SIC Declares Bank As Public Authority; Invokes Maharaja’s Order, Appointment Of Directors, Removal Of Drabu As Grounds Srinagar, Apr 24: In a significant judgment, the State Information Commission (SIC) on Tuesday ruled that J&K Bank Limited is a Public Authority under Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act-2009, entitling people to seek information from the premier financial institution of the State. Announcing the decision, the full Bench of SIC comprising Chief Information...

Drug smugglers and third-world dictators laundering ill-gotten wealth through secretive banking systems in tax havens is an anachronistic image from crime novels. Leveraging US' remarkable success in compelling tax havens to block terrorist financing, the G20/OECD have successfully persuaded tax havens to improve tax transparency and participate in an international regime of information exchange.  All tax havens have committed to OECD standards for tax transparency and are executing Tax Information Exchange...

-The Economic Times The rural development ministry has deepened its engagement with the Comptroller and Auditor-General. After the performance audit of NREGA, CAG will take up an audit of the Indira Awas Yojna. The audit of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which has an annual budget of 40,000 crore covers the period between 2007 and 2011. Rural development minister Jairam Rameshwill submit the report this winter session. "Every year, CAG...

-The Economic Times   What's common between foggy movements of two army battalions, the government auditor's assessments of large notional losses to the exchequer and a letter from the army chief to the PM on his unit's preparedness for war?  The information in each of these instances in the past six months was marked 'secret' in official files, but screamed its way to the public, forcing the government into damage-control mode.  Information leaks in...

Unlike in some countries as the US, the judges of the Supreme Court of India sit in some 13 Benches and deliver judgments. Each judgment is taken as that of the court. One Bench might take a harsh view on a subject while another may be lenient. This was evident from two judgments delivered by two different Benches on the simmering issue of the “first-come, first-served” (FCFS) policy. One dealt with...