trade talks are likely to dominate the three-day WTO conference of 153 trade ministers beginning here tomorrow, though hardcore negotiations are not part of the official agenda.
"This 7th Ministerial Conference will not be a negotiating session but the issues that will be taken up including the Doha Round and how best to advance it comprise all of the elements that are central to our mission," World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General Pascal Lamy said in his letter to the global media.
The ministers of all WTO member nations, who will be meeting for the first time since the breakout of the global economic crisis in September 2008, will review the recovery and also scrutinies the working of the multilateral trade referee.
The Indian delegation is led by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, who is accompanied by senior officials of his ministry. Representatives of the Indian industry, including FICCI, are also here to assist the government in pushing for a deal for opening the world trade.
Sharma, who had said early conclusion of the Doha negotiations were in the interest of the developing countries, would have a series of bilateral meetings with his counterpart from rich and the emerging economies.
Among others, he would be meeting US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton.
Indian Sports News
Bolt to particiapate in Commonwealth Games: Kalmadi
Port of Spain: Triple Olympic gold medalist sprinter Usain Bolt will take part in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi said here.
Addressing a Sports Breakfast on the sidelines of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) here, Kalmadi said Bolt will be the start attraction in the October 3-14 muliti-sport event being hosted by India for the first time.
Kalmadi said the preparations for the Games are on track and the the process to hand over stadia will start in January and everything will be in place by May, five months ahead of the multi-sport event. He also reaffirmed the commitment to hold the best ever Commonwealth Games that will have focus on environment.
"These will be the first ever green Games ... become the benchmark for all multi-disciplinary games in future. These will be the best ever Games," said Kalmadi who outlined the preparations along with Sports Secretary Sindushree Khullar.
The first stadium to be handed over to the Organising Committee will be Dhyan Chand Stadium, which will host hockey competitions.
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games on October 3 and October 14 respectively, besides the track and field events will be handed over by May.
With regard to traffic problems, Khullar said elaborate and meticulous plans are being worked out by the Delhi Traffic Police and athletes will be ferried in a dedicated lane. Also, the Delhi government will declare a holiday on October 14, for the closing ceremony, to reduce traffic on roads, said Khullar, who gave a detailed presentation outlining the progress made on various aspects of the Games.
Woods escapes with minor injuries after car crash
Washington:Tiger Woods had a narrow escape on Saturday when his car smashed outside his Florida mansion with the superstar golfer sustaining minor injuries before being released from a city hospital.
The 33-year-old golfer, one of the world's richest sportsperson with an estimated earning of over USD 1 billion, suffered cuts and bruises to his face and nose and was treated in the North Central Hospital in Ococee before being released in good health condition.
"Tiger Woods was in a minor car accident outside his home last night. He was admitted, treated and released today in good condition," the hospital in Florida said in a statement.
The statement which was also posted on the golf star's official website added : "We appreciate very much everyone's thoughts and well wishes."
Wood crashed into a fire hydrant and then hit a nearby tree after leaving his property in the Isleworth community near Windermere, a suburb of Orlando, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
Hearing the collision from inside the house, his wife, Elin, rushed out and had to use a golf club to break the back window of their SUV to rescue him.
Woods was found outside his vehicle in a semi-conscious state when police arrived on the scene. Woods reportedly had facial injuries as he was bleeding from the nose and cuts to both lips.
