-Outlook The Comptroller and Auditor General has slammed Railways for not effectively implementing Railway Board's guidelines for mechanised cleaning of major stations and not taking effective pest control measures in coaches. Besides the audit body has observed that Railways has failed to provide good quality of linen to passengers which has resulted in increased passenger dissatisfaction. "There was lack of synchronisation between guidelines of Railway Ministry on maintenance of cleanliness and availability of...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With CAG reports on 2G and Coalgate scams hounding the UPA-2 regime, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday said the federal auditor was not equipped to carry out performance evaluation. While the UPA had targeted CAG for "exceeding its jurisdiction" by venturing into policy domain, Ahluwalia took the fight to another level by arguing that the performance audit carried out by the auditor...

-Outlook The Centre today told the Supreme Court that there has been large-scale violation in MNREGA implementation in Uttar Pradesh for which CBI probe has been sought by an NGO. Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising told a bench comprising Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai that details of the violation have been documented in the affidavit filed by the Centre. The ASG said the money which is released from the...

-The Hindu Unlike many countries that have passed laws to protect citizens' privacy, the Indian state is collecting more and more information about private individuals under various pretexts and restricting their right to access their own information Does a serving employee of a premier intelligence agency have the right to inspect his own biodata which that agency handed over to another public authority? Then again, does a former employee of that agency...

-The Hindu     Genetically modified crops, whose ecological effects are irreversible, could become a mainstay of Indian agriculture thanks to collusion between the government and the biotech industry The final report of the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Expert Committee (TEC) on field trials of genetically modified crops is packed with revelations on what is wrong with institutional governance and regulation in India when it comes to GMOs (genetically-modified organisms). The report's release late last...