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Nuclear Scientist, 70, a Folk Hero, Is Elected India's President
Index:
Nuclear Scientist, 70, a Folk Hero, Is Elected India's President
FOCUS: Antinuke movement suffers setbacks after Sept. 11
FOCUS: No relief yet for A-bomb survivors abroad
Entergy sets deadline to restore plant buy's terms
TEPCO chief wants to meet Fukushima gov. over nuclear tax hike
=======================================
Nuclear Scientist, 70, a Folk Hero, Is Elected India's President
EW DELHI, July 18 (NY Times) — An exuberant and eccentric 70-year-old
scientist who is considered the father of India's nuclear missile
program was overwhelmingly elected president today by legislators.
The vote for the largely ceremonial office reflected both the growing
disdain of the country for professional politicians and its ambition
to be taken seriously on the world stage.
The scientist, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, a boatman's son who rose to
become a nuclear folk hero in India, emerged as the surprise
candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling Hindu nationalist
party, only a month ago. He won nearly 90 percent of the votes cast
by legislators.
A best-selling author, he functions as a kind of nationalist self-
help guru who vows to use science, technology and nuclear and space
research to allow India to develop, assert itself and achieve
greatness.
He has emerged as a cult figure since he helped oversee India's
successful nuclear tests in 1998. His latest book, "Ignited Minds:
Unleashing the Power Within India," blares his can-do, nationalist
message.
"India has to be transformed into a developed nation," Dr. Kalam said
after being elected today, "a prosperous nation and a healthy nation,
with a value system."
Dr. Kalam, an ethnic Tamil, will be the third Muslim to serve as
president of Hindu-dominated India. Nominating him allowed the ruling
party to bolster its secular credentials after being condemned for
allowing Hindu extremists to kill hundreds of Muslims in Gujarat
earlier this year.
But critics question Dr. Kalam's scientific credentials, say he has
never truly fought for Muslim causes and call him a political novice
unprepared for Indian political combat. Leftists accuse him of
nuclear jingoism and challenge his support for vast high-technology
projects, like an unmanned Indian mission to the moon, which they
contend will waste millions.
"His scientific ideology is more of society being at the disposal of
science," said Sita Ram Yechury, a spokesman for the leftist parties
opposing Dr. Kalam, "rather than science being at the disposal of
society."
But such criticism is faint in a country where Dr. Kalam has become a
mythic figure. A bachelor, vegetarian and amateur musician and poet,
Dr. Kalam brings an unorthodox style to the 340-room presidential
palace. Until now, he has professed to live the life of an ascetic,
reading poetry and strumming the vina, a traditional guitarlike
instrument, in his spare time. His trademark is the long mop of gray
hair that flops down each side of his face.
Dr. Kalam's best-selling autobiography, "Wings of Fire," and a
children's book, "Eternal Quest," recount his life and times.
Born on Oct. 15, 1931, in Rameswaram, a spit of land that juts out
between Madras and Sri Lanka, he excelled in school while selling
newspapers to support his father.
The idyllic account of his life that follows features inspirational
verse from the Koran, the Bhagavad-Gita, T. S. Eliot, Lewis Carroll,
Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Kalam himself and others.
It describes Muslims and Hindus growing up in harmony, and teachers
and family members helping him get into boarding school and college.
Dr. Kalam went on to study aeronautical engineering at the
prestigious Madras Institute of Technology. He never received a
Ph.D., but he is always referred to as "doctor" in India, having
received 30 honorary doctorates and the country's three highest
civilian honors.
His only visit to the United States came in 1963, when he spent about
five months touring NASA rocket centers.
Throughout his career, Dr. Kalam, who declined a request for an
interview, worked tirelessly to ensure that Indian technology could
succeed, according to Dr. K. Kasturirangan, now the head of India's
space program and a colleague of Dr. Kalam's for 35 years.
"He is a humble, he lives a spartan life," Dr. Kasturirangan said,
listing the qualities that attract an Indian public weary of
political corruption. "He is deeply committed to any cause he
undertakes in life."
