9. ENVIRONMENT - YEAR 2012
9.1 The waste mountain engulfing Mexico City (17/1/2012)
9.5 NIIST develops pollution-free device (8/5/2012)
It
is a suitable facility for managing biomass wastes at the source of
origin and biogas recovery. Besides producing methane-rich biogas, the
system converts biomass wastes to compost slurry having higher content
of stable solids.
9.6 Reaping gold through cotton, and newsprint (10/5/2012)
9.7 MoEF move on GM crops provokes massive protests (10/6/2012)
NEW DELHI: The environment ministry's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee — meant to regulate GM crop release — has been hit with a storm of protest from the state governments and activists for stepping out of its domain to promote the cause of project developers with the state governments instead of merely assessing the scientific safety of the proposals they receive.
... But more than a year back,
several states had objected to GM crop developers — especially those
experimenting inwith food crops — **starting experiments in their fields
without the knowledge or permission of state governments**. With
agriculture being a state subject under the Constitution, the ministry
altered its rules, making it mandatory for GM crop promoters to seek
no-objection certificates from the state governments before launching
experiments even if the GEAC had granted permission to do so.
9.1 The waste mountain engulfing Mexico City
9.2 More on waste management
9.3 Ministry blames BT cotton for farmer suicides
9.4 Docs say drilling law hurts health
9.5 NIIST develops pollution-free device
9.6 Reaping gold through cotton, and newsprint
9.7 MoEF move on GM crops provokes massive protests
9.8 Radiation from Cell phone towers (slow roast)
9.9 Hazardous waste (USA)
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9.3 Ministry blames BT cotton for farmer suicides
9.4 Docs say drilling law hurts health
9.5 NIIST develops pollution-free device
9.6 Reaping gold through cotton, and newsprint
9.7 MoEF move on GM crops provokes massive protests
9.8 Radiation from Cell phone towers (slow roast)
9.9 Hazardous waste (USA)
9.10 Lindane insecticide in the Yamuna has set alarm bells ringing for doctors
9.11 Pets share our environment and our diseases
9.12 French study on GM corn and Roundup Herbicide
9.13 The scary aspect for consumers
9.14 PM's science advisory panel favours GM crops
9.15 Three wheels and a new paradigm
9.16 Genetically modified foods capped for 10 years by Supreme Court panel
9.17 Is Bt cotton being hyped up?
9.18 New USDA study shows a conventional path towards radically reducing chemicals used in agriculture
9.19 Forage fish
9.20 GM technology is a one way street
9.21 Californian voters reject GM food labelling
9.22 GM crops should go back to the lab
----------------------------------------------------------
9.1 The waste mountain engulfing Mexico City (17/1/2012)
The closure of Mexico's biggest garbage dump has highlighted the absence of a comprehensive policy for urban waste collection, disposal and processing, a failure that has serious consequences for health and the environment.
The leftwing government of the Mexican capital decided in December to close Bordo Poniente, the biggest refuse dump, located in the east of the city, without coming up with an alternative solution. Now municipalities adjacent to Mexico City are refusing to accept its waste.
... The Bordo Poniente landfill site has been in use since 1985. It covers an area of 600 hectares and was receiving 12,600 tonnes of waste a day, 7,000 of them from municipalities in the state of Mexico, adjacent to the Federal District (DF) or city proper, according to the capital city's secretariat of works and services.
Moreover, 70 million tonnes of waste are buried underground at the dump, causing serious water and air pollution problems.
.... "We are tossing valuable materials into the trash, and there is the whole problem of the absence of re-use and recycling. The goal is to recycle at least 60 percent of our waste. We must establish sanitary landfills that meet health and safety regulations. You can't just improvise a landfill site," said Restrepo.
... "We are facing environmental and regulatory chaos. Powers vested in the authorities should be turned over to ordinary citizens, without any privatisation of waste management services, so that we can have an organisation with broad representation, including experts, universities, citizens and private companies," said Ojeda, whose term as head of ICEAC is due to end in 2013.
-----------------
People living in Trivandrum are facing similar problems at the moment:
Corporation has a crisis on its hands
One problem the news media have not highlighted is that garbage is being burnt left and right, which is dangerous, considering the fact that a lot of plastic is also being burnt.
I agree with the view expressed in the main article; the only way to solve this problem in the long run is for ordinary citizen to get together and organise waste disposal in their own locality. Let's also keep in mind that due to the ever increasing price of petroleum, it will soon become impractical to cart waste outside the city and dump it in someone elses backyard.
