Unusual chamber marks on plastic shells

Chamber marks alone can serve for identification. It has been observed that these marks are more clearly imprinted on plastic shells fired through homemade crude weapons. The importance of these marks is crucial when other conventional marks are absent. In the present communication, principles of identification are briefly discussed along with the factors affecting the conventional marks. One such actual case is cited.     

Development of Latent Fingermarks from Rocks and Stones

Since the beginning of recorded history, stones have been used in the commission of crimes due to their widespread availability. Stones can be used as a lethal weapon that sometimes might be the only evidence in a serious case. The common perception, even in professional fingermark circles, is that stones do not yield identifiable latent fingermarks. The authors of this research paper examined the feasibility of developing fingermarks from seven types of stones using three latent fingermark techniques: magnetic powder, cyanoacrylate fuming, and ninhydrin. The paper will demonstrate that by classifying stones and rocks according to their natural properties (porosity, permeability, and the nature of surface area), even application of the simplest development techniques can produce good results. In conclusion, chert and limestone yielded the most qualitative and quantitative results using magnetic powder. The time factor is also important in recovering latent fingermarks on stones and rocks.     

Who Gains More from Education? A Comparative Analysis of Business,Farm and Wage Workers in India

The economics literature on returns to education has focused largely on wage workers, thereby ignoring a sizable section of the workforce which is self-employed. This paper presents the estimates of private returns to education for business, farm and wage workers in India using a nationally representative household survey. The paper addresses the sample-selectivity issue arising due to endogenous sector allocation in the earnings equation using the multinomial-selection approach. Our results show that the average rate of return to education is higher for wage workers followed by business and farm workers. Focusing only on wage workers would provide an overestimate of returns by 30 per cent for business workers and by 40–50 per cent for farm workers. Further, the profile of returns across the education ladder varies perceptibly for the three type of workers with higher education being more rewarding for wage workers.