Feb 3, 2016

Explain move to introduce GM mustard: SC asks government

The Supreme Court has sought an explanation from the central government on its proposed move to introduce herbicide resistant mustard, cotton and corn in the face of a court-imposed ban on their introduction.
A three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice of India TS Thakur and justices AK Sikri and R Banumathi asked Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi to explain his stand on a contempt petition filed against the members of the committee which cleared the proposal.
The petition, filed by Aruna Rodrigues against the environment and forests ministry's move, sought action against chairperson Hem Pande and the co-chairperson and member secretary of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee for flouting court orders. The petition was mentioned by her counsel Prashant Bhushan at the close of proceedings in the CJI's court on Monday. It will now be heard after two weeks.
The top court had in a series of orders passed in February 2007, April 2008 and August 2008 sought to restrain both small-scale and largescale field trials in any food crops as well as their commercial introduction in the country.
Rodrigues said the government wilfully and deliberately not only conducted small-scale field trials but also large-scale field trials for commercial introduction of herbicide tolerant crops of mustard, cotton and corn in India for the first time.
These field trials have ignored fundamental bio-safety precautions as ordered by the court. Contamination during open field trials is specifically barred in the order of May 8, 2007," the petition said. "In the light of this specific order... regulatory adventurism... is particularly unconscionable as they expose India to undue and high risk of GMO contamination of our food crops," it said.
The petition claimed that smallscale field trials of mustard were undertaken in July 2014, as also of corn. "Large-scale field trials are the final stage of field trials before commercialisation and are especially risky for contamination as their focus is seed-setting for commercial planting, not for conducting bio-safety studies which must be completed and the crop signalled as utterly safe... precisely because seed-setting entails contamination risks of an exceedingly high order of magnitude.
Bio-safety studies and risk assessment protocols must be addressed and essentially completed during the first stage, she said. Gene sequencing at that stage provides the bio-safety assurance for approvals to proceed to the next stage, Rodrigues said.
This is the sequencing required by a five-member court appointed technical expert committee.
The risk of contamination from GM mustard and corn is of an unprecedentedly high order and proven in other cases involving Canada, Japan and Mexico (corn) and US (rice), the petition said.
The case of mustard DMH 11 is especially critical since the application for commercialisation has reportedly been sent by crop developer Dr Deepak Pental of the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGCMP) to the GEAC in Sept 2015," the petition said.
It is considered for surreptitious approval for commercialisation, Rodrigues said, even as the issue of setting up an independent and efficacious protocol for their approval is pending before the court for adjudication.
This shows the collective irresponsibility displayed by the regulators, ministries concerned (agriculture, science and technology, and environment) and institutions of GMO governance (ICAR, DBT), in approving it, demonstrating a clear agenda to push GMOs into India's agriculture, the petition said.
This is now undeniable because approval of LSTs (large-scale trials) is undisguised malfeasance and regulatory delinquency. The risk of contamination in such trials and especially from GM mustard will be hard to avoid," it said. The government will have to respond to all these charges in two weeks.

STF officials seize adulterated food items in joint raid

MEERUT: Special Task Force (STF) along with officials from Food Safety & Drugs Administration (FSDA) on Tuesday raided a factory and various shops allegedly selling adulterated items. The team seized items that were being passed off as dietary protein supplements in containers with labels of renowned companies.
The mixtures seized contained prohibited medicines and steroids. As per police reports, Uttar Pradesh STF had been receiving information about fake supplements being produced in various parts of western UP and sold to a number of health aficionados.
Anit Kumar, deputy SP, STF field unit, Meerut, said, "We got directions from IG of Uttar Pradesh, STF. On Tuesday afternoon, along with officials from FSDA, we raided the premises of ZMS Healthcare Company, located at Kharkhoda and found a large quantity of raw material used to make these fake dietary supplements. We also arrested three people Mujahid Shahid, Mohammad Salman and Zeeshan Ahmad, all residents of Lisari Gate area of Meerut."
The team also went on to two more shops- Hindustan Sports Nutrition Store and Apollo Medical Store Nutrition Point which were being run by relatives of the Kharkoda factory owners. However, the police team found the shutters down as the news of raid at the factory had alerted the shop owners. The team sealed the two shops.
The arrested trio revealed that the factory used to supply these fake supplements to a large number of UP West districts like Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Bulandshahr, Noida, Ghaziabad, Hapur and even Delhi.
According to JP Singh, chief food safety officer, "Shahid has confessed that they used to mix anabolic steroids, growth hormones, etc. to boost muscular growth. All these medicines are strictly prohibited except under strict medical supervision in special cases."
According to Dr Ranji Mathew, senior consultant, medicine, "Anabolic steroids are growth hormones, strictly to be administered under the supervision of an endocrinologist and that too only in extreme cases like cancer, delayed puberty, osteoporosis, etc."
Dittos Dr Sunil Jindal, surgeon and male infertility expert, "Anabolic steroids are increasingly being used by aspiring body builders. They depend upon fitness magazines, poorly trained instructors and local chemists for doses. This leads to serious side effects like increased erectile dysfunction, oligospermia (fall in sperm count), impotency, diabetes, etc."

