Dec 23 2009

Tirunelveli Nellayappar Temple

700 AD

Bt Brinjal

Mainstream and the social networking media observe a criminal silence over the proposed introduction of Bt Brinjal in India. A landmark decison by the Indian Government which will affect all Indians irrespective of their caste, creed, gender, political affiliations, geographical or economic positioning.

What is Bt Brinjal?

Its better to follow another question for easy understanding of the above one. “What is GM Food?”

Genetically Modified (GM Food) are those plants / crops whose genes have been altered. To make an exxagerated comparision with human beings, it can be described as follows:

The most common illness affecting human beings is the common cold. Everytime someone gets an attack of cold, he / she takes medicines like Panadol , Actified etc. Instead of taking medicines AFTER getting affected, is there any way to prevent its occurrence at all? If there is such a mechanism, can we introduce it even before the child is born on this earth?

In other words, can the unborn child’s genes be altered so that once out in the world, the child (and as the person grows up) never gets affected by the common cold? This is what is being done to plants / crops when they are being Genetically Modified.

The basic DNA structure is altered so that the gene equivalent of “Panadol” is introduced into the egg (seed) of unborn child and the modified DNA is capable of generating its own medicine as and when the person’s body is affected by cold or flu.

Soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis is introduced into the DNA or genetic code of Brinjal so that the crops in turn produce pesticidal toxins in every cell. Seeds impregnated with this bacterium will be sold in the market for farmers to sow and reap a diseaseless variety of Brinjal.

Genetically modified Bt Brinjal would relieve Indian farmers who have been suffering from the Brinjal Fruit and Shoot Borer (BFSB) pest.

This eliminates the necessity to spray huge amounts of pesticides to brinjal cultivations.

Isnt it a wonderful concept?

But then why some people are making a fuzz over such a pathbreaking development in the history of mankind? May be the fertilizer companies who fear loss of business are behind these trouble makers?

Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta, Bayer and Dow are the Big Five corporations which control the global GM food market . But the irony is that together, these companies own 59 percent of the pesticide market. (Would Indians forget / forgive DOW chemicals which in its earlier avatar as Union Carbide razed down Bhopal?)

What is the holy nexus between the pesticide corporations and the seed market?

What is the holier than thou nexus between Governements and these companies which are in a hurry to introduce the genetically modified seeds in Indian market?

Why arent the following questions answered?

• Why did the Indian biotechnology regulator Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) approve release of Bt brinjal in Indian market without proper studies on the long term effects ?
• The studies quoted by GEAC were all conducted by MAHYCO (Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company) which in collabration with the infamous Monsanto markets Bt Brinjal in India. Isnt it the equivalent of accepting evidence fabricated by the thief in a court of justice? (Media which created furore over police fabricated evidence in Muthoot murder case is silent about the evidence fabricated by the killer !!)
• Why were reports by independent agencies with the following findings rejected?
• risk of transfer of those genes to human organ systems or viruses -- and hence the adverse impact on human and animal health and the environment.
• Effect of previosuly introduced Bt Cotton on farmers and their health?
• Study of Economic and environmental impact of Bt Cotton varieties previosly introduced in Maharashtra. (Suicide of 150,000 farmers since 1997 when Bt Cotton varieties where introduced)

· Why introduce an edible crop in India when entry of GM foods is banned in most of Europe?

· Why expose indians to GM foods when world’s largest producers of GM foods, USA , Argentina and Brazil consider GM crops fit for cattle consumption only ?

· Why allow Indians to be exposed to untested Genetically modified crops as test rats?

Questions that beg for answers!!

sources:
http://business.rediff.com/column/2009/oct/26/bt-brinjal-a-step-towards-disaster.htm
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qMCd_WZVOAc/Subapi0vDUI/AAAAAAAAAIM/zrs_m8XSpXk/s1600-h/greatindianrat.jpg
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Bt_Brinjal_Unfit.php

short film

A Short Film !

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Dubai Metro- First Attempt

Exactly a month after Dubai Metro was launched, I decided to let myself be taken for a ride. (no pun intended, believe me!) With a two decade old career and (almost) one decade of marital success behind , listing excuses, even if its for missing the Metro wont be a tough job for me.

