-The Times of India MUMBAI: The multi-crore chit fund scam is not just restricted to West Bengal, but is wide spread across the country, especially in Maharashtra. The state could be sitting on a time bomb with one estimate pegging the racket as high as Rs 10,000 crore. Unfortunately, vulnerable people out to make a quick buck are the first to fall for these scams. Promises made by these fly-by-night...

-PTI   Aizawl: At least 458 non-tribals without valid Inner Line Permit (ILP) have been detained in various police stations in Mizoram after the influential Young Mizo Association (YMA) launched a recent drive against them. Police said those identified as staying in the state without valid ILP or fake ILP were brought before the local courts and, if convicted, they will be deported, a senior police official said here today. 192 of...

-The Hindu In the Bhullar case, the Supreme Court has created a category of ‘terrorists' among those sentenced to death without providing a constitutional basis for it Writing on extra-judicial killings in the Economic and Political Weekly in March 1996, K.G. Kannabiran narrated a very interesting anecdote from his experience on the Civil Rights Committee appointed by Jayaprakash Narayan to investigate fake encounters orchestrated during the Emergency against naxalites. While interacting with...

-Rediff.com   Born in Mumbai's infamous red-light district, Shweta Katti has won a scholarship to the Bard College, New York. This is her story. Shweta Katti is warming up to the media attention she's been receiving lately. She has had a long day but has agreed to meet me at a coffee shop for what must have been the nth interview she's giving in the last 48 hours. It is close to 10 in...

-The Hindu Dhule (Maharashtra): A teenage girl's degrading journey from a small village in Nashik to a brothel here ended in February, but no concrete steps have been taken to ensure that such stories do not repeat. Activists alleged that while the brothel-owners and some of their accomplices were arrested, the police chose to ignore a sex racket involving minor girls that is flourishing in the State. Speaking exclusively to The Hindu...