three months after imposing a ban on the cultivation of gm crops, France's upper house of parliament, the Senate, on April 16 passed a bill laying down conditions for growing such crops.

Despite fears that the flow of the Bhagirathi, the main tributary of the Ganga, is falling in volume, the government has said there is no such threat to the river and the "natural' receding of the Gangotri glacier does not require any corrective measures. "Gomukh is the ice cave of Gangotri glacier through which the river Bhagirathi emerges from the glacier. Therefore, the question of Ganga going far away from the main source does not arise,' earth sciences minister Kapil Sibal informed the Parliament.

In the wake of reports of widespread misuse of the Transport Subsidy Scheme, the Planning Commission is evaluating the scheme afresh. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has clarified today, that it has not released Transport Subsidy Scheme during the current financial year. This fiscal, only Rs 1 crore has been earmarked under the scheme, pending its evaluation by the Planning Commission. This was revealed by Union Minister of State for Industry and Commerce, Ashwani Kumar in a Lok Sabha reply, on Tuesday.

Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Gujral today said farmers across the country, especially in Punjab, suffered a setback due to the decision of the Union government to withdraw incentives given under a scheme for export of skimmed milk, ghee and other dairy products. The Union government had extended the incentive schemes by a year on April 11, but then decided to withdraw it within a week of its announcement with an objective to bring down the domestic prices, Gujral said.

rajya Sabha recently accepted a breach of privilege motion against union environment and forest secretary Meena Gupta. The motion was moved in November 2007 by Rajya Sabha member and cpi (m)

Members of the National Democratic Alliance on Thursday formed a human chain in the Parliament complex, wearing placards asking the government to control prices or quit, raising slogans outside and inside Parliament and finally forcing adjournment of both Houses. The "action' started at 11 a.m. and lasted till after noon.

The Planning Commission has given

On rural development, MPs' hearts may be full but during debate, Lok Sabha is empty SEEMA CHISHTI NEW DELHI, APRIL 23: The Government plugs Bharat Nirman as the Nayi Azadi in TV spots during IPL matches, rides on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act as its shining showpiece. All political parties, Left and Right, swear by the aam aadmi and the crying need for rural development.

Even as the debate over foodgrain scarcity being a major cause for the current inflationary trend rages, an advance estimate released by the government on Tuesday said foodgrain production in the country touched a record 227.32 million tonnes during 2007-08. The 3rd Advance Estimate, according to department of agriculture and cooperation, is based on feedback received from the states and validated with information available from other sources.