4 arrested after controversial 'suicide pod' used for the first time in Switzerland
Zurich: Four people were arrested in Switzerland after a controversial capsule, known as the "Sarco" pod, was used to end a woman's life. The incident took place in the northern canton of Schaffhausen on Monday.
Prosecutors have initiated criminal proceedings against the detainees for "inducing and aiding and abetting suicide." The deceased was identified as a 64-year-old American woman who had been suffering from a severely compromised immune system.
Among the arrested was Florian Willet, co-president of "The Last Resort," the group behind the capsule. He was reportedly the only person present at the scene alongside a Dutch journalist and two Swiss nationals, according to a spokesperson for the group.
The Sarco capsule, designed by Australian physician Philip Nitschke, causes death by releasing nitrogen gas inside, lowering the oxygen level to a fatal degree. The device has raised legal and ethical concerns in Switzerland, a country known for its laws allowing assisted suicide.
Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, the Swiss minister responsible for health, stated that the Sarco does not meet product safety requirements and that its use of nitrogen is not legally compliant.
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India is the place for large-scale organic production, says Commerce Secretary
Nuremberg (PTI): India is the place for large-scale organic production and the country is keen to collaborate with the EU to strengthen this ecosystem to cater to rising demands, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said here on Tuesday.
Agrawal also said that India's organic products exports have grown threefold over the last 10 years, and the government now aims to triple them again over the next five years.
"India is the place" to serve the world as a good organic food basket, he said, adding that India has 150.3 million hectares of agricultural land under cultivation.
He said that the organic ecosystem is growing very fast in the country, as today, 3 per cent of India's cultivation is organic.
In India, 4.7 million hectares of land is under organic cultivation, with 2.4 million farmers practising it, and it is only increasing by the day, he said.
The Secretary was speaking at the inauguration of Biofach 2026. About 100 exhibitors from 20 Indian states, including Assam, Meghalaya, and Kerala, are here to showcase their organic food products at the world's leading trade fair Biofach show (February 10-13).
He informed that India is emerging as a credible supplier of organic food, both within India and outside.
"I see this happening in a much faster manner. So if world needs the state for organic production, I think India is the place, and we like to work with all of you to see how we can improve the Indian organic food ecosystem to serve both the Indian rising demand within India and also the rising demand in two of our biggest markets," he said.
He called for creating credibility around organic foods. There is a need to ensure trust and credibility around the certification of these products.
India started with the national programme for organic production way back in 2001 and that was designed to adopt the international standards of organic goods.
"And now we are bringing in cooperatives in a big way," he said, adding that cooperatives can bring in and aggregate farmers to create good, viable organic ecosystem in various villages across the country.
