The First Man to Win Rs.5 Crores in Kaun Banega Crorepati

Sushil Kumar, a computer operator from Bihar, is the first person to win Rs 5 crores on Kaun Banega Crorepati.

Amitabh Bachchan is happy that Sushil Kumar of Bihar won the mega prize of Rs.5 crore on 'Kaun Banega Crorepati 5 (KBC)'. Big B says the victory proves the strength of the common man.

'What a sensational day in the studios of KBC! A young man from the interiors of Bihar, earning a meagre salary of just Rs.6,500 per month, coming from the most humblest of backgrounds, reaches the hot seat and cracks the ultimate prize - 5 cr rupees! An incredible feat!' Amitabh posted on his blog.

'This is what the common man is all about. This is what KBC is all about - given an opportunity, the common man has the strength the ability and the accumen to prove to the world that he is the best and second to none,' added the 69-year-old Bachchan, who hosts KBC.

Kumar is a computer operator and tutor. His victory led to celebrations on the sets of the show.

'The pulsating excitement on the set and among the crew was unimaginable. It was as if they had won the hugest prize ever in the history of Indian television. The tension as each question was meticulously answered and the pulsating and throbbing hearts as he crossed the Rs.1 crore mark and then waited and waited and waited till almost eternity to decide on that final answer of Rs.5 crorer.

How much will this prize money change your life?

I have done a Masters in psychology. I wanted to appear for the civil services examination but the financial crunch didn't let me pursue my dreams. I got a job where I could earn Rs 6, 000 per month and was satisfied with it.

Now I have enough money to help my family and fulfill my dreams. I want to build a new house. Then I want to help my younger brother who is working with a garment shop and earns only Rs 1, 500 per month. I would help him to start a new business. I want my elder brother to get a new shop.

I plan to go to Delhi to prepare for the civil exams; I want to become an IAS officer.

I will save the rest of the money.

Strong earthquake hits Turkey, 217 confirmed Dead, 1,000 feared Dead

A powerful earthquake in eastern Turkey has killed at least 217 people with fears of a much higher eventual death toll, as emergency teams scrambled to reach the afflicted region.

(Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) visits Ercis after the earthquake)

The 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the area near the city of Van, close to the Iranian border, although neighbouring towns and villages were among the worst hit. Idris Naim Sahin, Turkey’s interior minister, said on Monday that 100 people had been killed in Van and a further 117 in the badly hit town of Ercis, 100km further north.

“We don’t know where to put the dead bodies,” Eda Ekisoglu, a nurse at the state hospital in Ercis, told the CNN Turkin television channel on Sunday.

A survivor is carried to the ambulance

Nato said it stood ready to provide aid if necessary, as did Israel, Turkey’s former ally, from which Ankara has become increasingly estranged in recent years. Shimon Peres, Israel’s president, also called Abdullah Gul on Sunday to offer his condolences.

A Turkish foreign ministry official said Turkey had received offers of help from dozens of countries, but had so far declined assistance from all of them, according to Reuters.

Mustafa Erdik, the head of Istanbul’s Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, estimated that about 700 people had been killed, in contrast to the official count of 138. But, cautioning that the estimates were extremely provisional, he added that the death toll could be as high as 500-1,000.

The institute added that the earthquake, which hit at 10:41 GMT, was just 5km below the ground – relatively close to the surface, a factor likely to increase the damage it wreaked. There were numerous aftershocks.

“I am afraid it is going to be heavy,” Ahmet Lutfu Aker, the chairman of Turkey’s Red Crescent, said of the likely casualties. He added that his organisation had sent tents, blankets and food.

Initial reports indicated that the worst hit area was Van’s neighbouring town of Ercis. The earthquake was also felt in Armenia and Iran, but early reports did not indicate significant damage in either country.

Much of Turkey is earthquake-prone, including Istanbul, the capital and the country’s largest city, where thousands of people were killed in an earthquake in 1999. But the area around Van has long been considered particularly at risk.

