NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON: A “breakthrough understanding” to open India’s nuclear power sector to US firms reached during President Barack Obama’s visit to New Delhi last month could be finalized this year, Indian officials say.
The Jan. 25 announcement by Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi followed six weeks of intensive talks, but few details were released beyond a framework based on India’s acceptance of the principle that plant operators should bear primary liability in the event of a nuclear disaster.
Significant work remains on the fine print of a deal aimed at unlocking projects worth tens of billions of dollars that have been stuck the drawing board for years. India wants to nearly treble its installed nuclear capacity, which would make it the world’s second biggest market after China.
US officials say details of an insurance scheme to protect suppliers from crippling lawsuits need to be thrashed out and India still has to ratify a UN nuclear convention. Indian officials do not rule out completing the process this year.
“We are committed to moving ahead on all implementation issues at an early date,” said Syed Akbaruddin, chief spokesman at India’s Ministry of External Affairs. “There are no policy hurdles left.”
General Electric and Westinghouse, a unit of Japan’s Toshiba, were fully briefed on the meetings of a nuclear “contact group” that hammered out the nuclear compromise in London, say sources with direct knowledge of the talks.
Bringing them into the mix was crucial because the prospect of huge lawsuits, like those against Union Carbide over the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster, has until now kept US and other foreign firms on the sidelines.
India and the United States signed a landmark agreement to cooperate on nuclear power back in 2008. Yet an expected bonanza never materialized because India later passed a law that would expose reactor makers to liability if there was an accident.
The liability issue has became a metaphor for the unrealized potential of the bilateral business relationship and a question mark against Modi’s “Make in India” mantra.
“NOT INCOMPATIBLE“
As the days counted down to Obama’s visit, Indian officials persuaded their US counterparts that their law was “not incompatible” with international standards that place the burden of liability on the operator, said one senior US official.
New Delhi also proposed setting up an insurance pool with a liability cap of 15 billion rupees ($244 million). The state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India would pay premiums to cover its liability. Suppliers would take out separate insurance against their secondary liability — which could not exceed that of the operator — at a “fraction” of the cost.
India must still ratify the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), which requires signatories to channel liability to the operator and offers access to relief funds.
“We would be looking at how quickly we can ratify the CSC — this is part of our assurance to the suppliers, along with the insurance pool,” said an Indian member of the contact group, set up by Obama and Modi at a Washington summit last year.
The US official said Washington expects the Indians to ratify with the IAEA in the near future, along with documentation “stating what their law intends” on the issue of liability, which should offer further reassurance to US firms.
A QUESTION OF DETAIL
The US industry would have preferred the issue to be settled by amending the liability law, something considered politically impossible for Modi to achieve at the moment.
“We want to see all the detail before we say: ‘Yes, it works for us’,” Westinghouse President and CEO Daniel Roderick, who joined Obama’s delegation, told Reuters.
That note of caution, however, masks the extent to which negotiators engaged with the industry to address fears that it could end up on the hook in a disaster on the scale of the 2011 reactor blasts at Tepco’s plant in Fukushima, Japan.
“For the first time, we had a comprehensive inventory of concerns,” said the Indian negotiator.
Westinghouse has been granted land in Modi’s home state of Gujarat to build six reactors, while GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy is eyeing a similar project in Andhra Pradesh. The liability roadblock has prevented commercial talks from starting on the projects, with a combined capacity of 10,000 megawatts.
India has 21 nuclear reactors with an installed capacity of 21,300 MW. It plans to launch construction of 40,000 MW of capacity in the next decade.
US-India nuclear “breakthrough” could be finalized within year
US-India nuclear “breakthrough” could be finalized within year
Fifteen inmates killed in new Ecuador jail massacre
- “Serious incidents were reported between inmates, resulting in a preliminary toll of 15 dead and 14 wounded,” the prison service said
- The prison service said that a “significant contingent” of troops and police had been deployed to restore order at the prison, which was now under the “full control” of the authorities
GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador: At least 15 inmates were killed and 14 injured in clashes Tuesday at a prison in the Ecuadoran port of Guayaquil, the latest in a series of massacres blamed on a war between drug cartels.
Once seen as a beacon of stability in South America, Ecuador has become one of the world’s most violent nations and a major drug trafficking hub in recent years.
Much of the violence has taken place in prisons where more than 460 inmates have been killed since February 2021, often in gruesome fashion, with their bodies dismembered and burnt.
The latest bloodshed took place in Litoral penitentiary, the country’s biggest, where 119 inmates were killed in September 2021 in Ecuador’s worst prison massacre.
“This morning, in a pavilion of the Litoral penitentiary, serious incidents were reported between inmates, resulting in a preliminary toll of 15 dead and 14 wounded,” the prison service said.
AFP drone images of the prison yard showed inmates in orange prison garb placing a body on the ground next to a dozen corpses wrapped in blankets.
In another part of the prison, dozens of prisoners could be seen sitting in rows, guarded by security force members.
