The government of Odisha has approved the Biotechnology Policy 2024 to create a flourishing ecosystem for the biotech industry. This will further promote higher education, research & infrastructure development in the sector and strengthen the supportive ecosystem for innovation, incubation, investment, income & impact to build enterprises. Association of Biotechnology …
Dual-use research of concern (DURC) is the research that is intended for legitimate benefits, but also carries a risk of being misused. In this article, the work related to regulation of dual-use influenza virus research involving genetic engineering of the subtype H5N1 has been compared with the research involving regulation …
It will be a blow to Indian science, it says The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court that the recommendations of the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) seeking a 10-year moratorium on field trials on Genetically Modified (GM) crops will be highly detrimental and will not be in national interest. …
The government has opposed suggestions to ban open-field trials of genetically modified crops, telling the Supreme Court on Friday that any such move will be detrimental to the country’s food security and set back research in this area by 20 years. “We are not accepting this report at all. The …
With the Centre strongly favouring the genetically modified (GM) crops, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to impose an interim ban on their field trials, despite the court-appointed expert committee recommending the ban. The government pleaded that recommendation of the apex court-appointed Technical Expert Committee (TEC) for banning field trials …
The SC must reject the biased interim report of the committee on GE crops While hearing two writ petitions opposing genetic engineering technology in agriculture, the Supreme Court constituted a technical expert committee with six members and seven terms of reference. It asked the committee to hear interested parties and …
Policy convergence, defined as the growth in similarity of policies over time, constitutes a central concept in comparative public policy, yet a great deal of ambiguity and contention surrounds it. The article discusses the conceptual and practical meanings of policy convergence in the context of efforts to harmonise biosafety systems …
Socio-economic considerations are important components for careful decision-making to ensure that society enjoys the benefits of modern technology while minimising or avoiding its potential costs. However, in many parts of the world, information and analysis of the social and economic impacts of modern biotechnology are lagging behind. There is little …
The prime minister's scientific advisory council had advocated introduction of GM crops in India, but under strict regulatory mechanism Even as the Supreme Court is set to hear the petition to ban testing of genetically modified (GM) crops on October 29, the apex body that is supposed to regulate GM …
The TEC was appointed to address certain issues related to agricultural biotechnology in India Perceiving a grim picture, scientists at the weekend referred to the recommendations of the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) appointed by the Supreme Court as taking the country in the opposite direction, halting the progress required to …
Almost three years after a genetically-engineered variety of brinjal (Bt brinjal) was put on indefinite hold — putting a question mark on the fate of genetically-modified crops in India — the government is making efforts make up for the time lost and put research in GM science back on track. …
A 10-year blanket ban on field trials of genetically modified (termed Bt) crops, proposed by an expert committee set up by the Supreme Court, has set off alarm bells, especially in the cotton sector. A senior government official said it would be like gifting a 10-year monopoly on Bt cotton …
A PIPE DREAM SC panel pushes for a 10-year moratorium on open field trials India’s next Green Revolution has just hit another roadblock in its almost snail-like journey towards a hopefully fruitful harvest, with a committee appointed by the Supreme Court recommending a halt to open field trials on all …
Players with integration between clinical work and data are going to dominate the post-BPO scene Regulators round the world have become increasingly concerned about pharmacovigilance, the post-marketing surveillance of a drug for its entire life. Quintiles is offering this service to customers across the globe. About 500 of Quintiles’s staff …
The Prime Minister’s Office has asked the Environment Ministry to consider exempting construction of railway tracks, roads and power transmission lines from mandatory clearances under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) to expedite environmental clearances for these projects. Such projects are known as ‘line infrastructure projects’ and the land acquired for …
The mechanism to regulate genetic engineering in agriculture is “generally sound”, the Prime Minister’s Scientific Advisory Committee has said. It has, however, lamented the dearth of “science-informed, evidence-based approach” in the debate on the subject. “The members of the SAC are concerned that a science-informed, evidence-based approach is lacking in …
It contributed to a cumulative national farm income of $9.4 bn between 2002 and 2010 Bt cotton has delivered significant benefits to all members of the agricultural value chain in the country, and has contributed to a cumulative national farm income of about $9.4 billion between 2002 and 2010, turning …
Strongly favouring GM crops, India’s top science advisory panel on Tuesday virtually questioned the moratorium on commercialisation of Bt brinjal and pitched for comprehensive reform of the biotechnology regulatory mechanism. “The current regulatory system for recombinant products administered under Rules (1989) of Environment Protection Act, 1986, should be reformed till …
Countries that wait to ratify international protocols relating to bio-safety are keen to understand the complexity involved and take an informed decision. Bio-safety concerns agriculture, health and biotechnology, requiring consultations with these sectors, said Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Talking to …
A genetically modified cow whose milk lacks a substance that causes allergic reactions in people has been created by scientists in New Zealand. In their first year of life, two or three in every hundred infants are allergic to a whey protein in milk called BLG. The researchers engineered the …
Pending ratification of the Nagoya Supplementary Protocol, non-government organisations (NGOs) are demanding that the Indian government enact a domestic legislation for liabilities and redress of living-modified organisms (LMOs). The Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on liability and redress to the Cartagena Protocol on biosafety closed for signature in March 2012 with …
