-The Indian Express Nearly 45 trillion bidis and cigarettes manufactured over the past 100 years in the country are expected to be responsible for nearly 100 million deaths of adult Indians, a recent study has found. "Our calculations are derived from using the most conservative estimates and yet present mortality estimates which are significant and alarming," researchers Pranay G Lal, Nevin C Wilson and Prakash C Gupta said in a study published...

-The Indian Express Earlier this month, the police in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district claimed to have found in a remote forest village two 10-year-old girls who “narrated tales of their sexual exploitation by Maoists”. Following their account, the police arrested suspected Maoist Kudiyami Gujja and a few other rebels. Gujja was paraded before the media where he admitted that he regularly “took away 10-12-year-old girls and raped them”. The parents of the girls...

-The Economic Times Get ready for an era of widespread droughts, super storms, flash floods, excessive rainfall, high food prices, higher levels of migration and higher outlays to survive extreme weather. The events of the past year make it clear that this is no longer a dire warning. Climate scientists predict extreme weather will become more common in the coming years if the world doesn't act decisively to address climate change. Yet, governments...

-The Hindustan Times After a lull, the naxalites struck in Gadchiroli again. On late Tuesday night, the naxalites killed a villager on pretext of his being a police informer in Motala-Tekdi village near Sironcha bordering Andhra Pradesh.   According to Reports reaching here, a gang of 10-15 armed Maoists stormed the Motala-Tekdi village and enquired about Narayan Srirangi (33) who was at home. They armed naxals went to his home, dragged him...

-AP STOCKHOLM: A U.N. report on rising greenhouse gas emissions reminded world governments on Wednesday that their efforts to fight climate change are far from enough to meet their stated goal of limiting global warming to 2°C (3.6°F). The report by the U.N. Environment Programme, released just days ahead of a major climate conference, said the concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is up about 20 per...