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...

“States should ensure effective public distribution system”  Fiscal deficit at 6.8 per cent of GDP a challenge Dip in exports due to low demand following economic downturn in foreign markets Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said increasing food grains productivity, ensuring effective distribution of subsidised essentials to vulnerable groups and allowing duty-free import were some of the steps taken to control the spiralling prices of essential commodities. Speaking at the 109th...

After Copenhagen, there is no “developing world” — there are several.  About 45,000 travelled to the U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen — the vast majority convinced of the need for a new global agreement on climate change. So why did the summit end without one? Key governments do not want a global deal: Until the end of this summit, it appeared that all governments wanted to keep the keys to...

Reading the lines that Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh delivered in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday and between them, the message is evident. “We have been successful in defending India’s national interests,” he said. “I didn’t go to Copenhagen with the mandate of saving the world or humanity. My mandate was to defend India’s right to develop at a faster rate. For Western countries, it is an environmental issue but for...

The Copenhagen Accord on climate change marks a shift from a government pledge to Parliament, environment minister Jairam Ramesh accepted today, but asserted that this would not compromise India’s sovereignty. Ramesh had committed to Parliament before leaving for the UN climate summit in Copenhagen earlier this month that India would only provide information about its domestic actions to curb greenhouse emission to the international community. But the accord crafted on...