New Delhi:
A charge of plagiarism has been leveled by an anti GM crop advocacy group against a high profile report from the six leading science academies of India which declared Bt brinjal as being safe.
The report prepared by the heads of some of the top Indian institutions has it seems lifted material almost verbatim from a biotechnology advocacy newsletter without proper acknowledgement.
Talking to NDTV President of the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, Dr. M. Vijayan a signatory to the report said,"The academies are re-examining the report, but a mere acknowledgement of the source material could have avoided this embarrassment".
At least six long paragraphs in the 25 page report especially in portions that detail historical aspects of the brinjal and the development of the GM variety have been lifted from a December, 2009 article written by Dr. P. Ananda Kumar, director, National Research Center for Plant Biotechnology, New Delhi in the government supported newsletter
Biotech News. The recommendations are not plagiarized.
In a release, The Coalition for GM Free India `warned the public not to trust such reports'.