IT would be humorous if it was not so tragic, but it is another winter in Delhi and North India as a whole, and has brought with it, yet again, another prolonged spell of terrible air pollution. The usual media commentaries have been appearing, providing partial explanations for the pollution, its many causes and the possible impacts of the measures being taken to tackle it.

THE Supreme Court verdict has provided a final resolution to the Ayodhya dispute. This judicial route was the only way to settle the matter in a secular republic governed by the rule of law as there was no possibility of a negotiated settlement.

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions, in a statement issued on November 6, has expressed deep concern at the mass retrenchments of employees in the IT sector. IT majors like Cognizant, Infosys, and Capgemini have reportedly announced retrenchment of thousands of workers. While Capgemini has already laid off around 5000 workers, Cognizant is reported to be laying off 7000 of its workers.

AS many as 1,400 smartphones worldwide – including 140 of Indians – have been hacked. This hack used Pegasus, the software tools from the notorious hacker-for-hire Israeli company NSO or Q Cyber Technologies. The fundamental question for us, is who-dun-it? The simple question that the government refuses to answer.This is what political parties and others are asking: was it a government agency that bought the hacking tools from the Israeli company? And used it against its own citizens?

AT the Oxford Union, in a prestigious head to head debate, Sitaram Yechury opposed the motion as an Indian patriot against the suspension of article 370, the impact of the suspension in Kashmir and the manner in which it was done. The debate was held on October 29.The motion was defended by one of the vice presidents of the BJP, a former MP, Baijayant Panda.The debate attracted a lot of publicity and was surrounded by controversy before it started.