Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Plugging the leak: On the GM rice controversy

Plugging the leak: On the GM rice controversy

India must assuage (शान्त करना, कम करना, संतुष्ट करना) importers that its produce (उत्पादन, सभी कृषि उत्पाद) is compliant with trade demands on GM foods

Since June, the export of about 500 tonnes of rice from India has triggered (cause, prompt, bring about, generate, give rise to) an uproar (complaint, objection, protest) in several European countries on the grounds (ज़मीन, कारण, आधार, कारक) that it was genetically modified (GM) rice. This emerged during a check by the European Commission’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed that was testing rice flour (a powder obtained by grinding grain (such as rice, wheat & etc.)) by the French company Westhove. In June, France had issued a notification for unauthorised (अनधिकृत, अनौपचारिक, अप्रमाणित) GM rice flour, identifying India as the point of origin (the presence of a impurity), and alerting Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. as the possible destination of products made with the flour. So in August, the American food products company Mars, fearing GM contamination, announced that it was recalling (याद करना, रद्द करना, वापस लेना) four of its product lines of ‘Crispy M&M’. GM-free rice that is tagged (label, classify) as ‘organic (कार्बनिक, प्राकृतिक, कीटनाशक) rice’ is among India’s high-value exports worth ₹63,000 crore annually. India does not permit the commercial cultivation (खेती, सभ्यता) of GM rice, but research groups are testing varieties of such rice in trial (परीक्षण, अध्ययन, प्रयोग) plots. So the suspicion (संदेह, अविश्वास, संशयवाद) is that rice from some of these test-plots may have “leaked” into the exported product. The Indian government has denied (इनकार करना, अस्वीकार करना, त्यागना) this possibility (संभावना, व्यावहारिकता) with a Commerce Ministry spokesperson alleging (आरोप लगाना, विरोध करना, तर्क करना) that the contamination may have happened in Europe “to cut (काटना, कम करना) costs”. However, India has indicated that it will commission (आयोग करना, संलग्न करना, नियोजित करना) an investigation involving its scientific bodies.

India’s history of crop (a plant that is grown in large quantities) modification using GM is one of test-plants finding their way (manage to get to/arrive at a destination place (but with some difficulty)) to commercial cultivars before they were formally cleared (स्पष्ट करना, अनुमति देना). Thus, Bt-cotton was widely prevalent (widespread, common, general, ordinary) in farmer fields before being cleared. Though they have not been cleared, Bt-brinjal and herbicide-tolerant (relating to a plant/crop designed to tolerate specific broad-spectrum herbicides, which kill the surrounding weeds, but leave the cultivated plant/crop intact) cotton varieties too have been detected in farmer fields. Though the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (the apex regulator of GM crops in India; India’s apex biotech regulatory committee, The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) that functions as a statutory body under the Environment Protection Act 1986 of the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), has been changed to Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee through a Gazette Notification issued on July 22, 2010). GEAC is responsible for granting permits to conduct experimental and large-scale open field trials and also grant approval for commercial release of biotech crops) is the apex regulator (an association that supervises a particular business activity) of GM crops, it is mandated (instruct, direct, order, require, make something mandatory) that trials of GM crops obtain permission from States. Because of the close connections between farmers and State agriculture universities, which are continuously testing new varieties of crops employing all kinds of scientific experiments ranging from introducing transgenes (a gene or a segment of DNA that is introduced into the genome of an organism) to other non-transgenic (non-genetically modified) modification methods, and the challenges of ensuring that trial plots are strictly segregated (isolated, separated) from farms, there is a possibility that seeds may transfer within plots. Because many Indian farmers are dependent on European imports, the Centre must rush to assuage importers that India’s produce is compliant with trade demands. The fractious (argumentative, quarrelsome, contentious, controversial, difficult (to control), disagreeable) history of GM crops in India means that passions (obsession, preoccupation, craze, mania) often rule over reason (rationality, logic, logical thought, scientific thinking; good sense, good judgement, common sense) on questions of the safety of GM crops, and so India must also move to ensure that research into all approaches — GM or non GM — should not become a casualty (victim, loser, loss) in this matter of export-quality compliance (conformity, observance, observation, accordance, adherence).

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.assuage (verb)

Hindi Meaning - शान्त करना, कम करना, संतुष्ट करना
English Meaning - relieve, alleviate, soothe, mitigate, tone down; satisfy, fulfil, gratify, appease.

2.produce (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उत्पादन, सभी कृषि उत्पाद
English Meaning - all agricultural products.

3.unauthorized (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - अनधिकृत, अनौपचारिक, अप्रमाणित
English Meaning - unofficial, uncertified, unapproved.

4.recall (verb)

Hindi Meaning - याद करना, रद्द करना, वापस लेना
English Meaning - cancel, take back, override, repeal, revoke (an action or decision).

5.organic (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - कार्बनिक, प्राकृतिक, कीटनाशक
English Meaning - natural, pesticide-free, chemical-free, non-chemical.

