The outcome of Stockholm Convention to ban endosulfan capping a long-drawn campaign against the pesticide on health grounds may have brought cheers to the opponents but the domestic industry is crying foul suspecting an European link aiming to capture the Indian market. India and a few other developing countries extracted several exemptions, including a phase out period of 11 years to ban production and use of the toxic pesticide at the...

India has decided to join a global consensus to end the production and use of endosulfan after being allowed 11 years to phase it out and promised financial assistance. This decision is not irreversible since India has to ratify its own decision. An absolutely final position can be adopted after the results of more elaborate studies on extensive use are available since a causal link between the health hazards in...

Why has the incidence of tuberculosis in India remained around 170 per 100,000 people for the last 20 years despite DOTS, the directly observed treatment strategy, being in place? Answer: DOTS is a passive system that kicks in only after a person takes the initiative and gets tested for the disease. Despite the high prevalence and mortality rate, researchers are yet to figure out a system that works proactively, identifying...

A UN panel has sAid killing of tens of thousands of people in the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil strife could amount to "war crimes", but Secretary General Ban Ki-moon insisted he would only launch an international investigation if Colombo agrees or member states call for it. A UN statement publicly releasing a report by a world body panel sAid that Secretary General has been advised that he needs...

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday arrested former head of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, Suresh Kalmadi, in connection with irregularities in the contract for the Queen's Baton Relay, according to television channels. Earlier, Suresh Kalmadi was questioned by the CBI over alleged irregularities in the conduct of Queen's Baton Relay (QBR) held in London in 2009. The CBI first questioned Kalmadi on January 5. The agency had asked Kalmadi, sacked as...