Certification is of two types: Third Party System (TPS) and Participatory Guarantee Scheme (PGS). Under TPS, the certifying body inspects and monitors fileds. Charges can go up to Rs 5,000 for an acre (0.4 hectare). PGS entails training farmers to monitor fields. It is a zero-cost system and suited for small and marginal farmers.
A universal drug to work against all strains of flu virus influenza vaccine makers are often flummoxed by the changing nature of the virus. The makers need to keep producing new vaccines because the virus keeps mutating into new strains. World Health Organisation estimates that about 250,000 people die from influenza every year. A team of researchers tried to rework the basics of the
Only country to oppose restriction INDIA again foiled international efforts to restrict trade in endosulfan, a toxic pesticide, by getting it listed in the Rotterdam Convention. The convention, a UN chemicals information treaty, makes it binding for countries to disclose the hazardous nature of chemicals before exporting them to countries with their prior informed consent (pic).
Broad consensus on use of open source software POLITICAL parties may have different ideologies, but when it comes to e-governance they seem to agree on the type of computer software the country needs. The Bharatiya Janata Party
Regulating GM paddy: The Supreme Court has issued notices to the ministry of agriculture, department of biotechnology under ministry of science and technology and the environment ministry to clear their stand on the regulatory process for approval of genetically modified (GM) crops (see
Birds no more: Eight bird species have vanished from the 25 sq km Salim Ali sanctuary in Ernakulam district, Kerala, said a study by Nirmala College in Ernakulam. Changes in their environment, teak plantations for example, may have caused this. The study also recorded the number of bird species increased from 132 in the 1930s to 238 in the sanctuary. This included wetland species that
The Department of Information and Technology is likely to notify the software standards policy by May. The policy advocates use of standard open code for software and will boost FOSS. Jaijit Bhattacharya, of Sun Microsystems, a company selling FOSS, said the policy is pragmatic.
