PETA's Person of the Year: Dr Shashi Tharoor

The Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Dr. Shashi Tharoor named as the Person of the Year by the animal rights body PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) – India for taking steps to advance animal protection. Mr. Tharoor recommended the National Council for Teacher Education (NCERT) to ban the use of animals, viz. for dissection, etc, in training teachers.
By his initiative, in 2012, the Ministry of Environment and Forests issued a directive instructing all the institutes or establishments associated with teaching of medical, pharmacy and other courses in life sciences to follow UGC guidelines for discontinuation of dissection and animal experimentation in universities and colleges and introduce use of alternatives to animal experimentation.

 About People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) – India

• Based in Mumbai, launched in January 2000.
• Operates under the simple principle that animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on or use for entertainment.
• Focuses primarily on the areas in which the greatest numbers of animals suffer the most: in the food and leather industries, laboratories and the entertainment industry.
• Responsible for the ending of animal experiments by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education in 2008.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2014

Category: Awards, Honours & Persons in News