What we notice once again is a massive failure of the engineering discipline. (I have commented earlier, engineers are behind 80% of our environmental problems. I would suggest that they close down the engineering colleges for a year; do some hard thinking, and come back with a revised syllabus).
Selvaraj
P.S. When I enquired from a garbage dealer whether he purchases thin plastic waste, the answer was 'No'. One way to facilitate the disposal of various waste is to put a value on it. Each city, town, municipality, even village need to prepare some kind of a document to explain how different kinds of waste will be handled.
(I was surprised when my rain water harvest yielded considerable black carbon deposits: evidently this is landing on my rooftop from all the burning that is going on - this will also be breathed in by the young and the old in the city).
9.2 More on waste management (18/1/2012)
In Austria, municipal solid waste (MSW) cannot be directed directly to landfills, but needs to be treated before. Direct landfilling of MSW has been effectively banned in Austria since the beginning of 2009.
NYC TAKES THE GARBAGE OUT
In 2006, New York City adopted a long-term solid waste management plan that proposed exporting all of the city's garbage, but attempted to develop a less environmentally destructive and less expensive approach than simply trucking the garbage to landfills hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away. The goal is to use barges and trains to carry the garbage away and to use waste reduction, recycling, composting and waste-to-energy plants to avoid sending garbage to landfills.
The main objective of the study was to find ways in which the enormous quantity of solid waste India currently disposes of on land could be reduced by recovering materials and energy in a cost effective and environmental friendly manner.
.. Estimations made by extrapolating this data puts the total MSW generated in urban India at 68.8 million tons per year (tpy) or 188,500 tons per day (tpd). The data collected indicate a 50% increase in MSW generated within a decade since 2001.
ENVIRONMENT AND WASTE MANAGEMENT FUEL MARKET GROWTH
GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global outlook on the Environmental and Waste Management Industry. Waste management assumes significance in view of the effect it has on environment and global warming. Increasing generation of wastes in urban markets, growing need for conserving natural resources, advent of new technologies, rising government funding for waste disposal are expected to fuel growth in the global environmental and waste management market.
PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP
The Product Stewardship Law requires electronic manufacturers to take on the financial burden of recycling and disposing of the products it makes. Solid Waste and Sanitation Director James Zecca said the long-term goal of the law is to encourage manufactures to design products that can be easily recycled and reused and ensure the ‘end-of-life’ aspects of products are considered.
FOOD WASTE TO ENERGY
Defra minister Lord Taylor said he wanted to see more plants like this: “The energy that can be created from food waste that would otherwise lie rotting in landfill is astonishing. This £800,000 investment from our £10 million anaerobic digestion fund will help this new plant to be built so we can harness that energy to power our towns and cities and remove a cause of greenhouse gas emissions form landfill.”
9.3 Ministry blames BT cotton for farmer suicides (27/3/2012)
Bt cotton’s success, it appears, lasted merely five years. Since then, yields have been falling and pest attacks going up. India’s only GM crop has been genetically altered to destroy cotton-eating pests.
For farmers, rising costs —in the form of pesticides — have not matched returns, pushing many to the brink, financially and otherwise. Simply put, Bt cotton is no more as profitable as it used to be.
For farmers, rising costs —in the form of pesticides — have not matched returns, pushing many to the brink, financially and otherwise. Simply put, Bt cotton is no more as profitable as it used to be.
9.4 Docs say drilling law hurts health (12/4/2012)
State officials say the rule, which mirrors decades-old federal regulations, is meant to give doctors explicit access todrilling firms' secret chemical cocktails. But Pennsylvania's leading medical association contends it may have a chilling effect on research and on doctors' ability to diagnose and treat patients exposed to carcinogens and other toxic substances.
State officials say the rule, which mirrors decades-old federal regulations, is meant to give doctors explicit access todrilling firms' secret chemical cocktails. But Pennsylvania's leading medical association contends it may have a chilling effect on research and on doctors' ability to diagnose and treat patients exposed to carcinogens and other toxic substances.
9.5 NIIST develops pollution-free device (8/5/2012)
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The National Institute for Interdisciplinary
Science and Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram, a constituent
laboratory of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR),
has developed a compact anaerobic digester capable of stabilising
household biomass wastes at the site without causing environmental
pollution.
........
This design appears superior to the one employed in the unit I purchased!
