-Centre for Financial Accountability blog The institution of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in India is patterned on the British model. In Britain, The Exchequer & Audit Department Act of 1866 created the office of CAG with a view to strengthen democracy and exercise parliamentary control over national finances. The office of CAG came into being, thanks to the missionary zeal of William Gladstone who was Finance Minister at the time...

-PTI The biometric identity system is set for a revamp with new offline verification tools, non-intrusive approach Aadhaar, the country’s extraordinary attempt to give every citizen a biometric identity, is set for a massive revamp with new offline verification tools and non-intrusive ways for people seeking to voluntarily use the 12-digit unique number for new bank accounts and mobile connections. After a chaotic 2018, led by the landmark Supreme Court (SC) ruling on the constitutional...

-The Indian Express The Bill provides for “surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of specified dams for prevention of dam failure related disasters and to provide for institutional mechanism to ensure their safe functioning”. New Delhi: WHEN THE government introduced the Dam Safety Bill, 2018 in Lok Sabha last week, BJD floor leader Bhartruhari Mahtab questioned Parliament’s competence to do so. Days later, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami wrote to the...

-The Indian Express New education report: Muslims, disabled most under-represented. While the proportion of upper-caste students in higher education institutions is still considerably higher than their share in the population, for the first time ever their “erstwhile near-monopoly” is being eroded with their percentage share falling to below 50 per cent over the last few years, according to a study. Advertising All other groups, women, Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC), and...

-IANS New Delhi: The Centre for Equity Studies on Tuesday released its annual report on exclusion of several sections of the society from mainstream and denial of public goods to them on the basis of their class or caste or ethnicity, otherwise ensured to every citizen by the Constitution. "These reports assemble evidence about the success of governments in India to ensure equitable access to what we call public goods to all...