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India on Friday condemned the “heinous” terrorist strike in Kabul which left at least nine Indians, including government officials, dead and said this was clearly aimed against the people of India and Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday condemned the “senseless act of violence and barbarism” in Kabul, saying the Indians who were killed in the bomb attack were on a “mission of goodwill and friendship”.

“I condemn in the strongest possible terms this senseless act of violence and barbarism which strikes at the core of everything a civilized society holds dear,” Dr Singh said in a statement.

He said he was deeply saddened and grieved at the loss of lives of Indian nationals in the attack which also claimed the lives of several innocent Afghan civilians.

“The Indians who have lost their lives were on a mission of goodwill and friendship, helping to construct a peaceful, democratic Afghanistan that our Afghan friends desire,” Dr Singh said.

Conveying his heartfelt condolences to the families and near and dear ones of those killed, the Prime Minister assured them that “we stand with them in this hour of grief and will render all possible support to them.”

“As per the preliminary information provided by Afghan Government officials, up to nine Indians, besides a few others from Afghanistan and third countries, have lost their lives,” External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said in a statement in New Delhi.

“The deceased Indians include Government officials. A few Indians have been injured, most of whom are reported to be out of danger,” he said.

Noting that the target of the attack was “few residential facilities used, among others, by Indian nationals”, the minister said “India strongly condemns the attack.

This is the third attack on Indian officials and interests in Afghanistan in the past 20 months.

“These barbaric attacks are a matter of deep concern and are clearly aimed against the people of India and the people of Afghanistan.”

He said arrangements were also being made for adequate and expeditious treatment for those injured, and if necessary, by evacuating them to India.

“(Indian) Government is in close touch with the Government of Afghanistan on all aspects concerning the safety, security and welfare of Indians in that country,” Krishna said.

Krishna said “these (attacks) are the handiwork of those who are desperate to undermine the friendship between India and Afghanistan, and do not wish to see a strong, democratic and pluralistic Afghanistan.

“The international community and the people of Afghanistan face a clear danger from the perpetrators of such acts of terrorism and their patrons. The scourge of terrorism must be resolutely opposed, resisted and overcome through undiluted commitment and effort by the international community,” the Minister said in the statement.

The attacks on the Indian Embassy in Kabul in July 2008 and October 2009 had claimed the lives of Indian diplomats and officials and several Afghan nationals.

Government also extended its sincere condolences to the families of all those who have lost their lives in the dastardly attack, including the families of the Indian officials who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

“Though the irreplaceable loss of these families can never be recompensed, all necessary steps will be taken for the welfare of the dependants of the deceased officials,” the statement said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

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News4u-News Desk-Facing intense opposition from within and outside, govt on Tuesday refused to give a go-ahead to commercial cultivation of Bt Brinjal, a genetically-modified version of the vegetable that is said to be more resistant to pests.

Announcing a cautious approach of the government, Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh said there was “no clear consensus” among the scientists and stake-holders on giving permission to Bt Brinjal and more studies needed to be conducted.

“There is no over-riding urgency to introduce it… When the public sentiments have been negative, it is my duty to adopt a cautious, precautionary and principle-based approach,” he told a hurriedly-called press conference which was originally scheduled for Wednesday.

“I will not impose a decision till such time independent scientific studies establish safety of the product from long-term view of human health,” Ramesh said.

He said it was a difficult decision to take but he had to balance many issues of science and society and producer and consumer.

However, he made it clear that today’s decision applied only to Bt Brinjal and does not cover future of genetically-modified crops, be it ladyfinger, cabbage or rice.

Ramesh’s decision came after a series of public consultations in seven cities across the country, that often turned acrimonious.

A number of state governments, including Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh, have publicly opposed the introduction of Bt Brinjal.

Ramesh said in arriving at his decision, he has responded both to science and society and had followed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s speech in the Indian Science Congress last month.

“I have followed democratic, transparent and often acrimonious process. I have put my decision before people. I have given the reasons for my decison. My conscience is clear,” he said.

The Environment Minister said he wanted the issue to be discussed in Parliament and National Development Council in detail.

Replying to a question, he said since he assumed the charge of Environment portfolio on 29th May last year he had not met representative of any company involved in genetically-modified crops though as Commerce Minister he had met them.

Noting that the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have opposed Bt Brinjal, Ramesh said non-Congress ruled states of West Bengal, Orissa and Bihar accounted for 60 per cent of brinjal cultivation.

All the Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states have already opposed introduction of Bt Brinjal.

Bt Brinjal is a genetically-modified vegetable which is infused with Cry1Ac gene from a bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis to make the plant resistant to the fruit and shoot borers and certain pests.

Some scientists have been opposing it, arguing that the genes were toxic and would affect the health of the consumers.

