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- Out of turn
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FOLLOW US ON
Pesticide Residues
Pollution pays
Issue Date: Apr 15, 2004
The Mahajans, a family of four who live in Vasant Kunj, South Delhi, daily waste 240 litres of water to get 30 litres from their reverse osmosis (RO) purifier six times a day. "I bought the purifier thinking it will end all our water woes. It gives us clean drinking water but I feel guilty about the waste," says Meenakshi Mahajan. 'Experts' have informed the family that the wastage is quite normal for such water-cleaning gadgets.
Pesticide-rich food
Issue Date: Feb 15, 2011
THE country’s regulators have failed to check the flow of pesticides into the food chain, suggests a monitoring report of the Department of Agriculture and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, the country’s premier institute. Fruits, vegetables, poultry and milk are all laced with high pesticide residues —much above the maximum residue limits (MRL) set by the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of 1954. Samples of Amul milk collected from Ahmedabad, for instance, had the highest traces of chlorpyriphos, a known carcinogen that can also cause neural disorders.
Bee farms to shops
Issue Date: Sep 30, 2010
The journey of honey from bee farms to breakfast tables has become complex with time. From wild honey gatherers, honey supply has passed into the hands of cooperatives of individual beekeepers and then to big companies.
Pesticides linked to neuro-disorder
@vibhavarshney Issue Date: Jun 15, 2010
Here is a reason why people should eat organically grown food. A study in the US has linked attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd) in children to pesticide residues in commercially grown fruits and vegetables they consume. Till now the disorder was either labelled as a hereditary disease or linked to exposure to tobacco and alcohol before birth.
EU rejects Indian grapes
Issue Date: May 31, 2010
Vineyard owners of Maharashtra who export grapes are worried. The Euro-pean Union rejected their table grape consignments in mid-April as they were found containing traces of chlormequat chloride, a plant growth regulator. The export of table grapes (these are consumed directly unlike grapes that go into wine making) was halted immediately. The farmers are facing losses of about Rs 300 crore, media reported.
According to report
Issue Date: Jul 15, 2009
Pesticides in veggies: A government of India survey found high levels of pesticides in fruits and vegetables. Fourteen per cent of the
samples collected from across the country had traces of pesticide residues. Four per cent had residues beyond the permissible limit. Pesticide
residues were also found in cereals, pulses, marine and milk products.
Landfills harbour bird flu: Poultry carcasses infected with bird flu virus can remain infectious for up to two years in landfills, said US
Cancer state
Issue Date: Jun 15, 2008
punjab has finally made cancer-registry compulsory in the state. Despite numerous scientific reports revealing the public health crisis in the state, the government had obstinately resisted any redress mechanism. The recent decision comes in the wake of two new scientific reports. One shows that pesticides are damaging genes of farmers who spray them, often leading to mutations and cancers.
News In Short
Issue Date: Apr 30, 2008
fuel efficient: South Korea will soon become the first nation to set a national greenhouse gas emissions target, though the country is not obliged to make mandatory emission reductions under the Kyoto Protocol. On March 24, it decided to freeze overall greenhouse gas emissions at 2005 levels until 2012. Under the plan, the government will also impose fuel efficiency ratings on all new vehicles beginning August this year.
Pesticide in China dumplings
Issue Date: Feb 29, 2008
About 300 people in Japan's Hyogo and Chiba prefectures sought medical treatment, with one girl in serious condition, in the
last week of January after consuming frozen meat dumplings produced by a Chinese factory.
Japanese health
officials suspected that the dumpling packages were tainted with a pesticide, methamidophos, and ordered the withdrawal of
all frozen and other prepared foods from market shelves thought to have been produced at the Chinese factory. Japan's health
Indo-US deal undermines food safety
Issue Date: Feb 15, 2008
Two years ago, Parliament passed the food safety act. Till date the union health ministry has not notified the law in full, nor has it formulated rules under the act. Instead, the ministry has now signed an agreement with the us to draw up standards for import and export of food and medicine. What's more, the health minister has promised to have the new system in place within a year.
