The Bill once passed by the Parliament would open the flood gates for the foreign nuclear power and research companies. The signing of the Indo-US Nuclear Deal and a clean waiver from the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) had removed the legal restrictions for a nuclear trade and helped India to come out from decades of isolation. The liability bill seems to be the last hurdle.

The Indian government seems to be in a hurry to pass the Bill to boost the foreign investment in the critical civil nuclear energy sector.

The critics want the manufacturers and suppliers of a faulty Nuclear Reactor, be held more responsible than a domestic operator.The cost of restoring the damaged ecosystem and lives exceeds far more than the proposed $450 billion in the Bill. The burden may fall back on the tax payer. The liability can neither be limited nor passed on the tax payer.

Articles 21, 48-A and 51-A of the Indian Constitution provides directions and safeguards against environmental damage and degradation. The Precautionary Principle and Polluter Pays Principle are laid out by the Apex court clearly put a strict and absolute liability on the polluter. These are essential ingredients for a  sustainable development of a region.

According to the Vienna convention , the plant ‘operator’ liability is exclusive and absolute.India should not hurry-up to sign these conventions.Many countries including  US, China and Japan have not joined this convention as they have compelling domestic nuclear liability laws. The laws can be framed on the lines of US’s controversial Price-Anderson Act, where a large domestic nuclear insurance pool is created. We can think of becoming an active member of the international insurance pooling system to cover the risks of a nuclear catastophe.

The government should not move the ‘The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2009′ in a hurry to soothe the foreign investors especially from US. All the pros and cons of the proposed bill should be deliberated to strike a harmony between the international nuclear liability conventions and domestic constitutional obligations.

India’s increasing globalisation will be driven by the country becoming a source for some of these specialised products.  As it further integrates with global production chains, it will do so not by making more of the same, but by making products of new value.

On Nov. 25, the city-state of Dubai shocked the global investment community by asking creditors of its main corporate arm, ports-and-property conglomerate Dubai World, for a six-month payment standstill on its almost $60 billion of liabilities.

Dubai World is an investment company that manages and supervises a portfolio of businesses and projects for the Dubai government.It was was established under a decree ratified on 2 March 2006.It has been the engine for much of the growth at home and abroad.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc was the biggest underwriter of Dubai World loans while HSBC Holdings Plc has the most at risk in the U.A.E., according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said, “The ripple effects of the financial crisis in Dubai will be felt in India, but the impact may not be as acute as Indian banks do not have much exposure in the region”.

The decades of efforts in building a brand for the city as a global financial hub got evaporated with the announcement of the 200 words ‘debt’ letter by ‘Dubai World’. It sent tremors across the globe luckily at lower levels of intensity.

The unregulated, non-accountable and non-transparent business in the murky state of affairs always awaits a doomsday. The fallout of speculative business in Dubai, the financial and economic backbone of UAE is just another example.

Well, the lessons and spillover effects are plenty. Investors may not believe in the probabilistic assurances like ‘someone’ will rescue their hard-earned money. It can be used to predict and mitigate the next burst in other global financial hubs like Shangai, Singapore, Bangalore etc. It may hamper the investments in the emerging economies. It may delay and demotivate the global financial recovery. And the worse, it may trigger another financial meltdown.

It is difficult to set, even the approximate time frame to regain the lost glory and trust. It calls for a more scrutiny, vigilance and ethics in the speculative business. Let’s hope to climb the slippery slope to recover from the global crisis.