One of the claims Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh made to justify his freeze on Bt brinjal was that the Bt gene would “destroy the medicinal properties of brinjal” which is used in several “traditional” forms of medicine. This claim, too, is being contested by experts as Ramesh comes under increasing pressure from within his government — the Prime Minister has called a meeting after Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar warned against...

With the mountains of hazardous waste from electronic products growing exponentially in developing countries, sometimes by as much as 500 per cent, the United Nations today called for new recycling technologies and regulations to safeguard both public health and the environment. So-called e-waste from products such as old computers, printers, mobile phones, pagers, digital photo and music devices, refrigerators, toys and televisions, are set to rise sharply in tandem with...

The Bt brinjal furore has brought to light a little-known government notification that plucked 190 species of plants out of the protective sphere of a law on biodiversity, triggering fears among some environmental groups that these biological resources may now be plundered with ease. The environment ministry had declared in the notification last year that the provisions of the National Biodiversity Act — India’s only legislation to protect its biodiversity —...

I have been an advisor to The Energy and Resources Institute or Teri, a distinguished visiting fellow there since 1996, except when I was the chairman of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, the director-general of the National Council of Applied Economic Research, the chairman of the Institute for Social and Economic Change and on boards of management and economic research institutions. This disclaimer is intended to forestall motives being ascribed...

Even as the nation waits with bated breath for the decision to be taken by Jairam Ramesh, the debate on whether Bt brinjal should be introduced in India [ Images ] or not continues. The minister of state for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh was in Bangalore on Saturday to hold the last leg of discussions with non-government organisations, farmers and scientists on whether Bt brinjal should be introduced in...