Selvaraj
9.6 Reaping gold through cotton, and newsprint (10/5/2012)
“We have thrown away the moneylender. No one needs him anymore,” The Times of India news
report-turned-ad quotes farmer Mangoo Chavan as saying. That's in
Antargaon, the other village the newspaper found to be basking in
Bt-induced prosperity. A study of the 365 farm households in Bhambraja
and the nearly 150 in Antargaon by the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti
(VJAS) shows otherwise. “Almost all farmers with bank accounts are in
critical default and 60 per cent of farmers are also in debt to private
moneylenders,” says VJAS chief Kishor Tiwari.
The Maharashtra government tried hard to divert the MPs away from the
‘model village' of Bhambraja (and Maregaon) to places where the
government felt in control. However, Committee Chairperson Basudeb
Acharia and his colleagues stood firm. Encouraged by the MPs visit,
people in both places spoke their minds and hearts. Maharashtra's record
of over 50,000 farm suicides between 1995 and 2010 is the worst in the
country as the data of the National Crime Records Bureau show. And
Vidarbha has long led the State in such deaths. Yet, the farmers also
spoke of vast, policy-linked issues driving agrarian distress here.
None of the farmers reduced the issue of the suicides or the crisis to
being only the outcome of Bt Cotton. But they punctured many myths about
its miracles, costs and ‘savings.' Some of their comments came as news
to the MPs. And not as paid news or a marketing feature, either.
(Disclosure: The Hindu and The Times of India are competitors in several regions of India.)
9.7 MoEF move on GM crops provokes massive protests (10/6/2012)
NEW DELHI: The environment ministry's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee — meant to regulate GM crop release — has been hit with a storm of protest from the state governments and activists for stepping out of its domain to promote the cause of project developers with the state governments instead of merely assessing the scientific safety of the proposals they receive.
http://timesofindia.
9.8 Radiation from Cell phone towers (slow roast) (15/7/2012)
9.9 Hazardous waste (USA) (10/8/2012)
9.10 Lindane isecticide in the Yamuna has set alarm bells ringing for doctors (23/8/2012)
9.11 Pets share our environment and our diseases (26/9/2012)
9.12 French study on GM corn and Roundup Herbicide (21/9/2012)
9.13 The scary aspect for consumers (28/9/2012)
9.14 PM's science advisory panel favours GM Crops (11/10/2012)
9.15 Three wheels and a new paradigm (11/10/2012)
9.16 Genetically modified foods capped for 10 years by Supreme Court panel (19/10/2012)
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
------------------------
Good news!
I found out today that a 'Brown Bread' we were consuming contained 'soya powder'. Since 97% of soya grown in USA is genetically modified, my concern is, can soya grown in USA and other places end up in India? Do we need to label processed food available in India as being fully free from GM ingredients?
It is good to keep in mind that there is a good probability that cotton oil (a lot of it grown in India, which is genetically modified), is probably used in processed food available in India!
Ref 1:
Ref 2:
At least 70 percent of processed food in the United States contains GM ingredients. Eighty-eight percent of corn and 93 percent of soybeans grown domestically are genetically modified. Soda and sweets are almost guaranteed to contain GM ingredients, either in the form of corn syrup or beet sugar. Canola and cottonseed oils also commonly come from GM crops. But if those stats make you want to run and examine the labels on the boxes and cans in your pantry, you're out of luck.Unlike the European Union, the United States government doesn't require food manufacturers to disclose their use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
http://www.onearth.org/blog/
Selvaraj
9.17 Is Bt cotton being hyped up? (20/10/2012)
9.18 New USDA study shows a conventional path towards radically reducing chemicals used in agriculture (22/10/2012)
IT’S becoming clear that we can grow all the food we need, and profitably, with far fewer chemicals. And I’m not talking about imposing some utopian vision of small organic farms on the world. Conventional agriculture can shed much of its chemical use — if it wants to.
This was hammered home once again in what may be the most important agricultural study this year, although it has been largely ignored by the media, two of the leading science journals and even one of the study’s sponsors, the often hapless Department of Agriculture.
The study was done on land owned by Iowa State University called the Marsden Farm. On 22 acres of it, beginning in 2003, researchers set up three plots: one replicated the typical Midwestern cycle of planting corn one year and then soybeans the next, along with its routine mix of chemicals. On another, they planted a three-year cycle that included oats; the third plot added a four-year cycle and alfalfa. The longer rotations also integrated the raising of livestock, whose manure was used as fertilizer.
