-The Hindu   An accused in a criminal case cannot object to his custodial interrogation on the ground that he has got an absolute right to maintain silence to questions posed and therefore no purpose would be served in taking him under police custody, the Madras High Court Bench here has ruled. Justice S. Nagamuthu held that the right of the accused to maintain silence was Restricted to questions which might expose him...

-The Economist   The world’s population will reach 7 billion at the end of October. Don’t panic IN 1950 the whole population of the earth—2.5 billion—could have squeezed, shoulder to shoulder, onto the Isle of Wight, a 381-square-kilometre rock off southern England. By 1968 John Brunner, a British novelist, observed that the earth’s people—by then 3.5 billion—would have required the Isle of Man, 572 square kilometres in the Irish Sea, for its standing...

-The Times of India   With the Bombay high court making it clear that it would grant no further extension to the ministry of environment and foRests (MoEF) for passing the final order on Lavasa, Ajit Gulabchand, chief of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), now hopes of a green clearance. "We hope the MoEF will issue the order giving environment clearance by November 10," Gulabchand said on Tuesday. The additional solicitor general had informed the...

-PTI   CPI(M) and other parties, including scientists and activists, on Sunday came together to form a national committee to support the struggle against the Jaitapur nuclear project in Maharashtra. A 15-member National Committee in Support of Jaitapur Struggle will have CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, his CPI counterpart AB Bardhan, former Atomic Energy Regulatory Board chairman Dr A Gopalkrishnan and former Union finance secretary SP Shukla as members among others. "The people of...

With institutional healthcare being prohibitively expensive, more women in rural India are choosing to deliver at home than in hospitals and healthcare facilities, says a new report brought out by Chittorgarh-based NGO, Prayas, in partnership with Oxfam India. The 'Study of the trends in out-of-pocket payments in healthcare during National Rural Health Mission period (2005-2010)', released on October 12 in the national capital, was conducted across five Indian states - Assam,...