Agreement may be worked out before closure of conference   India maintained silence on listing of endosufan under the Rotterdam Convention at the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, which opened in Geneva on Monday. The Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade requires the exporting countries of listed chemicals to provide the Importing countries with advance information on...

-The Times of India   The proposed Food Security Act may not put additional burden on the government in the current fiscal year as the government can find the resources to fund the plan from the spending outlined for 2011-12 , finance ministry officials said. However, the food subsidy bill could soar to as much as Rs 75,000 crore from the estimated Rs 60,572.98 crore for the 2011-12 fiscal. Finance ministry...

Orissa is all set to renew its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with steel major Posco with a one-year retrospective effect by June 30th. The MoU for the proposed 12 million ton steel plant had expired on June 22, 2010 after a period of five years. State steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty said all formalities required for renewal of the MoU will be over shortly and the government would revalidate...

Congress expected to endorse government's stand on excluding PM from ambit of Bill Some party leaders prefer to include PM, given the strong public sentiment against corruption Government's original draft included Prime Minister Ahead of an all-party meeting on July 3 to debate the controversial Lokpal Bill, the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's apex body, will meet on Friday to discuss what is euphemistically being described as the “the current political situation.”...

NGOs hail change in India's stand on listing Long-term exposure to asbestos can harm health: studies Canada is stalling the listing of chrysotile asbestos (white asbestos) at the Conference of Parties to the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent, meeting in Geneva. On Wednesday, India changed its stand and supported the listing. Listing will mandate the exporting countries to give prior data on the mineral to the Importing nations to enable them to...