-PTI NEW DELHI: The PMO not disclosing information about expenses incurred on foreign visits of the Prime Minister notwithstanding, a CIC-constituted committee has recommended not only putting out such details proactively by all ministries but regular updating as well. The committee of former Chief Information Commissioner A N Tiwari and Information Commissioner M M Ansari, constituted by the CIC gave its report on "Transparency Audit: Towards An Open and Accountable Government". It referred...

-The Hindu For working India’s federal system, one has to go beyond brute parliamentary majorities and grapple with the multilevel government-opposition matrix, which is the architecture of Centre-State power-sharing Apart from the promise of providing a Congress-free India, the most frequent leitmotif of Mr. Modi’s electoral campaign was that he would usher in a new era for Indian federalism. Based on the idea that a state leader’s vision from below could transform...

-Reuters NEW DELHI: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes one year in office, his cuts in federal welfare spending on the poorest of India's 1.25 billion people are coming in for sharp criticism, including from within his cabinet. In a break with India's socialist past, Modi has saved money on federal social and subsidy expenditure and pumped it into an infrastructure stimulus he hopes will trigger a spurt in economic growth. The government...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The larger-than-life images of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on hoardings asking people to use the anti-corruption helpline 1031 across Delhi will soon vanish. Welcoming the Supreme Court directive to ban media advertisements containing photos of chief ministers, ministers and functionaries of ruling political parties, Delhi government is ready to comply with the order and will bring down all such hoardings. Soon after the SC order, a...

-Livemint.com FCRA dates back to the Emergency. In its current form, it is the handiwork of the UPA, and the NDA is simply taking up from where the UPA left New Delhi: The recent cancellation of licences of many not-for-profits allowed to receive foreign funds is an exercise started by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2010 following a series of public protests against government policies. The Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA)...