Category Archives: environment

The best Indian government Big Ag can buy! Monsanto India & BASF India surge as government approves field trials of GM crops

Shares of Monsanto India and BASF India have rallied by up to 10% on reports that the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has approved field trials of genetically modified (GM) food crops on a conditional basis. Monsanto India is locked in upper circuit of 10% at Rs 1,467, also its record high on BSE. A combined 224,000 shares already changed hands over the counter and there are pending orders for around 27,000 shares on the BSE and NSE at 1320 hours.

In the past month, shares of agrochemicals manufacturer has rallied 77% from Rs 828, against 2.2% rise in S&P BSE 500 index. Monsanto India, a subsidiary of the Monsanto Company, USA is a seed company focusing on maize and agricultural productivity.

BASF India too, surged 7% to Rs 698 on the BSE. The stock opened at Rs 670 and touched a 52-week high of Rs 704 so far.

via Monsanto India & BASF India surge as government approves field trials of GM crops.

U.S. Plans to Speed Poultry Slaughtering, Cut Inspections to please Tyson’s bank account- Inter Press Service

 

The U.S. government is in the final stages of weighing approval for an overhaul of regulations governing the country’s poultry industry that would see processing speeds increase substantially even while responsibility for oversight would be largely given over to plant employees.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) inspector at a poultry processing facility in Accomac, Virginia checking for cleanliness and testing poultry for the Avian Influenza (AI) virus. Credit: USDA/public domain

The plan, which was originally floated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) two years ago, is currently slated to be finalised by regulators next month. Yet opposition has been heating up from lawmakers as well as labour, public health and consumer advocacy groups.

On Thursday, over 100 such groups and businesses delivered a letter, along with nearly 220,000 petitions, to President Barack Obama, asking that the proposal be withdrawn.

via U.S. Plans to Speed Poultry Slaughtering, Cut Inspections – Inter Press Service.

Science Graphic of the Week: Arctic Sea Ice Takes a Hit From Warm Rivers – Wired Science

In the first graphic in the gallery above, those bleeding red stains covering hundreds of square miles represent just how much that pulse of river water warmed the Beaufort Sea. It’s a difference of almost 12 degrees Fahrenheit, on average, and it’s visible from space — at least if you’re the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer riding aboard NASA’s Terra satellite. The instrument images Earth in 36 spectral bands, recording data about things like cloud cover and surface temperatures.

via Science Graphic of the Week: Arctic Sea Ice Takes a Hit From Warm Rivers – Wired Science.

America Is Ready to Elect Its Fourth-Most-Popular Recent First Lady as President – The Wire

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Two new polls tossed onto the already putrefying pile of 2016 surveys offer good news for Hillary Clinton. A majority of Americans want her to run in 2016 and most people don’t see her gender or husband as disqualifying. Hell, nearly a fifth of people under the age of 30 think Clinton’s not even 50 years old. Good news all around.

via America Is Ready to Elect Its Fourth-Most-Popular Recent First Lady as President – The Wire.

Obama Opens the East Coast to Seismic Blasting; Drilling to Come | Michael Jasny’s Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC

Today the Obama administration released its long-awaited Environmental Impact Statement on oil and gas exploration off the east coast.  And not surprisingly, it is a capitulation to the forces of drill-baby-drill.  Within months, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will start issuing permits for seismic exploration, letting companies troll our coasts from New Jersey to Florida with arrays of high-powered airguns.

via Obama Opens the East Coast to Seismic Blasting; Drilling to Come | Michael Jasny’s Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC.

Not in favor of the testing and not in favor of implying that President Obama personally opened the door for this.

Not acceptable on both counts.

13 were exposed to radiation at US plant – The Hindu

Thirteen workers at the U.S. underground nuclear waste dump in New Mexico have tested positive for radiation exposure after a recent leak released toxic particles in and around the plant, officials announced.

The accident is the first-known release of radiation since the dump began taking plutonium-contaminated waste from U.S. nuclear bomb building sites 15 years ago.

via 13 were exposed to radiation at US plant – The Hindu.

Why am I seeing this first in an Indian newspaper and not in US yet?

Eurosurveillance – View Article – Import-Export of Dengue Fever

Imported dengue via travellers to currently non-endemic countries has increased steadily in recent decades, as reported by GeoSentinel, a worldwide network of travel medicine providers [8,9]. Dengue is the top cause of febrile illnesses in international travellers returning from south-east Asia [10]. Australia has seen a dramatic rise in the number of dengue cases caused by returning travellers, particularly from south-east Asia, with an increase of approximately 350% between 2004–2007 and 2008–2011 [11,12]. In Europe, various countries have also reported increased numbers of dengue in returning travellers to Europe [13-16].

via Eurosurveillance – View Article.

Wild beavers seen in England for first time in centuries | Environment | theguardian.com

A family of wild beavers has been seen in the England countryside in what is believed to be the first sighting of its kind in up to 500 years.

Three European beavers (Castor fiber), believed to be adults, have been filmed together on the River Otter in east Devon and can be seen gnawing at the base of trees, grooming themselves and playing together.

Experts said the sighting was “highly significant” as it strongly suggested a small breeding population of beavers now existed outside captivity.

via Wild beavers seen in England for first time in centuries | Environment | theguardian.com.

wild’n’whole: Soul lessons from my surf board

: Surrender to and respect Mother Nature

Surfing demands you cultivate the closest connection and deepest respect for Mother Nature. Playing in the face a force like that, that is so life giving and yet so fierce, will change your perspective on the interconnectivity and balance of all things. After that you understand that we alone cannot possibly hold all the power over what happens. So you learn to listen to what life has to reveal to you and follow the path of least resistance in order to discover the path that was intended for you.

You don’t surf for your own glory, you surf because you’re caught up in a great act of nature. You learn there is just no value in forcing. It’s the deepest surrender that gives you the sweetest sense of who you really are. Surfers hand themselves over to the ocean every time they step in the water.

via wild’n’whole: Soul lessons from my surf board.

Makes it Pro-Japan Against Outside World! Japan struggles to keep whaling alive | Asia | DW.DE | 26.02.2014

Junichi Sato, the executive director of the Japan branch of Greenpeace, says the argument has been framed in such a way for the domestic audience that Japanese people largely remain silent, even if they do not agree with the “research whaling” program.

“It has become a cultural conflict pitting Japan against outsiders,” he said. “They have made the argument claiming that if you oppose whaling, you oppose Japanese culture. That makes it very difficult for Japanese people to speak out.

via Japan struggles to keep whaling alive | Asia | DW.DE | 26.02.2014.