Environment and Food Security:
By 2025, the world population is expected to reach a staggering eight billion. This will require food production to increase at least by 50 percent under conditions of reduced availability of land, water, labor and other inputs. "Genetic engineering and genomic techniques offer new opportunities to develop new crop varieties with higher yield potential, dense micro-nutrients and yield stability." (Dr. Gurdev S. Khush of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines, a distinguished rice scientist and World Food Prize winner The Hindu 12 July 2001)

In what can be an alarming development, the scientists monitoring satellite imagery have found presence of blooms of algae, a kind of fungus a few kilometers wide on a 400-500 km. stretch of the Arabian Sea along the Gujarat coast. The poisonous fungus is believed to be capable of wiping out fish population in a vast area. The Indian remote sensing satellite IRS -P4 has also indicated deserts in the ocean where "there is very little or nil presence" of phytoplankton, the food of fishes near the Gulf of Oman. . If left unchecked, its spread may threaten the livelihood security of a large number of families dependent on fishery. Dr. R.R. Navalgund, Director, National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), (The Hindu 12 July 2001).

Biotechnology:
There is unanimity in the world community about the consequences of unregulated research in the fields of biotechnology and genetic engineering. The international conference on "New Biotechnology Food and Crops: Science, Safety and Society," organized by the U.K. Government in co-operation with the OECD and the Government of Thailand concluded that "Governments and the biotechnology industry should prepare dossiers not just to satisfy the regulatory process but as part of an exercise in accountability to civil society, countries and the environment, indeed to all stakeholders." (The Hindu 13 July 2001)

There has been a concern among developing economies, India included, over the threat of the competitors poaching into the vast variety of plant and other natural resources, without caring for the nation’s sovereign rights over its biological resources and knowledge developed over centuries. The international conventions on biodiversity and intellectual property rights no doubt recognize such attributes. But it is for the concerned countries themselves to register those products for patenting than wait for infringements before acting. The thing to start with is to document these traditional knowledge systems according to the International Patent Classification system. (Edit: Hindustan Times 22 August 2001)

Repeated calamities that the nature is unleashing in India such as the recent floods in Orissa and Kerala, Bihar etc calls for comprehensive coping strategies. As of today the over all strategy for managing the disaster is ad-hoc with few localized systems and without any pre-assigned distribution channels in the event of such disasters. (Edit: The Pioneer 31 July 2001) Disaster preparedness has remained as an oft-repeated word in bureaucratic reports submitted to secure international loans and grants without in any way impacting on the people affected who are left displaced, hungry, helpless and homeless. (The Pioneer 5 September 2001) There is therefore a need to replace the present reactive approaches with a proactive system and natural disaster management must completely be de-politicized. (The Hindu 7 August 2001) The scientific and technical capabilities that the country has been acquiring must be translated into meaningful long-term solutions. For example advance-warning systems must be made use of along with accessible and relevant information system and effective administrative intervention systems. (Edit: The Hindu 20 July 2001)

Kyoto Protocol:
Delegates from 178 countries capped marathon all-night talks by agreeing on a potentially groundbreaking package of measures that would operationalise the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that is intended to control global warming. The new agreement is expected to meet the 2008-12 targets for cutting developed countries' emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels. (The Hindu 24 July 2001) However in working out an acceptable proposal, the program was made weak in respect at least of arresting climate change. The attitude of the developed countries led by the US are not encouraging though, which still finds the 1997 Kyoto pact un-supportable in its current form. Colin Powell, the Secretary of State, while defending America’s record on environmental protection said that Washington was not denying its responsibilities by refusing to back the Kyoto pact on global warming and that technological initiatives and reviews of the accord are under way it is expected that new ideas can be "presented at COP 7, a follow-up meeting of environment ministers in Morocco in October or at other future meetings." (Reuters: The Statesman 25 July 2001) The administration, however has taken pains to explain that it is not ignoring the challenge posed by global warming. "We take the problem very seriously, we know that global warming is a challenge, the United States is not shrinking away from that challenge." (Secretary of State Colin Powell, quoted in (The Times of India 24 July 2001) The US attitude not withstanding, the Bonn deal marks an important step on what can be a very long and complex sojourn towards environmental stability. The signatories to the Kyoto Protocol will now have to ratify the agreement before 2002, the deadline for the coming into force of the treaty. Subsequent measures will have to accelerate the process of emission reduction, because the latest assessments are that global warming is taking place at twice the speed estimated earlier. The Bonn agreement has demonstrated that the U.S. stands isolated in the world on the approach to climate change. Though this does not alter the fact that the US is also the World’s biggest polluter of the atmosphere, a reversal in its attitude can only be possible through domestic pressure forcing the government to see sense in joining the international community in the cooperative effort to combat global warming. (Edit: The Hindu 26 July 2001)

