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Today's topics: * Just a idea - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/788aac1437a4b93c * BM LOGO! - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/11343af29291ce71 * Indian GM Cotton trail of dead sheep, ill workers and dead villagers. - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/3bab8f285db1c671 * Global warming mankind's fault : Science Editor. - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/25606ef459f0d7e1 ============================================================================== TOPIC: Just a idea http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/788aac1437a4b93c ============================================================================== == 1 of 1 == Date: Thurs, May 4 2006 8:21 pm From: "hitesh verma" Hello Friends, I have a idea to improve the condition of our country. Yes this can be done only when someone is in the power at the centre. But just wanted to share it with you all. Its just a vague idea with too many ifs and buts. CAN IT BE CONVEYED TO THE GOVERNMENT. Moreover I have also not read constitution etc. so there may be some factual errors. Whenever government makes any scheme it takes into consider the abstract things like education, employment, etc. These things are always hard to judge how much progress has been made. Moreover it also breeds corruption. Instead of all these we should do something which is region specific. We may start from the most underdeveloped part of the country , may be a state and try to make it a developed state in a specific duration. Yes the other schemes for improving education, employment must continue. We cant allow other part of the country to suffer. or Instead of having different schemes for education, employment, etc. We should make many committees with each committee for a particular region. These should cover whole of India. All the work of employment, education will done by a particular committee with having various subcommittees for them. Luminaries of that particular region from different streams should be appointed as they will know their region well. Yes we have state governments. But I feel this federal system should be changed in some way. This will need amendments in constitution. for eg, the committees which I am talking about should be directly under Central Government. They will develop policies for that particular region by consulting with state governments. The main role of state government will be to maintain law and order and maintaining the infrastructure and other small issues. But main issues of employment, education, health should be with central government. BY this I mean what should be taught or how more employment can be made should be decided by these committies and implementing them will be done by state governments. These committees will have to do work because the develoment of a region will be easily perceptible. Even a person who will come back to a particular region after 5 years will be able to tell whether development has taken place or not. But this is not the case when we take abstract topics and try to improve it all over India. I feel we should have a strong Centre for making country progress as a whole. Only after making the country strong economically , militrally we should think of giving powers to the panchayati raj system etc. Without making a strong country these things although good in theory always breed corruption. This idea which I talked about earlier will also be able to reduce wastage of manpower , money , because there will not be separate departments for health -- one by a state govn and one by a central govn. . All the learned person will give their inputs to the particular committee and hence there will be synergy. The thinking power will not get distributed between central govn and state govn. Moreover , friends this a simple solution, and I have learned in my life that simplest solution is the best solution. Think about Avagadro's hypothesis, I have read in our NCERT chemistry book that scientists also choose the simplest solution. A great Avagadro's law was actually the simplest solution for the problem of gases at that time and it was proved correct later on. So friends, the idea is this, moreover to implement it we will need people who are well versed with the constitution, other social and economic factors of the country. I will like to read your viewpoints on this. Moreover, PLEASE CAN ANY1 tell how we can give our ideas to the government. I will continue adding to this thread, if I could think new in this regard. bye n take care ============================================================================== TOPIC: BM LOGO! http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/11343af29291ce71 ============================================================================== == 1 of 1 == Date: Fri, May 5 2006 1:20 am From: "Moderator BharatUdayMission" Dear Brothers and Sisters, We invite all our creative members to design LOGO for BM. Please fell free to create logo of your choice. Following should be taken into account in designeing the LOGO: 1. It should be simple. 2. Creator must explain his vision and how his LOGO reflects BM's Idelogy. 