In an U-turn, the Congress today decided to join the all-party committee on uranium mining in Meghalaya. Earlier, the party had decided not to join the committee formed by Chief Minister Donkupar Roy to arrive at a consensus on whether to allow Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) to go ahead with mining the heavy metal in the state. The decision to join the panel came after the AICC summoned the PCC president O L Nongtdu and Leader of the Opposition D D Lapang to discuss the matter.

P.S. Suryanarayana "Willing to consider, if and when needed, India's nuclear accord with the U.S.'

The uranium industry's worst year is about to collide with a nuclear construction programme in India and China that rivals the ones undertaken during the oil crisis of the 1970s. The result is likely to be a 58 per cent rebound in uranium to $90 a pound from $57 now, according to Goldman Sachs JB Were Pty and Rio Tin-to Group, the third-biggest mining company. Uranium plunged 57 per cent in the past year as an earthquake damaged a Japanese nuclear plant that's the world's largest and faults shut down reactors in the UK and Germany.

Canberra: India on Monday said its commitment to nonproliferation is "second to none' and the issue of procuring uranium from Australia will come up once it firms up an international arrangement for nuclear commerce. External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who met his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith here, also said it was "too early' to refer to the issue of uranium sale as political discussions back home on implementing the Indo-US nuclear deal were still on.

Canberra: India has said it will raise the issue of uranium sale with Australia as external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived here on Sunday to carry forward the momentum in bilateral ties and ink two key treaties on extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. "We are going to discuss all the issues of our expanding cooperation. We are going to review the uranium

Yoginder K. Alagh

Canberra : India on Sunday said it would raise the issue of uranium sale with Australia as External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived here on Sunday to carry forward the momentum in bilateral ties and ink two key treaties on extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. "We are going to discuss all issues of our expanding cooperation. We are going to review the international situation on uranium. Keeping that in view, whatever will be relevant will be discussed tomorrow,' Mukherjee, who is on his maiden two-day visit to Australia, said here.

But, Reiterates Its Support For India's Bid For UNSC Seat External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee is leaving for Australia on Saturday even as a battle rages within the government on the India-US deal. And the outcome of that battle will be as keenly watched in Canberra as in Washington, because that deal could be the making of the India-Australia relationship.

Even as the Indo-US nuclear deal is stuck in what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh calls "domestic politics', External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is headed for uranium-rich Australia for a three-day visit beginning this Saturday. The visit, between June 21 and 24, will be important from India's nuclear point of view since Australia is a key member of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG). The fact that the UPA-Left committee on the nuclear deal will meet on June 25, immediately after Mukherjee's return, makes its timing even more significant.

Iran said on Tuesday it would continue enriching uranium, defying efforts by major powers to pressure Tehran into stopping such work. The EU's top diplomat on Saturday presented Tehran with a package of economic benefits to try and persuade it to stop its nuclear program, which the West fears could lead to a nuclear weapon. "We have repeatedly said that enrichment is our red line and we should enjoy this technology. The work will be continued," deputy foreign minister Alireza Sheikhattar told reporters, according to the state news agency IRNA.