Soon Indian consumers will have the opportunity to know whether the packaged food that they are buying contains genetically modified organisms. But will that help? In India, where a majority of food is unprocessed and non-packaged, labeling on packaged food may hardly cover the huge populations' right to choose. A gazette notification issued by the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution early this month says that every food package...

-IANS Kolhapur (Maharashtra): More than 500 new cases of jaundice have been reported from the textile town of Ichalkaranji in Kolhapur district in the last four days and the disease has killed at least 12 people in the last one month, officials said on Monday. Kolhapur Health department suspect that the consumption of contaminated water of Panchganga river by the people is the cause behind the recent rise in cases of jaundice...

-Down to Earth Move comes a year after WHO said the test leads to misdiagnosis The Union Health ministry has banned blood tests to detect tuberculosis while terming these tests useless. The ban came into effect on June 7, almost a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an advisory to countries to stop conducting these tests for TB. The international body said in July 2011 that these tests give inaccurate...

-The United Nations World leaders, along with thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other groups will come together from 20-22 June in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to take part in the UN Sustainable Development Conference (Rio+20). In our Seven Issues, Seven Experts series UN officials tell us more about the key issues that will be discussed during the conference and how we can contribute to make...

-The Pioneer The land rights given under Forest Rights Act should be used to make these lands so productive that the people become self-sufficient for their daily needs. Government departments must facilitate the change, says VK Bahuguna Land-based resources in areas affected by Maoist violence are the backbone of tribal livelihood. But, population pressure and degradation coupled with poor investment has led to the gradual reduction in the income of the people...