The prison service said that a “significant contingent” of troops and police had been deployed to restore order at the prison, which was now under the “full control” of the authorities.
The violence in Ecuador’s prisons has spilled over onto the streets.
The Andean country registered a record 47 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023, up from a rate of six per 100,000 in 2018.
In January, the violence reached a new peak following the jailbreak of a powerful narco boss, Jose Adolfo Macias.
In the most dramatic incident, gunmen stormed the studios of a television station in Guayaquil and held a presenter at gunpoint live on air.
Gang members also took scores of prison guards hostage and set off explosions prompting President Daniel Noboa to declare war on organized crime and deploy the army to combat the gangs.
Tuesday’s massacre is the first at a prison since then.
But tit-for-tat gang attacks left at least 17 dead near Guayaquil last month and prison officials continue to be targeted.
Five penitentiary staff were shot dead in the space of a month between late August and late September.
The victims included the director of Litoral, who was shot dead after her car was ambushed while traveling near Guayaquil and the head of another prison in the Amazonian province of Sucumbios, who too was shot dead while traveling by car.
Noboa claims his offensive against organized crime is nonetheless yielding results.
Between January and September, 4,236 murders were reported, down from 5,112 for the same period in 2023.
Spanish flood-hit towns brace for another storm
- AEMET forecasts as much as 120 mm of rain in 12 hours
- While the storm is not expected to be as powerful, it could be devastating for the towns that are still recovering
MADRID: Flood-hit towns near the eastern city of Valencia were rushing on Tuesday to clear the sewage system of mud and debris, pile sandbags and cancel school classes as they prepared for another approaching storm.
Two weeks after the worst floods in Spain’s modern history killed more than 200 people, national weather service AEMET issued an orange alert, the second-highest, for strong or torrential rains expected on Wednesday in the same area.
AEMET forecasts as much as 120 mm (4.7 inches) of rain in 12 hours. While the storm is not expected to be as powerful, it could be devastating for the towns that are still recovering.
The impact of the rain could be severe because of the quantities of mud already on the ground and because of the condition of the sewage system, Rosa Tauris, a spokesperson for Valencia’s emergency committee, told reporters.
Thousands of workers are cleaning buildings while removing the mud that accumulated on roads and sidewalks and clogged the sewage pipes and drains in towns and suburbs around Valencia.
The emergency committee issued a special warning requesting that municipalities and organizations take preventive measures, including closing schools.
Tauris recommended citizens work remotely when possible, avoid non-essential travel and follow emergency services’ updates.
The town council of Chiva, one of the worst-hit sites, canceled classes and sports activities, while in nearby Aldaia, workers piled up sandbags to protect the town.
“We are placing sandbags to replace the floodgates that the previous floods tore down,” municipal worker Antonio Ojeda said, hoping this would prevent the Saleta ravine from overflowing again.
They are also cleaning the ditches and drains that are obstructed with trees, tires and car parts.
On Monday, 10,000 tons of furniture, appliances and clothing were removed, almost as much waste as Valencia disposes of in a year.
Valencian authorities suspended classes and activities at recreational centers in the flood-hit suburbs, advising volunteers who flocked to the area to help clean up to avoid travel.
The AEMET’s weather alerts cover much of the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia, Valencia and Andalusia and the Balearic Islands.
Court delays decision on sentencing Trump to November 19
- Ahead of election, Trump’s lawyers moved to have case thrown out
- Trump’s legal team almost certain to seek to oppose or delay any sentencing
NEW YORK: The judge in Donald Trump’s New York criminal case has delayed to November 19 a decision on potentially throwing out the US president-elect’s conviction, the court said Tuesday.
Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in May after a jury found he had fraudulently manipulated business records to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.
The president-elect is due to be sentenced on November 26, may receive a reprieve if Judge Juan Merchan decides to dismiss the case following the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.
That landmark ruling saw the court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, decide that presidents have sweeping immunity from prosecution for a range of official acts committed while in office.
Ahead of the election, Trump’s lawyers moved to have the case thrown out in light of the Supreme Court decision, a move that prosecutors have firmly rejected.
If the judge throws out the case on that basis, there will be no sentencing of Trump, 78.
If he does not, Trump’s legal team would almost certainly seek to oppose or delay any sentencing, insisting it would interfere with Trump’s role as commander-in-chief once he is sworn in on January 20.
“The joint application for a stay of the current deadlines... until November 19, is granted,” the court wrote in an email to parties in the case, seen by AFP.
Alongside the New York case, brought by state-level prosecutors, Trump faces two active federal cases, one related to his effort to overturn the 2020 election and the other connected to classified documents he allegedly mishandled after leaving office.
However, as president, he would be able to intervene to end those cases, and Jack Smith, the special counsel handling both cases, has reportedly begun to wind them down.
A Trump-appointed federal judge already threw out the documents case, but Smith had sought to appeal that decision.
“Trump’s victory means he is unlikely to be held accountable for any of his alleged criminal misconduct,” said former prosecutor Randall Eliason in an article on Substack.
