Environmentalists, civil society groups and scientists working with marginal farmers have welcomed recommendation of the Supreme Court appointed Technical Expert Committee (TEC) placing a 10-year moratorium on field trials of GM crops in India. The TEC freeze advice includes field trials of Bt transgenics in all food crops which are used directly for human consumption. (See links below for the actual report and more details) The TEC, which was appointed in...

-Outlook Out in our streets, disabled people feel the pain everyday The Gaping Holes     India yet to get a cohesive, standardised sign language     Barrier-free infrastructure yet to be implemented in public areas like bus stations, railway stations, schools, cinema halls     Lack of basic, inclusive civic facilities: no audio-enabled traffic signals, pavements with ramps, few disability-friendly toilets, negligible penalties     Poor functional entertainment accessibility, like no subtitling on local language TV channels     Reservation...

-The Hindu Details of partnership will be unveiled this week Signs of potential private sector participation in cyber security has opened new and unchartered territory in India’s national security regime. The first hint of such collaboration came from Deputy National Security Adviser Vijay Latha Reddy, who, in her opening remarks at an Internet governance conference last week, spoke of a deeper engagement with the private sector in cyber security issues. Details of the...

-The Indian Express Setting aside Russian contentions, the government has decided that the next two reactors in Kudankulam will come under the new civil nuclear liability law, and not be covered by the agreement on Kudankulam 1 and 2. The move, which comes a month before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India, is expected to provoke a major price escalation in the deal, with the Russian side likely to go back...

-Mainstream Weekly Intense and motivated propaganda, powerful national and international diplomatic pressure, verging on pure and simple arms-twisting of the kind the Third World has been facing for decades by means of the active role of the econo-mic hit-men in the policy establishments, huge cash-back lobbying, both in India and abroad, blunt attempts to bamboozle the persons holding key positions in India’s policy establishment through a combination of hissing and kissing...