When India  won its bid for the 2010 Commonwealth Games seven years ago, the event instantly became an emblem of national prestige. But as the country prepares to open the games on Sunday evening, an opportunity to burnish its global image has instead become a national embarrassment. The litany of problems plaguing the games — collapsed footbridges, filthy dorms, cartoonish corruption — have not only made headlines around the world....

In an apparent reference to former Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) Pratyush Sinha’s recent comment regarding his “thankless” job, Union Law and Justice Minister M Veerappa Moily on Monday said senior officers weren’t expected to make such statements. Sinha had observed at an interview last week that the worst part of his “thankless” job was observing how corruption had increased as people became more materialistic. “I don’t want to name anyone, he...

THE government has directed public sector banks to provide data on corruption charges against bank officials involved in the agricultural loan waiver scheme after complaints that many of them took bribes for processing applications. The finance ministry wants to put such cases on fast track as the performance audit of the scheme has already been initiated by the Comptroller and auditor general of India (CAG), the government’s statutory auditor. The...

KEY TRENDS   • Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $ • The amendments have now...

Use of machines in place of labourers in NREGS works was detected by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) at many places in the State during the last financial year. Taking strong exception to the practice, the CAG maintained in its latest report that in Mayurbhanj and Jajpur districts unauthorised use machines like excavators in execution of works, as alleged by the public, was confirmed on inquiry. Besides, in two tank projects...