-The Hindu Various steps need to be taken to strengthen social audits “A good auditor is a good listener” said President Ram Nath Kovind during his recent speech at the 29th Accountants General Conference. “You will not only see the accounts in their books, but also listen to their accounts,” he said. It is only when this conception is accepted that audits will return to their democratic roots, and social audits in...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Exhorting the government to take necessary steps to formulate statistics pertaining to construction workers, domestic workers and women workers in the unorganised sector, the Central Information Commission has recommended the ministry of labour and employment carry out the exercise in line with provisions meant to promote “transparency, accountability and conformity” in the RTI Act. Then Information Commissioner, M Sridhar Acharyulu (who retired on November 21), in...

-Newsclick.in The fourth edition of the India Exclusion Report comes down heavily on demonetisation and its impact on the poor. New Delhi: The fourth edition of the India Exclusion Report, released here on Tuesday,  points towards glaring inequalities gripping the nation and delves deeper into the identification of the sites of inequality. Releasing the report, Harsh Mander, Director of Center for Equity Studies, said, “each chapter in it is best seen as evidence-based...

-PTI The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has refused to share details on the quantum of black money brought back from abroad, citing a provision of the RTI Act that bars disclosure of information that may impede investigation and prosecution of offenders. Its response came on an October 16 order passed by the Central Information Commission, asking the PMO to provide details of black money within 15 days. Replying to an RTI query, the...

-The Hindu The Indian education system would be a good place to start with reforms, says the development economist Jean Drèze is possibly the world’s most famous Belgian-Indian. He has lived in India since 1979, and is an Indian citizen. As a development economist and activist, he has helped draft some startlingly pro-people legislations, such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, and the National Food Security Act, 2013....