-The Hindu A recent proposal to curtail the powers of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India runs contrary to national and international conventions. Rather, it is the duty of both the executive and the legislature to strengthen this constitutional office A conference of the chairpersons of Public Accounts Committees (PACs) has just been held under the aegis of the Parliament’s PAC. Nishikant Dubey, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), member PAC, and...

-The Hindu District Mineral Foundations were set up to protect the interests of Adivasi communities who have borne the costs of mining. But they are flawed in their current form Through 2011-13, dogged investigators from the Justice M. B. Shah Commission on illegal mining toured the rust-red villages, forests and rivers of northern Odisha, and trawled through reams of official records including from the environment, minerals, railways, and revenue departments. They met...

-The Hindu Business Line The CPI(M) has many questions for Arun Jaitley on the land ordinance, including where food will be grown Arun Jaitley is clearly seeking to defend the indefensible. What he claims are the obvious answers actually seek to camouflage the hidden intent with which the BJP government brought the ordinance, not once but thrice in succession. The first question to Jaitley is why he as the leader of the House...

-The Hindu Business Line Transparency required on data concerning clinical trials and procurement of drugs Earlier this year, rotavirus vaccine 116E was launched with much fanfare. The celebration of this vaccine that would protect infants against rotavirus gastroenteritis was on two counts. It was developed locally and its price was pegged at $1, less than competing rotavirus vaccines that sell in the country. But the rollout of this indigenous vaccine as part of...

-The Indian Express When the RTI Act was enacted, it was never visualised that politicial parties would be brought within the ambit of the transparency law, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in an affidavit in the apex court. The government has opposed in Supreme Court a plea to bring political parties under the ambit of RTI Act, saying this would adversely impact their internal working and political functioning. Submitting...