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Hello List members,
At last we Indians seem to be finally waking up
from Bt Cotton induced stupor.
+ INDIA: STOP BT BRINJAL!
Hundreds of people from all over India have signed a letter asking India's regulatory body, GEAC, to refrain from approving the planned field trials of Bt brinjal (aubergine/eggplant). They ask the following pertinent questions: ***Is India starved of brinjal? ***Did any citizen/ consumer ever complain of a short supply of brinjal? ***Why should anybody consume Bt brinjal when conventional and hybrid brinjal is plentifully available in every season? In addition, Dr Krishan Bir Chaudhary, leader of the farmers' organization, Bharat Krishak Samaj, has written a letter to GEAC questioning its plan to trial Bt brinjal. BKS demands that before releasing Bt brinjal, GEAC: ***publishes full details of safety studies ***proves it has tightened up biosafety practices since numerous biosafety violations were exposed in existing GM trials ***investigates and reports on the reported allergies among workers exposed to Bt, and the deaths in sheep and goats that grazed on Bt cotton. Dr Chaudhary said, "Bt cotton has failed in this country. It hasn't reduced dependence on pesticides. How can they think of introducing Bt brinjal when farmers in Andhra are afraid to take their cattle through Bt cotton crop as they claim it leads to deaths?" A civil society delegation comprising of people from more than ten brinjal-growing states met Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, the minister for health, on 14 June to impress upon him that "India is not a guinea pig for Bt brinjal". The delegation, drawn from a network called Coalition for GM-Free India, consists of representatives from leading farmers' organisations, consumer organisations, organic farming groups, unions, NGOs working on sustainable agriculture, and representatives from the medical fraternity. And more than 500 organic farmers have declared that they will not allow GM food crops in India. The declaration came at a convention organized by the Tamilnadu Organic Agriculturist Federation, India's biggest organic body, formed under the presidency of Sri G Nammalvar, a farmer-scientist. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6633 http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6637 http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6639 + BT COTTON - "NO MAJOR FALL IN PESTICIDE CONSUMPTION" India's pesticide industry says it is pretty relaxed about Bt cotton because it is not causing any significant drop in pesticide use. What drop there is has been offset by an increase in herbicide use with Bt cotton, says an article for Iris News Digest. The article says, http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6628 + TOP OFFICIALS FINED IN INDIA IN BT COTTON CASE There's been an important development in relation to the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that's currently before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court in India. The PIL relates to the plight of the 540 poor cotton farmers in the state of Maharashtra who took their lives during the last cotton-growing season, the vast majority of whom were growers of GM (Bt) cotton. The court has now come down heavily on the state government and its bureaucrats for their negligence and failure to comply with the orders of the court to file a reply to the PIL. The Divisional Bench of the High Court has imposed costs and fines on the chief secretary and twelve other leading state officials to be paid out of their salaries. If they fail to pay the fines, they'll face proceedings for contempt of court. The raft of issues the PIL probes includes: ***the role of state officers in promoting Bt cotton which resulted in the failure of [the] crop ***the involvement of state officials in inducing poor farmers to cultivate Bt cotton. The PIL also asks for the state to be directed to take appropriate action against the Bt cotton seeds companies to force them to compensate the families of poor farmers who took their lives. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6636 Regards
balaji
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