India's Supreme Court Friday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe JSW Steel Ltd.'s role in procuring iron-ore from illegal mines in the southern state of Karnataka.

A panel formed by the court had earlier sought the probe while submitting its investigation report on illegal mines in three mineral-rich districts of Karnataka.

The apex court has also asked the federal agency to probe the role of Karnataka's former chief minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa, in allowing illegal mining.

The Asia-Pacific region may be home to some of the world’s fastest growing economies including China, Japan, India and Indonesia. But, last year at least, it also was the most vulnerable to natural disasters that hampered expansion and disrupted trade.

The United Nations Economic and Social Survey of the Asia Pacific, a report released Thursday, says Asia Pacific sustained damages and losses of $266.8 billion out of $366 billion globally in 2011 — the worst year in history for catastrophes.

A trial to apportion blame and damages for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster will now start in 2013 after the New Orleans judge hearing the case scheduled a new start date.

The delay is a boost for BP BP.LN -3.11% PLC, which is facing billions of dollars in fines from the U.S. government for its part in the incident. Federal and state authorities had pressed for a summer trial, arguing that damages payments from the responsible parties were needed to speed up Gulf Coast restoration efforts.

India’s Cabinet has given its approval to a “National Monsoon Mission,” which will equip the weather department with high-end computers, radars and scientific manpower to generate more detailed and accurate forecasts.

India’s current antiquated methods of forecasting the all-important monsoon rains is getting a re-vamp.

No other weather phenomenon generates as much excitement among policymakers and economists, given that it holds the key to farm output, a sector employing half the country’s workforce.

Hong Kong has long preferred to blame its smoggy skies on polluting factories just over the border in mainland China. But new analysis suggests that the blame for much of the city’s pollution rests squarely on Hong Kong’s shoulders.

Regulators in northern China shut down production at a beverage plant owned by Coca-Cola Co. KO -0.40% after finding chlorine in a batch of drinks made in February.

The food-safety regulator in Shanxi province said Saturday that during an April inspection it found that a batch of drinks produced by Coca-Cola (Shanxi) Beverage Ltd. was made with water containing chlorine. The statement, from the Shanxi Provincial Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, refers to the suspension as a penalty for the chlorine levels.

Food safety regulators in northern China have shut down production at a beverage plant owned by Coca-Cola Co. KO +1.22% as punishment after finding chlorine in a batch of drinks made in February.

In a statement on Saturday, the quality regulator in the Chinese province of Shanxi said it found during an April inspection that a batch of drinks produced by Coca-Cola (Shanxi) Beverage Ltd. was made with water containing chlorine. The statement from the Shanxi Provincial Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision refers to the suspension as a penalty for the chlorine levels.

Large wind farms slightly increase temperatures near the ground as the turbines' rotor blades pull down warm air, according to researchers who analyzed nine years of satellite readings around four of the world's biggest wind farms.

The study showed for the first time that wind farms of a certain scale, while producing clean, renewable energy, do have some long-term effect on the immediate environment.

Brazil's powerful farm lobby won a long-sought victory after the Congress late Wednesday approved a controversial forestry bill that environmentalists say will speed deforestation in the Amazon as more land is opened for producing food.

The Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday approved a proposed five-year farm bill that seeks to make steep cuts to subsidies while expanding government crop-insurance programs.

The proposal met sharp resistance from lawmakers in Southern states, who say it goes too far in peeling back billions of dollars in subsidies that have long propped up farmers. Producers of cotton, rice and peanuts argue a small expansion of crop insurance doesn't provide a strong-enough safety net given the subsidy cuts.