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) or their products are beginning to make their way in shops in countries, which were once the bastion for natural ones. Soon the inhabitants can treat themselves to a wide array of products, i.e. tea, edible oil, alcoholic drinks, coffee, breads, cornflakes, chocolates and cakes satisfying varied tastes and nutrient requirements. The decision of whether to accept or reject GMOs will depend upon perception of the cost-benefit equation, bio-safety and environment safety. Keeping in mind the issues, for the first time ever, an international framework known as the Biosafety Protocol was set up to regulate trade in genetically modified products. The Montreal protocol prescribes rules regulating the import of GM seeds, microbes, animals and crops that are believed to be harmful to the environment and economic security. (The Indian Express 27 July 2001)

A debate has emerged in India about production of genetically modified (GM) crops such as cotton in the context of the concern that the very effectiveness of Bt as a bio-pesticide could be irrevocably endangered if use of Bt-transgenic plant varieties is not stopped immediately. The Indian Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), set up by the Government of India for licensing, has deferred the commercialization of Bt cotton and decided to go for large-scale trials in different agro-climatic conditions, henceforth under the direct supervision of the ICAR. What the genetic engineers have done is to develop transgenic crops containing the insecticidal gene of Bt, so that the plant itself makes the protein necessary for protection against pests. This has been perhaps the single biggest commercial application of r-DNA technology in the world so far. Cotton, corn and potato engineered with this gene were grown commercially in the U.S. for the first time in 1996. ...However, experience over the last five years reveals problems that place a question mark on this entire approach to pest control. (Debashis Banerji & Mihir Shah The Hindu 6 September 2001)

India’s concern for endangered species got a boost when it succeeded in stopping a push towards commercial whaling at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in London. "India's firm position that we are opposed to commercial whaling, and our support for maintaining the current moratorium prevented such an outcome." The Indian Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment and the Ministry of External Affairs came together to cast crucial votes. (The Pioneer 30 July 2001)

Poaching in Indian Jungles have become a matter of serious concern affecting wildlife and the multifarious life forms that exist in sanctuaries threatening the fragile eco-system. Preservation demands that the hunters of animals are to be hunted down before it is too late. (Edit: The Pioneer 3 September 2001)

There are now predictions about one or more major earthquakes lurking in the Gangetic belt below the Himalayas threatening millions of people in the capital cities of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan and several other cities. "Today, about 50 million people are at risk from great Himalayan earthquakes, many of them in towns and villages in the Ganges plain." (The Times of India 25 August 2001 quoting the Science Magazine.) Besides the World Seismic Safety Initiative, an international team of seismologists working on a global Earthquake Risk Index has predicted "100,000 people might lose their lives if a big earthquake with an epicenter close to a major metropolitan city, like New Delhi, was to strike the country." (The Times Of India 5 September 2001)

