-The Economic Times The trend in Plan spending so far is disheartening. Actual expenditure during the first five months of the current fiscal year amounted to about 28% of the budgeted spending of Rs 5,21,025 crore for this fiscal - the lowest proportion recorded over the last five years. Ministries and departments are said to be willing to surrender unspent money, rather than take decisions that they fear could be questioned by...

-The Hindustan Times Government officials riding high on hopes that privacy concerns could blunt the right to information are in for disappointment. An expert panel set up to build a framework for a privacy regulation in India has brushed aside suggestions that the information law was trampling upon privacy of public servants or individuals in public life. The Justice (retd) Ajit Prakash Shah panel has told the government that privacy was only...

-The Times of India The Election Commission (EC) has asked the Union home ministry to probe the alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) by both the Congress and the BJP by receiving donations of about Rs 5 crore each from Vedanta Group subsidiaries — Sterlite Industries and Sesa Goa. Nirvachan Sadan sources told TOI that the Representation of People Act (RPA) debarred political parties from receiving contribution for a...

-The Times of India If you have a domestic help below the age of 14 years, then the authorities may soon visit your house and send her to school. The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the central and state governments to conduct a countrywide drive to identify children below 14 years engaged as domestic helps and send them to school to fulfill the mandate of the Right to Education Act for their...

-The Hindustan Times With several scams hitting national headlines, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that corruption cases involving public servants cannot be quashed by high courts even though the victim and the offender have settled the dispute. “Any compromise between the victim and offender in relation to the offences under special statutes under special statutes like Prevention of Corruption Act  or the offences committed by public servants cannot provide for any...