Firstpost Editor's Picks: Saurabh Chaudhary on setting world record; chit funds in Chhattisgarh; today's must-read stories

Travels through the Hindi belt: Chhattisgarh govt struggles to assuage investors, agents duped in chit funds during BJP's tenure When the irregularities in the chit fund investments came to light initially, the BJP-led Raman Singh government, instead of going after the directors of the companies, cracked down on agents. As many as 286 of them were arrested between 2012 and 2018. As things stand today, over 400 cases of irregularities have been registered and the Congress government is figuring out a policy to return money to more than 2.70 lakh people who had invested over Rs 1,105 crore in close to 200 chit fund companies operating in the state. Narendra Modi should remember despite Kargil win, BJP didn't sweep 1999 polls; Pulwama sympathy may not turn into votes The war-mongering following the Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir has political pundits mulling its possible impact on the impending 2019 Lok Sabha election. Reminded of the limited war India fought with Pakistan in Kargil from May to July 1999, just three months before the polls in October, they ask: Did it help the BJP win in 1999? BJP was able to retain in 1999 the 182 seats it had won in 1998. Yet, ironically, the outcome of that election still contradicts the view that war, skirmishes or cross-border campaigns necessarily secure electoral majorities. This is because in 1999 the BJP lost vote-share nationally and even seats in key states. If Oscars cared about diversity, Spiderman — Into the Spider-Verse or Black Panther should have won Best Picture Both the Marvel films — Black Panther and Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse — are bold, original ventures that expanded the scope of cinematic storytelling and encouraged empathy, understanding and discussion about how there is more that unites us than divides us. They are not dated, inauthentic films in which black people exist primarily to help white people overcome their problems or absolve their past sins. ISSF New Delhi Shooting World Cup 2019: Saurabh Chaudhary cuts out the noise to claim Tokyo Olympics quota with world record score As wave after wave of raucous cheers echoed around the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Saurabh Chaudhary was an island of calm. Unflappable. In a field of battle-hardened veterans, the 16-year-old seemed to be the only not feeling the pressure. Fittingly then, he ended the day with the gold medal in the 10m air pistol event, a quota place for India for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and a world record — his score of 245.0 a culmination of peerless shooting containing just five shots in the 9s. Confusion over Aadhaar linking afflicts several Jharkhand tribal groups; 43% go hungry due to web of procedural obstacles In Jharkhand’s Latehar it is not unusual for Parhaiyas — classified as a ‘Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG)’— like Sonmati, to live in such dire destitution. Far away from any markers of governance like, health, law and education, they live in the crevices of hills unable to access any basic amenities of living. Most places have no functioning roads, sporadically functioning schools and anganwadis, and healthcare facilities available many hours away. For Sonmati, and many like her, hunger is the norm here.