ALAPPUZHA: Noted scientist and founder of the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, P.M. Bhargava, has called for a moratorium of at least eight years on genetically modified (GM) food products in India. Inaugurating a national seminar on Bt. Brinjal and Alternatives in Agriculture at the Mararikulam Brinjal Festival here on Saturday, Dr. Bhargava said the moratorium period should be used to set up an independent laboratory in the...

In a bid to curb the tendency among bureaucrats belonging to the All-India Services (AIS), including Indian Admini-trative Service (IAS) officers, to overstay on inter-cadre deputation for personal gains (location or otherwise), the government has decided to make the process of granting extension much harder. The Cabinet Committee on Appointment headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has in a meeting directed the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to set out...

The recent high-pressure tactics to introduce genetically engineered food crops in India are another rude reminder that Western agribusiness companies have a deeprooted strategy to obtain a stranglehold on India’s food and agriculture system. In a review of recent trends titled ‘Food Without Choice’ (The Tribune, November 1) Prof Pushpa M. Bhargava (who was nominated by the Supreme Court in the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee to protect safety concerns), an internationally...

As far as natural resources like minerals, land and water are concerned, Jharkhand is among the richest States of India. Yet, its people are among the poorest. Mind you, almost 30 per cent of them are tribal. Out of the total population of 288.46 lakhs, 223.1 lakhs live in rural areas and only 65.36 lakhs are urban dwellers. Even a cursory glance is sufficient to convince that most of the...

Beijing had to take some harsh steps to reduce pollution ahead of last year's Olympic Games in the city. As the countdown for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi begins, here's some bad news. Delhi and its surroundings have some of the worst polluting zones in the country, according to a list of India's severely polluted industrial clusters released by the environment ministry on Thursday. Ghaziabad takes the third rank in...