-The Economic Times Arvind Panagariya, a professor of Indian economics at Columbia University, hits out at Nobel laureate and Harvard University professor Amartya Sen over his call to confront MPs with the "number of deaths" a delayed Food Security Bill can cause. The former chief economist at the Asian Development Bank counters Sen's argument that it is high social spending that has contributed to the economic growth of Asian economies such...

-The Hindustan Times Adhering to Mao Tse-Tung's guerrilla warfare style of surrounding urban centres from the countryside, Communist Party of India (Maoist) has unleashed a long-term grand plan of expansion. Their target is the restive northeast where they plan to build their presence steadily in villages. "The plan is five-pronged and is centred on building up support networks in the villages of Assam and Tripura as of now. Then it will move...

-The Hindu The south leads in the number of medical and nursing seats, with for-profit private colleges dominating the scene. It will take major capacity expansion in the government sector to meet WHO norms on access to health professionals. India has achieved major organisational and technological successes but the health system's performance is abysmal. This cannot be attributed to poverty. It is poor health that places India 134th in the Human Development...

-The Indian Express West Bengal is not new to chit fund scams. What is unique to the Saradha Group scandal is how it targeted the poorest and the most marginalised, leaving them on the verge of devastation. From 17-year-old agents who raised money from depositors to 50-year-old widows who invested money, the Saradha Group didn't discriminate in roping them in. Since the house of cards started collapsing, two agents and two...

-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,...