Quite opposite to the top-down model of budgeting, the newly elected Aam Aadmi Party-led Government in Delhi has decided to go for a 'citizen-centric' budget planning at 'mohalla'-level for the fiscal year 2015-16. Drawing lessons from the success stories of participatory budgeting conducted at municipal-level in cities like Porto Alegre (Brazil), the AAP-led Delhi Government has decided to launch this form of decentralized budgeting on a pilot basis in a...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a move to involve private players more to clean Ganga, the govt is keen to allow corporates to spend their CSR fund without any interference of municipal bodies in 118 cities and towns along the river. Corporates would be allowed to undertake projects that contribute to this mission after getting easy approval from the municipal bodies. "The issue was discussed at a meeting chaired...

-India Today Delhi attracts a bad name for its crime, traffic snarls and governance, but statistics generated by an international survey reveal that the national capital fares well in many ways when compared to other cities like London, New York, Tokyo, Istanbul and Berlin. Delhi's performance across a number of indicators was compared to these cities in terms of economy, population, society, governance, density, green space, environment and transport during the study...

-The Hindu Corruption in India has undergone a qualitative shift from the days of licence Raj to the era of liberalisation. Opportunities for making money have come in handy for politicians, who were also dealing with a new political situation of fragmentation and instability. In the days leading to the 2008 Assembly election in Karnataka, slum-dwellers in Bangalore were startled to see small bundles flying in through their windows at night. The...

-Down to Earth Grand old party of India renews some old promises and makes some new ones, but will Congress live up to its promises if it wins a third term? The Indian National Congress (INC) presented its manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on Wedneday. The manifesto committee claimed the 48-page document was prepared after wide consultations by engaging millions of people, grassroots congress workers and every section of the...