Feature Article

Despite continuing half-hearted attempts to “conclude” the decade-long Doha Round of trade talks under the World Trade Organisation, the round is effectively dead though no country wants to say so. There have been many guilty of refusing to work out a fair package for all countries, but none are more responsible than the United States and the head of the organisation.

An audit of production-sharing contracts reveals violations that have hurt the interests of the public. (Editorial)

The National Food Security Bill is an absurd text under which nobody will know who is entitled to what. (Editorial)

Amnesty International (AI) has urged the Indian authorities to order the immediate clean-up of an alumina refinery in Orissa, following a high court decision to reject plans for its expansion by a subsidiary of the UK-based Vedanta Resources. The High Court of Orissa upheld the Indian government’s decision made in August 2010 to reject Vedanta Aluminium's plans for the sixfold expansion of the Lanjigarh refinery, finding that the project violated the country’s environmental laws. (Letters)

Ramana Murthy’s article on “Paddy Glut and Farmer Distress in Andhra Pradesh” (EPW, 16 July 2011) captures the intensity and root cause of the procurement problem in the state though it does not give a clear-cut solution. Murthy simplifies the importance of self-help groups (SHGs) in procuring paddy in Andhra Pradesh (AP), which calls for a discussion. (Letters)

There have been many studies on the effects of enriched levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide on soils. A meta-analysis shows that emissions of other greenhouse gases increase under high-CO2 conditions.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v475/n7355/full/475177a.html

UK lays out first framework to govern ethically sensitive research field.

http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110727/full/475438a.html

Arctic tundra soils store large amounts of carbon (C) in organic soil layers hundreds to thousands of years old that insulate, and in some cases maintain, permafrost soils. Fire has been largely absent from most of this biome since the early Holocene epoch, but its frequency and extent are increasing, probably in response to climate warming. The effect of fires on the C balance of tundra landscapes, however, remains largely unknown.

The time is right, says Martin Bobrow, to improve the governance of research involving animals that contain human genetic or cellular material.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v475/n7357/full/475448a.html

International agreements are not enough. Interlinked national and regional tools are also needed to reduce carbon emissions, say Mark Maslin and Joanne Scott.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v475/n7357/full/475445a.html