International resolve to fight terrorism anywhere and in all its manifestations gives a food for thought to those concerned with human security concerns. The lives lost as a result of the assault on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11 was not unprecedented at least in terms of numbers, millions are also victims of other terrorist actions and other forms of violence. The deliberate denial of food to the hungry is at the core of the World Bank Structural Adjustment programs. Dismantling the Public Distribution System (PDS) was World Bank conditionality. It was justified on grounds of reducing expenditure. But the food subsidy budget has exploded from Rs. 2,800 crores in 1991 to Rs. 14,000 crores in 2001. More money is being spent to store grain because the Bank wanted food subsidies to be withdrawn. This led to increase in food prices, lowering of purchase from PDS and build up of stocks. The food security of the nation is collapsing. Starvation deaths in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Orissa are symptoms of the breakdown of our food systems. Kashipur was gifted with abundance of nature. Starvation is the result of waves of violence against nature and the tribal communities, of ecological plunder of the resources of the region, the dismantling of the food security system under economic reform policies and the impact of climate change, which caused crop failures. Twenty years ago, the pulp and paper industry raped the forests of Kashipur. Today, the herbs stand naked and the paper mills are bringing eucalyptus from neighboring Andhra Pradesh. Now the giant mining companies - Hydro of Norway, Alcan of Canada, Indico, Balco/Sterlite of India have unleashed a new wave of terror. They are eyeing the bauxite in the majestic hills of Kashipur as it is used for aluminum that will go to make Coca Cola cans and fighter planes. The 50 million tribals who have been flooded out of their homes by dams over the past four decades are also victims of terrorism - they have faced the terror of technology and destructive development. For the 30,000 people who died in the Orissa super cyclone, and the millions who will die when flood and drought and cyclones become more severe because of climate change and fossil fuel pollution…. Citizens in Seattle named the WTO the World Terrorist Organization because its rules denied millions the right to life and livelihood. Terrorism can only be stopped by cultures of peace, democracy, and people's security. It is wrong to define the post-September 11 world as a war between "civilization and barbarism" or "democracy and terrorism." It is a war between two forms of terrorism, which are mirror images of each other's mindsets. They share the dominant culture of violence. They use the same weapons and the same technologies. In terms of the preference for violence and use of terror, both sides are clones of each other. And their victims are innocent people everywhere. (Vandana Shiva; The Hindu 22 September 2001)

Terrorism
South Asia is becoming prone to new strains of terror organizations that has become potentially destabilizing for the region. The latest developments have been the formation of a joint committee by 9 Maoist parties in South Asia to promote their ideas across the region involving Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. "The committee aims to consolidate and strengthen the Maoist people's wars in the South Asian countries." (AFP; The Times of India 1 July 2001.) The committee designated as Coordination Committee of the Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA) is to advance ‘‘people’s war’’ in Nepal and India. With escalation of violence in Nepal, the terrorist organization’s activities have spilled over to the neighboring areas, specifically areas bordering India. An umbrella organization of Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), Peoples’ War Group, RCCI (MLM), RCCI (Maoist) of India, Purba Bangla Sarbahara Party (CC), Purba Bangla Sarbahara (Maoist) and Bangladesh Samyabadi Party (ML), Communist Party of Cylone (Maoist), along with Communist Party of Nepal (CPN), CCOMPOSA described the coming together as ‘‘a historic move which will consolidate the protracted people’s war’’ in the subcontinent. (The Asian Age 4 July 2001)

There is increasing extremist activities in the eastern part of South Asia, the ugliest manifestation of which is being witnessed in the Himalayan kingdom- Nepal that now become a hotbed of activities of aggressive Maoist rebels. In all, 75 districts of the Himalayan kingdom and six districts of central west Nepal are affected by the armed militancy. The nexus runs through the porous border facilitating smuggling of arms and ammunition to extremists operating in India, and in turn the India based insurgents, i.e. the Peoples War Group, imparting training to insurgents of Nepal. There is apparently a corridor from Nepal to Telengana in Andhra Pradesh in India through jungles to facilitate pouring of arms, ammunition and explosives. This growth of the extremists is contrary to the contention of the enforcement agencies and the leadership that development plans and economic progress will negate the threat. It has also become apparent that police action will not be able to check its rapid growth in rural areas. Indecision and political considerations often create hurdles in curbing the violence. Neglect, misuse of power, favoritism and a perception that even in states ruled by parties with leftist ideology, the aspirations of the poor remain unfulfilled, has been responsible for this particular mutant upsurge. (BP Saha; The Statesman 4 & 5 July 2001) On the social level too, the extremist ideology has made inroads by addressing age-old issues of concern, the case in point being, and untouchability. The traditional discriminations such as social boycott, not allowing lower caste people to work or earn wages, forcibly taking away their harvest, foisting false police cases and even resorting to rape to ‘teach’ lessons to their women are now on the decline mostly due to fear of reprisals from these organizations. As law enforcement agencies admit themselves, "Majority members of the Naxalite guerilla squads are dalits. People know that any caste related discrimination would bring harsh reprisal from Naxalites. That is why no one takes a chance." (Ashok Das The Hindustan Times 9 July 2001)

Compiled from Media Sources

by

Arabinda Acharya