-The Indian Express The demonetisation deadline ends on December 30, and a day later, the I-T officers are expected to complete their scrutiny assessment work. New Delhi: Even if just one per cent of the total 40 crore bank accounts are red-flagged as “suspicious” during analysis by the Income-Tax department after sifting through data made available to it by banks, the tax officers would be saddled with a staggering 40 lakh...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The government has declared 362 towns and cities in 15 states free of open defecation, with Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra topping the chart and Bengal scoring a duck. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan aims to make the whole of India open-defecation-free by 2019. In Gujarat, 167 urban local bodies have been provided with open-defecation-free certificates, followed by 91 in Andhra Pradesh and 70 in Maharashtra. (See chart)     "A ward...

-Deccan Herald System overhaul: Transparency measures with strong accountability mechanisms can usher in change The National Food Security Act (NFSA) passed in 2013 gives statutory backing to the Public Distribution System (PDS). Up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population is entitled to receive food grain under the Act. Beneficiaries are categorised into priority households, entitled to 5 kg of subsidised grains per person per month, and Antyodaya...

-The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement demonetising high denomination notes on November 8, 2016, will do little to address the prime objective of flushing out black money but will adversely affect the economy in the short term, especially the informal sector, which is predominant in India, says M. Govinda Rao, a Member of the Fourteenth Finance Commission and Emeritus Professor, National Institute of Public...

-The Hindu Report tabled in Parliament says Reliance gained Rs. 5,245 crore from the exemption. The Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) has castigated the Income-Tax Department for extending tax exemption amounting to hundreds of crores to several companies by inappropriately extending benefits available for infrastructure projects. In a report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the CAG said the biggest beneficiary was Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL). “We noticed in eight cases in two States that the...