-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has rapped the ministry of home affairs after the latter admitted that it did not have data on mercy petitions considered by the President since 1970. The Commission has asked the ministry to disclose the information within four weeks in larger public interest. The order came in response to an application by an under trial lodged in Agra's Central Jail. In...
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Not against Food Bill but draft legislation faulty: BJP
-PTI Panaji: Insisting that it is not against the Food Security Bill, BJP today said Congress is making "baseless allegation" that the main Opposition party is blocking the proposed law, even as it faulted the draft legislation on a "lot" of provisions. The party contended that it was not responsible for the failure of the Bill being taken up in the last Budget session, but the Congress' "adamant" approach to the opposition's...
More »A flawed order, difficult to implement -MM Ansari
-The Indian Express In the aftermath of the Central Information Commission's order holding political parties as public authorities for the disclosure of details of political funding, the turf war between members of civil society and the parties has intensified. It is commonly believed that a major source of corruption in the functioning of government can be traced back to the method of funding of parties and elections. The efforts made by...
More »Open up the accounts
-The Business Standard But RTI is not the tool to impose transparency on parties There is no doubt that much is wrong with how elections in India are financed. In India, as in most democratic countries, the need for political funding is often what causes cronyism and outright corruption - in fact, more than one politician, cutting across party lines, is on record making this argument. It is necessary, certainly, to introduce...
More »Cong brass iffy over ordinance route for food bill -Nitin Sethi
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Congress leadership remains undecided on the ordinance route for National Food Security Bill, with the Cabinet meeting yet to be slated for Friday. Sources said the party is yet to configure how to handle some of its reluctant allies as well as the opposition while contending with the fact that the bill could take anything between 6-9 months before the benefits finally roll out to...
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