NEWS FROM INDIA
1.Bt brinjal clearance ignored dissenters?
2.Big protest against Bt brinjal in the Punjab
3.Action demanded against Bt seed manufacturers
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1.Bt brinjal clearance ignored dissenters?
Nitin Sethi
Times of India, 11 November 2009
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/BT-brinjal-clearance-ignored-dissenters/articleshow/5216523.cms

NEW DELHI: In what is bound to raise the bar for the government to clear GM brinjal, the Supreme Court appointed observer on the GEAC has
written to the environment ministry that his and two other members' dissenting voice was ignored while giving a hasty recommendation for the environmental release of the BT brinjal.

Pushpa M Bhargava, appointed to the GEAC by the apex court after a case in which the clearance process was challenged, has warned that enormous scientific literature was ignored in a haste to clear the first genetically modified food crop in India.

The former director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology has pointed out that the 102-page report thick with scientific information was cleared without giving adequate time for its scrutiny.

He warns that the committee's report has enormous scientific and technical errors and is inconsistent in parts.

The final report of the GEAC did not contain any dissenting report. It instead read like a unanimous view of all the members of the committee.

Bhargava has said that he was in no doubt that the clearance of BT brinjal was pre-planned and the committee was an eye-wash.

Bhargava had suggested the postponement of the meeting for a month and suggested a one- or two-day meeting where other experts would also be called for the review. This suggestion, Bhargava said, was ignored in the haste for granting a clean chit to the proposal.

He has warned in his missive to the ministry that allowing the release of BT brinjal would be a major national disaster and would open up a Pandora's box.

Elsewhere, Bhargava has pointed out that besides him, two other scientists on board had communicated their strong reservations but were ignored. He pointed out that Ramesh Sonti of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, who is a Bhatnagar Prize winner and member of GEAC, was of the opinion that there were fundamental flaws in the technology being cleared.

Bhargava had earlier raised objections to the fact that all crucial and necessary tests had not been carried out. Those that were carried out were either done by the company or in the case where the tests were carried out by accredited labs, the company provided selected samples.

He had also pointed out that GM crops were banned in most parts of the world and were predominant only in the US, Canada, Argentina and Brazil.
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2.Candle vigil organised to build a case against Bt Brinjal
Amrita Chaudhry
Express India, Nov 10 2009
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/candle-vigil-organised-to-build-a-case-against-bt-brinjal/539501/

Ludhiana - A large number of consumers, farmers, doctors and students, including women and children, with banners and placards denouncing GM crops and food gathered under the aegis of “Alliance for GM-free and safe food Punjab” held an anti-Bt Brinjal rally in Sarabha Nagar market here on Monday evening.

The rally which began as a march from Jagraon bridge was joined by the students of Delhi Public School, who enacted a play on the same theme. The gathering was also shown a film “Posion on platter” made by a well-known film director, Mahesh Bhatt.

Led by Prof Jagmohan Singh, nephew of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Bharat Bhushan Thapar, the grandson of Shaheed Sukhdev and Dr LS Chawla, former vice-chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences and national president of Doctors for Peace and Development, a large number of protesters took an oath to start another independence movement against colonization of food by MNCs under the guise of GM food. Beginning from Shaheed Memorial at Jagroan Bridge, a Mashaal march went up to Sarabha Nagar market, where the rally morphed into a candle-light vigil.

“It is the commencement of a peaceful struggle by citizens to protect food sovereignty of the country”, said Prof Jagmohan Singh. “We are here to begin a contemporary freedom struggle to save our food and consequently our health and life, as the decisions taken in the interest of multi-national corporations amounts to revival of modern colonization”, added Prof Singh. Bharat Bhushan, grandson of Shaheed Sukhdev seconded the point-of-view.

“Just because the transgenic technology exists, we do not have to create products that are hazardous, unsustainable and that would end up destroying our farmers’ livelihoods. We chose today to let the Punjab government know that we are opposed to Bt Brinjal and such other technologies and in the best interests of sustainable development of the state, the government should announce a ban on Bt Brinjal”, said Dr LS Chawla, former V-C of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences.

“Alliance for GM Free and Safe Food, Punjab “ is a joint front of more than hundred civil society groups across Punjab which is opposing GM foods and crops. Groups in the alliance include farmers’ unions, environmental groups, students unions, religious groups, medical professional groups, human rights organizations and women’s groups.

“The processes by which an Expert Committee was constituted by the Government of India’s regulators and the way it recommended Bt Brinjal for commercial cultivation in India are scandalous. ”, said Umendra Dutt of Kheti Virasat Mission.
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3.Action demanded against Bt seed manufacturers
Times of India, 11 November 2009
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Action-demanded-against-Bt-seed-manufacturers/articleshow/5216572.cms

NAGPUR: With the state cotton federation now officially acknowledging a big loss to cotton crop, farmers' pressure group Vidarbha Jan Andolan
Samiti has demanded that the government should seek compensation to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore from Bt cotton seed manufacturers and insecticide, pesticide makers for the losses suffered by farmers.

"In the state government-sponsored campaign, over 24 lakh farmers took to genetically modified seeds in 34 lakh hectares. The campaign was led by its own seed company Mahyco which is among those that have obtained license from a multinational company for its Bt cotton seeds. The gullible farmers fell prey to the advertisement blitz by the seed companies which claimed that Bt seeds would give bumper crops even in rain fed areas like Vidarbha where irrigation facilities are abysmally low,'' alleged VJAS president Kishore Tiwari.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Tiwari said the cotton farmers' total expenses thus added up to Rs 9,170 crore including the additional expenditure on costly pesticides and insecticides that were used in large quantities as the cotton crop had a variety of infestation right from the start. "While the agriculture department advisory clearly states that Bt seeds cultivation could be risky in rain fed areas, the government did little to discourage farmers who gave up food crops like jowar and maize and shifted to Bt cotton growing as a cash crop," said Tiwari.

"It is now the state government's vicarious liability. It should take strong action against the Bt seed manufacturers as well as chemical pesticide companies who made huge profits at the cost of farmers. The yields are as low as 25% in some area. Farmers who were dreaming of high yields of 20 quintals an acre got only two quintals. The state government can drag these companies to the Monopoly and Restricted Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) citing the misleading advertisements," said Tiwari.

Citing the government's relief policy adopted in 2005-06 under which it paid Rs 216 crore as compensation to cotton growers whose crop suffered damage from 'lalya' (micronutrient deficiency that reddens the leaves and stunts plant growth), he said, "Instead of wasting public money, the government should legally force erring seed companies and recover the losses on behalf of farmers."

VJAS will be holding two conventions of cotton growers, on Thursday at Pandharkawda and on Friday at Kinwat to facilitate documentation of the losses suffered by the farmers. "We will pass on the data to the government in the hope that it would act against the companies," said Tiwari citing the action taken by the Andhra government against the Bt seed company before the MRTPC which helped drastically reduce the seed rates. "If the state government fails to act, VJAS will move the court in the matter," the farmers' leader said.