-PTI The Centre has decided to conduct a study on RTI Act to assess its implementation across the country and find ways to address bottlenecks faced by various stakeholders. The study will analyse public perception about the extent of reduction in corruption as a result of the functioning of the RTI Act and to calculate cost to the government in providing information under the transparency law among others. Besides, it will determine the...

-Outlook The Centre has decided to conduct a study on RTI Act to assess its implementation across the country and find ways to address bottlenecks faced by various stakeholders. The study will analyse public perception about the extent of reduction in corruption as a result of the functioning of the RTI Act and to calculate cost to the government in providing information under the transparency law among others. Besides, it will determine the...

-The Hindustan Times Publicly funded NGOs, some of them working in key sectors, such as health and rural development, have squandered hundreds of crores of rupees, a report released by a voluntary organisation said. In its  report ‘India’s Funds to NGOs Squandered’, Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) said government funding of voluntary organisations was in dire need of reform as the audit by the CAG of India was infrequent, inadequate and...

-The Indian Express Former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, his son Ajay Chautala and two IAS officers were among 55 people convicted by a special CBI court in New Delhi Wednesday of illegally recruiting teachers in 1999. All 55 convicts in the case, known as the JBT (Junior Basic Trained teachers) recruitment scam, were taken into judicial custody and sent to Tihar jail until January 22, when the court is scheduled...

-The Telegraph A rights organisation today accused the Centre and state governments of giving huge, unaccounted grants to NGOs including blacklisted ones, often against a bribe. The Asian Centre for Human Rights said it was basing its claims on replies to a series of RTI applications it had filed in 2010. Releasing the report, “India’s Funds to NGOs Squandered”, the rights body’s director, Suhas Chakma, made these claims at a news conference...