The results were stunning: The longer rotations produced better yields of both corn and soy, reduced the need for nitrogen fertilizer and herbicides by up to 88 percent, reduced the amounts of toxins in groundwater 200-fold and didn’t reduce profits by a single cent.
In short, there was only upside — and no downside at all — associated with the longer rotations. There was an increase in labor costs, but remember that profits were stable. So this is a matter of paying people for their knowledge and smart work instead of paying chemical companies for poisons. And it’s a high-stakes game; according to the Environmental Protection Agency, about five billion pounds of pesticidesare used each year in the United States.
No one expects Iowa corn and soybean farmers to turn this thing around tomorrow, but one might at least hope that the U.S.D.A.would trumpet the outcome. The agency declined to comment when I asked about it. One can guess that perhaps no one at the higher levels even knows about it, or that they’re afraid to tell Monsantoabout agency-supported research that demonstrates a decreased need for chemicals. (A conspiracy theorist might note that the journals Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences both turned down the study. It was finally published in PLOS One; I first read about it on the Union of Concerned Scientists Web site.)
9.19 Forage fish (25/10/2012)
9.20 GM technology is a one way street (24/10/2012)
9.21 Californian voters reject GM food labeling (7/11/2012)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
9.22 GM crops should go back to the lab (15/11/2012)
9.8 Radiation from Cell phone towers (slow roast) (15/7/2012)
Norms for residential areas, schools, offices, hospitals and playgrounds:
mw/m sq ......... Country
42 .......... Switzerland
100 .........Russia
400 ......... China
3000 ....... US
4500 ....... India
http://www.hindustantimes.com/
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Why do US and India have higher allowable limits. And why do we always follow US?
Incidentally, I do not own a cellphone and do not plan to own one. When I do use a borrowed phone, my ear frequently aches after the call. Either my ears are oversensitive, or there is something wrong with the design and settings of cell phones (I do not face this problem with land phones).
http://www.hindustantimes.com/
What is the point in setting up more IITs. Do Engineers have a sense of responsibility?
Selvaraj
mw/m sq ......... Country
42 .......... Switzerland
100 .........Russia
400 ......... China
3000 ....... US
4500 ....... India
http://www.hindustantimes.com/
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Why do US and India have higher allowable limits. And why do we always follow US?
Incidentally, I do not own a cellphone and do not plan to own one. When I do use a borrowed phone, my ear frequently aches after the call. Either my ears are oversensitive, or there is something wrong with the design and settings of cell phones (I do not face this problem with land phones).
“Even with cellphone use, benign swelling in the brain and head, hearing disorders, headaches and anxiety neurosis are well established,” said Dr Sameer Kaul, cancer surgeon, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi. The impact is hige in children, who have smaller and thinner skulls.
What is the point in setting up more IITs. Do Engineers have a sense of responsibility?
Selvaraj
Almost two trillion pounds of animal waste are produced per year nationally. An increasing amount of this animal waste is produced by intensive livestock operations, which are really more factories than farms. Common animal waste treatment practises used by these livestock factories are often inadequate to protect our drinking water and environment, posing one of America's serious pollution problems. See Scorecard'soverview of animal waste problems.
http://scorecard.goodguide.
Map of hazardous waste in USA
http://energyskeptic.com/2012/
..................
Do we have similar maps for India? With human population reaching seven billion, and with the existing stress on water resources (water is very easy to pollute - so also air), we will need new standards in engineering, agricultural practises and general awareness, to sort out these problems.
Selvaraj
http://scorecard.goodguide.
Map of hazardous waste in USA
http://energyskeptic.com/2012/
..................
Do we have similar maps for India? With human population reaching seven billion, and with the existing stress on water resources (water is very easy to pollute - so also air), we will need new standards in engineering, agricultural practises and general awareness, to sort out these problems.
Selvaraj
9.10 Lindane isecticide in the Yamuna has set alarm bells ringing for doctors (23/8/2012)
According to the CPCB, mosquito repellents - which are commonly used in Indian households - are causing Lindane to seep into the Yamuna.
"No studies have been carried out on mosquito repellents and their health hazards. Since Lindane content is high in the river, the insecticide can even reach the food chain via fishes and cattle," Dr Misra said.
Lindane, a debated insecticide which is listed in the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent for trade control and severely restricted under the international protocol on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, is manufactured in India and Romania.
Already banned and severely restricted in over 50 countries, Lindane is also considered a likely candidate for addition to the list of chemicals targeted for an international ban under the Stockholm Convention.
In India, however, there is no policy yet for phasing out the insecticide. In fact, licence for manufacturing it is easily available....
