-PTI NEW DELHI: Eight out of nine preliminary enquiries (PEs) have been closed by the CBI in its probe into the infamous radia tapes, which led to a storm in political, business and bureaucratic circles in 2010. Replying to a written question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said nine PEs had been registered by the CBI in its probe in the radia tapes, pursuant to...

-TheWire.in Swaraj Abhiyan founder Prashant Bhushan discusses the Essar tapes and other scams, the role of whistleblowers and his fallout with Arvind Kejriwal. Celebrated lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan has just notched up another victory with the Supreme Court-appointed panel decreeing there was prima facie evidence that former CBI director Ranjit Sinha had attempted to influence the investigation into the coal block allocation scam under the then UPA government. The court’s observation was based...

-The Hindu The direction of the wind, intensity of the rain and several other factors go into determining whether a rainy spell qualifies as monsoon. In our eagerness for monsoon to arrive, any long drizzle may make it seem as though the annual rainy season is finally here. But not all rain spells that arrive in June qualify to be monsoon showers. For example, the sudden showers that greeted a parched Chennai...

-The Hindu ‘Southwest monsoon will set in over Kerala in next 3 or 4 days’ Even while maintaining that the torrential rain in Kerala was pre-monsoon showers, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday said in an update to its April monsoon forecast that rainfall would be 6% above the 50-year average of 89 cm. Rains over north-west India would be 8% more; over Central and South India 13% more and over north-east...

-The Hindu Less toxic than processed and red meat. Potassium bromate, the chemical additive widely prevalent in bread and refined flour and associated with cancer, is in the same league as coffee, aloe vera, mobile phone radiation and carbon black, a key ingredient in eye-liner. It also is less toxic than processed and red meat, according to a perusal by The Hindu of the list of agents deemed potentially cancerous by the International...