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Pawar backs Telangana; raises issue with PM
VISHWAROOPAM ROW
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Kerala
gang rape
Money power hurting morale, Congress men tell Rahul
Sugarcane fair price hiked by 23.5%
103 exhibitors from 23 countries at 5th edition of India Art Fair
Let innovation drive education: Pitroda
wife
burning case
Central govt has survived on CBI’s lack of integrity: Jaitley
Children being sexually profiled, says Verma panel member
PM: Let environment, economy win together
Poultry faces threat as fish feed dries up
Jagan remanded till Feb 14 in DA case
Investment in Purti group of companies Hit-&-run case: Salman to be tried for culpable homicide
Dalit bodies up in arms against youths’ killing
Drugs worth Rs 5 crore seized; two arrested
Genetically modified crops’ prospects in India suffer another setback
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Pawar backs Telangana; raises issue with PM
New Delhi, January 31 In a free-wheeling chat with mediapersons this afternoon, Pawar said he spoke to the PM on the Telangana issue today and urged him to take a decision at the earliest as a delay would not be helpful. The NCP, Pawar said, had always supported the demand for Telangana and had even addressed a joint rally with the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) that is spearheading the movement for a separate state. “We want Telangana to be taken up early. I conveyed it to the Prime minister even today. Generally, the Congress leadership is in favour of Telangana. Now, it’s a question of timing, which is what they are thinking about,” Pawar said. The NCP is the first UPA ally to come out in open support of Telangana although this issue is yet to come up for formal discussions before the Congress partners. However, Pawar said he expected that a meeting of the UPA allies would be called soon to deliberate on this matter. Pawar said the formation of Telangana will not impact the Vidharbha movement in Maharashtra as it is a separate issue, adding that the NCP will not raise any objections if the people of Vidharbha region want a separate state. “We will not come in the way,” Pawar added. The NCP chief’s remarks come at a time when the Congress top brass is making frenetic efforts to resolve the Telangana imbroglio, even as party MPs from the region have sent in their resignations to party chief Sonia Gandhi to protest the delay in announcing a separate state. On the other hand, a section of Congress MPs from the Rayalseema and coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh have threatened to join Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress if the state is bifurcated. Congress insiders said the party has realised that the formation of Telangana is inevitable, but it has to first iron out differences between the pro and anti-groups and that it is a matter of finding the right time to make this announcement. The budget session of Parliament is set to commence at the end of February and the Congress wants to ensure that its flock stays together at this crucial time. The Congress came out with its first emphatic statement on the statehood issue yesterday. “The Congress is not against the formation of Telangana, but further consultations are required with all the stakeholders,” party spokesperson PC Chacko had said.
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VISHWAROOPAM ROW
Chennai, January 31 Her intervention was immediately welcomed by the Tamil film fraternity, amid reports of back channel efforts to pave the way for the release of the Rs 100-crore movie. Breaking her silence a week after the ban exploded into a national controversy, she said it was based on Intelligence inputs of likely violence and to maintain law and order. Jayalalithaa said she has no "personal grudge" against Hassan or "personal interest" in the ban, a day after the actor threatened to take self-imposed exile in a secular place in the country, excluding Tamil Nadu, or overseas. She said the threat to law and order was "very real" and many Muslim groups had announced a series of agitations and the primary objective of the government was to maintain peace and tranquillity. "We relied on Intelligence inputs... As the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, my first and foremost priority is maintenance of law and order and to ensure public peace in which people can carry on with their daily lives and work," she said, citing inadequate manpower to provide security at 524 theatres where the film was to be screened. Finding fault with Haasan, she said government had made a request to him to show the movie to a few representatives of Muslim organisations. "Had he done it, the problem would have been avoided. But he avoided showing the movie. If Muslim organisations and Kamal Hassan are ready to sit down and work out an amicable agreement, if he agrees to delete certain portions that are objectionable, then the decks would be cleared for screening of the movie," she said. — PTI
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Kerala
gang rape Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, January 31 A Bench comprising AK Patnaik and Gyan Sudha Misra, however, sent the case back to the HC for a fresh decision within six months. The SC passed the order on appeals filed by the Kerala government and the victim. On September 6, 2000, the trial court had convicted 36 persons and sentenced them to varying terms. But the HC upheld the conviction in respect of only one person and awarded a five-year jail term, besides slapping a fine of Rs 50,000. The HC had observed that she appeared to have been a willing participant in the episode. Today, the SC rejected this finding, holding that it was based on an incomplete inquiry. The victim from Suryanelli village in Kerala’s Idukki district had been abducted in January 1996 and taken to various places across the state and raped by 42 persons before being abandoned in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. Initially, a bus conductor had blackmailed her showing her photographs and subsequently handed her over to another person and from then on she changed hands and places frequently. The appeals in the SC had been filed in December 2005, but were not taken up for hearing even once till recently. Chief Justice Altamas Kabir fast-tracked the case after taking note of the lapse.