Last time when I decided to go for a ride, I happened to overhear Krishnakumarji recount his earlier experience of making the annual pilgrimage to Shabarimala with some of the paandi saamis in a rented tourist bus. In his inimitable style, he was parodying their reaction to spotting the rubber farms of Kerala. " Chinna saami, dho paar ithu thaan rabbar maram" "Appadiyaa saami.. amaam, ithile rabbar enge varooom?" wondered the new saamis, all moving to the same side of the bus to catch a better vision of the rubber trees.

Creeeeps!
What would happen, if all the joy riders of Dubai Metro move to the same side of the train to have a glimpse of Burj Dubai, for example. And at such heights! Thats how I postponed my first visit to the nearest Metro station.

Later while preparing a report on the Metro for ninavu I got in touch with alumni members Jacobji and Rekhaji who have been associated in one or other way with Metro construction works, and made it a point to personally verify with them and confirm that the rail equivalents of buoyancy tests have been done several times. That could have given me enough strength to buy the NOL card. But then I shouldn't ignore the fact that they took their Engineering degrees from the same college as I did! Thats enough reason to cast strong shadows of doubt on their testimonials!

There ended my next attempt .

No, am not the one to lose a winnable battle so soon! I started begging colleagues, friends and strangers to give their opinion of the Metro ride. True to my reputation (*sound of ROTFL*) I even thought of collecting opinions through a five page questionnaire and announcing 'exciting' prizes for the selected responses. But the overwhelming majority of those interviewed rated the ride somewhere between "flying in a magic carpet" and "cloud nine feeling" and once and for all, I decided to 'go for it'!

Now that I decided to take the trip, where would I go , and from where?

When Buddha said, "Journey is THE destination", he would have had prophetic visions of me taking the purposeless Metro ride on a friday afternoon.

Finally, wondering if they have "Tharoor class" tickets for people like me, I shot off to Rashidiya and there started my initial 30 minute drive .. er.. from the Ground floor to the fourth floor of the Car Park building. Something like an early morning vertical Sharjah - Dubai ride! That was seven floors of parking space - each one with enough cars and people to fill the Thampanoor Train AND bus stations several times over. Through the glass panels of the car park I could see the occasional trains gliding smoothly on the elevated rail tracks. As it enters the station, like a horizontally laid "puttu -kutti" it gets filled with a small portion of the assembled crowd and continues its journey. With half of Dubai waiting to be filled inside the train and the other half (including me) rushing to join them, security officials decided to temporarily close doors at the departure section of the station and .....

Well, that gives me scope for the next blog. Next week?

Indo US End Use Monitoring Agreement

Based on article by Mr. Ashok Parthasarathi, (Science advisor to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi) in The Hindu dated Aug 06 2009.

EUMA signed between India and USA grants permission for US inspectors to monitor and inspect hi tech weapons supplied to India by US.

• no other country from which India has imported and is importing hi-tech defence and other equipment — be it France or other West European countries, South Africa, Israel or Russia — has ever asked for an EUMA, even when India imported state-of-the-art weapon systems.
• under the EUMA India has to turn over to U.S. inspectors .... all data and information logs containing the entire history of the equipment as used by India.
• Any software changes done to original equipment by Indian Software engineers becomes evident to the U.S. inspectors.
• India is now fully aware that the technical and operational data relating to the weapons , particularly modifications and improvements India has made as collected by U.S. inspectors, are passed on by the U.S. government to Pakistan.

What is happening already , even without the EUMA agreement?

See the case of Helicopter-carrying vessel USS Trenton, which was imported and inducted into the Navy as INS Jalashar. The U.S. undertakes surprise inspections of any part of the vessel; studies all ship logs, requires a U.S. Navy officer to be on board when India makes any modifications or improvements or even repairs to keep the old vessel going… And this for a 30-year-old helicopter-and-troop carrier.

Against such a background, what kind of EUMA will the U.S. apply should India decide to purchase one or other of the two U.S.-origin multi-role combat aircraft — the F-16 offered by Lockheed and the F-18 offered by Boeing — against the Rs.42,000-crore global tender floated by the Defence Ministry for 126 such aircraft last year? The conditions will obviously be far more stringent than the inspection methodology and coverage which apply to the EUM for individual weapons such as artillery and radar. What will the government do then?

