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 …
On July 7 this year a warehouse in a residential area of Asuncion, Paraguay's capital, caught fire. The warehouse, belonging to the ministry of agriculture and livestock and stocked with pesticides, was completely gutted. The fire triggered off fears of severe contamination. But three months later, all 1,100 people living …
In December, it will be five years since the World Bank (wb) formally adopted its Operational Policy on pest management (op 4.09). However, two recently released reports of the Pesticide Action Network North America (panna) clearly show "widespread violations of the wb's pest management policy'. op 4.09 requires World Bank …
Clearly betraying a strong pro-industry bias, the us Environmental Protection Agency (epa) has observed that the country's federal law bars suits from being filed against pesticide manufacturers when a product does not deliver what its federally approved label promises. The latest approach makes a blatant departure from the position epa …
gm on the platter: The US government has recently issued a notice to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for failing to comply with safety laws when it allowed offsprings of animals used in a genetic experiment to be sold as food. The pigs had genes from different species; the …
I met an eminent economist last week. He quoted another eminent economist-cum-columnist, and asked me if it was true that apples had higher pesticide residues than Coke or Pepsi. Before I could respond, he rather menacingly concluded: "And is it not true that mother's milk has pesticide?" Evidently, "common-sensical truths" …
Even as soft drink majors are struggling with the pesticide controversy, a Mumbai-Newline reporter found fungus like material floating in a 300-ml bottle of Coca-cola.
The us Environmental Protection Agency (epa) suffered a double whammy on September 15, when two separate lawsuits raising the same issue were filed against it in the federal district court for the Southern District of New York. The contention in both cases: epa 's inability to implement stipulated children-specific standards …
Four journalists who brought to light in 2000 the use of banned pesticides at a banana plantation in the Philippines have now been put behind bars. Also arrested is Romeo Quijano, professor at the University of the Philippines and president of the country's chapter of global group Pesticide Action Network. …
Water Filter The confusion resulting from reports about pesticides in bottled water and soft drinks saw a few companies sneak-ride upon the concerns of the bewildered common man. Take, for instance, the ad for Usha Brita Waterguard (in The Hindustan Times, September 6, 2003), which instead of detailing the cleaning …
A pesticide has got two factions of Kenyan scientists sneering at each other. Divisions have arisen between two of the country's premier research organisations
glyphosate, the world's most widely used herbicide, encourages the growth of toxic fungi that devastate wheat fields. This is the alarming finding of a study conducted by scientists working for the Canadian government. The conclusion could prove to be a major blow for backers of genetically modified (gm) wheat, especially …
How do pests select which plants to attack in the field? By smelling odours plants emit, believe most entomologists. And an entire industry of pesticides has evolved around this principle, to ensure pests can't get that appetising whiff of the plant they want; insecticides are made to confuse them. But …
the soft drink episode has apparently made the authorities wise up to the need for hard resolve. On August 26, 2003, the Union ministry of health and family welfare (mohfw) issued a draft notification amending the Prevention of Food Adulteration (pfa) Rules, 1955, to give them more teeth. The proposed …
The Food and Agricultural Organisation (fao) has promised "substantial financial support' to help Tanzania dispose of about 1,000 tonnes of pesticides stored in the country's warehouses. These chemicals had come from developed nations, mostly through foreign aid programmes. The government's announcement about the fao assistance followed allegations of "excessive negligence' …
a study conducted in the wheat growing regions of the us indicates that use of herbicides like 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid can lead to malformation among newborns. These herbicides are widely used for weed control in parks and farms. In the past they have been linked with an increased …
the science policies of the Bush administration are skewed to suit ideology, and they often ignore scientific studies that do not support the viewpoints of the Conservatives. Scientists and Democrats have made these allegations in a report by the us House of Representatives' government reform committee. "Our report amply illustrates …
It is interesting how the coalitions of the willing and the wanting shift in this world. When it comes to negotiations on ecological globalisation - conventions from climate change to biodiversity protection - the powers almost always align as follows: on one side, the US flanked by its partners (Japan, …
Last fortnight, I said I did not know how the two Cola giants would respond to our study on pesticides in soft drinks. Now I do. I have learnt how global corporations deal with public concerns. Hours after we released our report, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola convened a press conference to …
Drinking water falls under the purview of Union ministry of urban development and poverty alleviation (MoUDPA). The Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) under this ministry sets guidelines for drinking water quality. Local bodies
The Indian government has notified new standards for pesticide residues in bottled water. The notification came on July 18, 2003, bringing the curtains down on a 6-month drama that had turned quite farcical. 6 months ago, a study conducted by the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) (see: …