Mr Erdik said Turkey’s humanitarian services had responded with unprecedented speed. But, since many of the villages in the mountainous region are isolated, it may take time for the scale of the damage to emerge.

The disaster struck Turkey at a time when the country is already in mourning for 24 soldiers killed by militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers party, or PKK, last week. In response, Ankara has sent troops over the border to Northern Iraq, where it said it had killed 49 members of the PKK, which Turkey, the US and the European Union all proscribe as a terrorist organisation.

13 Reasons - Why "NO" to Nuclear Energy

(courtesy : Mr.S.P. Udayakumar, Ph.D, Dianuke.org)

We have been opposing the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) ever since it was conceived in the mid-1980s. The people of Koodankulam village themselves were misled by false promises such as 10,000 jobs, water from Pechiparai dam in Kanyakumari district, and fantastic development of the region. We tried in vain to tell them that they were being deceived. Without any local support, we could not sustain the anti-Koodankulam movement for too long.

Now the people of Koodankulam know and understand that this is not just a fisherfolk’s problem, they may be displaced, and they have to deal with radioactive poison. Their joining the movement in 2007 has invigorated the campaign now. And (almost) all of us here in the southernmost tip of India oppose the Koodankulam NPP for a few specific reasons:

[1] The KKNPP reactors are being set up without sharing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Site Evaluation Study and Safety Analysis Report with the people, or the people’s representatives or the press. No public hearing has been conducted for the first two reactors either. There is absolutely no democratic decision-making in or public approval for this project.

[2] The Tamil Nadu Government G.O. 828 (29.4.1991 – Public Works Department) establishes clearly that “area between 2 to 5 km radius around the plant site, [would be] called the sterilization zone.” This means that people in this area could be displaced. But the KKNPP authorities promise orally and on a purely adhoc basis that nobody from the neighboring villages would be displaced. This kind of adhocism and doublespeak causes suspicion and fears of displacement.

[3] More than 1 million people live within the 30 km radius of the KKNPP which far exceeds the AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) stipulations. It is quite impossible to evacuate this many people quickly and efficiently in case of a nuclear disaster at Koodankulam.

[4] The coolant water and low-grade waste from the KKNPP are going to be dumped in to the sea which will have a severe impact on fish production and catch. This will undermine the fishing industry, push the fisherfolks into deeper poverty and misery and affect the food security of the entire southern Tamil Nadu and southern Kerala.

[5] Even when the KKNPP projects function normally without any incidents and accidents, they would be emitting Iodine 131, 132, 133, Cesium 134, 136, 137 isotopes, strontium, tritium, tellurium and other such radioactive particles into our air, land, crops, cattle, sea, seafood and ground water. Already the southern coastal belt is sinking with very high incidence of cancer, mental retardation, down syndrome, defective births due to private and government sea-sand mining for rare minerals including thorium. The KKNPP will add many more woes to our already suffering people.

[6] The quality of construction and the pipe work and the overall integrity of the KKNPP structures have been called into question by the very workers and contractors who work there in Koodankulam. There have been international concerns about the design, structure and workings of the untested Russian-made VVER-1000 reactors.

[7] The then Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment and Forest Mr.Jairam Ramesh announced a few months ago that the central government had decided not to give permission to KKNPP 3-6 as they were violating the Coastal Regulation Zone stipulations. It is pertinent to ask if KKNPP 1 and 2 are not violating the CRZ terms.

[8] Many political leaders and bureaucrats try to reassure us that there would be no natural disasters in the Koodankulam area. How can they know? How can anyone ever know? The 2004 December tsunami did flood the KKNPP installations. There was a mild tremor in the surrounding villages of Koodankulam on March 19, 2006. On August 12, 2011, there were tremors in 7 districts of Tamil Nadu.

