Winter in the Indian capital is a season of mists, minus the mellow fruitfulness. The air becomes charged with toxic emissions and particles that cannot disperse due to a meteorological phenomenon called "atmospheric inversion". According to B.P. Yadav, scientist with the meteorological department, atmospheric inversion is caused by a warming of the upper layers of the atmosphere, trapping colder air on the surface and, with it, vehicular and industrial emissions. "The immediate...

India's environment ministry has ordered the demolition of a block of flats in Mumbai that has been at the centre of a corruption scandal. It said the Adarsh Society building must be demolished within three months for breaching coastal protection laws. The 31-storey high-rise was originally planned as a six-storey housing project for war widows. But flats were sold to politicians and military officers, allegedly at prices far below the market rate. The block,...

Talking tough, the Supreme Court today questioned the Government as to why it was reluctant in disclosing the names of Indian nationals who have allegedly stashed black money in foreign banks. "What is the difficulty in disclosing the information," a Bench comprising B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar asked when Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium informed the bench that Government has got the details but did not want to reveal it. The...

India's Supreme Court has given the government six weeks to explain the circumstances under which a prominent Maoist was killed last year. Cherukuri Rajkumar was acting as an intermediary to set up peace talks between the Maoists and the Indian government when he was shot dead. One judge said the state could not be allowed to kill its own children. Human rights activists alleged the victim, also known as Azad, was killed by...

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to consider revealing the names of those who have deposited their black money in the Liechtenstein Bank in Germany now that the German government had furnished the details. Justice B. Sudershan Reddy, heading a Bench with Justice S.S. Nijjar, did not agree with Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam's submissions that being privileged information, it could not be disclosed. When the S-G said the government had...