The Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers presented its report on ‘Insecticides and Pesticides – Promotion and Development including Safe Usage – Licensing Regime for Insecticides’ on December 19, 2023. Pesticides are broadly of four types: insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and bio-pesticides. Herbicides kill/control the growth of weeds, and have the …
Bhutan is renowned for espousing Gross National Happiness but now the isolated Himalayan nation is also looking to become known as a world leader in organic farming. “We are nearly all Buddhists. Being kind to the environment and the planet has a central meaning for us,” says Kesang Tshomo, co-ordinator …
The Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted a government scientific panel’s finding that the chemical additives content in soft drinks were well within the safety levels and did not pose a health hazard to citizens. However it ordered the authorities to periodically inspect “fruit-based soft drinks” for high pesticide content. A …
In a major relief to cola manufacturers Pepsi and Coke, the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to force them to list their ingredients on labels of aerated soft drinks. In a major relief to cola manufacturers Pepsi and Coke, the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to force them to list …
Argentine farmworker Fabian Tomasi was never trained to handle pesticides. His job was to keep the crop-dusters flying by filling their tanks as quickly as possible, although it often meant getting drenched in poison. Now, at 47, he’s a living skeleton, so weak he can hardly leave his house in …
Legislators on the island of Kauai in Hawaii have approved a bill that would restrict the use of pesticides by companies developing genetically modified crops there. The 6-to-1 vote by the Kauai County Council came just after 3:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday, at the end of an emotion-filled hearing …
A petition has been moved before the Kerala High Court Registrar for an early posting and hearing of a writ petition seeking rehabilitation, treatment, and welfare of endosulfan victims. The case is pending before the Bench headed by Chief Justice Manjula Chellur. In his petition, Kaleeswaram Raj, counsel for the …
From a global call to march against genetically modified food crops and Monsanto, to a concrete strategy to conserve freshwater ecosystems, scientists and activists at the international conference on ecosystem conservation, climate change and sustainable Development (ECOCASD) made it clear that indigenous biodiversity protection is crucial to sustenance. As part …
Exposure to pollution from diesel exhaust fumes can disrupt honeybees' ability to recognize the smells of flowers and could in future affect pollination and global food security, researchers said on Thursday. In a study published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, scientists from Britain's University of Southampton found that the …
ENVIRONMENT The new report issued on September 27 by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says with much more certainty that humanity is causing climate change. India has voluntarily undertaken — without legal binding — to reduce emissions intensity of its GDP by 20-25% by 2020 and has a comprehensive …
A special health scheme will be implemented for endosulfan victims in the district, Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar has said. The scheme, Thejaswini, for which Rs.2.70 crore had been earmarked for 2013-14, envisaged free treatment to patients at primary health centres, community health centres and at houses of bedridden patients in …
Injudicious use telling on soil, crops and public health, Punjab pushes alternatives. There have been few takers. Amarjit Singh sets a trap with an electrical bulb on his 12-acre in Punjab’s Char Ke village. “Under it we keep an open-mouth utensil filled with water, with 20 to 30 ml diesel …
Demanding that steps be taken to increase the country's cotton production, Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA) on Wednesday said field trials on genetically modified (GM) cotton varieties should be given a go ahead. Speaking on the sidelines of the annual general body meeting, newly elected president of SIMA T Rajkumar …
The Endosulfan Peedhitha Janakeeya Munnani (EPJM) took out a march to the Nenchanparamba locality in protest against the district administration’s failure to clear the earth used to cover a pit where Plantation Corporation of Kerala Ltd. had allegedly deposited endosulfan. (EPMJ had wanted PCKL to remove the earth over the …
Out of the 5,500 persons in the list of victims of endosulfan in the state, 2,046 persons have been paid the first installment of compensation as recommended by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the central government has informed the Kerala high court. The central government’s submission was in the form …
The use of pesticides dropped from 46 to 21 per cent. Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said that the use of Bt. cotton, the only transgenic crop, cleared by the Environment Ministry and the committee concerned, has resulted in increased cotton production/farmers’ income, and controlled bollworm disease in …
Cine actor Suresh Gopi on Wednesday called for liberal assistance to endosulfan victims. The actor was here to hand over the keys of houses built with Rs.6.5 lakh he arranged for two young endosulfan victims at separate functions held at Mayicha near Cheruvathur and Kadinhimoola near Neeleswaram. The actor donated …
Will Provide Info On Market-Based Demand, Nutrition Needs Of Vegetables The state agriculture department is all set to launch a GPS-based service for providing polyhouse farmers accurate information on market-based demand and nutrition needs for vegetables cultivated inside the translucent tents. In polyhouse farming, vegetables are cultivated in a controlled …
Cantonment, ATIRA campus, IIM-A campus, MG Science College, Shahibaugh, have the biggest vulture colony in the city. The monitoring under the provisional vulture safe zones (PVSZ) has revealed that in the urban areas in Ahmedabad and Kadi, the nesting sites were near the residential colonies. Kartik Shastri, trustee of Jivdaya …
Kochi: Thyroid cases in men and women are on the rise and the cause is not iodine deficiency but apparently environmental pesticides -- if a study on the subject is any indication to go by. Thyroid diabetes combined with diabetes and obesity are common problems in Kerala and majority of …
The Malabar Eco-cultural Association has demanded that the report submitted by the Commission headed by C. N. Ramachandran Nair that studied the feasibility of setting up a tribunal to compensate the endosulfan victims be rejected in toto . The Kasaragod-based Association said on Sunday that the recommendation of the Commission …
