Yesterday ngin posted an alert (via BLINK) from Devinder Sharma about a disgraceful US attempt to "educate" India's judges about biotech. Now BLINK has forwarded further comment from Devinder drawing attention to an aspect of the story we missed. The article states that a similar project to educate the judiciary has been going on in a number of other countries INCLUDING THE UK. This is a point which may be of interest to UK media sources.
Devinder writes:
Thanks Alistair. You would have noticed that UK is among the countries where such attempts have been made (as mentioned in the report). Perhaps this is the reason why some of the recentt court decisions have gone against the anti-GMO protestors in UK I think this point needs to be brought out for the benefit of the British public.
Best regards Devinder Sharma
Many thanks again to Alistair Smith of BLINK for forwarding Devinder Sharma's alerts.
---
Dear All,
A private TV Channel had sought my comment the other day to the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) demand to let the issue of genetic engineering be finally decided by the Indian Supreme Court. The CII's suggestion was in light of the recent uprooting of the Monsanto-Mahyco's Bt cotton plants from a farmers plot in Karnataka, in south India. I did not quite understand the relevance of the question till I saw the following news report the very next day.
This certainly is most deplorable. We all need to condemn this in the strongest possible language.
Devinder Sharma Forum for Biotechnology & Food Security, New Delhi, India.
-------------------------------------------
From: The Hindu, New Delhi/Chennai/Hyderabad; India. Transgenics: US Team meets Chief Justice of India By Gargi Parsai
New Delhi, January 5: A new chapter was added today to the controversy on genetic engineering, when an American delegation of 10 judges and scientists met the Chief Justice of India, Mr. Justice A.S. Anand to impress upon him -- to the judicial fraternity, the benefits of biotechnology.
This was revealed here today by Dr. Franklin M. Zweig, president of Einstein Institute for Science, Health and the Courts in the United States at the Indian Science Congress here. Asked pointedly, Dr. Zweig denied that the two-hour meeting was to "influence" the judiciary, but said it was to "educate" the judge(s) about the basic principles of public information for use of courts and court systems.
The delegation invited the Chief Justice to the U.S. and offered to hold for the judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court "workshops" in America for educating them about transgenics, and safety protocols in biotech research. Mr. Justice K.T. Thomas was also present at the meeting. The delegation was accompanied by Dr. Melnick, Indian-born US Scientists.
The US delegation explained about its intention to work out agreements between nations to set Ethical Guidlenines on genetic engineering. Similar attempts had been made by the working groups of the Institute in the Philippines, South Africa, Israel, Italy, the UK, Netherlands, and Canada.
The point about "a partnership with the legal system" was picked up by other panelists and the facilitator, Dr. Manju Sharma, Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). India is working out a protocol on biosafety to safeguard against the risks involved in transgenics and Dr. Zweig said that the US was seeking scientific information from Indian academica institutions and the DBT on this.#