Protein enriched GM potato
Scientists have come up with a home-grown genetically modified (gm) potato. This ubiquitous vegetable has now been fortified with proteins derived from an amaranth (Amaranthus) species through
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In Focus
The current budget stalemate in the US has led to environmental management paying a heavy price as all major environment related programmes have been stalled indefinitely for want of clearance of
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Crowded out
Human threat to biodiversity
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Pepsi plant indicted for polluting groundwater in Kerala
pepsi pollutes and it's official now. A recent study by Kerala's groundwater department has traced toxic chemicals in the groundwater at the Pepsi plant in Pudussery panchayat in the arid Palakkad
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Farm reform
Open markets, land on lease
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Mining firms set up shop in Orissa
Lanjigarh block, Kalahandi, Orissa, May 17 At its summit, the northeastern ridge of the Niyamgiri hill range has a bald patch, typical of hilltops with bauxite deposits. A dense tree cover that provides a welcome shade to climbers struggling some 8 km up
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Stronger curbs
On pesticide in France
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In court
lawsuit filed: About 100 companies involved in snow-crab fishing in Quebec and New Brunswick in Canada, have filed a us $ 135 million lawsuit against the federal government. Filed in the Court of
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Award for ecosecurity
For his outstanding work in fighting malaria, V P Sharma gets the Green Scientist Award 2001
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Crisis persists
India Pakistan talks on Sir Creek inconclusive
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In Court
Fishing ban: The Supreme Court recently issued a notice to the Union government and some states on a petition filed by Goa Environment Federation, a non-governmental organisation, which sought a ban
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IN COURT
Saving red-legged frogs: The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) recently settled an agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency (epa) to protect the endangered California red-legged
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Meghalaya s lost treasure
Cement plants destroy India s largest cave system
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Bid to revive State forest cover
Young students on Thursday reaffirmed their commitment to save the earth's greenery and contribute towards the welfare of the society under the aegis of Junior Red Cross (JRC). More than 200 students of nine city based schools took part in an adventure trekking and skirted through Kharghuli, Chunnsali and Ramsai Hills, spending almost six hours discovering the hidden secrets of nature. The expedition was flagged off by Dr RDS Tanwar, CCF, Central Assam. Addressing the students, Dr Tanwar stressed the need for reviving the depleting forest covers in the State and called upon the students to come forward and help in the conservation efforts of the Government. He further said that the students could play a major role in the greenery recovery efforts by participating in plantation drives. The skies were clear and presence of the young people at Kharghuli gave a youthful and jovial appearance to the place. What was really wonderful was the enthusiasm of the students that caught the others also. Though the route was lengthy and hilly and the trekkers were totally exhausted, it showed on the bodies and did not dampen the gusto and eagerness for participation in other activities that followed the expedition. "The expedition is part of the JRC's effort to sow the seeds of voluntary service and love for the environment and society in the young mind,' said Rani Pathak Das, co-ordinator of JRC. Rani said that taking the students to the lap of nature helped in changing the perception and inculcating the human values. "In the midst of nature, these young people learn to be good and helpful,' said Rani. The expedition was guided by a six member team of mountaineering experts led by Ajit Kalita. "The interest of the young people in adventure sports is growing in Assam,' said Kalita praising the trekkers. He said that the young people had evinced keen interest about their surrounding and maintained discipline during the expedition. The trekkers later spend the time exchanging pleasantries as well as their ideas with each other. The JRC officials said that the interactive session after the expedition gave the students an opportunity to make new friends and build their confidence.
