-PTI Mamata Banerjee stages reversal of former apathy towards fate of those affected by Saradha Group demise Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee staged a reversal of her former apathy towards the fate of those whose savings had disappeared amid the collapse of the deposit-taking Saradha Group. Having said on Monday that "what has gone, has gone", Banerjee on Wednesday announced a 10 percentage point hike in value-added tax (VAT) on tobacco...

-The Business Standard It will make the coercive powers of the land acquisition law irrelevant, though including it in the central Bill would be unconstitutional The proposal to amend the central Land Acquisition Bill to provide for leasing of land rather than acquiring it is just not constitutionally feasible. Land is a state subject and the Centre cannot legislate on leasing at all. But as an idea it is great and should...

-PTI On the back foot over the chit fund scam in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress on Thursday raised questions over the role of a senior Chennai-based lawyer who happens to be wife of the Union finance minister. Sudipta Sen, chairman of the scandal-ridden Saradha group, who was arrested two days ago, has said in a purported letter to CBI that politicians, journalists and lawyers had blackmailed him and taken money assuring him...

-PTI In further trouble for the Ponzi scheme scam-hit Saradha group of Kolkata, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a money laundering case to probe the allegations of financial irregularities by numerous depositors against it. The ED has registered a regular case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at its Guwahati office as the Assam police has registered an FIR against the group after allegations were made...

-The Indian Express Kolkata: Saradha Group CMD Sudipta Sen has sent an 18-page letter to the CBI containing names of several key politicians, officials and legal experts who allegedly milked the company for money. The letter, which reached the CBI in Delhi as Sen remained at large, was forwarded by the agency to its office in Kolkata, and it was subsequently referred to the Bidhannagar police commissionerate. Bidhannagar police commissioner Rajeev Kumar received...