Children For Sale
For as little as Rs 3,000, impoverished parents sell their children to adoption centres and unscrupulous operators in Andhra Pradesh, who in turn earn up to Rs 3 lakh from foster families. A look at the people involved, the law and where the process went wrong.

Amma Turns Red
J. Jayalalitha's hopes for contesting the elections have been dashed with the rejection of her nomination papers. But this does not deter her from stepping up her campaigning efforts for the AIADMK and assuming an aggressive stance.

Past Tense
The muted reaction of the Government to the massacre of the BSF troops raises many questions. A look at the past skirmishes between the BSF and BDR gives an insight into what led to the heightening of tension at the border.

Coming To Life
With the end of state monopoly, private insurance companies are offering wider risk coverage and better customer relations.

Starting Over
It's been three months since nature shook Gujarat, killing over 30,000 and shattering dreams. Despite government promises and generosity of individuals, rehabilitation is still to touch the lives of many. The story in pictures.

COVER STORY: ADOPTION

1. Buy a child for a paltry sum from the tribal backwoods.

2. Conceal vital details of parents including their whereabouts and date of admission into the placement organisation.

3. Suppress news of a child's death by burying the body quietly on the campus.

4. Falsify and fabricate records to replace the dead infant with another.

5. Manipulate the social worker to prepare a favourable home study report of prospective parents.

6. Make prospective parents pay more money for higher childcare expenses.

7. Ignore sending reports to the state-level Voluntary Adoptions Coordinating Agency (VACA).

8. Entertain representatives of foreign adoption agencies directly, ignoring the Central Adoption Resource Agency, to offer child for sale to adoptive parents overseas.

9. Allow an unrecognised adoption agency to route children through a recognised placement agency.

SEQUENCE OF MAJOR EVENTS IN THE CHILD ADOPTION RACKET

1	2	3
MARCH 15: Karnataka Police intercept a Tata Sumo carrying two women, three babies crossing into Andhra.	APRIL 6: Karnataka Police take Savithri of Bethany Home for questioning; she escapes from the rear door.	APRIL 18: Andhra Government imposes ban on parents giving up their children for adoption.
4	5	6
APRIL 20: Andhra welfare officers raid ASD's creche, all 34 infants moved to state-run Shishu Vihar.	APRIL 21: Officials raid Bethany Home, Tandur; all 59 children moved to Hyderabad's Shishu Vihar.	APRIL 22: ASD's Rao held in Hyderabad; chief minister announces a cash award for information about Savithri.
7		8
APRIL 24: Twelve infants rescued in Hyderabad; Savithri applies for anticipatory bail in Karnataka HC.		APRIL 25-27: CARA inspects Hyderabad's placement agencies.Two more homes raided, 59 rescued.

MetroScape

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West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya reflected optimism about winning the state election when he spoke to INDIA TODAY Senior Editor Sumit Mitra at the CPI(M) headquarters in Kolkata, minutes before rushing off for campaigning.
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