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Money power hurting morale, Congress men tell Rahul
New Delhi, January 31 Participating in a meeting convened by Rahul Gandhi at the Congress headquarters today, office-bearers pointed to the deficiencies in the organisation and listed their suggestions on strengthening the party so that it was battle-ready for the 2014 Lok Sabha poll. Speakers did not hesitate to point to the increasing role of money power in the party and how tickets were literally "sold" during elections. It is learnt AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh pointed out that the party was in a state of limbo at present and this needed to be corrected at the earliest. Shakeel Ahmad, in charge of Jharkhand and West Bengal, said there was no clarity on how decisions were taken in the party. General Secretary BK Hari Prasad minced no words in saying those with money were wielding greater clout in the party and that the Congress was becoming a party of the "moneyed". Loyalty of workers should not be ignored, he added. Health Minister and AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad rooted for "one man, one post", while his colleague Birender Singh sought greater democratisation in the party so that power was not confined to a chosen few. Several speakers stressed there should be no unusual delay in taking decisions. Critical issues must be debated at length, they said, but a final decision should be taken in due time. Nineteen party general secretaries and state in charges participated in the two-hour meeting. A second round has been slated for tomorrow. On his part, Rahul Gandhi opened the deliberations by urging the participants to give in their suggestions and ideas as he wanted to bring in greater democratisation in the party so that there was collective decision-making and the cadres did not feel that decisions had been imposed on them. |
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Sugarcane fair price hiked by 23.5%
New Delhi, January 31 The approval is in line with the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), which suggested Rs 40 increase in the FRP at Rs 210 per quintal for 2013-14. The CACP is a statutory body and advises the government on the pricing policy for major farm produce. The FRP is the sugarcane price fixed by the Centre but there are some states like Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu which announce their own rate called state advisory price (SAP), higher than the FRP. This price will be linked to a basic recovery rate of 9.5 per cent, subject to a premium of Rs 2.21 per quintal for every 0.1 percentage point increase in recovery above that level. The recovery rate is the quantity of sugar that is produced from the crushed cane.
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103 exhibitors from 23 countries at 5th edition of India Art Fair
New Delhi, January 31 Like always, the fair includes significant art signatures from Akbar Padamsee to Jamini Roy to Somnath Hore to bright lights of the contemporary art world such as Jitish Kallat, Dayanita Singh, Sheeba Chachi and many others. If on one hand the experimental use of mediums such as nails and industrial material impress, on the other, the amazing dexterity of artists such as KG Subamanyam, Ganesh Pyne and Seema Kohli made one stop in the tracks. If the fair’s success lies in the repeat participation of galleries, well, a whole lot of them from India and overseas returned for the event that will open formally on Friday. At the same time, in an event that has nearly 103 exhibitors from 23 countries, several new entrants such as the Shun Art Gallery from China hold the key, too. Like always, many international galleries are representing Indian artists such as Subodh Gupta and Sudarshan Shetty. Chandigarh’s Government College of Art alumnus Vibha Galhotra’s works are being shown by Jack Shainman Gallery of New York. The young artist who expresses her concern for the environment and works with an unusual material -- ghungroos -- can’t say whether being represented by an international gallery works better. But yes, she did admit that a fair of this magnitude does provide an artist international visibility. That the fair has acquired an international flavour is evident not only from the presence of international galleries from countries as diverse as Italy and Bangladesh, but also the fact that this year alone Christies have brought in at least 30 of their collectors to the fair. On purview day, many-well known Indian collectors such as Kiran Nadar were at the venue. Among other VIPs, Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal was seen evincing interest in art works. Of course, the fair is not only about a love for art, but also about its commerce. Many galleries such as the Experimenter opened their innings on the sale front on purview day itself. Serious enquiries kept up the spirit of other exhibitors. The buzz has been generated on Day 1 and judging by the tremendous quality on display, momentum is likely to pick up in the coming three days.