[9] Indian Prime Minster himself has spoken about terrorist threats to India’s nuclear power plants. Most recently, on August 17, 2001, Minister of State for Home, Mr. Mullappally Ramachandran said: “the atomic establishments continue to remain prime targets of the terrorist groups and outfits.”

[10] The important issue of liability for the Russian plants has not been settled yet. Defying the Indian nuclear liability law, Russia insists that the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA), secretly signed in 2008 by the Indian and Russian governments, precedes the liability law and that Article 13 of the IGA clearly establishes that NPCIL is solely responsible for all claims of damages.

[11] In 1988 the authorities said that the cost estimate of the Koodakulam 1 and 2 projects was Rs. 6,000 crores. In November 1998, they said the project cost would be Rs. 15,500. In 2001, the ministerial group for economic affairs announced that the project cost would be Rs. 13,171 crores and the Indian government would invest Rs. 6,775 crores with the remainder amount

coming in as Russian loan with 4 percent interest. The fuel cost was estimated to be Rs. 2,129 crores which would be entirely Russian loan. No one knows the 2011 figures of any of these expenses. No one cares to tell the Indian public either.

[12] The March 11, 2011 disaster in Fukushima has made it all too clear to the whole world that nuclear power plants are prone to natural disasters and no one can really predict their occurrence. When we cannot effectively deal with a nuclear disaster, it is only prudent to prevent it from occurring. Even the most industrialized and highly advanced country such as Germany has decided to phase out their nuclear power plants by the year 2022.Switzerland has decided to shun nuclear power technology. In a recent referendum, some 90 percent of Italians have voted against nuclear power in their country. Many Japanese prefectures and their governors are closing nuclear power plants in their regions. Both the United States and Russia

have not built a new reactor in their countries for 2-3 decades ever since major accidents occurred at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.

In our own country, Mamta Banerjee government in West Bengal has stopped the Russian nuclear power park project at Haripur in Purba Medhinipur district and taken a position that they do want any nuclear power project in their state. Similarly, the people of Kerala have decided not to host any nuclear power project in their state.

[13] And finally, the Indian government’s mindless insistence on nuclear power, utmost secrecy in all of its nuclear agreements and activities, and its sheer unwillingness to listen to the people’s concerns and fears make us very doubtful about the real benefactors of all this nuclear hoopla. Is it all for us, the people of India? Or for the corporate profits of the Russian, American and French companies? Or for the Indian military? Are the lives and futures of the Indian citizens inferior to all these?

****

S.P. Udayakumar, Ph.D.

* People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE)
* National Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movements (NAAM)
(For a Nuclear-Free India that has
No Deals, No Mines, No Reactors, No Dumps, and No Bombs)
42/27 Esankai Mani Veethy, Parakkai Road Jn.,
Nagercoil 629 002, Tamil Nadu, India
Mobile: 91-98656-83735

Nuclear Power - A Short Review

The sun and stars are seemingly inexhaustible sources of energy. That energy is the result of nuclear reactions, in which matter is converted to energy. We have been able to harness that mechanism and regularly use it to generate power. Presently, nuclear energy provides for approximately 16% of the world's electricity. Unlike the stars, the nuclear reactors that we have today work on the principle of nuclear fission. Scientists are working like madmen to make fusion reactors which have the potential of providing more energy with fewer disadvantages than fission reactors.

Production

Changes can occur in the structure of the nuclei of atoms. These changes are called nuclear reactions. Energy created in a nuclear reaction is called nuclear energy, oratomic energy.

Nuclear energy is produced naturally and in man-made operations under human control.

• Naturally: Some nuclear energy is produced naturally. For example, the Sun and other stars make heat and light by nuclear reactions.
• Man-Made: Nuclear energy can be man-made too. Machines called nuclear reactors, parts of nuclear power plants, provide electricity for many cities. Man-made nuclear reactions also occur in the explosion of atomic and hydrogen bombs.

