Gilles-Eric Seralini, one of the first scientists to warn the world about the dangers of genetically modified food, counters pro-GM scientists in an interview with Savvy Soumya Misra. Some scientists are planning to write to the Indian government, saying you never carried out any independent study and had no access to Bt gene of maize or brinjal. What do you have to say?

If the nationwide furore over Bt brinjal was driven by the fear of unsafe food being pushed down the throat, the proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (brai) bill goes a step further to silence all opposition. The bill will bring about changes in regulating the research, transport, import, manufacture and use of genetically modified (GM) products in the country.

Spiralling prices of pulses have shown India's dependence on imports. Pulses are integral to India's diet but not its food policy. As a result, supply cannot meet demand. To understand the causes, its consequences and the solutions, read this DTE report.

A coalition of organizations opposed to genetically modified food in India has written to the minister of state for environment and forests seeking withdrawal of clearance given to Bt brinjal. The Coalition for GM-free India alleged the expert committee that cleared the genetically modified brinjal for commercial cultivation in the country was neither impartial nor thorough.

Bt brinjal is a step away from becoming India

French scientist Gilles-Eric S

During his recent visit to Bhopal, environment minister Jairam Ramesh stirred a hornet

DROUGHT conditions triggered a pest attack in 12 paddy growing districts of Orissa. The swarming caterpillars (Spodoptera mauritia) ruined crops on 89,000 hectares (ha) of the four million ha under paddy cultivation in the state. Sambalpur district was the worst affected; paddy crops on nearly 33,000 ha were destroyed by the pest, called leda poka in Orissa. In Malkangiri district,

THIS is the variety of rice without which biryani, the royal gastronomical delight, would not feature so prominantly in the history pages on Mughal influence in India. Aromatic, long-grained, nonsticky are the words that describe it. It is the Basmati. India grows 1.6 million tonnes annually. Two-thirds is exported every year. India claims its traditional knowledge of the climate, the

Orders rehabilitation of 900 families affected by Man dam for 12 years, tribal families displaced by Man dam in Madhya Pradesh have been fighting for rehabilitation. On August 11, the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court gave them relief by ordering the state to provide two hectares of agricultural land to adult sons of tribal families displaced by the dam. The judgement was

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