60 toxic pesticide-related deaths in Vidarbha traced to Gujarat "exporting" illegal cotton seeds: Report

By Our Representative
Amidst an estimate, put out by the Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavalamban Mission, that Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of Maharashtra have seen 221 farmers committing suicide between January to March 2018, an investigation published in a top research journal has said that "Vidarbha has another cross to bear" -- deaths due to toxic fumes coming out of pesticides they spray on their Bt cotton crop.
Pointing out that this is happening even as "farmers and labourers have been committing suicide by consuming pesticides and through other means", the probe, carried out by independent journalist Meena Menon, says, "In 2017, the numbers poisoned by the toxic fumes of the organophosphate compounds they sprayed on cotton rose to alarming levels", with as many as 60 persons dying as a result in Vidarbha alone.
According to Menon, things have worsened because "public healthcare services in this area are ill-equipped... and the state is equally apathetic to both kinds of deaths". Tracing the root of the problem to Gujarat, from where "illegal herbicide-tolerant" cotton seeds are "suspected" to have come, she says, these are being sold in "cotton-growing states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana".
Menon quotes Vijay N Waghmare, acting director, Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), as saying that 34 lakh packets were sold this year to cotton growers in 2017, double that of 2016, but regrets, "There is no action to curb this illegal sale or investigate where it is coming from and stop it", adding, in one month this year, the "CICR detected the presence of the herbicide-tolerant gene in the Bt cotton seeds of five companies".
Things worsened also because, says Menon, after once switching over "soya bean, a crop with fewer pest problems but lower prices", in 2017, "nearly 16 lakh to 17 lakh hectares of cotton were planted in Vidarbha alone, after good prices for cotton" a year earlier, and a change in cultivation practice "led to the pink bollworm arriving early."
Pointing out that the problem "exacerbated in irrigated areas", Menon says, "It is unusual for intense spraying for pests to begin in July but in 2017, in Yavatmal, farmers reported that there was an increase in caterpillars and sucking pests. This called for immediate solutions so that the crop was not lost."
This led to a situation where, she says, "The first cases of farmers and labourers being affected came to public hospitals in July and the first deaths began in mid-August and by October this year, over 60 people lost their lives in Vidarbha and over a thousand at least were affected by the adverse effects of pesticide inhalation."
Menon said, "The alarm bells finally rang after a newspaper reported 18 deaths due to pesticide inhalation on September 27, 2017. Under Section 26 of the Insecticide Act, 1968, the state government has to be notified about all occurrences of poisoning through the use of handling of any insecticide. It was only on October 5, that the Maharashtra chief minister ordered an inquiry into the deaths, and a special investigation was formed."
She adds, "In many ways, the events in 2017 in Yavatmal were a tragedy waiting to happen. The excessive spraying of pesticide, the eagerness of farmers to spend less on wages and get labourers to spray as many tanks as they quickly could, the lack of protective gear and steps to wash off the residues after spraying -- all contributed to this situation."
Described an“insecticide resistant monster” by KR Kranthi, former CICR director, Menon says, meanwhile, "Pesticide dealers and companies held sway in a market driven by desperation and the dread of pests. Pesticide dealers are among the most prosperous residents in Vidarbha. They live in large mansions, feeding off the farmers and selling them toxic substances in the name of controlling pests."

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Green revolution "not sustainable", Bt cotton a failure in India: MS Swaminathan

Counterview Desk
In a recent paper in the journal “Current Science”, distinguished scientist PC Kesaven and his colleague MS Swaminathan, widely regarded as the father of the Green Revolution, have argued that Bt insecticidal cotton, widely regarded as the continuation of the Green Revolution, has been a failure in India and has not provided livelihood security for mainly resource-poor, small and marginal farmers.
Sharply taking on Green Revolution, the authors say, it has not been sustainable largely because of adverse environmental and social impacts, insisting on the need to move away from the simplistic output-yield paradigm that dominates much thinking. Seeking to address the concerns about local food security and sovereignty as well as on-farm and off-farm social and ecological issues associated with the Green Revolution, they argue in favour of what they call sustainable ‘Evergreen Revolution’, based on a ‘systems approach’ and ‘ecoagriculture’.
Pointing out that Evergreen Revol…

Rejoinder: Inescapable to have Central Water Commission as strong technical body in India

By BN Navalawala*
This is with reference to Counterview Blog (December 5, 2018), "Modi govt 'shelves' water reforms report, shows 'no interest' in its recommendations", below mentioned are my comments/observations thereon:
A committee was constituted under the Chairmanship of Dr. Mihir Shah, Former Member, Planning Commission, for restructuring of Central Water Commission (CWC) and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) for optimal development of water resources in the country in the backdrop of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).

