February 24, 2010 - The debate on genetically modified (GM) brinjal variety continues to generate heat. Former managing director of Monsanto India, Tiruvadi Jagadisan, is the latest to join the critics of Bt brinjal, perhaps the first industry insider to do so.
Read more »Monsanto 'faked' data for approvals claims its ex-chief
The Silent Horror Of The War In Sri Lanka
Pointing an accusing finger at the Indian Government for silence on the unfolding tragedy in Sri Lanka, Arundhati Roy, writer and activisit, in an article appearing in Times of India says, "while the killing continues, while tens of thousands of people are being barricaded into concentration camps, while more than 200,000 face starvation, and a genocide waits to happen, there is dead silence from this great country [India]. It’s a colossal humanitarian tragedy. The world must step in. Now. Before it’s too late."
Read more »India Warns Against 'Green Protectionism'
By Shaun Tandon
WASHINGTON (AFP) - India has warned against rich nations using climate change as a pretext for protectionism as the United States and France consider imposing environment taxes.
India's chief climate negotiator, Shyam Saran, was in Washington for talks with the new administration of US President Barack Obama, whom he praised for putting a new emphasis on halting the warming of the planet.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu -- hoping to ease concerns that climate action would worsen the US recession -- has suggested slapping a tariff on imports from nations that do not require emissions cuts to "level the playing field."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy seconded the view on Tuesday, saying he favored a carbon tax on imports from countries with lower environmental standards than his own.
Saran, addressing the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: "Most developing countries will argue that we are already starting with a very unlevel playing field."
Read more »Arundhati Roy : "I Don't Like Slumdog Millionaire"
The night before the Oscars, in India, we were re-enacting the last few scenes of Slumdog Millionaire. The ones in which vast crowds of people – poor people – who have nothing to do with the game show, gather in the thousands in their slums and shanty towns to see if Jamal Malik will win. Oh, and he did. He did. So now everyone, including the Congress Party, is taking credit for the Oscars that the film won!
The party claims that instead of India Shining it has presided over India 'Achieving'. Achieving what? In the case of Slumdog, India's greatest contribution, certainly our political parties’ greatest contribution is providing an authentic, magnificent backdrop of epic poverty, brutality and violence for an Oscar-winning film to be shot in. So now that too has become an achievement? Something to be celebrated? Something for us all to feel good about? Honestly, it's beyond farce.
Read more »India uses Lahore Attack To Put Pressure On Pakistan
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India bemoaned the efforts of rival Pakistan to quash militancy after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore on Tuesday, warning of similar assaults in the region unless Islamabad completely cracked down.
The nuclear-armed neighbours have exchanged angry rhetoric since the November attacks in the Indian financial capital, Mumbai, which killed nearly 170 people. India and the United States blamed a Pakistani militant group for those raids.
"They've got to address the problem, take courage in both hands, dismantle the infrastructure facilities available there," Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters.
He said "a repetition of these types of incidents may take place" if Islamabad did not deal with militants.
Six Sri Lankan players and a British coach were wounded in the brazen attack by a dozen gunmen on the team's bus in Lahore. Five Pakistani police and the driver of a second bus were killed.
Read more »Partial Solar Eclipse in India on Monday, January 26, 2009
As the country celebrates Republic Day on Monday, a partial solar eclipse will occur in the afternoon when the moon will pass directly between the earth and the sun.
The partial phase of the eclipse will be visible in southern India, the eastern coastal belt, most of north-east, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep, Director of Nehru Planetarium N Rathnashree said.
The eclipse will be annular in regions covering south of Africa, Antarctica, South East Asia and Australia.
Annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon is farther from the earth than normal in its elliptical orbit and hence, its apparent size is not sufficient to cover the sun completely, Director of Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) C B Devgun told PTI.
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