Following the publication of the Expert Committee II (EC-II) report and the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) decision, approving Bt brinjal for cultivation in India, there has been considerable discussion on the topic in public fora and the media. Surprisingly, there has been very little scientific debate or discussion on this topic in India. (Correspondence)
BEIJING: Chinese Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu will arrive in New Delhi on Friday for talks with Indian officials on furthering co-operation between the two countries on a range of agricultural and environmental issues.
Misleading the public on safety of genetically modified crops or organisms without scientific evidence would not be made a punishable offence, the government has decided following concerns raised by some scientists and civil society groups.
Even as lot of debates are taking place across the country over BT brinjal, one Vasanth Kumar Hardikar of Haranduru Krishi Kshetra has grown an indigenous species of brinjal having the quality of countering pests and diseases.
The creeper-brinjal at Koppaharandur Krishi Kshetra.It is a kind of creeper-brinjal through which one can harvest vegetable sufficient for a family throughout the year.
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.
EVEN as the last word is yet to be spoken on Bt brinjal, the issue has fallen under the scrutiny of a parliamentary panel. As most of the committee members appear to be taking an anti-Bt brinjal stand, environment minister Jairam Ramesh may find an ally in his battle against the commercial release of the genetically modified
vegetable.
