-PTI   When it comes to companies bribing public officials when doing business overseas, India's score has improved the most in a global index, rights group Transparency International said on Wednesday.  Nevertheless, India still ranks near the bottom of the global Bribe Payers Index, as there was a high likelihood of Indian companies paying bribes abroad.  In a list of 28 countries, India has been ranked 19th, while China and Russia fared the worst,...

-PTI   Underlining the urgency to fight corruption in public life, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said it is the right time to move decisively in this direction. "Our efforts for rapid progress and development can have their full impact only if we curb corruption in public life and improve the processes of governance. I believe this is the right time to move decisively in this direction," Singh said addressing the two-day Conference...

-The Hindu   Expresses concern over implementation of scheme in Maharashtra Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh has asserted that the Union government would initiate action against States where there is deliberate “misappropriation/embezzlement” of funds earmarked for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The Minister expressed concern over the “disappointing nature” of implementation of MGNREGS in Maharashtra and said he had addressed a letter to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan in...

-The Economic Times   Sports Minister Ajay Maken on Monday unveiled a revised National Sports Development Bill that retains the contentious provisions on age limits and tenures of heads of sports bodies, but introduces an exclusion clause to protect certain information while bringing sports federations within the ambit of Right to Information Act.  "We strongly feel the functioning of the sports federations should be transparent. If they oppose it then there is something...

India’s transparency law – Right To Information – will not change but the government wants to restrict its applicability through other laws. Two new draft laws --- National Sports Development Bill and National Nuclear Safety Authority --- have specific provisions prohibiting disclosing information in addition to the exemption clauses already in the RTI law. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday wanted a “critical look” at these exemption clauses asking to examine changes...