Till now, no substantive information has been given in the media regarding the Gachanpalli killings of 17th September 2009 (during Operation Green Hunt) and 1st October killings at Gompad and Chintagufa villages by security forces. Nor have any reports appeared regarding detentions and arrests of several young men on 1st October.

The Church of England (CoE), an investor in Vedanta, decided to review the situation arising out of the conflict between the tribals and the company and did not rule out pulling out of Vedanta for ethical considerations. The church's shareholdings in Vedanta are worth Rs 20 crore, a small stake in a Rs 3,000-crore company. But if the CoE pulls out, the action will carry tremendous symbolic power and will prove a shot in the arm for environmental activists, who have been alleging all along that Vedanta is violating laws and displacing tribals from their traditional habitat. The church will take a final decision after its ethical investment advisory group meets later this month; but by all accounts, a pullout seems likely.

Three closely related ecologies - involving us with the environment (natural), with each other as human communities (social), and with ourselves at a subjective plane (mental) - have been thrown out of balance by the enormity of the changes precipitated by the industrial revolution which began in Europe in the 18th century.

The argument that no adverse effects have been recorded among Americans is completely unscientific ( the US uses GM corn in its processed form such as chips, sweeteners). Animal feeding studies have been done on whole corn, not in its processed form. So, it is impossible to say if consumption of processed GM food has had any adverse impacts. Besides, consumers are not monitored. It might help to do a scrutiny of the American population in a controlled epidemiological manner.