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Assessing the Budget
Any Budget can be evaluated on a number of criteria. Here, briefly, is a check-list of benchmarks by which today's pronouncements can be scored. First, from the perspective of the finance ministry's own domain, we need to look at what it does on the fiscal front. Mr Chidambaram has shown complete commitment to the mandate of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, to cap the fiscal deficit while eliminating the revenue deficit. The latter is the greater challenge and his convergence towards the zero-deficit target will be a significant yardstick. Beyond the aggregate numbers, he has also indicated his commitment to taking the country to a full-fledged Goods and Services Tax (GST), which will involve a series of rate rationalisations and re-balancing as far as indirect taxes are concerned. These should be watched out for. Second, broadening the scope of evaluation to macro-economic performance, the Budget must be seen in terms of what it does to sustain rapid economic growth, especially in the context of the global as well as Indian slowdown that has set in. To deal with the cyclical effects, he needs to pump money into programmes that will quickly spend it, thus achieving pump-priming. Critical to longer-term growth is the stepping up of investment in infrastructure, not just in terms of financial commitments but also in creating effective vehicles for implementation in the public and private sectors. Even with all the good intentions of the government in play, the infrastructure gap is not narrowing. Third, the ruling coalition's emphasis on inclusive growth is beyond being a political slogan; inclusiveness is a critical component of a sustainable growth path. This needs to be tackled at several levels. Transfer payments to provide households a secure and minimum level of subsistence need to be combined with longer-term programmes that build capabilities and earning capacity. The Economic Survey has shown that, despite doubling social sector spending over the past four years, the country's position vis-
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India has ample wheat stocks
India, the world's biggest producer of wheat after China, has enough stockpiles of the grain to meet demand, a finance ministry report said before tomorrow's federal budget announcement. The state-run warehouses had 7.7 million metric tonne on January 1, the report issued on Thursday in New Delhi said. When combined with the arrival of imported wheat, supplies will be sufficient in the financial year ending March 31, the report said. Still, the South Asian nation may import 2 million tonne in the year starting July 1 after dry weather pared output, the US Foreign Agricultural Service said. The country bought 1.8 million tonne a year earlier, supporting a rally in prices of wheat that topped $12 a bushel for the first time in Chicago this week. Wheat for May delivery fell as much as 27.25 cents, or 2.2%, to $12.2275 a bushel in after-hours trading and stood at $12.45 at 12:05 pm Singapore time. The price on Wednesday rose as much as the expanded daily trading limit of $1.35, or 11%, to a record $13.495 after plunging by the same permitted amount. India's production may drop 1.3 million tonne to 74.5 million tonne in the March-April harvest after farmers planted the crop on a smaller area compared with a year ago, the Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report dated February 20. The government, which needs 1 million tonne of the grain each month to distribute to the poor, will start purchases of the new crop in April. It plans to buy 15 million tonne from the farmers, up 35% from a year earlier.
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No relief for diabetes patients'
2.5 crore people likely to be affected by heart ailments due to diabetes Nearly 40,000 people lose their limbs every year due to the disease NEW DELHI: "Just the way the interests of 4 crore poor and marginal farmers have been protected by the Union Budget, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram should also have provided some relief to the 4 crore diabetes patients in the country who face the prospect of various serious ailments,' said Delhi Diabetes Research Centre president A. K. Jhingan in his reaction to the Union Budget on Friday. With diabetes likely to lead to heart ailments in about 2.5 crore of these people, renal or kidney failure in about 2 crore of them, loss of vision in about 1.2 crore, and with 40,000 people losing their limbs every year in the country due to gangrene caused by diabetes, Dr. Jhingan said there was a definite need for a fresh look at diabetes awareness, prevention and control. While the Union Government itself had admitted that diabetes had become a cause of national concern, it had done precious little to bring down the prices of drugs, testing equipment and test strips widely used by diabetes patients in the treatment and diagnosis of the disease, he added. Due importance "Just the way funds are allocated year after year for AIDS awareness and control, due importance should also be given for checking the spread of diabetes. But the Budget 2008-09 has remained silent on it,' Dr. Jhingan lamented. Pointing out that the reduction in excise duty allowed through the Union Budget some years ago had still not percolated to the consumers, Dr. Jhingan said a single diabetes test strip still costs over Rs.30 and insulin remains one of the most expensive available medicinal aids. As for the glucometer, he said, the prices still run into over a thousand rupees. "It is an irony that while the Centre provides glucometers free to those who have already lost their legs due to gangrene on account of diabetes, it has not tried to cut the prices so that such situations can be avoided,' he added.
