Fire at Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC): A fire broke out in a laboratory at India’s premier nuclear research facility yesterday. Though no danger of radiation due to the accident was reported, two research students were killed in the fire. The cause of the fire is unknown. Earlier this month three people were arrested for illegal possession of five kilograms of depleted uranium. In November, 55 workers at the Kaiga Atomic Power Station in Karnataka were exposed to excessive radiation by drinking water contaminated with tritium. The incident was attributed to “an insider’s mischief” by Indian authorities.
Japanese Prime Minister asks India to sign the CTBT: During his visit to India for the Annual Bilateral Summit, Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama called upon India to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The Indian Prime Minister assured him that India would do so after the United States and China ratify the treaty. In their joint press statement the two leaders “supported the immediate commencement of negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament and an early conclusion of a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT).” The also talked of improving bilateral security cooperation as per the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation signed between the two countries in 2008. India and Japan will also look at improving bilateral economic and energy cooperation
Arihant, Arjun and Bhisma among highlights of Defense Ministry’s year end review: Indigenization and modernization of the India Armed Forces through procurement of state-of-the-art weapons were said to be the highlights for the Defense Ministry in a press release today. “The Army’s focus during the year was on indigenization with the induction of locally built MBT Arjun and T-90 Bhishma tanks.” In July India launched its first nuclear submarine, Arihant. The Ministry paid special attention to strengthening coastal security after the sea-borne terror attacks on Mumbai in 2008. Efforts are being made to increase intelligence sharing between all maritime agencies. “All coastal security operations are now coordinated from the Joint Operations Centre, which are manned round the clock by Naval and Coast Guard teams. In addition, the state Marine Police and other agencies such as Customs, Intelligence Bureau, Ports etc are also networked with these centers.”