• It is important to also note that all the three defence service chiefs have vehemently and repeatedly, verbally and in writing, individually and collectively conveyed to New Delhi at the highest levels their strong and total opposition to India entering into an EUMA with the U.S.

With these numerous, wide-ranging and highly deleterious implications for India’s national security of the EUMA, it is imperative that the Government of India terminate the EUMA.

full text available here

Remembering Bhopal

India orders arrest of American in Bhopal gas leak
Associated Press July 30, 2009




Reproduced from an article written several years ago

In it's quest to bring technology and economic bliss to the doorsteps of native Indians, in 1979 the US multinational Union Carbide commissioned its Pesticide factory in Bhopal-- right next to the residential area.




It was from this factory that on the night of Dec 3rd 1984, the poisonous MIC (Methyl Iso Cyanate) gas leaked into the streets, entered the doorless huts, marble tiled posh houses, lungs of those sleeping in the pavements, Railway station, and even the trains ;It raged on for four hours killing more than 3000 people --like pests and worms. Even worse was the plight of those who survived: 3,60,000 people were afflicted with various forms of disabilities--most of them lost their eyes within seconds of coming in contact with the gas. Some managed to die their own slow deaths during the years that followed, but the rest of them? They are still waiting--not for any relief but the angel of death who comes in painful installments.



Could this (the tragedy itself and the continued misery of the survivors ) have happened in any of the developed countries?



This is a classic case study for Third World exploitation.



Two years after the plant was commissioned, in Dec 1981, Ashraf Khan, a worker in the Union Carbide factory died while handling Phosgene, a poison gas. Dr. NP Mishra of Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal conducted a Post Mortem but the report was not released --even after the workers' repeated protests.



In 1982, because of leaks in pipes carrying Chlorine, MIC and HydroChloric Acid, 17 workers were taken unconsious. A few cattle were found dead after drinking the water from puddles around the factory premises. Panic has already spread in the city of Bhopal. The people of Bhopal started protesting.



Experts from the parent company of Union Carbide were flown in and safety measures were studied. But the reports were never published nor the remedial measures implemented. These were known only during the inquiries conducted after the Tragedy of 1984.



But in 1984 Nov, a series of cost reduction measures were suggested. The cost paid by the people of Bhopal the very next month was that of the lives of those Indians--those who died and those who failed to die.



Safety measures that could have prevented the leak, or minimised the death toll were found to be either malfunctioning or totally missing.



Even after the Tragedy, Union Carbide took an agressively offensive and misleading posture. Initially it failed to name the gas that was leaked into the night of Bhopal. Later on when they finally proclaimed the name of the killer gas, it was temed as "irritating but not deadly" . When the Government declared that 3000 people died on the night of the disaster, the company claimed that only 2000 died because of the gas. ( Maybe they felt that the death of 1000 people because of natural causes was not an unusual case in the underdeveloped Indian city.) While the Indian Government claimed that 3,50,000 people were affected, the company shot back that only 25,000 of these were eligible for any relief, whatsoever.



In order to ascertain the facts, Delhi Science Society, Madhya Pradesh Science Society along with Students Federation of India conducted a detailed survey among 6500 families living around the affected areas of Bhopal.



The results indicated that 2.3% of the people were permanantly disabled. 12.4% of the people had occassional inconveniences. 24.6% of them could not carry on with their day to day affairs. Most of the affected are in the 16-45 age groups. Women were more affected than men.



Worse is yet to come. The games played by the multinational and the Indian Government in the court rooms of India and the US were of the nature of ridiculing the affected people of Bhopal. Even after several court battles and verdicts, the misrey of Bhopal continues...



When a piece of land is threatened by an enemy our political masters are swift enough to send in the brave soldiers and redeem it at any cost. But when the basic rights of our people are threatened?



When a child is kidnapped or is killed, the society as a whole is emotionally aroused. But every year when thousands of children die because of non availabilty of medical facilties, we express a criminally indifferent apathy to the massacre. ------Fidel Castro.