“That’s a severe blow to the ideal of the rule of law.”
The New York conviction, coming just months before an election that Trump won convincingly, was one of several dramatic developments in the race for the White House.
In July, Trump survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania when a bullet grazed his ear.
Later that month, President Joe Biden stepped aside as the Democratic Party’s candidate following a disastrous performance against Trump in a televised debate.
That paved the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the first woman of color from a major US party to stand for president.
Driver rams his car into crowd in China, killing 35, as police say he was upset about his divorce
- Police detained the 62-year-old man, who is being treated for wounds thought to be self-inflicted, shortly after the attack
- He was dissatisfied with the split of financial assets in his divorce, according to a preliminary investigation, police said
ZHUHAI, China: A man who authorities said was upset over his divorce settlement rammed his car into a crowd of people exercising at a sports complex in southern China, killing 35 and severely injuring dozens of others, police said Tuesday.
Police detained the 62-year-old man, who is being treated for wounds thought to be self-inflicted, shortly after the attack Monday night in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai. The city is hosting the People’s Liberation Army’s annual aviation exhibition, which opened Tuesday, and searches for what happened were heavily censored for users behind China’s Great Firewall.
Outside of the controls, however, videos circulated on the social media platform X. In several, dozens of people could be seen lying on the track at the sports complex, which is regularly used by hundreds of residents to run, play soccer or dance.
In one, shared by news blogger and dissident Li Ying, a woman says “my foot is broken.” That same video showed a firefighter performing CPR on a person, as others were told to leave. Li, who is known on X as Teacher Li, posts daily news based on user submissions
In addition to the 35 people killed, police said 43 were injured.
China has seen a number of attacks in which suspects appear to target members of the public at random.
In October, a man was detained after he allegedly attacked children with a knife at a school in Beijing. Five people were wounded. In September, three people were killed in a knife attack in a Shanghai supermarket, and another 15 were injured. Police said at the time that the suspect had personal financial disputes and came to Shanghai to “vent his anger.”
In May, two people were killed and 21 injured in a knife attack in a hospital in Yunnan province.
Police identified the man detained in Monday’s attack only by his family name of Fan, as is typical, and said he was unconscious and receiving medical care after being found in his car with a knife and wounded.
He was dissatisfied with the split of financial assets in his divorce, according to a preliminary investigation, police said.
Chinese authorities appeared to be tightly controlling information about the incident. Internet censors tend to take extra care to scrub social media ahead of and during major events, such as the aviation exhibition or the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress.
For almost 24 hours after the attack, it was unclear what the death or injury toll was. On Tuesday morning, a search on the Chinese social media platform Weibo for the sports center turned up just a few posts, with only a couple referring to the fact something had happened, without pictures or details. Articles by Chinese media from Monday night about the incident were taken down.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for the “strict” punishment of the perpetrator according to law in a statement Tuesday evening.
He also called on all local governments “to strengthen prevention and control of risks at the source, strictly prevent extreme cases from occurring, and to resolve conflicts and disputes in a timely manner,” according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Indian travel agents record surge in outbound tourism to Middle East
- There has been an increase of at least 30% in trips to Middle East from Indian city of Ahmedabad alone, agent says
- Indian travelers are drawn to ‘less explored’ Middle East region, which is increasingly becoming top choice
NEW DELHI: An increasing number of Indian travelers are visiting the Middle East this year, tour operators said on Tuesday after recording a significant surge to the region during the Diwali holiday season.
The Middle East has become an increasingly popular foreign destination for many Indian travelers, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE often cited as the top two countries in demand.
As the festive Diwali season and the long holidays that came with it concluded earlier this month, tourism players in India say there was a notable increase in trips to Arab countries.
“In this festival season, there was a huge demand,” Jyoti Mayal, president of the Travel Agents Association of India, told Arab News on travel from India to the UAE, citing Saudi Arabia and Qatar as particularly popular destinations.
“These countries in the Middle East are less explored and that’s why more and more people are traveling (to them).”
Travelers from the western Indian state of Gujarat were drawn to new and affordable packages offered to Gulf destinations like Dubai, said tour agent Manish Sharma.
“From Ahmedabad, I can say that compared to the past, there has been an increase of 30 to 35 percent in the outbound travels to the Middle East this time,” Sharma, who runs his business in the Gujarati capital, told Arab News.
Their top choices were UAE cities such as Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai, he added.
“The reasons for the growth are manifold — it’s cheap, easy connectivity, it’s near, you get good food,” he added.
Members of the Gujarati middle class “take at least one or two vacations every year,” he said. “During Diwali and summer vacation, they prefer to go to Dubai.”
Many Indians appear to be taking advantage of the increasing number of direct flights to the UAE. There are at least 14 daily flights to Dubai from Ahmedabad alone.
“There has been an increase in Dubai travel in the last 10 years, (and) in the last three years tourism has grown greatly. But this year, tourism to UAE has gone phenomenally and the reason is the increase in the number of flights,” Sharma said.