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Let innovation drive education: Pitroda
Chandigarh, January 31 Pitroda, speaking on the need for information infrastructure and innovation in the 21st century, stated that it’s the young talent that would give the country a new direction and transform the system. Speaking about India’s future, Sam said, “We are living in a country that has the best of brains to solve the problems of the rich. However, we have the largest number of poor in this country whose problems have not been solved by anyone. It’s the youngsters who would solve the problem.” Sam stated that youngsters need to get innovative and come up with innovations. Citing his own example, Sam said in 1979, he came to India and wanted to call his wife in Chicago in the US. However, he couldn’t get through to her as there were no telephones. “At that time, I realised that it takes between 10 and 15 years to get a telephone connection in this country. I then decided to bring telephone here and today, we have 900 million phones in this country,” said Sam, the telephone maverick who revolutionised telecommunication in India. Talking about the education system in India, Sam wondered why it takes two years for master’s degrees, why not a few months. The education system in this country is not in tune with the times, which needs to be changed, he feels. “I have seen many engineers who can’t even write properly, but they have degrees and I know some teachers who have been teaching the same lecture for the last 20 years,” he said. Speaking about the three challenges this country is facing, Sam said there is disparity between rich and poor, educated and uneducated; the second challenge is there are 550 million persons below 25 years of age in this country for whom jobs need to be created and the third challenge is to expedite the process of development.
going digital
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wife
burning case ‘Beware of fanciful doubts on dying statements’ R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, January 31 “Exaggerated doubts, on account of absence of corroboration, will only led to unmerited acquittals, causing grave harm to the cause of justice and ultimately to the social fabric,” a Bench comprising Justices AK Patnaik and HL Gokhale ruled. Pointing out that the incidents of wives being set on fire were “very unfortunately continuing to occur in our society,” the Bench said “it is expected from the courts that they approach such situations very carefully, giving due respect to the dying declarations and not being swayed by fanciful doubts.” The apex court made the observations while dismissing an appeal filed by a person from Maharashtra, challenging his conviction for killing his wife by setting her on fire in 2000 as she had failed to meet his demand for more dowry. The Supreme Court pointed out that by enacting Section 32 (1) in the Evidence Act, the Parliament had accorded special sanctity to the statement made by a dying person as to the cause of her own death. “This is by virtue of the solemn occasion when the statement is made,” it stated. If such a statement had been made at the earliest opportunity before any influence was brought on the dying person, “there is absolutely no reason to take any other view for the cause of his or her death,” it added. “The statement has to be accepted as the relevant and truthful one, revealing the circumstances which resulted in her death. Absence of any corroboration cannot take away its relevance,” the SC ruled.
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Central govt has survived on CBI’s lack of integrity: Jaitley
Mumbai, January 31 "The government at the Centre has survived on the strength of CBI's lack of integrity," Jaitley said while delivering a lecture on 'Challenges India needs to overcome' at the KC College here. "Every time during the vote in Parliament, I find on eve of the vote, CBI altering its stand in affidavits and the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party changing their stand in Parliament," he said. "The Parliamentary Select Committee has made a recommendation which will liberate CBI partly from the clutches of the government," the senior BJP leader said. The key battle on Lokpal is how to liberate the CBI from the clutches of the government, he added. On the recent India-Pakistan tension at the Line of Control (LoC) where two Indian soldiers were killed, he said, "Engagement per se will not solve the problem." Calling Pakistan a "rogue" state, which is highly radicalised, Jaitley said it is represented by the Army, the ISI, the civilian government and the terrorists. — PTI
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Children being sexually profiled, says Verma panel member
New Delhi, January 31 The panel has gone to the extent of saying sexual profiling of poor children by way of photography cannot be ruled out or guaranteed against. The Delhi Police has so far collected pictures of 64,055 poor children under the controversial initiative called “Pehchaan”, which does not have the sanction of the law. Legal experts say the police can only seek photographs of children who have gone missing and reported as such and they cannot go around mapping children visually. The Verma committee has now conveyed to the Delhi Police and the Additional Solicitor General its strong objections to the scheme launched in July. “The scheme allows the Delhi Police to photograph poor children and maintain their database. They say pictures help them track missing children. We are very uncomfortable with such photographs being taken. What is the guarantee these won’t be misused?” says Subramanium. In its deposition, the Delhi Police told the committee that it needed the pictures for investigation purpose. “Investigations of cases of kidnapping related to missing children were