Nuclear energy is produced in two different ways, in one, large nuclei are split to release energy. In the other method, small nuclei are combined to release energy.

For a more detailed look at nuclear fission and nuclear fusion, consult the nuclear physics page.

• Nuclear Fission: In nuclear fission, the nuclei of atoms are split, causing energy to be released. The atomic bomb and nuclear reactors work by fission. The element uranium is the main fuel used to undergo nuclear fission to produce energy since it has many favorable properties. Uranium nuclei can be easily split by shooting neutrons at them. Also, once a uranium nucleus is split, multiple neutrons are released which are used to split other uranium nuclei. This phenomenon is known as achain reaction.

Fission of uranium 235 nucleus. Adapted from Nuclear Energy. Nuclear Waste*.

• Nuclear Fusion: In nuclear fusion, the nuclei of atoms are joined together, or fused. This happens only under very hot conditions. The Sun, like all other stars, creates heat and light through nuclear fusion. In the Sun, hydrogen nuclei fuse to make helium. The hydrogen bomb, humanity's most powerful and destructive weapon, also works by fusion. The heat required to start the fusion reaction is so great that an atomic bomb is used to provide it. Hydrogen nuclei fuse to form helium and in the process release huge amounts of energy thus producing a huge explosion.

Milestones in the History of Nuclear Energy

Amore in depth and detailed history of nuclear energy is on the nuclear past page.

• December 2, 1942: The Nuclear Age began at the University of Chicago when Enrico Fermi made a chain reaction in a pile of uranium.
• August 6, 1945: The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, killing over 100,000.
• August 9, 1945: The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, killing over 40,000.
• November 1, 1952: The first large version of the hydrogen bomb (thousands of times more powerful than the atomic bomb) was exploded by the United States for testing purposes.
• February 21, 1956: The first major nuclear power plant opened in England.

Advantages of Nuclear Energy

• The Earth has limited supplies of coal and oil. Nuclear power plants could still produce electricity after coal and oil become scarce.
• Nuclear power plants need less fuel than ones which burn fossil fuels. One ton of uranium produces more energy than is produced by several million tons of coal or several million barrels of oil.
• Coal and oil burning plants pollute the air. Well-operated nuclear power plants do not release contaminants into the environment.

Disadvantages of Nuclear Energy

The nations of the world now have more than enough nuclear bombs to kill every person on Earth. The two most powerful nations -- Russia and the United States -- have about 50,000 nuclear weapons between them. What if there were to be a nuclear war? What if terrorists got their hands on nuclear weapons? Or what if nuclear weapons were launched by accident?

• Nuclear explosions produce radiation. The nuclear radiation harms the cells of the body which can make people sick or even kill them. Illness can strike people years after their exposure to nuclear radiation.
• One possible type of reactor disaster is known as a meltdown. In such an accident, the fission reaction goes out of control, leading to a nuclear explosion and the emission of great amounts of radiation.

• In 1979, the cooling system failed at the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Radiation leaked, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee. The problem was solved minutes before a total meltdown would have occurred. Fortunately, there were no deaths.
• In 1986, a much worse disaster struck Russia's Chernobyl nuclear power plant. In this incident, a large amount of radiation escaped from the reactor. Hundreds of thousands of people were exposed to the radiation. Several dozen died within a few days. In the years to come, thousands more may die of cancers induced by the radiation.
• Nuclear reactors also have waste disposal problems. Reactors produce nuclear waste products which emit dangerous radiation. Because they could kill people who touch them, they cannot be thrown away like ordinary garbage. Currently, many nuclear wastes are stored in special cooling pools at the nuclear reactors.
• The United States plans to move its nuclear waste to a remote underground dump by the year 2010.
• In 1957, at a dump site in Russia's Ural Mountains, several hundred miles from Moscow, buried nuclear wastes mysteriously exploded, killing dozens of people.
• Nuclear reactors only last for about forty to fifty years.