Following the Supreme Court judgment over bauxite mining in Niyamgiri hills in Orissa last month, Union tribal affairs minister V Kishore Chandra Deo has written to Governor SC Jamir to invoke his

Amid talk of the government taking the ordinance route to implement its ambitious National Food Security Bill, Food Minister K V Thomas Thursday met Law Minister Kapil Sibal and discussed available options. Thomas, however, is not keen on an ordinance.

Thomas told The Indian Express that the Food Ministry has proposed various options, including a special session of Parliament to discuss and pass the legislation. "We have various options before us and all discussed with the Law Minister," he said.

Monsanto study says crop in four Gujarat districts showed susceptibility to pest

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) is learnt to have received a report confirming pink bollworm developing resistance to Bt cotton in four districts in Gujarat. The apex regulator of genetically modified (GM) crops is likely to consider these findings by Monsanto and Mahyco scientists in its next meeting.

Agency responsible for regularisation of farmhouses, civic amenities.

Twenty-six villages identified as 'low density residential areas' under the farmhouse policy have been declared development areas by the Delhi Development Authority. A resolution in this regard was passed at a DDA meeting on Wednesday.

In a departure from its stated stand on the Food Security Bill, the Samajwadi Party Tuesday said it is "totally opposed" to the proposed legislation as it is "anti-farmer".

The Orissa forest department is holding on to a wild tiger that strayed inside Nandankanan Zoo over a week ago, saying they don't know its original habitat and therefore cannot release it.

Sources in the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), however, said Nandankanan authorities planned to use the tiger for breeding inside the zoo, which was illegal. NTCA has asked Chief Wildlife Warden J D Sharma to immediately release the tiger.

Often criticised for its dismal efforts in preventing infant deaths, India, according to the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) data, has succeeded in reducing deaths of newborns aged 28 days or less.

The data shows that in 2011, the country's neonatal mortality rate (NMR) stood at 31 per 1,000 live births, down six per cent from 33 in 2010. The figure had remained at 37 for the period 2004-07.

Rejecting the Supreme Court verdict in favour of the nuclear power plant in Kudankulam, the members of the protest committee have decided to continue with their stir. A meeting of community elders and leaders of neighbouring villages will be held on Thursday afternoon to discuss the issue.

On Monday, the SC had endorsed the view of the Madras High Court and allowed the commissioning of the power plant. The order included had 15 directions relating to safety, environmental safeguards and disposal of nuclear waste. It had also ordered the state to withdraw cases against agitators.

The Maharashtra government has lifted the ban on sale of Bt Cotton seeds supplied by Mahyco Seeds for the coming Kharif season "in public interest".

A committee set up by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to probe the death of five elephants in Orissa's Ganjam district due to a speeding train has recommended that the Railways should restrict the speed of trains passing through identified vulnerable tracks in forests to a maximum 40 km per hour to prevent elephant deaths.

On the intervening night of December 29 and 30 last year, five elephants were mowed down by Coromondel Express, speeding at 110 km/hr near Subalaya in Ganjam district, when the herd was crossing the track. Incidentally, the accident occurred at the spot where the Railways had put up a warning signage of elephants crossing.