The Left told the UPA government on Wednesday that its future depended on how it tackled the alarming price rise and demands raised by it, and the Bharatiya Janata Party dared the Left parties to dislodge the government on the price rise issue.

Loss Due To Bad Harvest Timing, Lack Of Storage For a country reeling under an unprecedented food crisis, here is an alarming figure: India losses Rs 55,600 crore worth of crops each year after harvesting. This has been admitted by the government before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture.

Congress has said controlling inflation is top priority. Opposition BJP wants to make inflation the main poll issue in Karnataka. The "Third Front' or UNPA has organized rallies on the issue while the Left has accused the UPA government of letting the "common man' down. But on Wednesday, when a discussion on price rise took place in Parliament

Brussels Blog (Andrew Bounds): There has been much talk of the Franco-German motor that has traditionally propelled the European Union breaking down recently. So the cancellation of a meeting recently between the two countries to discuss proposals to cut pollution from cars led to plenty of puns.

By Roman Olearchyk in Kiev, Neil Buckley in Moscow and,Frances Williams in Geneva Ukraine is likely to be in a position to block Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation later this year, giving it significant leverage that it could use in natural gas supply talks or in retaliation over Moscow's opposition to plans by Ukraine and Georgia to join Nato.

French GMO Bill Passes Lower House Of Parliament FRANCE: April 10, 2008 PARIS - The lower house of the French parliament approved a new law on genetically modified crops on Wednesday after fierce opposition criticism and internal wrangling in the ranks of the centre-right government. After a vote of 249 in favour of and 228 against the proposed law, intended to bring French legislation into line with European Union directives, the bill will now go to the Senate for a second reading on April 16.

The Environmental Conservation Levy Bill, which provides for the government to charge an Environmental Conservation Levy, was passed in Parliament yesterday without a debate. The new Bill also proposes the setting up of a National Adaptation Fund, in keeping with a proposal made at the UN Global Climate Change Summit, held in Bali last December -- which called upon countries to adopt mechanisms to face the challenges of global warming

After the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations for Central employees, the Government is set to put in place a commission to determine salaries, allowances and perks of Members of Parliament. The Cabinet is expected to clear a proposal to this effect at its meeting scheduled for tomorrow. Since the new arrangement will require an amendment in the existing law, The Salary, Allowances and Pension Act of Members of Parliament, 1954, the Government will move a bill after the Parliament resumes the budget session April 15.

A parliamentary panel has asked the MoEF to serve closure notices to industrial units discharging their effluents into rivers if they do not install treatment plants within a specific time frame.