9.11 Pets share our environment and our diseases (26/9/2012)
Pet owners share their homes, their exercise habits and sometimes even their food with their four-legged companions. And increasingly, they are sharing the same diseases: Dogs and cats suffer from obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and asthma, just like humans.
Now researchers are examining the role that pollutants and other environmental factors play in these dual diseases. Doctors and veterinarians have begun to work together to identify common risk factors, such as pesticides, air pollutants, cigarette smoke and household chemicals.
“Because our pets share our environments, they are exposed to many of the same pollutants as us,” said Melissa Paoloni, a veterinary oncologist at the National Cancer Institute in Maryland.
http://www.mnn.com/family/
--------------------
The way in which we are treating chemicals as 'mother's milk' gives me the creep. In a rapidly crowding world the indiscriminate use of chemicals becomes all the more dangerous. Unfortunately our scientists and engineers are happy with the status co.
Selvaraj
http://www.mnn.com/family/
--------------------
The way in which we are treating chemicals as 'mother's milk' gives me the creep. In a rapidly crowding world the indiscriminate use of chemicals becomes all the more dangerous. Unfortunately our scientists and engineers are happy with the status co.
Selvaraj
9.12 French study on GM corn and Roundup Herbicide (21/9/2012)
A French scientific study released this week asserts that laboratory rats fed Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) corn or low levels of Roundup herbicide for two years developed tumors and suffered damage to multiple organs. The rats in the test group also experienced significantly higher mortality rate than the control group.
http://www.triplepundit.com/
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Roundup Herbicide is beginning to be used routinely in India. It will be good if Indian scientific institutions can take up independent studies on this (and other) herbicides. In India people tend to be careless in the use of herbicides and pesticides; much more effort is needed to educate the farmers and the public on the safe use of these products. Since these products will invariably kill beneficial insects, we need to also concentrate on other methods of weed and pest control.
Selvaraj
---------------------
Some pics in this report:
On the overall, during the French GM food study, 50 percent of the rat males and 70 percent of the rat females eating Monsanto’s corn died prematurely. It’s a shocking conclusion and a terrifying thought seeing as in the U.S., 90 perfect of the corn crop is genetically modified. So where does that leave American consumers?
http://www.dailygossip.org/gm-
Video on this subject:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.triplepundit.com/
-------------
Roundup Herbicide is beginning to be used routinely in India. It will be good if Indian scientific institutions can take up independent studies on this (and other) herbicides. In India people tend to be careless in the use of herbicides and pesticides; much more effort is needed to educate the farmers and the public on the safe use of these products. Since these products will invariably kill beneficial insects, we need to also concentrate on other methods of weed and pest control.
Selvaraj
---------------------
Some pics in this report:
On the overall, during the French GM food study, 50 percent of the rat males and 70 percent of the rat females eating Monsanto’s corn died prematurely. It’s a shocking conclusion and a terrifying thought seeing as in the U.S., 90 perfect of the corn crop is genetically modified. So where does that leave American consumers?
http://www.dailygossip.org/gm-
Video on this subject:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
The scary aspect for consumers is the fact that the larger tumors did not form until the rats reached adulthood, meaning in terms of skyrocketing cancer rates the worst may be approaching for an increasingly ill American population.
http://www.deathrattlesports.
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Not at all surprising, all the crappy things we do are going to add up as we grow older. Unfortunately, a more holistic approach is beyond the reach of modern scientific methodologies.
Selvaraj
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http://www.deathrattlesports.
------------
Not at all surprising, all the crappy things we do are going to add up as we grow older. Unfortunately, a more holistic approach is beyond the reach of modern scientific methodologies.
Selvaraj
-------------------
"The Food and Drug Administration policy on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) released in 1992, claims that the agency had no information showing that GM foods are substantially different," reported the Institute for Responsible Technology. "Thousands of secret memos later made public by a lawsuit reveal just the opposite. FDA scientists repeatedly warned of possible allergies, toxins, new diseases and nutritional problems and urged long-term safety studies. But the FDA official in charge of policy at that time was Michael Taylor, Monsanto's former attorney, later their vice president, and now the U.S. Food Safety Czar."
Monsanto, an agricultural biotechnology corporation, is the world's leading producer of Roundup and genetically engineered seed.
"Looking further into this issue, I discovered an article in Scientific American (August 2009) which reported that to date, there has been no third-party independent testing on the long-term health effects of GMOs," wrote Oakhurst resident Dave Williams in a column published in the Sierra Star Sept. 13. "Test results provided to the U.S. government on GMO safety are done by the companies that produced them, such as Monsanto."