After working on the team that developed India's first satellite
vehicle in the 1970's, Dr. Kalam ran a program that developed five
missiles to counter Chinese and Pakistani systems in the 1980's. When
the Bharatiya Janata Party took office in 1998, he served as
scientific adviser to the Ministry of Defense and lobbied for nuclear
tests.
Indian tests that year set off an international outcry and an arms
race with Pakistan. But Dr. Kalam argues that nuclear weapons are a
deterrent that helped prevent another war between India and Pakistan
this spring.
Dr. Kalam, who takes office July 25, will have limited power under
India's parliamentary system. Expected to serve as an evenhanded
arbiter, the president breaks ties in Parliament, can call elections
and can decide which party can form a government.
Dr. Kalam will also have the bully pulpit to argue for development
projects that he says will eliminate poverty in India by 2020. Groups
he helped establish have developed prosthetic limbs from lightweight
materials from the missile programs. Another distributes information
on weather, crops and genetically altered farm animals to farmers.
Opponents may continue to attack him as a yes man for Hindu
nationalists, a proponent of militarism and creator of an Indian
military-industrial complex. But his upbeat message is likely to
continue to drown them out.
"Nations consist of people," his new book begins. "And with their
effort, a nation can accomplish all it could ever want."
---------------
FOCUS: Antinuke movement suffers setbacks after Sept. 11
HIROSHIMA, July 19 (Kyodo) - The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the
United States and following events at home and abroad have cast a
cold wind on the antinuclear and peace movement in Japan.
The movement, spearheaded by survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, has also been losing momentum as many
survivors get older and the incident fades further into the past.
After Sept. 11, Japan sent the Self-Defense Forces to the Indian
Ocean to provide U.S.-led forces with noncombat support and the Diet
started debating long-shelved war contingency laws.
Outside Japan, the U.S. conducted several subcritical nuclear tests,
including one with Britain, and tensions between nuclear-armed rivals
India and Pakistan over the Kashimir region have flared up -- posing
the threat that the world's first nuclear war could be unleashed in
South Asia.
''We have an imminent sense of crisis for war at home and abroad,''
said Sunao Tsuboi, secretary general of the Hiroshima branch of the
Japan Confederation of A-Bomb and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations
(Hidankyo).
''To make the matter worse, nuclear weapons could be used (in the
India and Pakistan conflict). Because we are A-bomb survivors, we
cannot help being sensitive to the issues of nuclear weapons.''
Tsuboi was 20 years old and was walking to Hiroshima University when
the world's first atomic bomb exploded on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.
He was tossed about 10 meters by the blast and suffered heavy burns.
He did not remember anything for about 40 days while he was treated
at a hospital.
Controversial remarks made by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda
hinting at a review of Japan's nonnuclear policies on May 31 fueled
Tsuboi's anger and that of other A-bomb survivors.
The Japanese government adopted the three principles of not
possessing, manufacturing nor allowing nuclear arms on Japanese soil
in 1967. ''But Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is so cunning that he
shrewdly fended off the issue,'' Tsuboi said.
Hidankyo planned to hold an A-bomb exhibition at the U.N.
headquarters in New York from Sept. 18 to Oct. 27, which would mark
the first such display at the venue.
However, the event has been foiled, or at least postponed, at the
request of the United Nations on the grounds some pictures are too
horrible to be seen by children viewers.
Despite the U.N.'s decision, Tsuboi, 77, has not yet given up his
commitment to eradicate nuclear weapons around the globe.
''I regret we could not abolish all nuclear weapons in the 20th
century,'' he said. ''But I must persevere for a while because I may
be very feeble within several years.''
He still is looking for the possibility of holding the exhibition
even by compromising to remove some of the photos, saying holding the
event at the U.N. headquarters had a different meaning.
As a part of his mission to pass on A-bomb experiences to future
generations, Tsuboi is collecting written testimonies from all the
around 18,000 A-bomb survivors who are members of Hidankyo's
Hiroshima branch.
Only 10% of A-bomb survivors have written about their experiences in
the atomic bombings, he said.