Contaminated meat, fish destroyed

Six kilograms of contaminated meat and 1.5 kg decayed fish stored in a freezer by a prominent restaurant near Thindal were destroyed during an inspection by a team led by District Officer for Food Safety and Drug Administration G. Karunanidhi on Tuesday.
While raw meat could be stored in below zero degree level, cooked meat ought to be consumed within six hours. The confiscated meat appeared to be semi-cooked. Samples have been sent for lab test, Dr. Karunanidhi said. The restaurant was instructed not to use monosodium glutamate and colouring agents in the dishes.
The kitchen’s floor looked untidy and garbage was found strewn in the campus, adding to the unhygienic condition, he said.
“We have instructed the restaurant to put up boards stating that monosodium glutamate or colouring agent has not been utilised for preparing dishes, and also RO water is supplied for drinking purposes,” Dr. Karunanidhi said.
Colouring powder below 100 ppm is permitted only for bakeries and restaurants have to desist from using them. The public eating out must make sure that restaurants do not use colouring powder that have been proved to cause ulcers and bladder cancer, he said.

பஞ் சாபி ஓட் டல் க ளில் உணவு பாது காப்பு துறை அதி கா ரி கள் திடீர் ரெய் டி

ஈரோடு, பிப். 3:
ஈரோட் டில் உள்ள பஞ் சாபி ஓட் டல் க ளில் உணவு பாது காப்பு துறை அதி கா ரி கள் நடத் திய திடீர் ரெய் டில் கெட் டுப் போன சிக் கன், மட் டன் பறி மு தல் செய் யப் பட் டது.
ஈரோட் டில் பெருந் துறை சாலை, நசி ய னூர் சாலை மற் றும் சத்தி சாலை யில் ஏரா ள மான பஞ் சாபி தாபா ஓட் டல் கள் நடத் தப் பட்டு வரு கின் றன.
இந்த ஓட் டல் க ளில் சுகா தா ர மற்ற முறை யில் உணவு சமைக் கப் ப டு வ தா க வும், மீத மி ருக் கும் சிக் கன், மட் டன் உள் ளிட் ட வை களை குளிர் சா தன பெட் டி யில் வைத்து பதப் ப டுத்தி வாடிக் கை யா ளர் க ளுக்கு வழங் கப் ப டு வ தா க வும் புகார் கள் வந் தன.
இதனை தொடர்ந்து நேற்று மாவட்ட உணவு பாது காப்பு நிய மன அலு வ லர் கரு ணா நிதி தலை மை யி லான அதி கா ரி கள் குழு வி னர் பெருந் துறை சாலை யில் உள்ள பஞ் சாபி தாபா ஓட் டல் க ளில் திடீர் ரெய்டு நடத் தி னர். அப் போது ஒரு ஓட் ட லில் நடத் திய சோத னை யில் நேற்ற முன் தி னம் சமைத்து மீத மி ருந்த 6 கிலோ சிக் கன், மட் டன் மற் றும் ஒன் றரை கிலோ மீன் உள் ளிட் ட வை கள் குளிர் சா தன பெட் டி யில் வைத் தி ருந் ததை கண்டு அதிர்ச் சி ய டைந்த அதி கா ரி கள் அவற்றை பறி மு தல் செய் த னர்.
இதே போல செயற் கை யாக ருசியை உரு வாக்க பயன் ப டுத் தும் அஜி னா மோட் டா வை யும் பறி மு தல் செய்த அதி கா ரி கள் அங் கி ருந்த சிக் கன், மீன் உள் ளிட் ட வை களை ஆய் வுக் காக எடுத் துச் சென் ற னர். மேலும் ஓட் டலை சுகா தா ர மான முறை யில் பரா ம ரிக் கா ததை கண் டித்த அதி கா ரி கள் இது தொடர் பாக நோட் டீஸ் வழங் கி னர்.
நசி ய னூர் சாலை யில் உள்ள ஒரு சில பஞ் சாபி ஓட் டல் க ளி லும் அதி கா ரி கள் ரெய்டு நடத்தி காலா வ தி யான உணவு பொருட் களை பறி மு தல் செய் த னர். 5க்கும் மேற் பட்ட ஓட் ட லில் இந்த ரெய்டு நடத் தப் பட் ட தாக அதி கா ரி கள் கூறி னர்.

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