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GM crops have increased the use of danger pesticides
The team at Washington State University found the weight of chemicals used on US farms has increased by 183million kilos since GM crops were introduced in 1996.
Of that total, herbicide use increased over the 16-year period by 239million kilos while insecticide use decreased by 56million kilos.
9.14 PM's science advisory panel favours GM Crops (11/10/2012)
A top scientific panel of the government has favoured introduction of more genetically modified crops in the country under strict regulatory supervision because of the technology’s “transformational potential” in benefiting Indian agriculture.
The scientific advisory council of the prime minister (SAC-PM) headed by eminent scientist C N R Rao has recommended revamping the existing regulatory structure and introducing the long-pending Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill in Parliament to pave the way for creating an independent authority, which will carry out the scientific risk assessment for GM crops following which states can decide on the commercialisation of the produce.
http://www.deccanherald.com/
............
It is amazing to me that a handful of scientists go against the desire of the Indian people to stay away from GM crops. Do we have a democracy? How difficult is it for scientists to say that the Indian people do not want it, so we will keep away from it?
It would be understandable if our scientists (and engineers), had mentored our planet in a responsible way; this is far from being the case, as our planet reels on the edge of catastrophe. Yet our scientists lack the shame to acknowledge the manner in which they have harmed the planet over the last hundred years.
Selvaraj
The scientific advisory council of the prime minister (SAC-PM) headed by eminent scientist C N R Rao has recommended revamping the existing regulatory structure and introducing the long-pending Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill in Parliament to pave the way for creating an independent authority, which will carry out the scientific risk assessment for GM crops following which states can decide on the commercialisation of the produce.
http://www.deccanherald.com/
............
It is amazing to me that a handful of scientists go against the desire of the Indian people to stay away from GM crops. Do we have a democracy? How difficult is it for scientists to say that the Indian people do not want it, so we will keep away from it?
It would be understandable if our scientists (and engineers), had mentored our planet in a responsible way; this is far from being the case, as our planet reels on the edge of catastrophe. Yet our scientists lack the shame to acknowledge the manner in which they have harmed the planet over the last hundred years.
Selvaraj
9.15 Three wheels and a new paradigm (11/10/2012)
DHAN Foundation and Three Wheels United, Bangalore, are replacing engines to reduce emission level by 40 per cent. As most drivers would not be able to afford to replace the engines at a cost of anything between Rs.4000 and Rs.8000, the organizations also plan to extend credit support to drivers.
.. Now, Three Wheels United is working on an upgraded four-stroke engine that would further reduce pollution levels. Van Dongen says, “Next we aim at plying electric and battery-operated autos, which are totally emission-free.”
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-
.. Now, Three Wheels United is working on an upgraded four-stroke engine that would further reduce pollution levels. Van Dongen says, “Next we aim at plying electric and battery-operated autos, which are totally emission-free.”
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-
9.16 Genetically modified foods capped for 10 years by Supreme Court panel (19/10/2012)
After the damning report of the parliamentary committee on agriculture, a panel of technical experts appointed by the Supreme Court has recommended a 10-year moratorium on field trials of all GM food and termination of all ongoing trials of transgenic crops.
The panel also wants safety dossiers of all GM crops approved for trials and those in the pipeline to be reviewed by independent biosafety experts, in the light of 'several cases of ignoring problematic aspects of safety data'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
------------------------
Good news!
I found out today that a 'Brown Bread' we were consuming contained 'soya powder'. Since 97% of soya grown in USA is genetically modified, my concern is, can soya grown in USA and other places end up in India? Do we need to label processed food available in India as being fully free from GM ingredients?
It is good to keep in mind that there is a good probability that cotton oil (a lot of it grown in India, which is genetically modified), is probably used in processed food available in India!
