Smoke More So We Can Quickly Raise Revenue Through Higher Cigarette Tax: Indian Chief Minister

The chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal wants to increase a tax on cigarettes and tobacco products by 10 percent as a way of raising revenue to provide funds to thousands of investors who were defrauded of their life savings by a private investment company called the Saradha Group.

Sudipta Sen, a businessman who ran the fraudulent investment scheme, has been arrested.

But the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, also raised some hackles by half-jokingly suggesting that people should “smoke more” in order to increase the coffers of the special fund she has set up for the duped investors. Read more.........Smoke More So We Can Quickly Raise Revenue Through Higher Cigarette Tax: Indian Chief Minister

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Husband, In-Laws Inject Woman with HIV-Infected Blood for Conceiving Girl Child

Even as the demands for women's safety in India grow louder, crimes against them continue to rise at an unprecedented rate. In a new incident, a pregnant woman in Andhra Pradesh was injected with HIV-infected blood for conceiving a girl child.

In a complaint lodged at the Vedulapalli police station in Guntur on Wednesday night, the woman, who is seven months pregnant, alleged that her husband and in-laws had been injecting her with HIV-infected blood ever since they found her to be carrying a girl child. Read more.........Husband, In-Laws Inject Woman with HIV-Infected Blood for Conceiving Girl Child

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Milkmen, auto drivers selling Mobile SIM cards

NEW DELHI: Restaurants and washrooms may have provided the ambience for some brilliant ideas, but for telecom operator Uninor, the flicker of inspiration came when a top executive was on his way home in an autorickshaw. Uninor Maharashtra circle head Ritesh Singh's idea of branded auto-rickshaws, milkmen and newspaper vendors selling SIM cards and recharge vouchers at customers' doorsteps was immediately lapped up by the company, which is the Indian arm of Norwegian telecom operator Telenor. Read more.........Uninor and Videocon adopts 'go-to-customer plan' to sell SIM cards, recharge vouchers

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Baby sold on Facebook for Rs 8 lakh, grandpa held

Ludhiana: Believe it not, a grandfather in Ludhiana, Punjab sold his newborn grandchild. The deal involving three accused was struck on popular social networking site Facebook. Reports say baby was sold for Rs 8 lakh. Read more.........Punjab: Baby sold on Facebook for Rs 8 lakh, grandpa held

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Teenage mother kills baby to pursue studies

JABALPUR: An 18-year-old woman killed a her two-day-old son in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh as she feared being a mother would ruin her plans and curtail her dreams.

Suneeta Yadav was arrested on April 10 and sent to jail by a court for having killed her two day-old son. Read more.........Teenage mother kills baby to pursue studies in MP

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Cows Have Full Democratic Rights On Indian Roads .

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Bicycle on a Motorcycle

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Superstition driving Students to sacrifice Goats, Hens to clear Board exams

BHOPAL: Sacrifice a goat and clear the board exam. This is what students in tribal-dominated Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh and adjoining villages in Gujarat believe. And they are making a beeline for Ranapur, 45 km from Jhabua, where the idol of Baba Dongar, a tribal god, is believed to make all wishes come true.Read more.........Superstition driving students to sacrifice goats, hens to clear board exams

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Modern-day Draupadi is happy to live with 5 husbands

Dehradun: A young Indian woman is living the life of Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, even in the 21st -century India and she has no qualms about it. Meet Rajo Verma, 21, a resident of a village near Dehradun who lives with five husbands, all of whom are brothers, in a one-room house.Read more.........Modern-day Draupadi is happy to live with 5 husbands

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Caged Tiger falls in love with Goat

NAGPUR: When staff at the Bor wildlife sanctuary released a live goat in the enclosure of a full grown male tiger, they hoped the beast would make a quick kill. To their astonishment and horror, the tiger instead decided to make friends with its intended meal.Read more.........Caged Tiger falls in love with goat

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Lord Shiva's latest Avatar: A pumpkin?

BOKARO: Residents of Bokaro, Jharkhand, have started worshipping a pumpkin believing it to be a reincarnation of Shiva.

The 87kg pumpkin has become the talk of the town with people thronging the town's biggest vegetable market Dundibagh to worship the vegetable.Read more.........Lord Shiva's latest avatar: A pumpkin?

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Brides on sale, for cash and cattle

BHOPAL: Brides are being bought in Madhya Pradesh - sometimes in exchange for a buffalo and some cash. It might have sounded bizarre had there not been such a tragic tinge to it.

In districts like Ashoknagar and Guna, where men far outnumber women probably due to female foeticide, desperate grooms are turning to human traffickers to find a wife. It's no problem if they don't have deep pockets -- the 'matchmaker' kindly accepts a buffalo as part payment.Read more.........Brides on sale, for cash and cattle

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