''Even only a few words will be fine,'' he said. ''The important
thing is for many A-bomb survivors to write some messages to pass
them on to next generations.''
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum Director Minoru Hataguchi is another
person who feels that the antinuclear and peace movement is under
threat.
Regarding subcritical nuclear tests conducted by the U.S. and
Britain, Hataguchi said, ''Frankly, I also want to stage a sit-in
protest (like other peace activists) but I cannot considering my
position.''
Hataguchi also lamented that the staff members at the museum do not
seem to be bothered by these setbacks for the movement.
''The memory of the A-bombings is indeed fading after 57 years, as
even parents of contemporary children were born after World War II.''
About 350 visitors wrote down comments on the Sept. 11 terror attacks
and the U.S.-led military campaign against Afghanistan in a notebook
at the museum. Only two of them supported the military campaign,
while all the rest were opposed.
This encouraged Hataguchi and has given him hope for the future.
------------------
FOCUS: No relief yet for A-bomb survivors abroad
OSAKA, July 19 (Kyodo) - Two rulings of district courts last year in
Osaka and Nagasaki on two Korean survivors of the U.S. atomic
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 offered some hope for
overseas A-bomb survivors who seek equal treatment with survivors in
Japan.
However, the estimated 5,000 atomic bomb survivors living abroad will
not receive any relief yet, as the government is contesting the
rulings.
Despite protest from plaintiffs and their supporters, the government
appealed to high courts on both cases, bringing the prospect of more
years of waiting for the aging survivors.
Junko Ichiba, a representative of the Association of Citizens for
Supporting South Korean Atomic Bomb Victims, said the Japanese
government has kept excluding Korean A-bomb survivors from
compensation and medical treatment under a Japanese law.
This policy apparently stems from a notion that the compensation
issue over Japan's colonization of Korea from 1910 to 1945 was
settled in 1965 when Japan and South Korea signed a basic treaty to
normalize the ties, Ichiba said.
On June 1, 2001, the Osaka District Court ordered the Osaka
prefectural government to pay Kwak Kwi Hoon, 78, a Korean survivor of
the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, medical allowances.
Kwak was serving in Hiroshima in the Imperial Japanese Army when the
United States dropped the atomic bomb on the western Japan city on
Aug. 6, 1945.
The court said the government's refusal of payment to overseas A-bomb
survivors could infringe Japan's Constitution, which stipulates that
all people are equal under the law.
It was the first ruling in Japan saying overseas A-bomb bomb
survivors are qualified to receive such allowances.
In the second ruling, on Dec. 26, the Nagasaki District Court ordered
the state to pay a South Korean A-bomb survivor health care
allowances.
Lee Kang Young, 74, was exposed to radiation when he was working at a
munitions factory in Nagasaki in southwestern Japan when the U.S.
dropped the atomic bomb on the city on Aug. 9, 1945.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare argues the current law does
not apply to overseas A-bomb survivors. Chikafusa Aoyagi, an official
in the ministry's Health Service Bureau, said, ''What is being
disputed in the courts is interpretation of the law. The law
technically cannot apply to people overseas.''
Ichiba said the ministry will not take any action until the Osaka
High Court hands down a ruling on Kwak's case.
The high court finished hearing the government's appeal in February
but has not yet set a date for a ruling. Even if the high court
upholds the district court ruling, the state may appeal to the
Supreme Court.
''If the case goes to the top court, it will take several years
before a ruling is handed down, and meanwhile a 4 billion yen relief
fund for South Korean A-bomb victims will be running out,'' Ichiba
said.
Ichiba's group is demanding the government make additional
contributions to the relief fund, which was set up in 1991 under an
agreement between Japan and South Korea as a humanitarian gesture,
although the government says it has no legal obligation.
Ichiba hopes the government may opt for settlement if public opinion
can be brought to bear. However, lack of interest in the matter
on the part of young people is a problem for her movement.
''It seems that young people consider the atomic bombings some 50
years ago as ancient events in history,'' Ichiba said.
''In fact, very few people in Japan know there are Koreans among the
A-bomb victims and survivors.''
