Over a year after bio-piracy complaints against U.S.-based multinational Monsanto — with regard to Bt brinjal — reached the National Biodiversity Authority of India (NBA), the investigation is still continuing.
However, when Monsanto sent in its application to use Indian onion strains for hybrid research last month, the Authority promptly forwarded it, and expects it to be dealt with by the end of the month.
The activists opposing the commercialization of Bt brinjal have asserted that Bt brinjal would seriously affect the use of brinjal in the Alternative and Complementary Systems of Medicine (ACSM) in India, through ‘loss of synergy’. The then Minister for Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India (GoI), repeatedly echoed this view.
Drawing on the literature on controversies, especially on the health risk assessment of genetically modified organisms in Europe, and long-standing debates in science and technology studies, this article argues that science-based risk assessment has inherent limitations, however rigorous, independent, and peer reviewed the work may be. In this context, the debate on Bt brinjal needs to broaden its frame from science-based assessment of consequences to evaluate society-oriented causes and objectives. We need to ask questions such as: What kind of society do we wish to live in?
New Delhi With the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) making it mandatory for the agri bio-tech companies to get no-objection certificate (NOC) from the states prior to the launch of any
A loss for environment is a gain for rural development. That's how an environmental activist responded on hearing news of shifting of Mr Jairam Ramesh from the Ministry of Environment to the Ministry of Rural Development.
Hated by corporates and liked by quite a few environmental activists, Mr Jairam Ramesh's absence at the Ministry of Environment would surely be felt.
He hogged the limelight for clashes with corporate interests and for outspoken statements. There will soon be a new set of glass doors at Krishi Bhavan. The newly elevated Cabinet Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh plans to bring the doors — a signature element of his interior décor right from his early days at the Commerce Ministry — to his new office.
