Fodder Scam: Fomer Indian Railway Minister Jailed

Former Indian railways minister Laloo Prasad Yadav has been sentenced to five years in prison in a notorious case known as the "fodder scam".

He was jailed on Monday after being found guilty of embezzling state funds intended to buy food for cattle while he was Bihar state chief minister.
He has always denied the allegations. His family has said he will appeal.

The sentencing is seen as a landmark step in tackling corruption in India where it is a major national issue.
Yadav now becomes one of the first politicians to lose his parliamentary seat after a recent Supreme Court ruling which bans convicted legislators from holding office.
On Wednesday, the government withdrew a controversial order which would have overturned the Supreme Court ruling and allowed convicted MPs to run for elections while appeals were pending.
'Rigorous imprisonment'
 
Delivering its judgement on Thursday, the special court in Ranchi in the eastern state of Jharkhand also ordered Yadav to pay a fine of 2.5m rupees ($40,481; £24,938).
Arvind Singh, joint secretary of the bar association in Ranchi, said Yadav would serve five years of "rigorous imprisonment".
He is among 45 people, including senior bureaucrats and politicians, who have been convicted by the court.
The scandal involved embezzlement of 9.5bn rupees ($151m; £94m) meant for buying cattle fodder.
The case first came to light in 1996, a measure of how long it can take for justice to be delivered in India.
Another former Bihar chief minister, Jagannath Mishra, was also convicted on Monday and has been sentenced to four years in jail.

There were a total of 56 defendants in the case. During the trial, seven of them died, two decided to give evidence for the prosecution, one admitted to the crime and one was discharged.
Laloo Yadav is one of India's most colourful politicians. He leads the Rashtriya Janata Dal party in Bihar and has long been an ally of India's Congress party-led coalition government in Delhi.
He resigned as chief minister of Bihar after the allegations of corruption arose. His wife Rabri Devi was installed in his place.

Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal party lost power in state elections in 2005.
Correspondents say the government has been beset by several high-profile corruption cases in recent years and public anger against politicians and officials seen as corrupt is at unprecedented levels.
The Delhi-based election watchdog, the Association for Democratic Reforms, says that there are 1,460 serving lawmakers facing criminal charges.

In the 543-seat lower house of parliament alone, more than 150 MPs are said to be facing criminal charges.
The Supreme Court has recently been trying weigh in on the issue. Last week, the court gave voters the right to reject all candidates in elections - the judges said that such a move would help cleanse the political system in the country

Source: bbc.co.uk 03 October 2013

OGM : la fin du rêve Monsanto en Inde ?

Dans l’ouest de l’Inde, l’État du Maharashtra a interdit à Mahyco, la filiale indienne du géant Monsanto, de vendre les graines de son coton OGM. Cette décision est un revers pour la multinationale américaine et pourrait avoir des conséquences importantes en Inde. Ici, plus de 90% des cotonniers recourent aux semences OGM. Plus grave, le ministre de l’Agriculture a dressé un lien entre les suicides de fermiers ruinés et l’usage de semences génétiquement modifiées.

Click on image to watch full report

Source: france24.fr

INDIA: Law to ensure quality seeds for farmers soon

We came across this article on the igovernment.in web portal. Can any of our readers inform us whether we have anything similar in Mauritius? And if so, where can we get a copy of the Act?

The government on Wednesday approved moving additional amendments to the Seeds Bill, 2004 to regulate the quality of seeds and planting materials (Published on 10/20/2010 - 11:58:30 AM on http://www.igovernment.in. Photo from http://www.spicyhomeparties.com)

New Delhi: The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved moving additional amendments to the Seeds Bill, 2004 to ensure availability of quality seeds to farmers.

"The legislation will regulate the quality of seeds and planting materials to ensure availability of quality seeds to farmers; to protect the rights of farmers; curb the sale of spurious and poor quality seeds; increase private participation in seed production, distribution, and liberalise imports of seeds and planting materials," the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

The additional amendments also provide for nomination of chairpersons for Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Authority and National Bio-diversity Authority to the Central Seed Committee, submission of seed-related periodic returns to the state government and enhancement in penalties of offences.

Provisions of labelling, seed health, expected performance and compensation to farmers have been included to ensure public accountability, reports IANS.

"The provisions will be implemented only after the Bill becomes an Act," the statement said.

The legislation is likely to be taken up during the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament commencing November 9.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, the efficacy of other agricultural inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides and irrigation is largely determined by the quality of seed. Seed quality accounts for 20-25 per cent of productivity.

"It is, therefore, important to ensure the quality of seed."

"A need has arisen for upgrading the seed quality regime by enacting a new legislation in view of emergence of new technologies; India's integration at the international level through World Trade Organisation (WTO), and other international organisations/treaties and increasing scope of export/import of seeds and planting materials," the Ministry said.
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