-The Indian Express Government has an opportunity to enhance use of social audit to monitor schemes In contrast to its rhetoric, the current government’s record on transparency, accountability, and citizen participation has been uninspiring. Even essential laws such as the Lok Pal and the Whistle Blower Protection Act are yet to be operationalised. However, recent developments on social audits, the conduct of which actually finds a place in the BJP’s 2014...

-The Hindu Business Line Uses SFT to identify people who made high cash deposits during demonetisation period New Delhi: In hot pursuit of black-money hoarders who may have made high-value cash deposits during the demonetisation window, the Income Tax Department has identified an additional 6.6 lakh people in the second phase of Operation Clean Money. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has harvested information from the Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT) to...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Electronic payments have become safer for consumers with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introducing the concept of 'zero liability' and 'limited liability' for bank customers for any card or online fraud. The central bank has also made it mandatory for banks to register all customers for text message alerts and permit reporting of unauthorized transactions through a reply to the alert message. The proposal to limit...

-VillageSquare.in Given the complex and varied situations in rural India, the results of the direct benefit transfer method are so far mixed at best and debilitating at worst, as seen in the subsidies for farm equipment and fertilizers Direct benefit transfer (DBT), a system through which government programs transfer funds directly to Bank Accounts of beneficiaries, is hailed as a major intervention that is expected to cut a whole lot of misdirection...

-TheWire.in PricewaterhouseCoopers, convicted in the Rs 7,000 crore Satyam scam, had also audited accounts of Vijay Mallya’s firm and the Global Trust Bank, which collapsed. New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government’s appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) India to key projects like black money probes, Digital India, Make in India and Smart Cities project has been questioned by the Citizens Whistleblowers Forum. The group has also expressed concern over the RBI’s engagement of the...