Ref 1:
Cotton seed has a similar structure to other oilseeds such as sunflower seed, having an oil-bearing kernel surrounded by a hard outer hull; in processing, the oil is extracted from the kernel. Cottonseed oil is used for salad oil, mayonnaise, salad dressing, and similar products because of its flavor stability.[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ref 2:
At least 70 percent of processed food in the United States contains GM ingredients. Eighty-eight percent of corn and 93 percent of soybeans grown domestically are genetically modified. Soda and sweets are almost guaranteed to contain GM ingredients, either in the form of corn syrup or beet sugar. Canola and cottonseed oils also commonly come from GM crops. But if those stats make you want to run and examine the labels on the boxes and cans in your pantry, you're out of luck.Unlike the European Union, the United States government doesn't require food manufacturers to disclose their use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
http://www.onearth.org/blog/
Selvaraj
9.17 Is Bt cotton being hyped up? (20/10/2012)
The following data has been obtained from:
http://www.cotcorp.gov.in/
http://www.cotcorp.gov.in/
| Year | Area in lakh hectares | Production in lakh bales of 170 kgs | Yield kgs per hectare |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950-51 | 58.82 | 34.30 | 99 |
| 1960-61 | 76.10 | 60.12 | 134 |
| 1970-71 | 76.05 | 56.64 | 127 |
| 1980-81 | 78.23 | 78.00 | 169 |
| 1990-91 | 74.39 | 117.00 | 267 |
| 2000-01 | 85.76 | 140.00 | 278 |
| 2001-02 | 87.30 | 158.00 | 308 |
| 2002-03 | 76.67 | 136.00 | 302 |
| 2003-04 | 76.30 | 179.00 | 399 |
| 2004-05 | 87.86 | 243.00 | 470 |
| 2005-06 | 86.77 | 241.00 | 472 |
| 2006-07 | 91.44 | 280.00 | 521 |
| 2007-08 | 94.14 | 307.00 | 554 |
| 2008-09 | 94.06 | 290.00 | 524 |
| 2009-10 | 103.10 | 305.00 | 503 |
| 2010-11 | 111.42 | 339.00 | 517 |
| 2011-12 | 121.91 | 345.00 | 481 |
| Source: Cotton Advisory Board | |||
Bt cotton was introduced in India in 2002, but apparently:
The problem is that while yields did take off right after Bt cotton was approved, this was well before hardly anyone was actually planting Bt cotton! Look at this graph showing the yearly percentages of all Indian cotton land planted to Bt cotton. Now here’s ugly fact #1: Most of the yield increase happened between 2002-5 when Bt comprised between 0.4-5.6% of India’s cotton. Obviously Bt couldn’t have accounted for more than a tiny speck of the national rise.
Selvaraj
Here is a great article by Mark Bittman at the NY Times, about a new scientific study showing the benefits of radically reducing chemicals and GMO’d crops in agriculture in favor of traditional rotation farming. This is probably important enough for me to encourage people to forward it to others and pass it around, especially in farm country.
Bob Waldrop
A snip. . .
This was hammered home once again in what may be the most important agricultural study this year, although it has been largely ignored by the media, two of the leading science journals and even one of the study’s sponsors, the often hapless Department of Agriculture.
The study was done on land owned by Iowa State University called the Marsden Farm. On 22 acres of it, beginning in 2003, researchers set up three plots: one replicated the typical Midwestern cycle of planting corn one year and then soybeans the next, along with its routine mix of chemicals. On another, they planted a three-year cycle that included oats; the third plot added a four-year cycle and alfalfa. The longer rotations also integrated the raising of livestock, whose manure was used as fertilizer.
The results were stunning: The longer rotations produced better yields of both corn and soy, reduced the need for nitrogen fertilizer and herbicides by up to 88 percent, reduced the amounts of toxins in groundwater 200-fold and didn’t reduce profits by a single cent.
In short, there was only upside — and no downside at all — associated with the longer rotations. There was an increase in labor costs, but remember that profits were stable. So this is a matter of paying people for their knowledge and smart work instead of paying chemical companies for poisons. And it’s a high-stakes game; according to the Environmental Protection Agency, about five billion pounds of pesticidesare used each year in the United States.
No one expects Iowa corn and soybean farmers to turn this thing around tomorrow, but one might at least hope that the U.S.D.A.would trumpet the outcome. The agency declined to comment when I asked about it. One can guess that perhaps no one at the higher levels even knows about it, or that they’re afraid to tell Monsantoabout agency-supported research that demonstrates a decreased need for chemicals. (A conspiracy theorist might note that the journals Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences both turned down the study. It was finally published in PLOS One; I first read about it on the Union of Concerned Scientists Web site.)
Read the rest at the link above.
9.19 Forage fish (25/10/2012)
Take menhaden, for example. Giant schools once ranged along the Atlantic coast, feeding whales and seabirds and commercially important fish. But menhaden populations have plummeted 90 percent in just the past 25 years and remain at a record low. Despite their declining numbers, hundreds of millions of menhaden are still hauled in and ground up to be used in fertilizer, pet and livestock feed, and dietary supplements for people.
