It is news from chennai which also covers news of bt brinjal consultation held at ahmedabad...
*http://news.outlookindia.com/printitem.aspx?673145* Film Personalities, Writers, Artistes Say No to Bt Brinjal Chennai Film personalities, writers and performing artistes, among others, have joined the campaign against Bt brinjal by a 24-minute documentary titled Kathireekaa (Brinjal). In an initiative by NGO Safe Food Alliance (SFA), leading Tamil actors and filmmakers Revathy, Nasser, Rohini and Cheran, writers Jeyamohan and Gnani and Traders' Association president T Vellaiyan have spoken about the dangers in introducing Bt brinjal and other genetically modified (GM) foods in India, in the documentary "guided" by Rohini. Performing artistes like dancers Chitra Visweswaran and Priyadarshini Govind and musician TM Krishna have also joined hands to express solidarity, SFA said in a press release here. CDs of the documentary would be distributed to different people and SFA would organise a series of screenings over the next two weeks, culminating in a consumer event on January 30, the release added. Cultivation of Bt brinjal is opposed by sections of people, including farmers and activists, especially after the Centre's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) approved the Bt brinjal variety last year. Meanwhile, a meeting to solicit opinions of different sections on introduction of Bt brinjal held at Ahmedabad today turned stormy with a section of farmers and environment groups opposing it, while there were many agriculturists who favoured the genetically modified food crop. The public consultation, chaired by environment minister Jairam Ramesh, was attended by farmers from across Gujarat and some districts of Rajasthan, agriculture scientists, environmental activists and academicians. While the farmers, who had a good experience with Bt cotton spoke in favour of the Bt brinjal contending that like the Bt cotton, Bt brinjal will also give good yield and in turn generate more income. The agricultural scientists from different parts of the state also held divergent opinion as some spoke for the introduction of Bt brinjal while some opposed it saying the tests done so far were not enough. While the environmental activist, came out with statistics of how other countries have opposed GM food crop and raised fundamental question like whose need it was to introduce Bt brinjal, was it the farmers' or the company which had made the GM seed. The consultation also saw a veteran farmer asking Ramesh if his government had right to impose the Bt brinjal on people of the country. Manubhai Gandhi from Bhavnagar said that introducing Bt brinjal would be violation of people's rights under section 14, 16 and 19 of the Constitution of India. Vice Chancellor of Gujarat Vidhyapith Sudarshan Iyengar asked for moratorium on introduction of Bt brinjal for 5-7 years during which tests should be conducted to resolve doubts raised by various experts on GM food crops. Agriculture scientist K B Kathiriya from the Anand Agriculture University (AAU) said that they have conducted field trial of Bt brinjal and found there was considerable increase in the yield compared to normal brinjal. However, Dr J Manjrekar from Biotechnology department of M S University, Vadodara, contended that the studies done by private companies were 'shoddy' and sub-standard. "There is no scientific justification given for the tests which have been conducted irresponsibly and in an off-hand manner," Manjrekar said. Molecular biologist Dr Jayesh Seth said that consuming Bt brinjal would be like giving small dose of radiation which could increase susceptibility to cancer. "There have been no tests showing long term effects of Bt brinjal in which gene of normal brinjal is modified," Seth said. One farmer from Panchmahal said that with Bt cotton, his income has increased and his economic condition has improved. He said that Bt brinjal will also bring the same results. Another, Shabhulal Rawal from Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, agreed with his counterpart from Panchmahal saying that Bt cotton has been beneficial and so will be Bt brinjal. Many farmers like Bhikabhai Patel from Banskantha, Veljibhai from Kutch, Kantilal from Dungarpur, Rajasthan, said that they have been cultivating bt-cotton since last 5-7 years and the yield has consistently come down every year almost at the rate of 20 per cent. Many farmers said that introducing Bt brinjal would wipe out local varieties of the vegetable. http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?673145--
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