Private Investigators posing a challenge to China’s police

            It was the corpse that nearly fooled Yang Hai.  The 40-year-old Beijing investigator had cracked dozens of insurance scams over the years.  A Chinese citizen takes out a large life-insurance policy with an American company, his family falsely declares him dead and then tries to collect the cash.   Yang has solved such cases simply by calling the family and having the “dead” man answer the phone.  Yang didn’t receive any accolades from the Chinese police for busting the body snatcher, but an American company did pay him a cool $500 a day for his work.  Yang  is now a private investigator, part of a fast-growing freewheeling industry that is challenging the boundaries of China’s old police state.  Beijing, reluctant to give up its role as Big Brother, has officially banned private detective agencies.  However, several hundred private firms specializing in investigations have emerged all over the country.  These private agencies dig up dirt on everything from cheating spouses and pirated foreign goods to insurance scams and corrupt government officials.   Beijing may want to regulate this murky new industry, but it is caught in a bind.  Not only is the government running dangerously low on public trust and police manpower, but because Beijing forbids private detective agencies, hundreds of new firms register as  “consultancies” or “legal services” – or they don’t bother to register at all.  Many people in the police and judiciary oppose these agencies but the demand for their services is so great, the government may not be able stop them.

Newsweek – March 24, 2003.

Minimum Wages Hiked in Delhi

          New Delhi – May 2, 2003 -  The Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, today announced that her Government had taken a decision for a Rs.105/- increase in minimum wages across the board.  Unskilled labourers would get Rest.2784/- instead of Rs.2679/-; semi-skilled ones would get Rs.2950/- instead of Rs.2845/- and the skilled labourers would be paid at the rate of  Rs.3208/- instead of the earlier Rs.3104/- per month.  While the matriculate ones would be paid Rs.3232/- instead of Rs.3127/- and the graduate and above would get Rs.3543/- instead of Rs.3439/-.  These rates would be effective from retrospective effect from February  1, 2003.

The Hindu – May 3, 2003