This removal of forage fish can have significant impacts on coastal ecosystems. Studies have found that the amount of menhaden in the diets of striped bass, ospreys and bluefish has declined. And on the Pacific coast, the decrease of forage fish has been linked to diminished salmon runs, losses in seabird populations, and the unnecessary death of marine mammals. In fact, in 2009 scientists documented 80 percent mortality among pups in a population of sea lions off the coast of California when females left them for a week at a time in search of food.
According to a report issued this year by a panel of 13 eminent ocean scientists, forage fish are twice as valuable left in the water as they are caught in a net because of the vital role they play as food for commercially valuable predators such as tuna and cod. In other words, it's important for federal fishery managers to ensure that there are enough of them to feed everything else in the sea..
9.20 GM technology is a one way street (24/10/2012)
GM technology is a one way street
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
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A sad story. One can only feel sorry for the American people.
Selvaraj
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Here is an article supporting GM technology, which is completely lacking in scientific facts.
http://www.indianexpress.com/
The article states "There has been no considered, collective political ownership of the debate by the government." The proper way to have a debate is to state:
1. What the advantages of the technology are (say three of these).
2. What the disadvantages are (say three of these).
3. And how the disadvantages will be tackled.
Selvaraj
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
------------------
A sad story. One can only feel sorry for the American people.
Selvaraj
-------------------------
Here is an article supporting GM technology, which is completely lacking in scientific facts.
http://www.indianexpress.com/
The article states "There has been no considered, collective political ownership of the debate by the government." The proper way to have a debate is to state:
1. What the advantages of the technology are (say three of these).
2. What the disadvantages are (say three of these).
3. And how the disadvantages will be tackled.
Selvaraj
9.21 Californian voters reject GM food labeling (7/11/2012)
With 95% of votes counted, the polls showed 47% voted in favour and 53% against. The contentious measure, proposition 37, would have required GM labels on food sold in supermarkets, and was seen as a testbed case for the US as a whole.
Monsanto and other agribusiness and food companies such as PepsiCo and Nestle spent $45m on advertising and lobbying for the "no" campaign, compared with around $8m for the "yes" campaign, that was largely funded by organic food companies.
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Considering the large amount of money spent by food companies, this should be considered a moral victory for the "yes" campaign. But then, this is democracy American Style :-) I am forced to wonder whether the Kellogg corn flakes sold in India is GM?
.. Here is the answer, I just looked it up:
Kellogg India Pvt. Ltd. - Safe Food Rank: Red
Statement on the use of Genetically Modified Foods: Kellogg India has not responded
to Greenpeace's communications.
Statement by Hindustan Lever:
Hindustan Unilever Limited - Safe Food Rank: Red
Statement on the use of Genetically Modified Foods: Our companies are free to use
ingredients derived from modified crops, which have been approved by the regulatory
authorities and which meet our own standards for quality and acceptability.
Implication: Since HUL has confirmed to us in writing regarding their pro-GMO
policy, it is clear that HUL will use GM ingredients in their products. Although it is
not clear about the steps HUL has taken to prevent accidental contamination as of
today when GM foods are illegal. We rank HUL Red alerting the consumer to keep
an eye out for HUL's products.
(I have often wondered whether the American government has a department of foreign policy, how Americans are likely to be perceived worldwide.)
Selvaraj
9.22 GM crops should go back to the lab (15/11/2012)
Some weeks ago, I was addressing students of molecular biology at the Kerala Agricultural University campus in Thiruvananthapuram. During the question-answer session, I asked how many of them would like to take up agricultural biotechnology as a career. To my surprise, only a couple of hands went up.
The answer I got probably points to the future of agricultural biotechnology in India. Most students wanted to go into animal biotechnology and human genetics, but not into crop biotechnology. The reason they gave was that they did not see a future for crop biotechnology, given the social backlash against it. Well, I am aware that this class is not an exact representation of the national mood among students, but surely it tells us a lot about the way society, more importantly the younger generation, perceives genetic engineering.
So, when the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Expert Committee (TEC) recommended a 10-year moratorium on all field trials of GM food crops, I was not surprised. The expert panel had merely echoed the concerns and apprehensions that society at large has towards such crops.
Knowing the casual manner in which large-scale field trials are held across the country, the absence of a regulatory mechanism, and the failure to document the damage transgenic crops have inflicted on humans and the environment during, before and after such trials, the committee has called for invoking the “precautionary principle.”
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