Sunita Narain - Endosulfan National Seminar at Kasaragod - Concord'12
EPW Report: Endosulfan - Centre in Denial
Feb 19, 2011 It has been more than a dozen years since health professionals in north Kerala started noticing unusual health disorders in the tracts where there had been aerial spraying of the pesticide endosulfan on cashew plantations. Surveys, studies and countless media reports have brought out the burden of endosulfan. The Government of Kerala has even banned the sale of the pesticide. But the use of endosulfan continues elsewhere in the country, and India which has become a major exporter of this pesticide, remains adamant in its opposition to a global ban
Supreme Court asks Centre to submit endosulfan disposal plan
Sets deadline of July 23 The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to submit a disposal plan for the raw material used to manufacture endosulfan, Hexachlorocyclopentadiene (HCCP), an organochlorine compound. It is used in several pesticides.
Exporters plead to export raw endosulfan
SC reserves decision for November 21 The endosulfan hearing on November 14, saw the pesticides manufacturers pleading with the court to allow them to export raw endosulfan. The Supreme Court, on September 30 had allowed the export of endosulfan formulations to countries from which they had received export orders prior to the ban.
4 weeks extension
The Supreme Court met today to decide what needed to be done with the unused stock of endosulfan as well as propose alternatives for endosulfan. The endosulfan manufacturers requested for a four week period to submit their proposal to dispose the pesticide. The petitioners, Democratic Youth Federation of India, too will file an affidavit on how, they believe the stocks should be disposed. No call was taken on the alternatives for endosulfan yet. The court will meet again on Nov 11.
Excel sends legal notice to scientists
Excel Crop Care is back to attacking scientists. S Ganesan on behalf of Excel Crop Care, the biggest endosulfan manufacturer in the country, has sent a legal notice to the Calicut Medical college for their report on endosulfan. The report indicted endosulfan for the health problems of those living in the cashew plantations in Kasaragod, Kerala.
The Endo-Ban Tracker
Interim Report Deadline Extended
The Supreme Court appointed joint committee was unable to submit its interim report on endosulfan on July 15 and asked for another eight weeks to prepare the report. On the other hand, the pesticide manufacturers and formulators association of India, one of the respondents in the case, pleaded with the court to give an immediate relief to them to allow exporting the pesticides, the stocks for which were already present with the manufacturers.
Countdown to the Supreme Court Hearing
The eight weeks deadline for the Supreme Court appointed joint committee on endosulfan ended on July 13. The hearing of the case is scheduled for July 15.
Disclosed: Lies about endosulfan
The fortnightly newsmagazine Down To Earth (DTE) carries a shocking expose on the Central government's "unseemly haste" to give a clean chit to the pesticide endosulfan, used in the district of Kasaragod in Kerala and seen as the cause of horrendous abnormalities in people living there
Joint Committee's First Meeting Today
The Ban of Endosulfan and After
Two Turnabouts, A Joint Committee and Some Violations Friday the 13th wasn't bad after all. The Supreme Court on May 13, passed an ad-interim order to ban with immediate effect the manufacture, sale and use of endosulfan throughout the country, citing its harmful health effects. The court also directed the statutory authorities to seize the permits given to endosulfan manufacturers till further orders.
Karnataka and MP take a step back
It was a shocker. Out of the 21 states that attended a meeting at the agriculture commissioner's office, 20 opposed the ban on endosulfan and this included Karnataka, that has already banned endosulfan in the state and Madhya Pradesh, whose agriculture minister had sent a letter to the centre supporting Kerala's ex chief minister VS Achuthanandan's call for a nationwide ban on endosulfan.