3. Significance of color etc should also be explained. Please mail your entries to [EMAIL PROTECTED] before MAY 15, 2006. Subject of mail should be BM LOGO. Thank You. Regards, Moderators -- "We have only one Passion The Rise of a Great Nation." www.bharatudaymission.org ============================================================================== TOPIC: Indian GM Cotton trail of dead sheep, ill workers and dead villagers. http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/3bab8f285db1c671 ============================================================================== == 1 of 1 == Date: Thurs, May 4 2006 11:06 pm From: Jagannath Chatterjee The Institute of Science in Society Science Society Sustainability http://www.i-sis.org.uk General Enquiries [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website/Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED] ISIS Director [EMAIL PROTECTED] UNSUBSCRIBE HERE This article can be found on the I-SIS website at http://www.i-sis.org.uk/MDSGBTC.php ISIS Press Release 25/04/06 Mass Deaths in Sheep Grazing on Bt Cotton At least 1 800 sheep reported dead from severe toxicity after grazing on Bt cotton fields in just four villages in Andhra Pradesh India Dr. Mae-Wan Ho The Bt trail of dead sheep, ill workers and dead villagers over three years At least 1 820 sheep were reported dead after grazing on post-harvest Bt cotton crops; the symptoms and post-mortem findings strongly suggest they died from severe toxicity. This was uncovered in a preliminary investigation conducted by civil society organisations in just four villages in the Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh in India. The actual problem is likely to be much greater. This latest report confirms the findings of an earlier fact-finding investigation, also conducted by civil society organisations, on illnesses in cotton farm workers and handlers caused by Bt cotton in another cotton-growing state, Madhya Pradesh, in India (More illnesses linked to Bt crops, this series). And not so long ago, we reported similar illnesses and deaths among villagers in the Philippines linked to exposure to Bt maize since 2003 (GM ban long overdue, dozens ill and five deaths in the Philippines, SiS 29). It cannot be mere coincidence that similar Bt toxins from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis incorporated in the genetically modified crops are involved in all these cases; but the regulators have done nothing. Things are so bad that the European Commission levelled an accusation of bias towards the biotech industry against its own food safety regulatory body (European Food Safety Authority criticised of GMO bias, this series). Grazing lands decline as commercial crops increase Grazing lands in Warangal district have declined steeply as commercial crop cultivation expanded in recent years, and it has become customary for sheep and goats to be allowed to graze on crop residues after harvest. This year, there have been several media reports of sharp increases in the deaths of sheep and goats after grazing in Bt cotton fields. There were similar reports in 2005, when complaints were lodged with the Joint Director of Agriculture by a few NGOs, but no action has resulted. Between February and March 2006, the shepherds of Warangal district again reported high mortality in their flocks after grazing in harvested Bt cotton fields. Some shepherds reported to the animal husbandry department and requested confirmation on whether the deaths were due to grazing on Bt cotton. Still getting no response, a fact-finding team of five members was constituted by the Andhra Pradesh Shepherds Union: two members from Anthra (NGO working on livestock issues), veterinary scientist Dr. Ramesh and a field researcher Mr. Apparoa; Mr. Jamalaiah, Secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Shepherds Union; and two scientists from the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture working on Bt cotton issues, Mr. S. Ramprasa and Mr. G. Rajashekar. The team travelled through three mandals in Warangal district on 22 April 2006 and met with shepherds and farmers. The villages visited were Ippagudem in Ghanapur mandal, Valeru and Unkkucherla in Dharmasagaram mandal, and Maadpalli in Hasanparthi mandal. Twenty-five percent of sheep dead within five to seven days The Ippagudem village in Ghanapur mandal has 100 households belonging to the shepherd community. Forty shepherds and ten farmers attended the group meeting when the team visited. They said the deaths began after their sheep grazed on Bt cotton leaves or bolls. This year was the first time some of the shepherds and farmers cultivated Bt cotton hybrids, believing in the propaganda that they can get more yield and profit. They started grazing from the end of January to March. The deaths began within a week of continuous grazing on the Bt cotton crop residues. Mr. J. Parmesh, one of the shepherds got diarrhoea after consuming the affected sheep's meat. The shepherds said that the sheep became dull/depressed after 2-3 days of grazing, started coughing with nasal discharge and developed red lesions in the mouth, became bloated and suffered blackish diarrhoea, and sometimes passed red urine. Death occurred within 5-7 days of grazing. Sheep from young lambs to adults of 1.5-2 years were affected. The shepherds took their sheep to the government veterinary hospital