The Cabinet on Thursday referred an agreement between India and Malaysia on road highways to a Group of Ministers following differences between ministries.

Road Transport Minister Kamal Nath had proposed to sign an agreement with Malaysia in the field of technical assistance in highways management. But, three Cabinet ministers — Kapil Sibal, Veerappa Moilly and Montek Singh Ahluwalia — raised concerns saying the exit clause was weak.  “There should be more internal transparency in the agreement,” a minister said.

The Cabinet approved the Seeds Bill that seeks to repeal and replace existing seeds Act, 1966, that did not deal with the quality control of GM seeds.

It also set the stage for passage of amendments to Foreign Contribution Regulation Act in the Budget Session. There will be a provision on banks sharing information at more frequent intervals about transactions beyond a specified limit or suspicious transactions.

The limit is Rs 5 lakh; repeat inward remittances from the same or different foreign sources would be treated as suspicious transactions in this context. The changes are aimed at tightening foreign contribution given to NGOs.

The Cabinet Committe on Economic Affairs approved starting of 269 nursing schools.