-PTI New Delhi: The average annual rate of appointment of judges in the High Courts has not declined during the last two years, though no new appointments were made during April-December 2015 due to hearing of the NJAC matter, government sources said. Rapped by the Supreme Court for delaying judicial appointments, the government has said that it has increased the sanctioned strength of High Court judges from 906 to 1,079 and insisted...

-The Telegraph/ PTI New Delhi: The Supreme Court today asked the Centre and the RBI to disclose the names of borrowers who had each defaulted on public-sector bank loans of Rs 500 crore and above but the apex bank raised objections. The top court, after going through the defaulters' list submitted by the RBI in a sealed cover on March 29, said 57 people had defaulted on loans worth Rs 85,000 crore...

-The Indian Express The fires are so many and so widespread that satellites flying hundreds of kilometres above the Earth record their presence. New Delhi: North India faces an annual trauma as winter approaches — the air in the region having more than 200 million people becomes toxic. Fingers are pointed at the hand that feeds India, farmers in the granary of the country are rebuked asking them not to burn agriculture...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A seven-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court today took up for consideration the question whether the use of religion and caste in elections amounts to "corrupt practice", warranting disqualification under the Representation of Peoples Act. The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur, during the day-long hearing posed several questions for which it has sought answers from various counsel appearing in the matter. The bench was...

-Livemint.com Courts are finally protecting individual liberty in prohibition and beef ban cases The politics of alcohol consumption and cow slaughter have, of late, run roughshod over issues of constitutional law and philosophy. The Patna high court’s recent judgement on prohibition in Bihar—especially when read together with the Bombay high court’s earlier beef ban verdict—is a necessary redressal of the balance. These judgements are a nuanced look at how the relationship...