An estimated 75 per cent of the world’s coral reefs are threatened by local human activity, including over-fishing, coastal development and pollution, and global pressures such as climate change, warming seas and rising ocean acidification, according to a United Nations-backed report unveiled today. “Reefs at Risk Revisited,” launched today in Washington and London, says that if the threats to the reefs are not dealt with, more than 90 per cent of...

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to submit its report on the Nandigram firing in West Bengal to enable it to consider whether to permit the agency to go ahead with its plea to prosecute the erring police officials. A Bench of Justices R.V. Raveendran and A.K. Patnaik was hearing a batch of petitions filed by the State, the CBI, the National Human Rights Commission and...

Question hour in the Rajya Sabha ended five minutes before time Thursday following noisy scenes when a Congress MP alleged a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Gujarat was involved in the killing of RTI activist Amit Jethva. Asking supplementaries on a question on the Right to Information (RTI), Congress MP from Gujarat Alka Balram Kshatriya alleged that a nephew of the BJP MP from Junagadh was involved in the killing...

With India growing faster than almost every other large economy, the government is right to address its long-run challenges. The push for investment in infrastructure is bearing fruit and the expansion of social programmes such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the Right to Education Act (RTE) is spreading the benefits of growth across the population. But just as improved infrastructure doesn’t eliminate all traffic jams, rapid growth...

Unlike the educated elite who go Westwards, attracted by better opportunities and a luxurious lifestyle, those who land up in West ASIa as waged labourers have a much harder time: Practically no rights, hostile working environments and absolutely no support systems. Why is it that the violation of their bASIc rights doesn't figure at all in the national imagination? About the same time that India aired “absolute displeasure and concern” over...