-The Hindu Information panel calls for time bound investigation The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to disclose information on its investigation and recovery of money from the perpetrators of the Saradha Realty Chit Fund Scam. Investigations must be time bound and transparent keeping in mind the interests of lakhs of affected investors, said CIC. The Rs.10,000 crore Saradha Chit Fund Scam came to light...

-The Indian Express In the wake of life’s savings lost to scams, children have dropped out of school, marriages have been put off, people have left homes, and suicide, say some, is the only option. The Indian Express on the stories forgotten in the headlines. Most days, Raqib Sardar can be seen hanging around a tea shop at Sonarpur Railway Station in South 24 Parganas district, 30 km from Kolkata, looking...

-Business Standard Instead of addressing systemic problems in agriculture, farm politics in the state is about how much money the government can offer the farmer as a dole The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), led by Parkash Singh Badal and son Sukhbir, was in a dilemma a year before the 2012 Assembly elections in Punjab. The Akalis had ruled Punjab since 2007 but no party had ever returned to power for a second...

-The Hindu District Mineral Foundations were set up to protect the interests of Adivasi communities who have borne the costs of mining. But they are flawed in their current form Through 2011-13, dogged investigators from the Justice M. B. Shah Commission on illegal mining toured the rust-red villages, forests and rivers of northern Odisha, and trawled through reams of official records including from the environment, minerals, railways, and revenue departments. They met...

-The Indian Express A little more than a week ago, World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which he called an “extraordinary effort” at financial inclusion. According to the Union finance ministry, India has attained 99 per cent financial inclusion, measured as households’ access to bank accounts. Within three months of launching the PMJDY, the government entered the Guinness...