-PTI Amid a raging controversy over alleged cheating of gullible investors by Saradha group, the regulators have found that West Bengal and North-Eastern states have become a hot-bed of such frauds and NRIs from these regions account for a large chunk of defrauded people. While the Centre has announced an SFIO ( Serious Fraud Investigation Office) probe into the affairs of Kolkata-based Saradha group and other such entities across the country,...

-The Indian Express New Delhi: Stung by the Saradha episode, the government has decided to drastically amend legislation governing the market regulator's power to police chit fund companies. The finance ministry will push for the legislation to be cleared in the current session of Parliament and, if that fails, to issue an ordinance immediately afterward. Government managers believe the explosion of Ponzi schemes in West Bengal and in Uttar Pradesh is enough...

-Economic and Political Weekly The Supreme Court judgment on the Novartis-Glivec case is remarkable because it has gone beyond the specific technical and legal issues surrounding patents and has put the matter in a much larger political and economic perspective. The deeper implication of the judgment is that it is not only justified to deny patents when incremental innovation is trivial as in the Glivec case. The judgment has linked the...

-The Hindu     Well-known feminist Kamla Bhasin says that Indian men will have to change, not to support women but to save themselves from being brutalised by centuries of exposure to patriarchy. "Mian, aap mein kuch kami hai" (Gentleman, there is something wrong with you)." Some months ago, when Kamla Bhasin, well-known feminist from Delhi, came up with this retort to Aamir Khan on his headline-grabbing tele-show Satyameva Jayate on saying that he...

-The Hindu     They say Supreme Court-appointed panel's recommendations reasonable Even as the final report of the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Expert Committee (TEC) on open field trials of genetically modified crops is awaited, 51 independent international scientists with expertise in genetic engineering and biosafety protocols have approved the panel's Interim Report. The report has called for a 10-year moratorium on open field trials of Bt food crops until adequate regulatory mechanisms and safety...