Four hops on Facebook

We are virtually closer, for good or bad   Every now and then, photographs of people Facebook thinks I should consider being friends with  show up on my page on the social networking site. I must confess that a few times I have been tempted to add a few such strangers to my friends list. But come on. Who are a bunch of geeks in Silicon Valley to tell me  I should  be friends with someone just because we have four—or even 46—common friends.    

States’ entry ruffles GM lobby

BIOTECH companies in the agriculture sector have taken to a publicity blaze in recent months, splashing advertisements that extol the “inherent safety” of genetically modified (GM) crops along with organising a series of farmer meets and press conferences aimed at promoting transgenic technology as the “powerful and safe” way to improve farming and the environment.

Shell in a hole

South Africa’s advertising watchdog ordered oil giant Shell on July 13 to withdraw its claims in newspapers about its use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to explore gas in the Karoo, a semi-desert wilderness.

Appetite for junk

Television ads for junk food tend to make children crave for those treats, especially if they watch a lot of television, according to a study.

Jobless ad icon

In the last week of May, passersby at Dublin’s busy Merrion road were struck at the sight of a hoarding bearing a message from one Jobless Paddy: “Save me from emigration.”

FSSAI's scientific panel reconstituted

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has reconstituted its scientific panel and brought independent scientists and experts in its fold. The reconstitution was done after the Supreme Court reprimanded FSSAI, in February this year, for inducting members from the food industry in the panel, defeating it's very purpose of regulating the food industry. Of the eight scientific panels, seven had 18 members from big food businesses.

Custom made

Those who believe aerated drinks do nothing other than send adipose tissues into overdrive, spare a thought for the country’s excise department.

Free food body of corporate influence

THE Supreme Court has directed the food regulatory body to reconstitute its scientific panels. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had inducted members from the food industry, defeating its purpose of regulating that very industry.

Managing lakes

The Kirloskar Group is all set to play God.

Unholy smoke!

Most readers might find it difficult to credit what follows. This is a story of how bilateral and multilateral investment treaties are being used to satisfy corporate greed, how large corporations, even those in the unsavoury business of selling cigarettes, can sue countries for passing public health laws intended to protect their citizenry from health hazards and killer diseases.