-Economic and Political Weekly The Saradha group's collapse has possibly bankrupted lakhs of small investors robbing them of their life svaings, and has rendered thousands of its agents jobless. The scam highlights the failure of the government and its regulatory agencies to reign in the mushrooming chit fund companies in West Bengal. It also brings under the scanner the Trinamool Congress' proximity with the tainted group. In the wake of the...

-The United Nations The Asia-Pacific region, which has overtaken the rest of the world in consumption of raw materials as affluence and manufacturing increase, must boost its resource efficiency or risk losing ground in lifestyle, economic growth and environmental sustainability, according to a UN report released today. From 1970-2008, consumption of construction minerals increased 13.4 times, metal ores and industrial minerals consumption 8.6, fossil fuels 5.4, and biomass 2.7 times, according to...

-The Hindu Sleuths of NIA are facing an unusual problem of mobility as they are "forced" to depend on taxis since the investigating agency has been unable to purchase vehicles due to an austerity drive. The chief of National Investigation Agency (NIA) told a parliamentary panel that it created three branches in Bhopal, Patna and Kolkata in 2012 but due to government's austerity measures, they have not been sanctioned any vehicle. "This is...

-The Hindu Latehar: Last week, two 14-year-old adivasi girls, who had migrated from Khunti district to work in Delhi as domestic help, were found dead in mysterious circumstances, both within two days of each other. On April 19, Jyoti Mariyam Hora died soon after she was brought to the Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital in Delhi's Malviya Nagar. Two days later, Dayamani Guriya, who had studied with Jyoti till class VI and had...

-Bloomberg   In all likelihood, Nandan Nilekani's Aadhaar will lead the world. Exactly where it will lead, we'll find out People who grew up in Britain in the 1960s will remember a television programme that built a cult following: The Prisoner. It was about an oddly luxurious detention camp-a kind of Guantanamo Bay by Four Seasons, spa services and brainwashing included. Even if you wanted to, trying to escape was pointless. A...