1.Confession of A Qualified Genetic Engineer
2.'We will not GROW GM Crops, We will not EAT GM FOOD and We will not FEED our CHILDREN GM FOOD'
3.PAU should not promote BT cotton
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1.Confession Before Pope
This appeal was Completed 11:36 a.m. on 12 March, 2008
Confession Of A Qualified Genetic Engineer - He Bows Before Pope For Punishing Him For His Sins
Confession of A Qualified Genetic Engineer
'I bow before His Holiness Pope Benedict for my scientific sins. I have definitely done harm to mother earth and earned sins and I pray to His Holiness The Pope Benedict to prescribe me the punishment for this. Though I never directly involved myself in the research of genetic engineering, many of the reagents, enzymes, chemicals and products we use in the laboratory or in our kitchens are made through genetic engineering that many of us may not even suspect.' Dr Sudhir Kumar Kaura, PhD, Scientist in Genetic Engineering Discipline.
It is never late too mend. After worldwide problems of survival and health of humans and animals at last, His Holiness Pope Benedict has come very heavily on the materialism and utter non-sense of genetic engineering. This is good for poor nations whose ecological stability is disturbed due to genetically modified plants promoted by big corporates. This is good for everyone on the earth as survival of man is dependent on ecological stability. Big bullying nations have already gathered lot of criticism due to clear adverse effects of genetic engineering in plants and other organisms like bacteria, animals, humans, etc. and this is the right time they should bow before the spiritual leaders like His Holiness Pope Benedict and admit their folly and this way as I did, they would be appreciated for timely confession of their sins otherwise it will be too late. Hope I would get lot of letters/emails for timely confession. Though I am already late by one day.
I also appeal to all people who value the nature for the survival of all of us should go for selling off their shares of big / small companies who are dealing in genetic engineering. In this way, this will lead to slow but sure decline of these companies and their sinful, proven illegitimate, disastrous, and corrupt practices, technologies and products.
Originally published at
www.ecoindia.co.cc
and http://ecoindia.tripod.com/id4.html
Confession & Appeal filed by : Dr Sudhir Kumar Kaura (a geneticist and biotechnologist who while working for long period of over 11 years in a genetic engineering and plant biotechnology laboratory funded by Government of India and The Rockefeller Foundation, USA scientifically understood the destructive effects of genetic engineering. He is now promoting the cause of natural farming and banning of genetically engineering plants, microbes and animals for the last over eight years)
He can be contacted at lokvaani 'AT' rediffmail.com (replace 'AT' by @)
Phone: 00911662229163 (from outside India)
01662229163 (from outside India)
Cell: 009354172987 (from outside India)
09354172987 (from outside India)
Note for Publishers: This appeal may be published freely in its original form anywhere in any media. If any editing is necessary this may kindly be discussed.
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2.Women meet on World Women's Day and resolve 'We will not GROW GM Crops, We will not EAT GM FOOD and We will not FEED our CHILDREN GM FOOD'
8th March 2008
Mettupalayam, Tamilnadu
More than 400 women from various women's organisations, farm workers, and consumer organisations came together on World Womens Day at Mettupalayam to discuss one of the most critical issues affecting food and women's rights - the introduction of Genetically Modified Crops and Food into the farmlands and markets.
The Workshop was jointly organised by the Save our Rice Campaign (Thanal), CREATE, FEDCOT and the Youth and Child Service Society (YCSS), Mettupalayam.
The meeting was addressed by Ms Bala Barathi, MLA from Gindigul and Dr Nammalvar, Organic Farmer Scientist. Other speakers included Mr M S Mohammed Bathushah, Director YCSS, Prof Durai Singam, Chairman, FEDCOT, Sri Ponnambalam, Managing Trustee, CREATE and Sridhar R, Coordinator, Thanal. Ms K Mahabunisha, District Coordinator of FEDCOT and Ms C Packialakshmi, General Secretary of FEDCOT were the main organisers behind this large event, and spoke about the need to organise to resist the forces that are destroying the control of women on their resources and knowledge.
Speakers spoke about the GM Crops impact on the Environment, Farmers, Food and Public Health. Later in the afternoon, at the end of the meeting, the women took a standing oath that they WILL NOT GROW, EAT NOR WILL THEY FEED THEIR CHILDREN WITH POISONS (PESTICIDE) AND GM FOOD. They also resolved to grow and consume more organic and nutritious food grown and cooked traditionally.
The event was part of a series of regional workshops being organised across the State of Tamilnadu by the Save our Rice Campaign to alert the public, especially consumers on GM Food.
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3.PAU should not promote BT cotton: KVM
The Times of India, 5 Mar 2008
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chandigarh/PAU_should_not_promote_BT_cotton_KVM/articleshow/2838194.cms
BATHINDA: A day after Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) approved two new Bt cotton varieties, Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM) among many other voluntary organizations working in the field of natural and sustainable agriculture strongly raised objection to the new varieties.
'It is quite unfortunate that Indian public sector agriculture research centres are falling prey to market agenda of multinational seed corporations,' said Umendra Dutt, executive director, KVM.
According to Kavitha Kuruganti from centre for sustainable agriculture, Secunderabad, 'while some companies, which prepare genetically-modified (GM) seeds, have decided to stop the sales of their Bt cotton in US by 2009, some agriculture universities in India are still churning out products using these outdated imprecise technology.'
'So far genetic engineering has not lived up to its promises and has led to increase in agrochemical usage,' said Kuruganti, adding, that PAU should promote sustainable agricultural methods in order to pull Punjabi farmer out of the vicious cycle of input intensive agriculture. KVM has also sent a cautionary note to PAU, state agriculture department and farmers elaborating on adverse impacts of Bt cotton on human and animals health.
'Department of animal husbandry of Andhra Pradesh has issued official circular to farmers warning them against grazing of cattle in Bt cotton fields after confirmed deaths of sheep in various parts of the state.
Moreover, there had also been drop in exports of their organically-grown cotton due to genetic contamination caused by Bt cotton. Despite knowing these facts PAU is pushing farmers into trap of Bt cotton. PAU should desist from promoting Bt cotton crops that are not only resulting in heavy losses to farmers, but is also destroying the sustainability of the farming systems,' claimed KVM.
The latest is that reports, based on extensive research, emanating from the US suggest that pests may be in the process of evolving resistance to modified crops.
A study of the Bt Cotton crop by US researchers has revealed that bollworm, which is widely-known to attack the crop, were slowly developing immunity. While agronomic evaluation might have been done on these cotton hybrids, what about other issues like impact on soils, on livestock and on human health?