being hampered on account of absence of photographs of children, particularly those belonging to the poor strata of society. To tackle this problem, ‘Pehchaan’ was launched in July 2012 in which photograph is taken of the entire family with all children and a copy of the photograph is given to the family for record so that in case a child is reported missing, his or her photograph is available. This scheme has been implemented in areas where maximum children are reported missing,” the police told the committee. The police admitted that 64,055 children had been photographed in rehabilitation colonies and police station-wise database of these children had been maintained. The Verma committee analysed the scheme in the light of evidence it collected of complicity of certain police personnel in cases of trafficking. “We met several trafficked children and recorded their testimonies. There is evidence of police complicity in some cases. We have even recommended trafficking as an IPC offence and prescribed life imprisonment for police officers found complicit in the crime,” Subramanium said. Child rights activists say the Delhi Police scheme is objectionable and must be scrapped because such photographs can be misused. “The police can create awareness among communities and encourage them to maintain updated pictures of their children. But they can’t start profiling children themselves. That’s against the law. Moreover, how can you store photographic databases of children in times when computers get hacked and pedophiles are always on the hunt,” asks Bharti Ali, child rights activist. Lawyer Usha Ramanathan agrees. “The role of the police is defined in the Juvenile Justice Act. They can contact a child only when he/she is in need of care and protection, not otherwise.”
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PM: Let environment, economy win together
New Delhi, January 31 Inaugurating the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS), organised by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the PM said protection of environment and promoting development need not amount to a zero-sum game. “What is required is regulatory regimes that are transparent, accountable and subject to oversight and monitoring. Indeed, regulatory regimes are often the basic necessary condition to ensure that environmental and economic objectives are pursued in tandem,” he said. The statement holds significance in the face of increasing tussles between green lobbies and infrastructure groups over environmental clearance for developmental projects. While environmental groups allege easy clearances to projects, concerns are regularly raised from the other side over delays in implementation of projects because of lengthy and opaque clearances. The Environment Ministry has in fact been blamed by the industry and many ministries for delaying projects and hampering the country’s growth. The government had recently constituted a Cabinet Committee on Investment to fast-track delayed mega projects. Notably, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan had strongly opposed the formation of the body (earlier called the NIB), saying it would undermine the powers vested with her ministry and favour big industrialists and corporations. While clearing the formation of the CCI, the government said her concerns had been addressed. The PM said the growing population, changing consumption patterns and the consequent pressure on precious natural resources were real challenges facing India in its pursuit of economic growth and the amelioration of poverty. Advocating resource efficiency for sustainable development, he said, “There are genuine concerns that in an unequal world, scarcity of resources would affect the poor more adversely, and key resources may become accessible only to a small section of people on this planet, leading to the exclusion of a large number of people who live in poverty and persistent deprivation.”
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Demand for Headley, Rana extradition stands: India
New Delhi, January 31 At a press briefing here, MEA spokesman Syed Akbaruddin noted that the Indian investigators were given access to Headley, who was recently sentenced to 35 years’ imprisonment, by the US authorities. However, India was not able to question Rana, given his rights as an accused under the US law. Now that Rana was a sentenced prisoner, India would once again
seek access to him and also further access to Headley as might be deemed necessary, the spokesman added. India would also continue to work with the US to seek access to others in this regard, using bilateral mechanisms. “The US has been helpful thus far within the parameters of its own laws. We intend to work closely with the US in taking the legal processes forward. Our demand for the extradition of Headley and Rana stands,” he said when asked for reaction to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remarks in an interview that the best possible sentence had been awarded to Headley. Noting that the NIA
special court had filed charge-sheets against nine individuals for their involvement in the 26/11 attack, he
said the charge-sheets named Rana, Headley, among others, for the conspiracy surrounding the Mumbai attack. “We will work on all legal channels and avenues so that the court case of NIA proceeds and the charge-sheeted
individuals are brought before the court,” he added. On recent revelation by a Pakistani retired General that the then Nawaz Sharif government was very much in the know of the conspiracy hatched by Gen Pervez Musharraf that led to the Kargil conflict, the spokesman noted an internal debate was on in Pakistan on this issue which India was closely following without participating in it. “That India did get impacted and Kargil did happen justifies what we have been saying all along,” he added.
