Russia to build Indian reactors
Russia is competing with French and U.S. firms for lucrative contracts to build nuclear power plants for energy-hungry India because Asia's third-largest economy needs to boost its supply to help sustain rapid economic growth.
"The agreement sees construction of up to 16 nuclear reactors in three locations," Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told reporters.
Mr. Putin pledged to boost banking and technology cooperation with India, seeking to bolster ties with a Cold War ally that has been shifting focus toward the United States.
Russia wants to boost trade with India to (US) $20-billion by 2015 from the current $8-billion. Together with China and Brazil, Russia and India make up the so-called BRIC group of major emerging economies, whose global influence is rising.
The two nations also seek a greater role in stabilizing the region because both share security interests emanating from Islamist militant violence and the war in Afghanistan.
Aiming mainly to keep one of the world's biggest arms importers interested in Russian weapons, Mr. Putin offered state financial aid for the Indian telecom unit of Russian conglomerate Sistema.
Related News
The Haves and Have-Nots of Electricity in California
PARADISE, CA - The intentional blackout by California’s largest utility this week put Forest Jones out of work and his son out of school. On Friday morning Mr. Jones, a handyman and single father, sat in his apartment above a tattoo parlor waiting for the power to come back on and for school to reopen.
“I’ll probably lose $400 or $500 dollars because of this,” said Mr. Jones, who lives in the town of Paradise, which was razed by fire last year and is slowly rebuilding. “Things have been really tough up here.”
Millions of people were affected by the blackout, which…
