-The Telegraph The world lauds us as the largest democracy. Yet, how much of a democracy are we and where must we improve? Elections and their consequences: We have regular elections. They are supervised with increasing effectiveness as far as booth capturing, bogus voters and violence are concerned. The influence of money has not waned; if anything, it has increased. It is not as it used to be, for paying voters only....
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Rajasthan’s Rajsamand shows the way with Right to Hearing Act -Anindo Dey
-The Times of India TOGI (RAJSAMAND): For once the crowd no longer mobs the district collector; not even in a surging camp of redressal seekers. Instead a nearby counter is mobbed. Up for grabs is a pink slip - the guarantee for an official hearing to all complaints. By the end of the day, grievances ranging from faulty electricity connections, non payment of wages, old age pension, a simple request for work...
More »Press Council panel criticizes Bihar govt for gagging press
-The Times of India In a scathing indictment of the Bihar government, a Press Council report has leveled serious charges against the state establishment including attempts to censor the media, misuse its "monopolistic status" for giving advertisements and arm-twisting newspapers to publish positive stories. Comparing the situation to Emergency, the three-member team that recently submitted its report to PCI chief Markandey Katju said that the Nitish Kumar government was forcing the...
More »Inform RTI applicants about additional fees: DoPT tells departments
-PTI The Centre has asked all departments under it to ensure that RTI applicants are informed in time about payment of additional fees as photocopying charges and others. The directive came after the Central Information Commission (CIC) approached the Department of Personnel and Training, a nodal department for implementation of the transparency law, with complaints from various RTI applicants. It has been brought to the notice of CIC that some Central...
More »300 firms under scanner as CBI widens coalgate probe-Sujay Mehdudia
-The Hindu The CBI, expanding its coalgate probe, has launched investigations against 300-odd companies and begun questioning officials of the Steel, Coal and Power departments, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited and the state-run Coal India Limited on allocation of coal blocks between 1993 and 2008. The CBI has laid hands on nearly 700 files from the Coal Ministry, running into 1,60,000 pages,...
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