As fallout of PNB scam continues, questions raised over repayment, Nirav Modi's whereabouts; Truth the casualty in Sohrabuddin Trial; and more

[View this email in your browser]( Top Story [As Fallout of PNB Scam Continues, Questions Raised over Repayment and Nirav Modi’s Whereabouts]( The Wire Staff [The Punjab National Bank likely discovered the true extent of its Rs 11,000 crore fraudulent transactions scam in the same week that billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi – whose companies play a key role in the controversy – was part of the Indian CEO contingent in Davos for the World Economic Forum. Early morning news reports on Thursday indicated that the jeweller-CEO had fled the country before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed its first FIR in the last week of January, 2018.]( [Sohrabuddin Trial: Truth the Casualty in Face-Off Between Powerful Accused, Helpless Witnesses]( Sukanya Shantha [The absence of any effort by the CBI to protect and reassure their witnesses is leading to the mass retraction of earlier statements made before a magistrate that had incriminated the accused.]( [Dark Skin of its Earliest Inhabitants is Challenging the Way Britain Thinks of Race]( The Wire Staff [A new discovery overturns the assumption that Britishers were always pale-skinned and that later events like colonisation led to the influx of dark-skinned populations.]( [New Citizen Science Initiative to Report Animals Killed by Speeding Vehicles]( Arun Panchapakesan and Neelakshi Varma [Biodiversity decline is a big enough problem with multiple underlying causes, such as habitat fragmentation, climate change, poaching and human-animal conflicts, without one more threat.]( [Donald Lynden-Bell: A Legacy of Astronomical Excellence]( Aswin Sekhar [He is best known for his work on the idea that galaxies contain massive black holes at their centres.]( [Why Women Are Not Likely to Be Better off at the End of This Fiscal]( Barkha Deva [In the gender Budget, the Modi government has not done much more than pay lip service to policies that impact women.]( [Chandrashekhar Azad’s Release Is Becoming a Rallying Point for Dalit-Muslim Unity]( Kabir Agarwal [Dalit and Muslim organisations gathered this week in Meerut to demand the release of the Bhim Army leader, who has been languishing in jail after the Adityanath government slapped charges against him under the National Security Act.]( [The 15th Finance Commission May Split Open Demographic Fault Lines Between South and North India]( Nilakantan R.S. [It is becoming almost untenable for Tamil Nadu and Kerala to thrive in the Indian union as rational, self-interested sub-units.]( [Bhagwat, Togadia and MPs ‘Representing Soldiers’ Should Spend at Least One Week at the LoC]( Ashok K. Mehta [The mindless advocacy of war and operational readiness is dangerous, and confirms how little the political class and so-called cultural organisations like RSS know and understand national defence and security.]( [Not Hindutva: The Joy of Being a Transcendent Hindu]( Avijit Pathak [On mastering the spiritual and political strength required as a Hindu to resist the ugliness that goes on in the name of ‘Hindu honour’ in contemporary India.]( Copyright © 2018 The Wire, All rights reserved. You're getting this email because you recently subscribed to receive email digests from The Wire via our website. Our mailing address is: The Wire 13, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Marg Gole MarketNew Delhi 110001 India [Add us to your address book](//thewire.us11.list-manage.com/vcard?u=6b988b13445248b1268a308f2&id=4808224841) Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](