On Tenterhooks in Geneva – Developing countries push for markets at WTO Mini-Ministerial

Developing countries push for markets at WTO mini-ministerial

Farmers’ associations all over India were holding protests demanding exclusion of agriculture as an agenda in the World Trade Organization (wto) talks, even as the organization’s mini-ministerial debated ways to secure “meaningful market access in agriculture, manufacturing and services”. At the time this magazine went to press, farmers’ groups were apprehensive that the Union minister for commerce might sign a deal at this meet in Geneva allowing the entry of cheap agricultural products from the developed world. “That would be the last nail in the coffin of small farming in India,” said Sheelu Francis of the Tamil Nadu Women’s Collective, an organization representing over a lakh agriculture workers in the state.

The draft for negotiations for the Geneva ministerial—the third draft on the matter—did not accede to most demands of developing countries, the principal one being substantial cuts in subsidies offered to farmers in the us and European Union. These subsidies end up lowering prices of agricultural products in the developed countries below the production cost of farmers in developing countries, giving the former unfair market advantage. Continue reading »

Shelf Destruct – Government study kicks up the Supermart vs Small Store debate

Government study kicks up the supermart vs small store debate

At a time when efforts are being made in the West to bring back small retailers into the mainstream, the Indian government has come up with a study that lauds the role of big retail chains. It claims that the growth of supermarts in India will not harm street vendors and small shop owners, and will only spur a healthy competition in the retail sector.

“Both unorganized and organized retail are bound not only to coexist but also achieve rapid and sustained growth. Both will see a massive scaling up of their activities. In fact, the retail sector, left entirely in the unorganized and informal segment of the economy, could emerge as a major bottleneck to raising productivity in agriculture and industry,” states the study, Impact of Organized Retailing on Unorganized Sector, commissioned by the Department of Industries Planning and Promotion, commerce and industry ministry. Continue reading »

RTI (Right To Information) Assessment

An 85-year-old lady was having problems getting her passport. She needed it to go and live with her children abroad. The status, the website showed, was delivered. Visits to the passport office yielded little results. “We helped her draft a right to information (RTI) application. When the department concerned was informed of the application, she got the passport immediately,’ says Shekhar Singh of National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (ncpri), Delhi. But not all RTI applications are as smooth and appeals against disclosures are common. The RTI Act, which came into existence three years ago, is now undergoing a review of its performance. Here too, the issue has triggered a debate on the agency conducting the appraisal.

The department of personnel and training (DOPT) under the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions has commissioned international accounting firm PriceWaterhouse Coopers the responsibility to review the RTI Act 2005. Activists say the study may end up protecting government officials. They are conducting a parallel study on how far the RTI has been able to keep up its mandate of providing timely response to “citizens requests for government information’. Continue reading »

Custard Apples belong to South America, or India?

Custard Apples belong to South America. A recent excavation in a small town in Uttar Pradesh has unearthed custard apple seeds there. The seeds date to the Neolithic era—3rd-2nd century bc. Is it possible then that there existed some kind of communication between India and South America?

Researchers who carried out the study say yes. “We found one whole seed and three to four broken seeds,’ says A Pokharia of Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleoethnobotany, Lucknow. The study was carried out in Tokwa, an archaeologically important site in Mirzapur district. The seeds had heavy carbon coating. Based on radiocarbon dates of other Neolithic sites in the region, the author concluded that the seeds belonged to the 3rd-2nd century bc. The study was published in Current Science (Vol 94, No 2).

There are other studies that say that the Portuguese introduced custard apples in the East in the 16th century ad. Pokharia refutes such claims. Continue reading »

We Have been Cheated

RAVLEEN KAUR talks to three donors, Rajendra Kumar, Shahid and Dileep, who were duped by Amit Kumar. They were rescued from a flat in Faridabad on February 8. Rajendra Kumar did most of the talking.

How did you come into contact with Amit Kumar?

We met a person at the Old Delhi Railway Station who took us to a Faridabad guesthouse to work as cooks. We were told the guesthouse was frequented by foreigners very finicky about health matters. So we were asked to undergo medical tests. But no sooner were the tests conducted we fell unconscious. I saw Amit Kumar and one Vicky before falling unconscious. I woke up with severe abdominal pain. Continue reading »

Bring back the Cadaver – Organ Donation

“I understand it is not easy for the living to donate a kidney; but then why is the government not encouraging transplants from cadavers,’ asks esrd patient Nozeer H Canteenwala. This aspect of the problem has been obscured in the media spotlight over illegal organ trade. Most doctors believe that cadaver organ transplants hold the key to change.

“When the organ trade act came into effect in 1994, the focus was on banning trade in human organs and setting up of a system for cadaver donations. After the Amit Kumar expose, the media has been concentrating on illegal organ trade. But what about a control mechanism?’

asks Rana of the Indian Society of Nephrologists. Continue reading »

Econoburette: Easier way to Conduct Titration

Many a student nightmare originates in chemistry labs. Titration is one of them. It may be a big word but it’s a simple process to detect a solution’s potency. It requires sucking in acid through a pipette (a thin glass tube) to measure it.

A measured amount of a solution of an unknown concentration is added to a known volume of a second solution. There is an indicator to show when the reaction is complete and then the concentration of the unknown solution is calculated. This causes problems because students trying out the experiment end up gulping in the acid.

“When it is swallowed, the mouth becomes dry and it seems that the teeth will chip off. Teachers just ask us to spit out the acid and wash the mouth. I wish there were other ways to carry out the experiment,’ says Aparajita Tiwari, a class 12 student of Delhi Public School, Noida. A student from Kerala, Bright E S, says, “When one takes 10 ml of acid in a 12 ml capacity tube, chances of swallowing it are high.’ Continue reading »

POSCO: Villagers Demand 5% of Share in Company’s Profits

Some people in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district, in a complete turnaround from their earlier stand, agreed to give up land for the POSCO steel plant on January 5, but with conditions. They have asked for a 5 per cent share in the profits of the company, among other demands.

In another development, the Central Empowered Committee, which advises the supreme court on forest-related cases, recommended that mines, steel plant and captive port— POSCO‘s proposed projects—should be considered as one and reviewed in entirety for its ecological significance and rehabilitation plans rather than as three different projects. POSCO filed an affidavit in the apex court on January 4, contesting the recommendations and asking for separate clearances for its three “separate’ projects. The case will come up for hearing in the third week of January. Continue reading »