The team of interlocutors appointed by the West Bengal Government to explore the possibility of peace talks with the Maoists has submitted a note on the discussions. The note was sent to the Government and the State leadership of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). It “summarises the discussions” the interlocutors had with both the sides since it was formed in July. Implicit in the note are the views of the interlocutors...

-The Economist   The world’s population will reach 7 billion at the end of October. Don’t panic IN 1950 the whole population of the earth—2.5 billion—could have squeezed, shoulder to shoulder, onto the Isle of Wight, a 381-square-kilometre rock off southern England. By 1968 John Brunner, a British novelist, observed that the earth’s people—by then 3.5 billion—would have required the Isle of Man, 572 square kilometres in the Irish Sea, for its standing...

-PTI   Facing allegations of financial misconduct, activist Arvind Kejriwal broke his silence on Tuesday daring the government to conduct a probe against him and other Team Anna members even as he questioned the motive behind the "smear campaign". Defending himself and Kiran Bedi, who is under attack for inflating her travel bills, Kejriwal said, "If someone paid the ticket examiner in Railway because he needed a ticket, so that person cannot question...

To top bureaucrats, wards of Ministers The Patna High Court has ordered the Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority to reply immediately to petitions alleging preferential allocation of prime government land at sub-par rates to top-ranking bureaucrats and wards of Ministers in the Nitish Kumar government. A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justices T. Meena Kumari and Vikas Jain directed the Authority to answer the petitions filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)...

The year 2010 endured 950 natural disasters, 90 percent of which were weather-related and cost the global community well over 130 billion dollars. From wildfires in Brazil to record rainfall in the United States to the severe drought and famine in the Horn of Africa, it has become clear to many that quick and radical decisions need to be made about the world's future.  One of the biggest advocates of this position...