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Poultry faces threat as fish feed dries up
New Delhi, January 31 Fishermen representatives say the community is facing the twin threat of cost escalation following a spike in diesel prices and a low stock because of a tangible change in oceanic activity, pollution and mechanization of fishing. Members of the fishermen community today met Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily. They said just as farmers provide foodgrain, fishermen too provide an essential source of protein. Seeking to draw a parallel with Punjab farmers, the fishermen community representatives said they too wanted the government to allow them to buy diesel at retail prices. At present, the community is treated as a bulk consumer, like airlines and state transport services. Fish workers cooperatives and fisheries constitute only 1.87% of the entire bulk purchase category allotted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, they said. Kiran Koli, executive member of the National Fishermen Forum, said the recent hike of Rs 10-15 per litre for bulk purchase of diesel was badly hitting small and traditional fishing communities. “The livelihood of fishermen in 10 coastal states is at state following a sudden hike in diesel price,” he said. That should worry the poultry industry, which relies on fisheries for bird feed. Dried fish is a rich protein source and is used as feed by aquaculture, dairy, and poultry industries. Koli said technical advancements and increased speed and modernisation of vessels had contributed to lower fish yield figures. “Added to it is pollution by oil rigs and dumping of untreated sewage in the seas,” he said. “A luxury car owner gets a 45 paisa increase in retail diesel, but a fisherman is treated as a bulk consumer by the government,” said Koli.
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Collector’s order leaves Gir lions exposed
Ahmedabad, January 31 District Collector Manish Bhardwaj reportedly took the decision following complaints from priests and devotees of temples situated in the sanctuary area on the state government’s public complaint network “Swagat on-line”. The 180-sq km Gir Sanctuary core area has about 135 temples and several villages of “maldharis” (shepherds). This area is part of Gir forests that are spread in around 9,000 sq km area. Environmentalists had been seeking protection of Asiatic Lions and other wild animals in the Gir forest area. They had been demanding that the thoroughfares through the forest area, particularly the core sanctuary, should be closed for traffic during the night as the vehicles, particularly the dilapidated state transport buses, not only caused environmental pollution but also disturbed animals. After about a dozen Asiatic lions fell pray to unscrupulous poachers around five years ago, strict regulations were put in place by the state forest department in the sanctuary area. No one was allowed to enter the sanctuary or stay in the temples in the nights and all priests and devotees of the temples were ordered to move out of the sanctuary area before sunset. Devotees had been objecting to the closure of gates claiming it hurt their religious sentiments. The district collector has also said that anyone found violating the wildlife protection Act would be prosecuted. He has directed the deputy conservator of forests to regularly send him the action taken report on the protection of wild animals in the sanctuary. Environmentalists are, however, worried that the move would expose the threatened species to risk from poachers.