Some Hindu bodies in US defending BJP-RSS' divisive, violent activities: Agnivesh

Counterview Desk Last week, Washington DC saw speakers at a religious freedom roundtable, chaired by the US Ambassador for Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, express concern over "eroding" space for religious freedom in India. Dr Mike Ghouse, executive director, of the Center for Pluralism in Washington DC, referring to the roundtable, said in an email alert that Indian-Americans have "a moral duty to prevent India from being labeled as a Country of Particular Concern by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)".

Karnataka: NGO Akshay Patra "not sensitive" to nutrition demands of school children

Counterview Desk
Well-known civil rights organizations, Right to Food Campaign and Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, have sent a letter to the Union minister of human resource development, the Chief Minister of Karnataka, other concerned ministers and officials of the state expressing concerns regarding the mid-day meal (MDM) to school children, insisting, all contracts to the Akshay Patra for supply of MDM should be immediately terminated.

Preventing childhood deaths: India performs worse than Bangladesh, "equals" Pakistan

By Rajiv Shah
A just-released study, “The Pneumonia and Diarrhea Progress Report 2018”, prepared by the International Vaccine Access Centre (IVAC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has identified India among 15 other countries which are still far off the mark in achieving the targets of the Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Pneumonia and Diarrhea (GAPPD).

Rejoinder: Worldwide anxiety post-Fukishima is fading, slowly and steadily

By Dr KS Parthasarathy*
EAS Sarma, former Secretary, Government of India (GoI) in a letter addressed to Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), GoI, stated that, there has been "worldwide anxiety about the consequences of catastrophic nuclear accidents, either due to manual lapses or natural calamities" (Counterview, December 2, 2018)."In the recent years, globally, the pace of growth of nuclear power has escalated in leaps and bounds, causing a great deal of public concern and apprehension."

India's rewritten textbooks talk of demerits of democracy, praise Hitler, underrate Mughals

Counterview Desk
A detailed, 3,800-word review of the books rewritten under directions of the BJP rulers across India since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in May 2014 has suggested that one of aims of the books is to instill a sense of doubt about India’s democratic polity among the country’s young minds. Reviewed in the prestigious US journal, “The New York Review of Books”, in its latest issue (December 6, 2018) by Alex Traub, the scrutiny insists, the effort has also been to paint Indian history from the angle of “Hindu triumphalism”, even as creating “Islamophobia”.

Four children die after poor UP Dalit, Muslim families forced to flee to forest area: PVCHR

Counterview Desk
Peoples’ Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) has said that the forest department police’s crackdown, allegedly without any prior notice, on Dalit and Muslim households in Dakhin Tola, Churk Bazaar, Sonbhadra district, Uttar Pradesh, beating up “children and old people, women, and men in an inhuman way”, has led to “forced displacement, starvation and discrimination”. This has reportedly affected about 350 people.

Modi's PRO, who served previous Congress, BJP CMs in Gujarat with "equal" competence

By Rajiv Shah
A public relations officer (PRO), even as maintaining anonymity, is supposed to “manage” reputation of his or her client, reflecting the client’s views in order to influence opinion and behaviour. A PRO is also known to use, the world over, media and communication to build, maintain, manage and plan publicity strategies and campaigns, even as dealing with enquiries from the public, particularly media, organising promotional events such as press conferences, open days, exhibitions, tours and visits. A PRO is also supposed to final touches to press statements for his or client.

World Bank clarifies: Its 26th rank to India not for universal access to power but for ease of doing business

By Our Representative
In a major embarrassment to the Government of India, the World Bank has reportedly clarified that it has not ranked India 26th out of 130 countries for providing power to its population. The top international banker’s clarification comes following Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal’s claim that India has “improved to 26 position from 99” in access to electricity in just one year.

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