A 'pause-and-review' approach to nuclear power isn't extreme. Safety is too precious to be sacrificed to appease our nuclear lobby, writes Praful Bidwai

Corruption and controversies have eroded the brand value one of India's fastest growing global brands, the Indian Premier League (IPL).

This cashless transaction is a part of corporate debt restructuring agreed by banks and the airline company.

The government on Wednesday said the total tax collections--both direct and indirect--for 2010-11 have exceeded even the revised estimate on the back of strong economic activities.

Outgoing State Bank of India chairman Om Prakash Bhatt continued his defiance of the central bank on the teaser loan front saying 'the Reserve Bank never understood our special home loan product'.

Workers were evacuated from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant on Sunday after radiation levels surged 10 million times higher than usual, dealing a major blow to efforts to avoid a meltdown of the reactors. The radiation in the water is 10 million times higher than that seen usually in the No 2 reactor complex, according Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the plant, 250-km northeast of capital Tokyo.

Japanese engineers on Saturday inched closer to connecting power at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear plants, north of the Japanese capital, so as to restore the damaged cooling system to the dangerously overheated nuclear fuel.

With 337 more persons arriving on Friday, Air India has brought over 1,600 Indians from quake-hit Japan and has carried over 25 tonnes of relief material, including 20,000 blankets, to that country.

As Japan's earthquake and tsunami triggers the global nuclear industry's worst crisis, it is time for India to rethink it ambitious nuclear power programme, says Praful Bidwai

The reactors that exploded at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami are similar to those at Maharashtra's Tarapur atomic power plant. But does India need to worry?

Japan's nuclear nightmare worsened on Wednesday with radiation levels surging at a quake-crippled reactor at Fukushima plant, forcing authorities to briefly pull out emergency workers even as another fire erupted slowing desperate efforts to avert a meltdown.

"The Department of Atomic Energy and its agencies, including the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, have been instructed to undertake an immediate technical review of all safety systems of our nuclear power plants, particularly with a view to ensuring that they would be able to withstand the impact of large natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes," he had said.

The broader indices outperformed the benchmark, albeit marginally, with the Mid-cap touching 6,556 up 1.4%, and the Small-cap at 7,890 up 1.3%.

Workers battling to prevent a nuclear meltdown at Japan's quake-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant have been temporarily evacuated following fears that the containment vessel around reactor no 3 may have been damaged. Television images showed white smoke, now thought to be steam from the reactor, drifting from the nuclear plant.

Another explosion rocked the Fukushima nuclear power plant in northern Japan on Tuesday, as the country continued to face the threat of a nuclear meltdown.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Tuesday demanded an immediate halt to the setting up of a nuclear power project in Jaitapur and the environment clearance given to it, saying the crisis in nuclear reactors in Japan following the tsunami warranted a re-examination of the project.

Tennis star Maria Sharapova and Pune FC's Japanese footballer Izumi Arata lend their support to those affected in Japan in last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami and the nuclear crisis.

Mahindra, which emerged as the preferred bidder for SsangYong in August 2010, will now hold a 70 per cent stake in SMC, for which it has shelled out $463 million (about Rs 2,105 crore).

Compared to other emerging markets, accelerated growth in the domestic economy provided greater business opportunities to foreign banks in India, resulting in higher profitability.

Making a statement in Parliament on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Dr Singh said Indian nuclear plants have in the past met the safety standards during the major natural calamities like January 26, 2002 Gujarat earthquake and the December 2004 Tsunami.

The observations are based on the grouping's latest composite leading indicators released on Monday, that provide early signals of turning points with regard to economic expansion and slowdown.

Japan's financial woes mount as the Tokyo Stock Exchange saw one of the worst crashes on Monday.

Japan's second nuclear reactor in the quake-stricken north experienced serious troubles on Sunday after its emergency cooling system failed, triggering a fresh radiation threat, a day after a blast rocked the site following a massive quake and tsunami in which thousands of people are feared dead.

More than 1,000 people were feared dead in the massive tsunami triggered by Japan's most powerful earthquake which wrought devastation in northeast coastal Japan forcing the government to declare emergency at two nuclear plants after their cooling systems failed.

Japan on Saturday scrambled hard to prevent meltdowns at its nuclear power plants, declaring a state of emergency at five atomic reactors and evacuating thousands of residents, as it launched a mammoth relief operation in its northeast devastated by a massive earthquake that likely left over 1,000 people dead.

A massive tsunami triggered by Japan's most powerful earthquake in nearly a century on Friday wrought devastation in northeast coastal Japan, sweeping away houses, ships and cars and setting ablaze several buildings, killing over 360 people.

Crude prices, which has become a big concern for the government fighting inflation, softened to about $104 to a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after touching $107 a barrel, its highest level since September 2008.

He said assessees' "comfort zones" have to be significantly enhanced, even as deliberate evaders and offenders are punished.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday retained the rate of standard excise duty at 10 per cent in the Budget for 2011-12, giving a little respite to industry, which feared a rollback of stimulus measures.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said economic growth in 2011-12 likely to be 9 per cent, government while presenting the Union Budget for 2011-12 on Monday.

Referring to the impact of political turmoil in West Asia, he said the crisis would not hurt the economy unless the crude oil prices rise to 'abnormally' high levels.

Economic Survey says Indian carriers operate in an exceptionally high-cost environment.

The Economic Survey today pegged the fiscal deficit for 2010-11 at 4.8 per cent, lower than the Budgetary estimates of 5.5 per cent, on the back of higher realisation from 3G spectrum auction and buoyancy in revenues.

The civil aviation industry, which was hit hard by the global financial meltdown and high fuel cost, saw a strong recovery in 2010 with the domestic passenger traffic rising 19 per cent to 51.53 million, the Economic Survey said on Friday.

Ahead of Union Budget, the government on Thursday said it hopes to exceed the indirect tax collection estimate of Rs 3.36 lakh crore for this fiscal in view of the buoyancy in the economy.

In 2009, the count of such filings stood at 1.47 million. "Bankruptcy filings in the federal courts rose 8 per cent in calendar year 2010... Total filings remain at a five-year high," Administrative Office of the US Courts said in a statement on Tuesday.

Four years after buying Novelis, a company three times its size, Hindalco is now banking on the Atlanta (US)-headquartered aluminium rolling and recycling major to fund its Rs 23,000-crore expansion plan in India.

Islamic banking has been gaining momentum after the global meltdown.

The commerce ministry has sought a review of foreign direct investment policy in the pharmaceutical sector, in the light of recent takeovers of domestic companies by multinationals.

Leaders Manchester United suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season on Saturday as they went down 2-1 at bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers.