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...though, India's environment minister Jairam Ramesh nixed the introduction of the Bt brinjal. Ramesh, who has come under huge public pressure to ban the genetically modified vegetable, said the scientific community was not agreed on the brinjal's safety, that public opinion was against cultivation of the vegetable, and that there was "no overriding urgency or food security argument" for its introduction. He said further tests were required on the new variety, and said India needed to ramp up its genetic engineering regulatory mechanism. (See the top 10 food trends...
Ramesh's announcement raised the decibel level in an already shrill debate. Many of India's farmers say they oppose Bt brinjal because the seeds are expensive and would have to be purchased every year, rather than something they could harvest themselves from the previous year's crop...
Advocates of GM crops have also been quick to point out that China last year announced it would allow genetically modified rice. Comparing India and China is a favorite pastime of Indian economists and commentators. The country's attempts to outdo its northern neighbor are a national obsession. But in its hurry to reach double-digit growth, India is confronting a dilemma that has entangled China for years: what's more important, economic growth or human rights and the environment...
...India's answer to that question seems to be slightly different to China's. Just last week, India's Supreme Court ordered French cement firm Lafarge to halt limestone mining in the country's northeast. India's environment watchdog had granted Lafarge permission to mine in forestland there, but critics of the company's operations have alleged that the company misrepresented facts in their application. (Lafarge is due to respond to those allegations in a court hearing next month). Those opposed to the mining project also say that deforestation has led to a severe change in rainfall patterns...
Last year, India's environment ministry had to take back a proposed bill on coastal management after villagers protested that a change to the legislation would disrupt coastal ecology and the livelihoods of local fishing communities. India's health ministry is currently reworking legislation on human clinical trials to introduce more stringent punishment for offences. That follows concerns that Indian research firms were cutting corners and risking subjects' health and lives in their hurry to attract international drug firms. And lobby groups and non-governmental organizations have been pressing the government to introduce new rules on electronic waste, ever larger...