The European Commission received the go-ahead Monday to slap a two-year ban across the European Union on the use of pesticides blamed for a sharp decline in bee populations, an EU diplomat said. A key committee cleared the way for the European Union executive to implement a two-year moratorium on three pesticides, expected to enter into force in July, the source said. csg/ccr/ric

Beijing, Apr 25 (EFE).- One person died and 20 others were poisoned when a cook prepared food with a pesticide that he mistook for spices in China's Inner Mongolia region, the official Xinhua news agency reported Thursday. Two of the victims are listed in critical condition, Xinhua said. The cook, who is under arrest, was preparing food at a ranch for workers employed on the Beijing-Tibet highway expansion project. The accidental poisoning occurred on Tuesday when the cook added a toxic substance used as a pesticide to the food he was preparing, police said.

The Punjab Agriculture Pest Warning Department will organize a pesticide dealer training on April 8 at Punjab Agriculture House.In the training, dealers would be given information about getting pesticide license and its renewal.An objective of the training is to create awareness among people involved in pesticide business that how they could control different insect attack on crops.Pesticide dealers would also be informed about handling of various agriculture medicines, effects of agriculture poisons on humans and laws related to agriculture medicine.