-The Business Standard Bt brinjal in Bangladesh calls for a policy review by India With Bangladesh approving commercial farming of Bt brinjal - a genetically modified (GM) crop developed using technology that evolved originally in India - the moratorium put on tests of a similar gene-altered version of this vegetable by New Delhi is likely to give rise to fresh complications. Given the highly porous border between the two countries, ingress of...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Union environment ministry has issued an order keeping in abeyance the controversial August, 2007 notification, which allows import of genetically modified (GM) processed food items into India without its prior permission, till March 31, 2014. Though the ministry has continuously been keeping the notification in abeyance since February 2008, this time it has opted for a shorter period - usually it used to be a...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Around 20 million tonnes of wheat is wasted in India every year due to inadequate storage infrastructure, Institution of Mechanical Engineers said today. "Foodgrains are lost in India mainly due to lack of facilities in storage and transportation. 20 million tonnes of wheat is lost every year as a result of that," said Tim Fox, Head of Environment at the UK-based body. He released the report, 'Global Food: Waste not,...

-The Hindu Chennai: A number of farmers, students and activists hit the streets on Saturday, taking a stand against genetically-modified crops. The march against Monsanto, a multinational chemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation, is being held in hundreds of cities as part of a global protest against genetically-modified food. Demonstrators on Marina beach held placards that read ‘Don't dig your own grave with your own knife and fork.' Genetically-modified crops are grown from seeds...

-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,...