Bt Brinjal

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News4u-News Desk-Three days before the Centre’s possible announcement over its decision on Bt Brinjal, Madhya Pradesh govt has asserted that genetically modified (GM) crops have no place in the state.

“I have already written a letter to the Centre against the commercialisation of Bt Brinjal in country as it wasn’t good for human health and environment,” state Agriculture Development Minister Ramkrishna Kusumaria said.

“We want to make Madhya Pradesh the country’s first model organic farming state,” Kusumaria added.

He said that the state government has prepared a detailed organic farming policy and it will be announced in a week or two.

Organic farming was being carried out in 4.25 lakh hectares of area, he said adding that there was a need to increase this area.

Kusumaria said that the chemical fertilisers and pesticides have affected the agriculture land in last 30-40 years.

Meanwhile, Organic Farming Association of India’s (OFAI) Northern India Unit Director Bhartendu Prakash has claimed that the productivity of the fertile land in Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh has dipped following the unchecked use of chemical fertiliser.

He said that the OFAI was ready to provide labelling facility to the organic farming produce which in turn will benefit the consumers. By this the consumers will know whether the produce was from organic farming or not.

Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh during the seventh public hearing on the introduction of Bt Brinjal in Bangalore on Saturday said that all public consultations were over and a decision on the issue will be announced on 10^th February.

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News4u-News Desk- Hundreds of angry protesters Saturday raised slogans and waved placards in Bangalore as Union Environment Minister M Jairam Ramesh Saturday commenced a national consultation on introducing the controversial GM crop of Bt Brinjal.

Farmers, NGO’s and members of various organisations condemned the move to introduce Bt Brinjal, carrying placards with slogans like “we don’t need Bt Brinjal.”

The consultation witnessed some angry farmers arguing that introduction of Bt Brinjal was not safe, as research conducted in the field was still insufficient. Seed owners would not end up being farmers, but multinationals, they said.

A huge posse of police personnel was deployed, even as protesters raised slogans while the debate was on.

Saturday’s meeting in Bangalore is the last in a series of nationwide public consultation meetings on Bt Brinjal, in which groups, NGOs, technologists and others would air their views.

Ramesh has already stated that the final decision on commercial introduction of Bt Brinjal would be taken by 10^thFebruary.

Union Environment Minister M Jairam Ramesh

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News4u-News Desk-To counter the possible ill effects of commercial cultivation of Bt Brinjal on their traditional crop, villagers at a gram panchayat in Kerala have launched a campaign to showcase their varieties, distribute seedlings and highlight its “medicinal” properties.

People of Mararikulam Panchayat in Alapuzha district hit upon this idea as they fear multinationals will monopolise the seeds market and agricultural input supply.

“They are also concerned about the bio-safety aspect, particularly after Kerala ayurvedic physicians came out openly against Bt brinjal,” Mararikulam North Panchayat President Priyesh Kumar said.

As part of the campaign, the panchayat distributed ‘Mararikulam brinjal’ plants to around 8,000 households in the locality at a week-long exhibition and also participated in a national seminar, which demanded a moratorium on GM crops, as

it could affect biodiversity.

“Brinjal cultivation is the basis of livelihood for  many people here and they fear that introduction of new Bt variety would destroy their traditional variety,” Kumar said.

Presently more than 200 people cultivate this brinjal, widely recognised as a vegetable of medicinal quality, on a commercial basis in the panchayat.

Kumar demanded that the government set up a mechanism to conduct a detailed field study on impact of Bt Brinjal and felt there was no need to introduce it “as India has sufficient skills in agriculture and crop production like plant breeding and hybridisation.”

Kumar also demanded that the Centre hold public hearings on the issue at Mararikulam, where a lot of stakeholders are involved in Brinjal and not just in cities like Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Nagpur and Chandigarh.

He pointed out that Kerala, which had already declared its opposition to GM crops, had been left out from the sittings.

State biodversity board chairman V S Vijayan concurred with Kumar’s views against introduction of GM crops in the country, saying there was no justification for bringing in such crops.

“The reasons put forward by advocates of GM crops are also not justifiable,” he said.

Vijayan said food security of the nation would be in peril if GM crops are used, as the seeds of these crops would be in the hands of multinationals, “who will have a monopoly over the seeds, resulting in farmers having to depend on them.”

He also cited recent studies on BT cotton which, he claimed, revealed that the net gain for a farmer from one acre in an organic traditional crop stood at Rs 29,000, while it was just Rs 17,000 in the case of BT cotton.

Vijayan said the Board planned to convene a national meet ton BT crops with a focus on BT brinjal in Thiruvananthapuram next month.

Ministers of Agriculture and Forest from other states would be invited for the meet to chalk out an action programme against BT crops, he added.

Kerala Villagers launch campaign to counter Bt Brinjal

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