‘Human life is the paramount consideration' Observing that Right to life is a paramount consideration, the Supreme Court on Friday banned the manufacture, sale and use of pesticide endosulfan in the country for eight weeks. A three-Judge Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI)S.H. Kapadia and Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar, in a brief order, said: “Keeping in mind various judgments of this court under Article 21 [right to life and...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday indicated that it would consider passing an interim order on Friday imposing a ban on the production of endosulfan, considering the harmful effects of this pesticide on the people of this country. A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatanter Kumar posted the matter for further hearing on May 13 after impleading the pesticide manufacturers. The Bench was hearing a...

Endosulfan, the pesticide which is widely believed to be responsible for thousands of deaths, diseases and devastation, was able to save its own life largely because of India’s questionable efforts at global forums. The controversial pesticide has been in news for a long time because of its harmful effects on humans, wild life and the environment. Obviously the $100 million industry is going out of the way to defend the...

Representatives from 127 governments have agreed to add endosulfan to the United Nations' list of persistent organic pollutants to be eliminated worldwide. The action puts the widely-used pesticide on track for elimination from the global market by 2012. The decision was among more than 30 measures taken by Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants to strengthen global action against POPs at their meeting in Geneva last week. The...

An annual meeting of Asian finance ministers and central bank governors in Hanoi is set to address the fate of 64 million people in the region on the brink of extreme poverty. They are the worst affected by soaring food prices, which have hit record highs in the first two months of this year. "The issue of food price inflation and food security will indeed be one of the key topics...