Russian and American negotiators began work at the weekend on their ambitious plans to rid the world of nuclear weapons. The talks are intended to produce a new agreement to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) that expires in December. This time, however, both sides are committed to cutting their arsenals well below the current combined total of 5,000 warheads, after the declaration by presidents Obama and Medvedev in London on April 1 that they would work towards the scrapping of all nuclear arms. It is a fraught endeavour, but a very worthwhile one. It is a visionary aim, and revives one of the main vehicles for reducing East-West tensions during the Cold War. President Obama has returned to arms control, one of the goals outlined in his inaugural address, as a way of improving America‘s strained relations with Russia. But it will be difficult to achieve. For as warhead numbers are reduced, related issues become more complicated. If, for example, both sides cut their totals to 1,500 each, verification becomes more important, especially for the Russians, who know that the Americans could rebuild their arsenals more quickly. And this would mean Russia‘s defence ministry and arms factories accepting more transparency than they have before.
The second issue is delivery systems. Russia fears it will lose out in cuts, as its long-range missiles are ageing and probably far less reliable than US missiles. Last week Mr Medvedev insisted that any new treaty should limit all systems, including the strategic triad of intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-based missiles and heavy bombers. But the Americans have an advantage that strategists might be reluctant to abandon, especially as they are deeply worried about the threat of missiles fired by states still building up offensive capabilities. But with warhead numbers reduced to about the 1,000 mark proposed by Mr Obama, the US would have to consider abandoning one leg of its strategic triad.
The third risk in a drastic reduction of warheads is that the two former superpowers have less of an advantage over other nuclear powers, especially China. The deterrents still hosted by Britain and France are unlikely to upset the balance, but China appears determined still to maintain its arsenals at current levels, as do India, Pakistan and Israel. The importance, therefore, of each warhead being up to date and fully operational increases. That will make it harder for Mr Obama to persuade Congress to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which it refused to do in 1999. It may also raise pressure to resume some form of testing.
The talks will also raise questions about other arms treaties. The Russians are unwilling to make concessions as long as the US is committed to the Bush Administration programme of installing an anti-missile shield in PolandCzech Republic. Mr Obama has signalled that this may not now go ahead, but much depends on Iran and North Korea, which have reacted aggressively to his conciliatory overtures. The key issue in all talks will be mutual trust. That broke down during the Bush Administration. The relationship may now be on the mend. But it will take months of tough bargaining before either Russia or America is ready to lead the way to a world without nuclear weapons.
Mango exports to the USA are likely to see a decline this year due to the economic slowdown, an industry official has said. “The general economic slowdown has impacted exports to the USA as we have fewer orders this year,” Mumbai-based fruits exporter Mr Deepak Patil, said. Mango exporters had already commenced preparations like meeting growers, placing orders and booking the irradiation facility as mango exports would commence in the last week of April, Mr Patil said. During the 2008 mango season, India exported 143 tons of mangoes to the USA valued at around Rs 2 crore. Export volumes remained low as the quality of the fruit was affected by unseasonal rains while exporters too faced problems of high costs of compliance and freight, among others. Currently, in the case of mango exports, India depends on traditional markets like the West Asia and the United Kingdom. Non-resident Indians (NRIs) are major consumers of Indian mangoes. Meanwhile, paving way for safe mango exports in 2009, the irradiation facility of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Lasalgaon in Maharastra’s Nasik district commenced operation last week. The BARC plant had a capacity of 500 tons, an Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) official said. Irradiation is a modern food preservation technology that can reduce the risk of food poisoning, control food spoilage and extend shelf life of the food. The process got a shot in the arm when the USAUSA decided to import Indian mangoes in 2008. The prefers irradiation to get rid of an insect pest mango seed weevils and fruit-fly from the fruits. Meanwhile, the official said mango production in 2009 season (April-September) was likely to be low as the crop had failed due to erratic climate. He, however, said that the crop loss could not be quantified.
Russian and American negotiators began work at the weekend on their ambitious plans to rid the world of nuclear weapons. The talks are intended to produce a new agreement to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) that expires in December. This time, however, both sides are committed to cutting their arsenals well below the current combined total of 5,000 warheads, after the declaration by presidents Obama and Medvedev in 
Mango exports to the