-The Business Standard   The Supreme Court today asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in six districts of Orissa. The apex court has directed the Central investigative agency to submit its report within six months. The CBI has been asked to check if the operational guidelines of the Central scheme were duly complied...

CBI told to submit first report within six months Many States erred in implementing the schemes The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe alleged misuse of the schemes under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in 100 villages in six districts of Orissa. A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar gave this direction on a petition...

The 1985 Lokpal Bill destroyed the raison d'etre of the institution of an ombudsman, but all successive governments copied it. PUBLIC anger was understandably aroused over the gross delay by Parliament in the last 40 years to enact a Lokpal Bill and with the toothless one that the government sponsored. It is not widely known that the delay was aggravated by deception and fraud in 1985. It was, however, emulated by...

Loss to the exchequer due to the grant of 122 licences to new entrants in 2008 was Rs.1.24-lakh crore Government lost Rs.36,000-crore in grant of dual-technology licences The government must get exact loss calculated instead of washing its hands of it The draft report of the Public Accounts Committee on the 2G scam has come out with yet another figure for the loss to the exchequer, putting it at Rs.1.90-lakh crore in the...

The Supreme Court Monday issued notice to states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on the issue of alleged misappropriation of funds by officials and functionaries administering the MGNREGS. The order of the Apex Court came in response to reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) alleging large scale misappropriation of funds by the officials and functionaries of the implementing agencies. During the hearing,...