6.cultivation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - खेती, सभ्यता
English Meaning - the act of growing something, especially crops.

7.trial (noun)

Hindi Meaning - परीक्षण, अध्ययन, प्रयोग
English Meaning - test, pilot study, experiment.

8.suspicion (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संदेह, अविश्वास, संशयवाद
English Meaning - misgiving, doubt/qualm, distrust, scepticism.

9.deny (verb)

Hindi Meaning - इनकार करना, अस्वीकार करना, त्यागना
English Meaning - reject, abandon, discard.

10.possibility (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संभावना, व्यावहारिकता
English Meaning - chance, practicability.

11.ground (noun)

Hindi Meaning - ज़मीन, कारण, आधार, कारक
English Meaning - reason, cause, basis, factor.

12.allege (verb)

Hindi Meaning - आरोप लगाना, विरोध करना, तर्क करना
English Meaning - contend, argue, claim.

13.cut (verb)

Hindi Meaning - काटना, कम करना
English Meaning - reduce, decrease, lessen.

14.commission (verb)

Hindi Meaning - आयोग करना, संलग्न करना, नियोजित करना
English Meaning - engage, employ, appoint, authorize, order (someone to do something).

15.clear (verb)

Hindi Meaning - स्पष्ट करना, अनुमति देना
English Meaning - authorize, give permission, permit, allow, give approval to.

16.plug the leak/gap/hole (phrase)

English Meaning - to fix up (a recurring problem).

17.Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) (noun)

English Meaning - Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can be defined as organisms (i.e. plants, animals or microorganisms) in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating and/or natural recombination. The technology is often called “modern biotechnology” or “gene technology”, sometimes also “recombinant DNA technology” or “genetic engineering”. It allows selected individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another, also between nonrelated species. Foods produced from or using GM organisms are often referred to as GM foods.

18.genetically modified (GM) rice (noun)

English Meaning - rice strains (natural or cultured variety) that have been genetically modified.

19.compliant with (adjective)

English Meaning - in accordance with, in compliance with, in agreement with, in line with.

20.trigger (verb)

English Meaning - cause, prompt, bring about, generate, give rise to.

21.uproar (noun)

English Meaning - complaint, objection, protest.

22.Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) (noun)

English Meaning - Created in 1979, RASFF enables information to be shared efficiently between its members (EU Member State national food safety authorities, Commission & others) and provides a round-the-clock service to ensure that urgent notifications are sent, received and responded to collectively and efficiently. Thanks to RASFF, many food safety risks had been averted before they could have been harmful to European consumers.

23.flour (noun)

English Meaning - a powder obtained by grinding grain (such as rice, wheat & etc.)

24.point of origin (noun)

English Meaning - the presence of a impurity.

25.Mars, Inc & M&M (noun)

English Meaning - M&M’s represent the biggest chocolate brand at Mars, Inc. which also owns Milky Way, Snickers, and Twix. Mars is the second-biggest U.S. chocolate manufacturer, just behind Hersey. (Mars is recalling a batch of its M&M’s Crispy products due to the presence of a genetically modified organism (GMO)).

26.tag (verb)

English Meaning - label, classify.

27.crop (noun)

English Meaning - a plant that is grown in large quantities.

28.find one’s way (phrase)

English Meaning - manage to get to/arrive at a destination place (but with some difficulty).

29.Bt-cotton (noun)

English Meaning - genetically modified pest resistant plant cotton variety. Bt cotton was developed using the common soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.). (B.t. is a naturally occurring bacteria that is commonly found in soil and food. B.t. has been used to control insects).

30.prevalent (adjective)

English Meaning - widespread, common, general, ordinary.

31.herbicide (noun)

English Meaning - a chemical that is used to destroy plants, particularly weeds.

32.tolerant (adjective)

English Meaning - (of a plant/crop) able to endure something (herbicide chemical in this context).

33.herbicide-tolerant (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to a plant/crop designed to tolerate specific broad-spectrum herbicides, which kill the surrounding weeds, but leave the cultivated plant/crop intact.

34.Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) (noun)

English Meaning - the apex regulator of GM crops in India; India’s apex biotech regulatory committee, The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) that functions as a statutory body under the Environment Protection Act 1986 of the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), has been changed to Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee through a Gazette Notification issued on July 22, 2010). GEAC is responsible for granting permits to conduct experimental and large-scale open field trials and also grant approval for commercial release of biotech crops.

35.regulator (noun)

English Meaning - an association that supervises a particular business activity.

36.mandate (verb)

English Meaning - instruct, direct, order, require, make something mandatory.

37.transgene (noun)

English Meaning - a gene or a segment of DNA that is introduced into the genome of an organism.

38.transgenic (adjective)

English Meaning - genetically modified.

39.non-transgenic (adjective)

English Meaning - non-genetically modified.

40.segregated (adjective)

English Meaning - isolated, separated.