in Warangal for post-mortem, some shepherds also performed their own post-mortem, as is often the practice of shepherds across Andhra Pradesh. They found black patches in the intestine and enlarged bile duct and black patches on the liver. The shepherds said that the Assistant Director of Animal Health Centre in Warangal told them these deaths appeared to be due to grazing on Bt cotton fields, as she has earlier seen such cases. She prescribed some medicines for the sick sheep, but very few sheep responded, and most died. Of the 2 601 sheep that belonged to 42 shepherds, 651 sheep died, giving an average mortality rate of 25 percent. A shepherd in another village, Akkapalli reported that he had cultivated Bt cotton the previous year and allowed his sheep to graze, which resulted in deaths. This year, while he still cultivated Bt cotton, he did not allow them to graze on it, and his sheep did not die. On the way to Dharmasagaram mandal, the team spoke to a shepherd Shri Kochla Malliah, who has 100 sheep, but 5 died after grazing on Bt cotton crop residues. He reported that sheep had also died in adjoining villages Molakagudam, Kunipatti and Kondaparthi More deaths and identical symptoms in other villages Twenty-nine shepherds participated in the meeting in Valeru village in Dharmasagaram mandel. Sheep deaths occurred during February March 2006. The symptoms described were identical to those reported in the previous village. Of 2168 sheep owned by the 29 shepherds, 549 sheep died, again giving an average mortality rate of about 25 percent. In the remaining villages, it was not possible to have a group meeting with the shepherds. But the team was informed that the sheep population is nearly 1 000 in Unkkucherla village, Dharmasagaram mandal, and 150 adult sheep and 70 lambs died within 4 days of grazing on Bt cotton fields between February and March 2006. In Maadipalli village Asanparthi mandal, there are 20 households rearing some 3 000 sheep, and nearly 400 died due to grazing on Bt-cotton fields from the second week of February through to March. They took their animals to the Warangal veterinary hospital for post-mortem. The Assistant Director at the Animal Health Centre who conducted the post-mortem advised them to stop grazing their sheep on the Bt cotton fields, saying the deaths could be due to the Bt cotton, and prescribed some medicines for the affected sheep. The team met with the Assistant Director who conducted the post-mortems. When questioned, she replied that while it appeared that the deaths occurred after grazing on Bt cotton fields, and could be due to the effects of Bt toxin, it was not possible to arrive at a definitive conclusion, as farmers also spray different types of insecticides and pesticides on their crops, and this factor confounds the observations. She also said there were no kits or other facilities available within the Department to enable her to arrive at a firm diagnosis that the deaths were due to Bt cotton. When asked to see the post-mortem results/reports, she said she was not permitted to show them to the team, as permission of the Joint Director was needed. But the Joint Director was not present that day. Demands for in-depth investigation and moratorium on Bt cotton The team concludes that The preliminary information gathered from meeting shepherds across 3 mandals, strongly suggests that the sheep mortality was due to a toxin, and most likely Bt toxin from the foliage. They were impressed that shepherds from villages located at 20-25 km distance from one another, reported an identical history of grazing on the Bt cotton fields continuously, identical symptoms and death within 5-7 days of grazing exclusively on Bt cotton plant residue, primarily on young leaves and pods. The post-mortem symptoms, as observed by the shepherds, suggest severe irritation of the intestines and associated organs (bile duct, liver) connected to the absorption and assimilation of food and processing of toxins. The team is calling for more in-depth exhaustive investigation on the impact of Bt toxin on the local Indian livestock, and a complete moratorium on Bt cotton cultivation until conclusive results show that the Bt toxin is completely harmless. Furthermore, they call for the shepherds who suffered losses to be compensated. What is not yet clear from the report is whether all the sheep that did not fall ill or die also grazed on Bt cotton; if not, then the mortality rate is even higher than reported. Source Mortality in Sheep Flocks after Grazing on Bt Cotton Fields Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh. Report of the Preliminary Assessment April 2006, http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6494 "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo. --------------------------------- Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. ============================================================================== TOPIC: Global warming mankind's fault : Science Editor. http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/25606ef459f0d7e1 ============================================================================== == 1 of 1 == Date: Thurs, May 4 2006 11:58 pm From: Jagannath Chatterjee Global warming fastest for 20,000 years - and it is mankind's fault By Steve Connor, Science Editor