There are attempts to attribute everything good with cotton cultivation to GM cotton and on those grounds, bring in other GM crops.

Prolonged political instability in Karnataka leading up to the imposition of the Presidents rule last November appears to have adversely impacted the implementation of various welfare schemes in the State. According to an updated status report on the implementation of the UPA government's flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), the State has dropped seventeen positions, from 2nd position last financial year to 19th position during the current fiscal year.

To ensure that the city's 3,000 tonnes of solid waste is disposed in a scientific manner and also to address the problem of lack of identified dumping yards, the BBMP will set up more landfills.

The modest potential of dry farming in vast areas, will add to a substantial overall growth.

The Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA), constituted by the State government under the framework of National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP), has accorded approval to the Comprehensi

For the past three decades, more investment has been made for crop technology than for building infrastructure to store and market food products.

The 5th edition of the Indiawood, Asia's largest sourcing ground for wood working machinery, tools, accessories, products and materials which concluded on Tuesday, evoked a good response from the Indian as well as the foreign wood working industry. Wood working machinery, tools, products and accessories worth Rs 1,000 crore were sold during the five-day event. Nearly 400 exhibitors participated, and over 400 machines from 31 countries were on display.

Scientists will comprehend bio-diversity with clarity. Together technology and networking have enabled an encyclopedia of life that was launched last week to catalogue every one of the 1.8 million known species on earth. Beginning with 30,000 species uploaded last Tuesday, the site will evolve with the cooperation of scientists and people into a database to become a useful resource. The mega initiative will help to comprehend and preserve the biodiversity of life on earth. The content drawn from several sources is authenticated by scientists using software tools that will mine scientific literature for regular updates. From general information for the interested layman, the site goes into in-depth details with the help of photos, video, scientific references, maps and text of 25 species ranging from the tomato to the peregrine falcon. Natural history libraries the world over are scanning their extensive literature to provide additional information on several listed species. As an interactive site, it invites comments and suggestions. Having already generated tremendous interest, the website logged 11.5 million hits the day it was launched and eventually their computers crashed. The idea was first formulated by reputed thinker of this century, E O Wilson in an essay in 2003. A global effort that will be a global resource, the $12.5 million project is funded by the MacArthur and Sloan Foundations. Efforts have hitherto been restricted to species on the brink of extinction, or in species/subject specific works. As the developers acknowledge, this is a task that relies heavily on technology and would not have been possible even five years ago. But as is evident with the world shrinking daily into a compact networked global village, access to information is easier than before. Such an immense work has not been attempted and will not be easy either. But with the available software tools today, the job is not impossible. Standing as the planet does on the brink of a tipping point, thanks to global warming, a critical concern is that several species may bid adieu forever unless something is done. The encyclopedia by bringing together various facts on diverse species will help scientists understand the inter-dependence of life in its many forms and the role of biodiversity with greater clarity. Significantly the scientific initiative signals a trend towards globalisation of knowledge which is accessible to anyone anywhere at the click of the keyboard. Small steps towards larger goals remind us more than anything else that we belong to one planet. Boundaries, nationalities, races, classes and languages become insignificant trivia on such a map.

There seems to be no end to sugarcane farmers' misery in the State who every year face the problem of excess production. The farmers this time have taken to the streets expressing their displeasure with the sugarcane package announced by the government. Karnataka stands fourth in the country in the cultivation of sugarcane but the State is yet to see a sugarcane policy or a scientific basis for fixing the minimum support price. The farmers blame the sugar mills, the factory owners in turn blame the government, the government feels that the mill owners and farmers are both at fault for not coming to a consensus, thus completing the vicious cycle. Elected representatives on their part keep using the sugarcane pricing issue to fuel anger among the farmers (to keep the vote bank intact) but there is no permanent solution to the problem. Deccan Herald presents a lowdown on the state of affairs from the eyes of various stake-holders. The sugar industry in Karnataka can be divided into two groups - unorganised sector which comprises of the producers of the traditional sweeteners such as gur and khandasari and the organised sector which consists of the sugar mills. Farmers' woes: *Dictatorial attitude of sugar mills. Last year a majority of mills refused to implement the statutory minimum price fixed by the government. The State government had directed all co-operative sugar mills to pay farmers Rs 1,200 for a tonne of sugarcane. Except two or three mills, others paid only between Rs 600 and Rs 800 a tonne. *No action was initiated against mills which did not follow the State government directions. *The dues owed to farmers by the mills exceed Rs 160 crore *The recently announced sugarcane package does not solve the problem of growers being offered a low price for their produce or the glut in sugarcane production. * No policy for use of by-products like molasses and bagasse Mill owners' take *The sugar market has fallen. Paying Rs 1,200 per tonne for sugarcane as demanded by farmers is suicidal. * Mills have been accumulating losses. *The recovery (sugar content) is less than 9 per cent compared to 11 pc in other states. Hence rates prevalent in other states cannot be implement . * There is no proper distribution of mills especially in the sugarcane growing belt * No scientific basis for arriving at the minimum support price The way out *A comprehensive sugar policy that spells out the cropping pattern. *Farmers could be allowed to take up production of jaggery on a large-scale to utilise the excess sugarcane. *Govt should announce minimum support price for jaggery at Rs 1,500 a quintal. The present price of Rs 600 a quintal is not remunerative. *Mismanagement of mills need to be curbed.

The state government has said the Centre has been satisfied with the outcome of the public hearing regarding the Mangalore special economic zone (MSEZ) and a final meeting on the crucial environmental management plan (EMP) of the project has been fixed for February 28. "If we get the approval after the Thursday's hearing, work can start on the project,' Karnataka Governor's advisor Krishna Kumar informed Deccan Herald. The meeting will be held by the technical committee of the Expert Committee for Infrastructure Development and Miscellaneous Project, set up by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. The farmers have been opposing the acquisition of land. They have urged the Government to reject the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) report on the project. According to the advisor, a total of 1,750 acre, out of the 2500 acre needed for the SEZ, has already been acquired. "The government has issued notification for 300 acre for acquisition. We are discussing the issue with the farmers,' he added. On the public hearing, Krishna Kumar said the Union ministry has prepared the report on the EIA of the project and circulated it to the gram panchayats. "The GPs wanted the copies in Kannada and we have translated and given these copies. The ministry has concluded that the public hearings were held as per law. The meetings were held in January and February. Now the technical committee will hear the EMP. If we get the approval after the meeting, we can start work on the project. We have come a long way in the last 2-3 months regarding this multi-product SEZ,' Kumar stated. Promoters The Rs 35,000 crore SEZ is being set up by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) as anchor co-promoter using a special purpose vehicle owned by its subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), which will hold a 46 per cent stake. The other equity-holders are the Karnataka Government, Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited. ONGC would hold 26 per cent of the equity in the incorporated company. The State government would hold 23 per cent and the balance 51 per cent would be jointly owned by KCCI and IL&FS. The New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) is understood to have shown interest to join the SEZ, subject to approval from the Ministry of Shipping, Road and Transport. If NMPT joins, the combined equity of KIADB and NMPT would be 23 per cent. The MRPL has envisaged projects such as an LNG terminal, C2-C3 separation units and aromatic and olefin complexes in the petrochemical component of the SEZ. The SEZ will also include a refinery, a power plant, a gas terminal and a pipeline.