Endosulfan, the pesticide which is widely believed to be responsible for thousands of deaths, diseases and devastation, was able to save its own life largely because of India’s questionable efforts at global forums. The controversial pesticide has been in news for a long time because of its harmful effects on humans, wild life and the environment. Obviously the $100 million industry is going out of the way to defend the...

A new anti-Maoist campaign started in Chhattisgarh last week with the appearance of posters and newspaper advertisements targeted against Maoists and their sympathizers. Neither the posters nor the advertisements have any mention of printer, publisher or sponsor. The posters first surfaced in Narayanpur district last Thursday. They featured photos of activists Aruna Roy, Swami Agnivesh and Arundhati Roy carrying a statement condemning the killing of MNREGA activist Niyamat Ansari by Maoists....

MP and AICC General Secretary Oscar Fernandes said Food Security Bill will be tabled before the Parliament at the earliest. Speaking to presspersons, he said the Bill will help in distributing rice at Rs 3 per kg and wheat at Rs 2 per kg for BPL families in the country. “Ombudsman and private agency will be strengthened to make a study on the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme....

The upsurge in the use of the toxic pesticide endosulfan, targeted for prohibition by the international community, illustrates one of the dilemmas of intensive agriculture in Argentina and Latin America in general. "There is always a natural solution," insists farmer Alicia Alem, a member of an Argentine cooperative that produces cereal and forage crops without chemical fertilisers or pesticides. "In terms of wheat, for example, the cooperative gets exactly the same yield...

The lush green Indian state of Kerala, advertised in travel brochures as "God’s Own Country", is at the center of a continuing battle in the country to secure an early ban on the use of the pesticide endosulfan. The Kerala government and activists say the pesticide has caused 4,000 victims in the state, through cancer, crippled limbs and babies born with deformities; 496 related deaths have been officially recorded. No scientist,...