-The Hindu Property worth Rs. 110 crore lost in 49,391 incidents, govt. tells Assembly Mumbai: As many as 49,391 incidents of fire have killed more than 600 people and caused damage to property worth Rs. 110.42 crore in Mumbai in the last 10 years, the State government informed the Assembly on Monday. The information was part of a written reply by the Urban Development Department (UDD), headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, to...

-NDTV.com Nine people had died in anti-sterlite protests inTuticorin by the time Chief Minister Palaniswami announced an inquiry into Tuesday's police action Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu:  Some distance from where the anti-Sterlite protesters were, a Tamil Nadu policeman in plainclothes had parked himself atop a police bus. He was armed with what appeared to be an assault rifle and had been seen in photographs, taking aim. On the road below, are a...

-The Economic Times blog Word has it that World Bank economists use “obviously fabricated” data from time to time. These are not Sitaram Yechury or Medha Patkar’s words, but those of Paul Romer, former chief economist of the World Bank, in a recent email exchange reported by Financial Times. Romer retracted them later, but this “may not end the controversy”, as The Economist mildly put it. This is not the first time...

-The Indian Express Pesticide Management Bill should address the anomalies that prevent state governments from booking large pesticide companies. “Until lions have their own historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter,” goes an old African proverb, which is also apt to describe the state of the world’s farmers. Farmers are like the hunted lions who need their side of the story told and their sacrifices, agony, courage and fears...

-The Hindu India must counter Japan’s U.S.-style pressure at the RCEP talks and ensure affordable generic medicines Leaked texts are like leaked gases — you may never find the one responsible for it, but the mayhem caused by its release is hard to contain. Unsurprisingly, all public discussions on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are centred around leaked documents. As India negotiates the RCEP — a free trade agreement that looks...