Published: 04 May 2006 Global warming is made worse by man-made pollution and the scale of the problem is unprecedented in at least 20,000 years, according to a draft report by the world's leading climate scientists. The leaked assessment by the group of international experts says there is now overwhelming evidence to show that the Earth's climate is undergoing dramatic transformation because of human activity. A draft copy of the report by a working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases are at the highest for at least 650,000 years. It predicts that global average temperatures this century will rise by between 2C and 4.5C as a result of the doubling of carbon dioxide levels caused by man-made emissions. These temperatures could increase by a further 1.5C as a result of "positive feedbacks" in the climate resulting from the melting of sea ice, thawing permafrost and the acidification of the oceans. The draft report will become the fourth assessment by the IPCC since it was established in 1988 and was meant to be confidential until the final version is ready for publication next year. However, a copy of the report has been made available by a US government committee and can be found on the internet by anyone who makes an e-mail request for a password to access the area on its website. The US Climate Change Science Programme, which yesterday released its own report saying climate change was being affected by man-made pollution, said it wanted as many experts and stakeholders as possible to comment on the draft IPCC report. The IPCC's chairman, Rajendra Pachauri, however, did not learn of the decision to, in effect, publish the report until it was posted online, according to the journal Nature. The IPCC assessment is written by scores of scientists - who can draw on the expertise of hundreds more researchers - to produce the most definitive and authoritative assessment of climate change and its impacts. Global warming sceptics will get little comfort from the confident language in the draft report, which dismisses suggestions that climate change is an entirely natural rather than man-made phenomenon. "There is widespread evidence of anthropogenic warming of the climate system in temperature observations taken at the surface, in the free atmosphere and in the oceans," it says. "It is very likely that greenhouse gas forcing has been the dominant cause of the observed global warming over the past 50 years. "And it is likely that greenhouse gases alone would have caused more warming than has been observed during this period, with some warming offset by cooling from natural and other anthropogenic factors." Since its last report in 2001, the IPCC's working group says it has amassed convincing evidence showing that climate change is already happening. It also finds that climate change is set to continue for decades and perhaps centuries to come even if man-made emissions can be curbed. "2005 and 1998 were the warmest two years on record. Five of the six warmest years have occurred in the past five years (2001-2005)," the report says. Satellite data since 1978 shows that the Arctic sea ice has shrunk by about 2.7 per cent each decade, with even larger losses of about 7.4 per cent during the warmer summer months. "The smallest extent of summer sea ice was observed in 2005. Average Arctic temperatures have been rising since the 1960s and 2005 was the warmest Arctic year," the draft IPCC report says. "An increasing body of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on other aspects of climate, including sea ice, heat waves and other extremes, circulation, storm tracks and precipitation," it says. Melting glaciers and polar ice sheets could cause sea levels to rise by up to 43cm by 2100, and the rise for the next two centuries is predicted to be nearly double that figure. Man-made emissions of greenhouse gases have probably already caused the increase in sea levels observed over the past century, says the report. "Anthropogenic forcing, resulting from thermal expansion from ocean warming and glacier and ice sheet melt, is likely the largest contributor to sea level rise during the latter half of the 20th century," the report says. "Anthropogenic forcing has likely contributed to recent decreases in Arctic sea ice extent. There is evidence of a decreasing trend in global snow cover and widespread retreat of glaciers consistent with warming and evidence that this melting has also contributed to sea-level rise," it adds. Evidence of climate change * Arctic sea ice has shrunk by 2.7 per cent per decade since 1978 and by 7.4 per cent each decade during the summer months. * Five of the six warmest years have occurred in the past five years, with 2005 and 1998 being the two warmest years on record. * Global average sea levels rose at a rate of about 2mm a year between 1961-2003, and by an average of more than 3mm a year between 1993-2003. * Mountain glaciers and polar land ice have in general melted faster than they have formed over the past 40 years. * Permafrost temperatures have increased on average and the area covered by seasonally frozen ground has decreased by about 7 per cent over the past 50 years. Global warming is made worse by man-made pollution and the scale of the problem is unprecedented in at least 20,000 years, according