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600-acre land in Kakinada eroded by sea
Over 600 acres of land in the Kakinada suburbs have disappeared in the last four decades because of sea erosion. Residents of villages such as Uppada, Komaragiri, Subbam Peta and surrounding areas in the Kothapally mandal are deeply worried at the continuing erosion of the coastline. Successive governments have taken no permanent measures to avert sea erosion. Komaragiri lost 349.29 acres of land to the sea, Uppada 126.58 acres and Subbumpeta 129.48 acres along with other villages. Uppada and nearby villages also suffer heavily whenever cyclones and storms occur. In the recent cyclone, tidal waves destroyed 1,200 houses including pucca buildings. It is mostly fisherfolk and small farmers who are affected by the vagaries of weather. A study conducted in 1992 by the Central Water Power Research Station of Pune revealed that the Hope Island which was formed near Kakinada with was responsible for the continuing sea erosion. The island is blocking the natural movement of waves and this is causing sea erosion. However, it was the same island which saved Kakinada from the Tsunami attack. The survey also revealed that the construction of a fishing harbour at Vakalapudi and berths in Kakinada deep water port had also contributed to the sea erosion. The 50 km coastal road from Kakinada to Addaripeta too has been affected by the phenomenon and has been repaired about 18 times. "Construction of a strong concrete wall is the only solution to this,' said Mr Rao Chinna Rao, president of the Kothapalli Water Users Association. Leaders of the fishing community including Mr Bandana Ram Babu echoed the views. "We repaired the bunds in 2007 but the erosion continues,' said Mr C. N. Murty, executive engineer of the Kakinada roads and buildings department.
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Congress plans rallies to cash in on farm debt waiver
Buoyed by the popular reaction to the farm debt waiver and debt relief scheme announced in the budget, the Congress has planned a series of rallies in State capitals and district headquarters. It will begin with a massive show of strength on the Ramlila grounds here on March 9. At the same time, Congress president Sonia Gandhi will meet State-wise all-party MPs from March 3 to 5 in the Parliament House. In a bid to pull out all stops to cash in on the popular sentiment, Ms. Gandhi's meetings with MPs will generally carry the message that the momentum and high ground gained by the party on the farmers' indebtedness issue, should be maintained throughout the year when six States go to the polls, and till the Lok Sabha polls next year. The States going to the polls this year are the ones where farmers would benefit the most from the Rs.60,000-crore debt waiver scheme. These are Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chaattisgarh, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir. A senior party leader said that the mood in the party is upbeat and the leadership wants it to be sustained. Central to Ms. Gandhi's meetings with MPs would be the message that the programmes launched by the Congress-led UPA government should be "properly explained' to the people. In particular, the Congress would like to take the credit for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme and now the farm debt relief issue, the sources explained. On Monday, Ms. Gandhi will meet MPs from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. On Tuesday, she is to meet MPs from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. On Wednesday, the Congress president will meet MPs from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Goa, Dadar Haveli, Daman and Diu, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar. The AICC has planned the rallies keeping in mind the hundreds of Congressmen who want to "thank' the Congress president for the decision on the debt relief scheme.
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Loan waiver: "worst affected farmers rendered ineligible'
Delivering the Third Sumitra Chishti Memorial Lecture here on Monday, The Hindu Rural Affairs Editor, P. Sainath, methodically demolished the "historical and unprecedented' Union budgetary farmer loan waiver stating that the worst affected farmers were rendered ineligible as they possessed more than the stipulated two hectare land holdings. "In Vidharbha, over 50 per cent of land holdings are over 7.5 acres [around 3 hectares] and of the remaining 50 per cent, 25 per cent have restricted access to banks. There is nothing in the budget that increases the income of farmers or stabilises prices,' he said. Agrarian crisis Speaking on the agrarian crisis, the Magsaysay Award winner said over 1.5 lakh farmers had committed suicide in the past five years. A farmer killed himself every 30 minutes and the number of such suicides had increased from 15,000 a year between 1997 and 2001 to 17,000 a year in the 2002-06 period. "Just like each case of child labour has a personal history behind it, every farmer suicide had a multiplicity of causes. But the larger canvas or backdrop that leads to such suicides is common and stems from certain undeniable causes.' Enumerating these causative factors, Mr. Sainath said there had been a transfer of funds from the poor to the rich, an unprecedented growth of the corporate sector and gross undermining of local sovereignty and governance. "Farming has been rendered so unviable at the small-scale level that there are not many takers for it and the relentless drive towards corporate farming has just hastened the demise of the small farm not just in India but the world over,' said the eminent journalist.