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Re: [News] Microsoft Still Lobbies in Kerala (Linux State)

On Sunday 17 December 2006 18:22 Erik Funkenbusch wrote:

> On Sun, 17 Dec 2006 18:01:05 +0000, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> 
>> Indian state takes on Microsoft
>> 
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>| He said Microsoft executives were seeking to meet the state's chief
>>| minister this week. Kerala state is a potentially strong market for
>>| the company, with a population of 32 million and a 90.9% literacy
>>| rate - far above the national average of 68.4%.
>> `----
>> 
>>
http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/companies/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&lvl2=comp&ArticleID=1518-1783_2045929
> 
> Funny how you take one tiny paragraph of the entire article and make it
> seem like the entire article was about Microsoft harassing someone.
> 
> They seem to be a bit on the bizarre side... I like this quote:
> 
> "They have already tried to ban US soft drinks giants Coca Cola and Pepsi
> following allegations that the drink contained pesticides."
> 
> Pesticides?  Wow... they'll believe anything.

Oh indeed, Erik.
Like this, for instance:-

http://www.indiaresource.org/news/2006/1084.html

(QUOTE)
CSE tested 57 samples of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo carbonated products from 25
different bottling plants across 12 states and found pesticide residues in
all samples. 

 The study found a "cocktail of between three to five different pesticides
in all samples" - and on an average, the pesticide residues were 24 times
higher than European Union (EU) standards and those proposed by the Bureau
of India Standards (BIS), the government body responsible for
standardization and quality control. 

 The study found high levels of: 
Lindane - a confirmed carcinogen - sometimes as high as 140 times those
allowed by EU and BIS standards

Chlorpyrifos - a neurotoxin - sometimes as high as 200 times those allowed
by EU and BIS standards

Heptachlor - which is banned in India and also has not been used in the US
since 1988 - was found in 71 per cent of the samples, at levels 4 times
higher than the proposed BIS standards.

Malathion - a pesticide that the US EPA recommends that workers wait at
least 12 hours before entering the area of application - were found in
38.6% of the samples tested.

 "This is a grave public health scandal," said Sunita Narain, director of
the Centre for Science and Environment and winner of the prestigious 2005
Stockholm Water Prize. 

 The latest study comes three years after CSE had found similar levels of
pesticides in Coca-Cola and Pepsico products. One of the highest ranking
bodies possible to be set up in India, the Joint Parliamentary Committee
(JPC), was convened to look into the issue of dangerous levels of
pesticides in soft drinks. In February 2004, the JPC confirmed the unsafe
levels of pesticides in soft drinks, and recommended that the government
set standards for these residues in the products. Since then, a committee
from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has convened over 20 meetings to
deliberate on the standards, and Coca-Cola, Pepsico, consumer and
environmental organizations have all been consulted. 

 In October 2005, the standards were finalized by the committee, and in
March 2006, the committee met again to reconfirm the standards. The BIS has
adopted the same standards as the European Union - which stipulates a
single residue limit of 0.0001 parts per million and multiple residue limit
of 0.0005 parts per million. The proposed standards, however, have been
delayed from being implemented, ostensibly to do more research. 

 The Centre for Science and Environment sees it differently. "Our reason is
simple: if soft drinks contain a cocktail of pesticides above stipulated
standard, they are unsafe. The companies say there are no stipulated
standards. The reason is simple: they don't allow standards to be
formulated. The standards that needed to be set to regulate their safety
have been lost in committees or blocked by powerful interests in the
government. The soft drink companies and their industry associations had
fought tooth and nail against setting up a final product standard," said
CSE in a prepared statement. 

 The Centre for Science and Environment is demanding that the government
implement the standards immediately and make the standards mandatory for
the soft drink companies. 

 Coca-Cola and Pepsico together control about 90% of the carbonated beverage
market in India. 

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