-The Hindu     Questioning a technology, especially of the kind that has serious unknowns and lacks clear social benefits, is not an attack on science Jairam Ramesh, former Environment Minister for India, made the brave decision in 2010 to tell his then apex regulator of genetically modified organisms (GEAC) that it had failed to properly use available science to determine the safety - to human health and the environment - of Bt brinjal,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The common perception of packaged drinking water manufacturers flouting norms has come true. During 2010-11 and 2011-12, at least one in every 10 samples picked up for quality testing failed. The percentage of failing samples was higher in the Delhi-Noida region and Maharashtra and Goa combined. In a written reply in Lok Sabha last week, consumer affairs minister K V Thomas submitted details of samples collected...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: A working group of the Sonia-Gandhi-led National Advisory Council has called for the creation of dedicated human resource departments at central ministries dealing with social programmes to ensure better delivery of the government's flagship schemes. The working group has suggested that the proposed HR wings should be entrusted with the responsibility of framing guidelines for recruitment and training of frontline workers, besides laying down key performance indicators...

-PTI KOLKATA: A lamp which produces high quality light and doubles up as a device to cook food without causing pollution has been invented by a team of engineers in Maharashtra. Suitable particularly for rural households which lack clean cooking fuel and electricity, the device, aptly named Lanstove (lantern combined with cook stove), has been developed by researchers from Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) in Maharashtra's Phaltan. IIT graduate Anil Rajvanshi, who led...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a PIL alleging a sharp increase in infant deaths after administration of pentavalent vaccine, which replaced the tried and tested vaccines to fight five deadly diseases under the universal immunization programme (UIP). PIL petitioner Yogesh Jain, a former pediatrician in AIIMS and now a public health physician at Jan Swasthya Sahyog in Bilaspur district, alleged a conspiracy in...