Justice Markandey Katju has done his own mission, supervising the responsible functioning of the media, a disservice. By criticising the media through sweeping generalisations and with extreme naïvete, he has got its back up, provoking a sharp reaction from the Editors Guild instead of a willingness to talk and sort things out. A lifetime spent in issuing obiter dicta has ill-equipped Justice Katju in the communication skills needed to carry...

Economic status, education, access to clean water and sanitation, nutrition and the environment determine the level of health of persons, communities or countries, and so does the extent to which rights are enjoyed or denied. The World Conference on Social Determinants of Health, held Oct. 19-21 in Brazil, defined 15 commitments that should be undertaken by governments, international organisations, the private sector and civil society.  The final document, the Rio Political Declaration...

-The United Nations   The United Nations and international figures marked World Food Day today with calls for immediate aid and longer-term solutions, and warnings of factors that keep hundreds of millions mired in hunger, such as price swings and gender discrimination. In a message delivered to a ceremony at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed that there is more than enough food on the...

-The Hindu   Contrary to prevailing scientific opinion, a Climate Change conference organised by the University of Mumbai and the Liberty Institute, New Delhi, and INSTUCEN India study centre on Friday claimed that the sea levels were not rising and carbon dioxide did not pose a special threat to the climate. Sea levels in the Indian Ocean were not rising and cities like Mumbai, islands like Maldives or Tuvalu would not be...

-PTI   The Bombay high court today questioned the source of wealth of Pune-based businessman Hasan Ali Khan, arrested in a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). "From where did he (Hasan) get so much money? Is it his or someone else's? No person can amass so much money through any decent activity. He must have committed some other offence (apart from what he has been arrested for)," Justice A...