There are an estimated 2,200 atomic bomb survivors in South Korea,
900 in North Korea, 1,000 in the United States and 180 in
South America, according to the health ministry.
Shuichi Adachi, a Hiroshima-based lawyer, is supporting A-bomb
survivors living in Brazil. One of his clients is Takashi Morita, a
78-
year-old Japanese living in Brazil.
Morita filed a suit against the government with the Hiroshima
District Court on March 1. Several others are expected to take
similar
steps in the near future.
Meanwhile, the ministry launched a new relief program for overseas A-
bomb survivors from June 1 by shouldering their travel
expenses for visits to Japan for medical treatment.
Aoyagi said the ministry started the 500 million yen project from a
humanitarian perspective regardless of the outcomes of the court
cases.
However, the project came under fire as it requires aging A-bomb
survivors to travel to Japan. ''It is tough for aging people to board
planes for hours to travel from South or North America,'' Adachi
said.
Last year, health minister Chikara Sakaguchi took a ''political
decision'' in settling a case with leprosy patients over compensation
for
the state's segregation policy. However, Adachi said he does not
expect similar leadership from Sakaguchi or Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi on the issue of overseas A-bomb survivors.
''Since supporting overseas A-bomb survivors cannot affect the
popularity or vote-gathering ability of politicians, it does not
appeal to
lawmakers,'' Adachi said. ''That's why we must rely on court
decisions.''
-----------------
Entergy sets deadline to restore plant buy's terms
NEW ORLEANS, July 18 (Reuters) - Entergy Corp. <ETR.N>, said Thursday
it will not complete its $180 million purchase of a
Vermont nuclear power station unless the electricity and natural gas
company can share in any excess funds set aside to dismantle
the plant.
Entergy, the second-largest U.S. operator of nuclear plants behind
Exelon <EXC.N>, said it would let the deal expire on July 31
unless the terms it had negotiated can be restored before then.
The company had said last week it might scrap the acquisition of
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station after state regulators said
it could not keep any of the so-called decommissioning funds.
Entergy said its agreement with the sellers -- eight New England-
based utilities -- and the Department of Public Service had called
for it to retain any excess funds if the plant closed before 2022.
Entergy and the sellers would share the funds equally if the plant
was decommissioned after that date.
The company said it had made it clear that sharing in the potential
excess funds was an integral part of the deal.
"Entergy believes that it is fundamentally inequitable for it to bear
all of the downside decommissioning fund risk without the potential
to share in the upside if funding levels for actual decommissioning
costs turn out better than expected," the company said in a
statement.
The Vermont Public Service Board said on June 13 that Entergy would
have to give the decommissioning funds to the sellers for the
benefit of their ratepayers.
Entergy said the board has denied its request for an amendment of the
order, which approved the acquisition.
The company said it has told the sellers that it wants to meet with
them as soon as possible to discuss the deal.
The largest of the sellers are Central Vermont Public Service Corp.
<CV.N>, New England Power Co., Green Mountain Power Corp.
<GMP.N> and Connecticut Light and Power Co.
------------------
TEPCO chief wants to meet Fukushima gov. over nuclear tax hike
TOKYO, July 19 (Kyodo) - Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) President
Nobuya Minami said Friday he wants to hold talks soon
with Fukushima Gov. Eisaku Sato over the prefectural assembly's
recent decision to raise the local tax on nuclear fuel.
''It (The tax hike) is unacceptable by any measure. We will keep
trying to seek understanding from the governor and other people
concerned,'' Minami said at a press conference as he was speaking in
the capacity of chairman of the Federation of Electric Power
Companies.
On July 5, the Fukushima assembly unanimously voted to raise the
local tax on nuclear fuel, paving the way for increasing the
effective tax rate to 13.5% from the current 7%.
TEPCO strongly opposes the tax hike as it is the sole payer of the
local tax. TEPCO runs 10 nuclear reactors at its two power plants in
the prefecture.
The prefecture will need the approval of Public Management, Home
Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Toranosuke Katayama
before it can put the tax hike into effect.
-------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle
Director, Technical
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100 Extension 2306
Fax:(714) 668-3149
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/
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