CHENNAI, Citizen groups and unions representing farmers have urged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to write to the Centre against approving genetically modified (GM) mustard in India. The GM mustard is like a Trojan horse waiting to attack, they said.
The Government of India plans to approve GM mustard (three different types) developed by the Delhi University. The application for approval is at an advanced stage of processing by the Indian regulators.
CIC says any attempt to delay the disclosure will block public debate on the controversial issue
New Delhi: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the environment ministry to reveal safety data regarding trials of genetically modified (GM) mustard without further delay, noting that “any attempt to postpone or delay the disclosure will block the public discussion” on the controversial issue.
NEW DELHI, The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has once again been pulled up for withholding information from the public by the Central Information Commission (CIC). The CIC has further issued a show cause notice against two public information officers with the Ministry for violating Right to Information.
The Commission, on Friday, once again took up the case against the GEAC, which falls under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and called the committee out for making ‘excuses’ and being ‘unreasonable’.
As the US focuses on more stringent safety tests for chemicals, India needs to replicate a similar model to curb indiscriminate use of pesticides
Majority of chemicals used in household products, food and food packaging are hardly ever tested for safety Credit: Chronos Tachyon / Flicker
For the first time in its history, the US would be able to regulate chemicals in almost every product it uses. When President Obama signed The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, the Congress finally made some progress towards fixing “one of the worst environmental laws”. Under the new law, the Environmental Protection Agency will have more oversight and stronger tools to monitor cancer-causing chemicals and other chemicals causing health problems in children and adults.
The Times of India - Mazhar Ali, Chandrapur: Hundreds of birds have died after consuming poisonous grains from a paddy nursery in the fields around village Junona, around 8km from the city. Forest officials took notice of the incident on Wednesday and carried out inquest of the dead bodies of some birds. Local wildlife activists claimed that poisonous chemical sprayed on the paddy nursery led to the bird deaths.
"The birds are dying since last four days in fields and shrubs all around the village. I have seen hundreds of dead birds scattered in the bushes, on trees, in farms fences etc. After the matter was reported to the forest officials, the forest guard of Chandrapur range carried out an inquest on Wednesday on the dead bodies of 21 birds we had gathered at one place," said Kishor Petkule, volunteer of local wing of Eco-Pro organization.
Over 37 million bees have been found dead in Canada after GMO corn was planted recently in the local area. According to local beekeeper, Dave Schuit, since the GMO corn was planted close to his farm he lost over 37 million bees as a direct result.
Review of pesticide usage in India, including of chemicals which have been banned
elsewhere in the world – reg.
Namaste! We congratulate the government for setting up the Anupam Verma Committee to
review the continued use in India of 66 pesticides that have been banned elsewhere in the
world, and the Anupam Verma Committee itself for giving its report that recommended a ban
on 13 of those pesticides and a phasing out by 2020 of 6 of the pesticides reviewed. We also
appreciate some of the general recommendations that the Committee came up with and hope
that the Government will immediately implement them. However, we would like to point out
that none of this really goes anywhere close to the serious and comprehensive overhaul that
the pesticides regulatory regime needs in India, for the sake of our farm livelihoods and
biosafety. We present these matters in greater detail below.
New Delhi, Welcoming the swift action by governments with regard to the food safety scare posed by presence of toxins in various processed food brands including Nestle's Maggi noodles, "India For Safe Food" (IFSF: www.indiaforsafefood.in) pointed out that it is unfortunate that issues of food safety are not usually taken seriously enough by governments as well as the public. IFSF points out that the issues that such food scares raise are also about informed choices being left (or not left) with consumers, whether regulation can be relied upon, and about how far have we moved away from natural foods.
IFSF is a nationwide awareness generation platform on issues of food safety, and is run by ASHA (Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture). IFSF seeks to ensure safe, nutritious and diverse foods for all, to make food safe and nourishing, and also to ensure food production that makes our soil fertile, restores our environment and secures farmers' dignified and viable livelihoods.
New recommendations on dealing with the residues of pesticides in food are expected to be made by the UN's food and health agencies.
The continued use of old and highly hazardous pesticides in agriculture is still a major problem in some developing countries.
In a media statement put out today, ASHA (Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture) welcomed the understanding and analysis of Union Minister for Fertilisers Mr Ananth Kumar who said that he will recommend banning of pesticides that are hazardous to our Nature and biodiversity. The Union Minister also said that pesticides that have been banned in other countries could also be banned in India...