‘Stopping GM trials is anti-farmer’

Have you completed the Stage I field trials of GM mustard in Rajasthan? Interviewee:  Deepak Pental

Rajasthan probes GM mustard trial

THE Rajasthan government has initiated an inquiry into the field trials of transgenic mustard conducted without due supervision. The state’s Department of Environment has called a meeting on April 2 to find out how the field trials were undertaken without the knowledge of the State Biotechnology Coordination Committee (SBCC), tasked with monitoring such field trials to check GM contamination.

Monsanto shuns GM

Genetically modified food is banned at a canteen of its biggest producer Monsanto. Granada Group, which runs the canteen at Monsanto’s pharmaceuticals factory at High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, serves only GM-free meal, says a report by The Independent.

Monsanto pulled up

The Advertising Standards Council of India has upheld complaints against Mahyco-Monsanto’s advertisement for Bollgard II, a Bt cotton variety, in Hindustan Times on August 30, 2011. The complaint was filed by Rachna Arora of non-profit Public Awareness on Genetically Modified Food on the same day.

The new Money plant

Biodiesel became big in India in 2002-03. For a country reeling under the burden of a large oil import bill and spiralling oil prices -- 70 per cent of petroleum used in India is imported, mostly from the volatile Persian Gulf region, at the cost of more than Rs 100,000 crore -- it promises an indigenous, renewable source of energy. It also transforms the poorest people and the most marginalised lands into the source for this energy.

GM crops: Here to stay

The term genetically modified (GM) is highly controversial. While the science of transferring desirable genetic traits from one organism to another has applications in several fields -- medicine and industry, for example -- it is the creation of GM crops which is at the centre of an international debate. This is because it is inextricably related to questions of livelihood and the sustenance of millions of people across the world.

Trade truce

the choice of venue was clever and the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center added to the security paranoia. The result was that it combined to give trade negotiators somewhat of a breather when they met in Doha, Qatar, for the fourth ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (wto). The massive street protests that marked the Seattle round were non-existent at the Doha ministerial.

YAWN!

"In the virtual world, we virtually promise everything but deliver virtually nothing."

Selling God's secrets

GENETIC engineering -- the ability to manipulate the molecular blueprint of life -- is coming of age. Biotechnology is transforming medicine, agriculture and animal husbandry: In the not too distant future, cancer will no longer be a dreaded disease, crops will be able to resist pests and tomatoes will be forever fresh. Thanks to rising sales of genetically engineered products, pharmaceutical and agriculture-based industries have dumped their scepticism of biotechnology.

The Future is Now

• 1992 was the year of environment. More than 100 heads of state and government gathered at Rio to discuss the health of the planet. But the conference refusea to look at underlying issues -lack of global democracy at one level and local democracy on the other -that favour exploitative forces.