to a draft report by the world's leading climate scientists. The leaked assessment by the group of international experts says there is now overwhelming evidence to show that the Earth's climate is undergoing dramatic transformation because of human activity. A draft copy of the report by a working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases are at the highest for at least 650,000 years. It predicts that global average temperatures this century will rise by between 2C and 4.5C as a result of the doubling of carbon dioxide levels caused by man-made emissions. These temperatures could increase by a further 1.5C as a result of "positive feedbacks" in the climate resulting from the melting of sea ice, thawing permafrost and the acidification of the oceans. The draft report will become the fourth assessment by the IPCC since it was established in 1988 and was meant to be confidential until the final version is ready for publication next year. However, a copy of the report has been made available by a US government committee and can be found on the internet by anyone who makes an e-mail request for a password to access the area on its website. The US Climate Change Science Programme, which yesterday released its own report saying climate change was being affected by man-made pollution, said it wanted as many experts and stakeholders as possible to comment on the draft IPCC report. The IPCC's chairman, Rajendra Pachauri, however, did not learn of the decision to, in effect, publish the report until it was posted online, according to the journal Nature. The IPCC assessment is written by scores of scientists - who can draw on the expertise of hundreds more researchers - to produce the most definitive and authoritative assessment of climate change and its impacts. Global warming sceptics will get little comfort from the confident language in the draft report, which dismisses suggestions that climate change is an entirely natural rather than man-made phenomenon. "There is widespread evidence of anthropogenic warming of the climate system in temperature observations taken at the surface, in the free atmosphere and in the oceans," it says. "It is very likely that greenhouse gas forcing has been the dominant cause of the observed global warming over the past 50 years. "And it is likely that greenhouse gases alone would have caused more warming than has been observed during this period, with some warming offset by cooling from natural and other anthropogenic factors." Since its last report in 2001, the IPCC's working group says it has amassed convincing evidence showing that climate change is already happening. It also finds that climate change is set to continue for decades and perhaps centuries to come even if man-made emissions can be curbed. "2005 and 1998 were the warmest two years on record. Five of the six warmest years have occurred in the past five years (2001-2005)," the report says. Satellite data since 1978 shows that the Arctic sea ice has shrunk by about 2.7 per cent each decade, with even larger losses of about 7.4 per cent during the warmer summer months. "The smallest extent of summer sea ice was observed in 2005. Average Arctic temperatures have been rising since the 1960s and 2005 was the warmest Arctic year," the draft IPCC report says. "An increasing body of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on other aspects of climate, including sea ice, heat waves and other extremes, circulation, storm tracks and precipitation," it says. Melting glaciers and polar ice sheets could cause sea levels to rise by up to 43cm by 2100, and the rise for the next two centuries is predicted to be nearly double that figure. Man-made emissions of greenhouse gases have probably already caused the increase in sea levels observed over the past century, says the report. "Anthropogenic forcing, resulting from thermal expansion from ocean warming and glacier and ice sheet melt, is likely the largest contributor to sea level rise during the latter half of the 20th century," the report says. "Anthropogenic forcing has likely contributed to recent decreases in Arctic sea ice extent. There is evidence of a decreasing trend in global snow cover and widespread retreat of glaciers consistent with warming and evidence that this melting has also contributed to sea-level rise," it adds. Evidence of climate change * Arctic sea ice has shrunk by 2.7 per cent per decade since 1978 and by 7.4 per cent each decade during the summer months. * Five of the six warmest years have occurred in the past five years, with 2005 and 1998 being the two warmest years on record. * Global average sea levels rose at a rate of about 2mm a year between 1961-2003, and by an average of more than 3mm a year between 1993-2003. * Mountain glaciers and polar land ice have in general melted faster than they have formed over the past 40 years. * Permafrost temperatures have increased on average and the area covered by seasonally frozen ground has decreased by about 7 per cent over the past 50 years. http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article361813.ece "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo. --------------------------------- How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! 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