-The Times of India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday that unauthorized collection of deposits promising high returns has to be curbed as the Centre unleashed a multi-agency probe on chit funds and money pooling firms in West Bengal and the eastern region. Rattled by the collapse of the Saradha group in West Bengal, the Centre has asked various agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax department, the ministry...

-The Telegraph Calcutta: Mamata Banerjee's zeal for a new anti-fraud bill could delay action against Saradha for months but has only a few differences with the old Left-sponsored bill her government has withdrawn, officials said today. "Except for three provisions and a few other minor changes, the language of the two bills is identical," a law department official said. A senior Writers' bureaucrat said the legislative steps that the new bill must...

-The Hindu Even as thousands come to terms with the loss of life savings in the West Bengal "chit funds," it is interesting to find politicians promising new stern laws against such funds. Absence of laws is the least of the reasons for such schemes flourishing in the State. We are not short of such laws - in fact, we have plenty of laws that prohibit such schemes and provide for...

-PTI Commission upset over 'steep rise' in cases Chandigarh: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes on Friday expressed strong displeasure over the failure of Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar governments to prevent "steep rise" in atrocities against people from weaker sections. "The commission is in the final stages of preparing a report card on the functioning of Haryana, Punjab, Bihar and UP governments regarding increase in cases of atrocities against Dalits," NCSC...

-The Hindustan Times The Central Bureau of Investigation said on Friday that the law minister had been given access to a draft copy of its report into the coal blocks allocation scam, prompting furious Opposition calls for his resignation and putting at risk the functioning of Parliament next week. CBI director Ranjit Sinha submitted a highly unusual affidavit to the Supreme Court saying the agency had shared the draft with minister Ashwani...