Expert opinions, editorials, reports on Bt-Brinjal & GM-Foods

[Reference - IndiaGMInfo] The following are some of the letters and articles that have been sent to the Minister for Environment & Forests, in response to his call on October 15th 2009 for public feedback on Bt Brinjal and the EC2 report/clearance of this GMO in India. 


INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS
1. Prof Gilles-Eric Seralini, University of Caen, France
2. Prof Jack Heinemann, Centre for Integrated Research in Biosafety, University of Canterbury, New Zealand : Part 1 and Part 2
3. Prof David Schubert, Cellular Neurobiology Lab, The Salk Institute of Biological Studies, USA
4. Dr Mae-Wan Ho, Institute of Science in Society (ISIS), UK: On Bt Cotton & Farmers' Suicides and On Mealy Bugs-the unfolding disaster on Bt Cotton
5. Jeffrey Smith, Director, Institute for Responsible Technology, USA


FROM EXPERTS IN INDIA
1. From Dr Pushpa M Bhargava, Supreme Court Nominee to the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee
2. From Dr Claude Alvares, Organic Farming Association of India: On contamination of native cultivars, impact on biodiversity, Appropriation and Privatisation of native cultivated varieties, Resistance to Bt crops, Impact on soils, Human safety trials, Lack of need for Bt Brinjal, Availability of better alternatives etc.
3. From Dr G V Ramanjaneyulu, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (Ph D, Agriculture Extension); Usha Kumari, Thanal (M Sc Agriculture Extension); Kapil Shah, Jatan Trust (M Sc Plant Breeding) and Satish Natarajan, Sahaja Samruddha (Organic Farmer): On environmental risk assessment of Bt Brinjal, on (lack of) relevance of the technology, On (lack of) transparent and accountable regulatory systems and on socio-economic impacts
4. From Kavitha Kuruganti, Kheti Virasat Mission: on the objectionable and unacceptable constitution of the EC2, some general points about Bt Brinjal evaluation, specific responses to EC2 report and on issues beyond biosafety, including questions on the need for Bt Brinjal
5. From Dr Sagari Ramdas, Director, ANTHRA: On no proof of safety regarding impacts of Cry1Ac, Bt Cotton and Bt Brinjal on animal deaths/illnesses
6. From Sreedevi Lakshmi Kutty, concerned and aware citizen from Mumbai: On general objections to the reductionist and one-dimensional acceptance of GMOs, on issues with regulatory decision-making and specific objections to EC2 report
7. From Aruljothi Mariappan, Ph.D scholar, Bacterial Genetics, Institute of Biology, Humboldt University, Berlin; Mahesh P P, Ph.D Scholar, Mycobacteria Research Group, Molecular Microbiology, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram; Dr Sundaramurthy Thimmaiah, Agriculture Scientist & Environmentalist, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu; Rajasekaran M., Graduate Student, International Organic Agriculture, Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, University of Kassel, Germany; Krishna Kumar,Ph.D scholar, Institute for Neuro and Bioinformatics, University of Luebeck, Germany; Yuvasenthilkumar Ramalingam, Master in International Organic Agriculture, Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore: combined response from all the six.
8. From Capt. Jai Narain Nishad, former Environment Minister, GoI
9. From Anupam Paul, Agriculture Scientist and Member, SATSA (West Bengal State Agriculture Technologists and Scientists Association)


BLOG PIECES
1. "Bt-Brinjal, the way not to go": by Prof S Krishnaswamy, Biotech Professor in TN :
2. "Bt Brinjal Debate": by Srinivasan Ramani, New Delhi, Assistant Editor working with Economic and Political Weekly; also pursuing PhD in International Relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University 
3. "Bt Brinjals - the terrifying spectre of a brave new world": by Dr. Shyamala Shah who has a Masters in Microbiology from Department of Microbiology, University of Pune and a doctoral degree in Botany with special emphasis on Plant Biotechnology.
4. "Genetically contaminated food gets the green signal": by Dr Sameet who has PhD in Zoology and currently working on generating sequencing libraries for massively parallel sequencing using the SOLiD technology.
5: “Bio-tech or Bio-terror” – Absolute Truth Network : by Madhur Guaranga Dasa/Chandrashekhar Gani
6. “Will you include Bt Brinjal in your diet?” - By Struggling Bharat
7. An american blogger, on control of vegetables and seed market by Monsanto in US (including kitchen gardens)
8. Public HealthWatch blog: Press Release : JNU’s Centre for Community Health Warns Against Bt Brinjal Hazards
9. Blog on Bt-Brinjal and I am no lab rat campaign by Manmeet Singh Sabharwal, a management graduate from NMIMS, currently employed with Oracle
10. Different blog pieces of Dr Devinder Sharma :  http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.com/


COLUMNS
1. Latha Jishnu, Business Standard: “Who owns the eggplant?”


OPINION PIECES
1. “Where is the science” (Indiatogather): By Sujata Byravan
2. “Bt Brinjal, a step towards disaster”, By Praful Bidwai
3. “Save Brinjals Save Ourselves” – By K Saradamoni, A detailed article encompassing issues with Bt-Brinjal, Bt-cotton and food security
4. “Genetically Engineered world”, by T J S George, famous writer and biographer :
5. “Bt. Brinjal: Symbol Of Corporate Hegemony”: By Rajkumar, Svaraj:http://aamjunta.com/2009/11/13/bt-brinjal-symbol-of-corporate-hegemony/
6. “Trouble on the plate” - By Dr Vandana Shiva
7. “Food without Choice” - By Dr Pushpa M Bhargava 
8. “Bt brinjal can awaken a sleeping poison” – By Dr. Suman Sahai  
9. “The Truth about Bt Brinjal” – By Dr K P Prabhakaran Nair  
10. “Why a freeze on GM crops” – by Dr Pushpa M Bhargava
11. “Life in debt” – By Sachin Kumar Jain
12. “GM Brinjals will destroy Indian farmers” – By Umendra Dutt
13. “No state policy on transgenic food” – By Nandkumar Kamat


MAJOR NEWS STORIES
1. “Bt brinjal clearance ignored dissenters?”
2. “Green Signal for Bt Brinjal”
3. “Bt Brinjals in markets near you” (Audio recording of Dr. Bhargava's interview with Down To Earth)
4. “How Bt Brinjal was cleared” – Down to Earth article on the EC2
5. “Bt Brinjal tests inadequate – How safe is it” - IBNLIVE video broadcast
6. “Controversy continues over Bt Brinjal approval” - IBNLIVE video broadcast
7. “New twist of controversy over commercial release of Bt Brinjal”
8. “Church of South India (CSI) opposing GM foods”
9. “There is scientific evidence to prove that GM crops have harmful effects”
10. “Soil in Wardha district deficient in 18 micronutrients: Study”