-The Hindu "We are trying to strengthen the humint component " Amid indications of no major headway in last week's blast outside the State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in Bangalore, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Monday again pushed for the controversial National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) that would strengthen intelligence set up of the States. "We are trying to strengthen the ‘humint' (human intelligence) component in our intelligence agencies. That will...

-The Hindu Business Line Kolkata: Everyone knew that the bomb was ticking. But, there was not much action to curb the mushrooming ponzi schemes that were collecting thousands of crores from hapless investors across West Bengal since 2007-08. Some promised to grow money by 34 times in 25 years by investing in teak bonds. Others offered to double money in 15 months by investing in the potato trade. As a result, investments...

-The Telegraph Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government is scrambling to stitch together a cogent response to the default crisis that is escalating by the hour. The ruling establishment's agony has been compounded by the close ties several of its ministers, MPs and MLAs had nurtured with the collapsed Saradha Group. Within Trinamul and the government, questions are being asked about what senior leaders and ministers were doing while the crisis was building up...

-PTI Washington: World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has praised the cash transfer programmes being implemented by several countries as an effective way to help the poor and reduce poverty. Without naming India, which is one of the countries implementing the cash transfer programme, Jim described the scheme as an important step towards inclusive growth. He was speaking at the ‘Fiscal Policy, Equity and Long-Term Growth in Developing Countries Conference' held at...

-The Telegraph The "Bonzi" edifice, Bengal's version of the fraudulent Ponzi scheme that conned US investors a century ago, is shaking at its foundations. The panic set off by Saradha defaulting on payments has spread to similar schemes run by other firms and triggered protests and attacks on company offices in several parts of the state. These schemes' mostly small-time rural investors have begun to panic about the safety of their hard-earned...