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Jagan remanded till Feb 14 in DA case
Hyderabad, January 31 Jagan, along with other accused, including former minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao, industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad and senior bureaucrat K V Brahmananda Reddy (all accused in Vanpic aspect of Jagan assets case), who are currently lodged in Chanchalguda Central Prison, were produced before the court through video-conferencing after which their judicial custody was extended by another 14 days. Andhra minister Dharmana Prasada Rao, who is also an accused in the case, appeared before the special CBI court. — PTI
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Investment
in Purti group of companies Nagpur, January 31 The BJP leader's representatives had earlier submitted to the I-T department a 25-page document in reply to questions regarding his personal transactions and investments related to the Purti group of companies and few others. Gadkari has denied allegations of any wrongdoing and said that he has resigned from the Purti group sometime back. The I-T department had earlier issued summons for appearance to Gadkari in the second half of this month as the taxman was probing alleged tax evasion case against him and his group of companies. The department has been probing various firms that invested in Gadkari's company Purti Power and Sugar Limited (PPSL). The department, according to sources, has allegedly found the details of almost 30 companies that have been "in transactions" with PPSL. On January 22, I-T officials had conducted on-field inquiries at 11 premises in Mumbai belonging to alleged shell companies related to Purti group and found no trace of these entities at their given addresses. — PTI
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Hit-&-run case: Salman to be tried for culpable homicide
At present, Salman is being tried under section 304 (I), (rash and negligent driving) which attracts maximum punishment of two years. Section 304 (II) attracts the maximum sentence of 10 years. Following today's order, the Magistrate committed the case to Sessions Court for trial, as the offence is serious. "Salman would have to appear before the Sessions Court on February 11," said his lawyer, advocate Dipesh Mehta. On September 28, 2002, Khan's Toyota Land Cruiser, allegedly being driven by him, rammed into a bakery in suburban Bandra, killing one and injuring four others who were sleeping on the pavement. The trial before the Bandra Magistrate's court started in 2006. — PTI
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Dalit bodies up in arms against youths’ killing
Mumbai, January 31 Three youths belonging to the backward Mehtar community were brutally murdered and their limbs chopped off around a month ago. Investigations revealed that the murders were carried out by the family members of an upper-caste woman with whom one of the victims was in a relationship. The incident has taken a political turn with the Republican Party of India (Athavale), which is in alliance with the Shiv Sena and the BJP in the state, demanding that the government must ensure stringent punishment for the accused.
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Drugs worth Rs 5 crore seized; two arrested
Hyderabad, January 31 Based on specific intelligence that certain anti-social elements were trying to procure and smuggle Methaqualone, a scheduled drug under the Narcotic Drugs and Psyschotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the officers of DRI Hyderabad Regional Unit intercepted a consignment and seized the narcotic substance, DRI Additional Director S A Usmani said. The narcotic substance weighing 28 kg is worth Rs 5.04 crore in the international market, he said. The consignment was sent as normal cargo to a private transporter at Osmangunj.
— PTI
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Genetically modified crops’ prospects in India suffer another setback
New Delhi, January 31 Just days after Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar again batted in favour of the technology, blaming some companies in countries with GM technology-driven agriculture (like the US) for the opposing GM crops in India, the Greenpeace went all out against US bio-tech major Monsanto, charging it with providing “faulty and inadequate” data to the Indian authorities. In the light of these new “evidences of failure of the GM regulatory system in India,” the global NGO urged Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan (under whose ministry Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee functions) to stop open releases of all GM crops, including those for field trials. According to the Greenpeace, it had asked Testbiotech (an independent research agency) to assess data presented by Monsanto to the authorities “for bio-safety tests prior to commercial approval” of GM corn variety and discovered major loopholes. Basing arguments on the data presented by Monsanto itself, the green NGO concluded that no decisions could be taken on the safety of the plants as apart from missing data and inadequate investigations as there were also substantial indications for health and environmental risks. “On one hand the GM regulatory system in our country tries to hide crucial public information like the bio-safety data of the GM crops and on the other hand allows open field trials of them, which can lead to contamination of our food and seed supply chain. These field trials have been permitted for the last four years without bio-safety studies being completed,” said Shivani Shah, a campaigner. According to Shivani, bio-safety and field trial data of the GM corn was accessed through RTI procedures from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the GEAC, the nodal agency for all environmental releases of GMOs in India. Notably, in view of the renewed opposition to the GM technology in India, Pawar had last week blamed companies in countries with GM technology-driven agriculture for the opposition in India, saying that they did not want the country to be self-sufficient in food, especially oils. “In the US, the entire soyabean production is done with GM technology. India has to import edible oils worth Rs 60,000 crore. There is growing opposition to GM technology here, though it helps to increase productivity as is evident from our cotton experience. You have adopted GM in your country but you do not let that happen in India. This is not proper and it is alarming,” India’s Agriculture Minister was quoted as saying. Last year, an experts’ panel appointed by the Supreme Court had recommended that GM crops should be halted for 10 years, including ongoing trials, which was rejected by the court. In its interim report submitted to the court, the panel also recommended a ban on field trials of GM crops until the regulatory system was completely overhauled. Later, several scientists and farmers’ groups appealed to the SC to accept the interim report of the court-appointed Technical Expert Committee (TEC) in the matter of field trials of GM crops.
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Chandigarh, January 31
New Delhi, January 31
Nagpur, January 31
Fishermen on
strike
Mumbai, January 31