-The Hindustan Times The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of Post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals. This practice is...

-AFP WASHINGTON: Google has jumped into the debate over a UN telecom gathering set to review regulations affecting the Internet, claiming it is "the wrong place" to make decisions about the future of the Web. In a Posting on its "take action" blog this week, Google said the December gathering of the UN's International Telecommunications Union comes amid "a growing backlash on Internet freedom." The ITU's World Conference on International Communications opening next...

-The Hoot The coverage given to Thackeray’s death by some television channels was overwhelmingly disproportionate to his contribution to people’s well-being. The comments made by the “experts” were toned by the fear of Sena reprisal, says KALPANA SHARMA. Can Indian news television plumb greater depths? The blanket coverage of Bal Thackeray’s death and funeral on some channels would make any self-respecting journalist hang her head in shame. What were they thinking?...

-Outlook Terming the arrest of two girls in Mumbai for their Facebook Posts on the shutdown during Bal Thackeray's funeral as an "assualt" on freedom of speech, CPI today accused Maharashtra government of being "scared" of Shiv Sena and asked it to own up responsibility for the incident. Patry National Secretary D Raja decried the action as "draconian" and wondered whether people have even lost their right to express their opinion freely. "It...

-Outlook Malkangiri (Odisha): A tribal farmer was shot dead by the Maoists who suspected him to be a police informer in Odisha's Malkangiri district, police said. About 15 Maoists reached the house of farmer and small time contractor Bhima Sisha (35) of Sishaput under Mudulipada police station in the Maoists-prone district last night. The ultras told Sisha that he had been summoned to attend a meeting. As Sisha refused to accompany them, he was...