-The Telegraph New Delhi: Forced to defer introduction of the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2018, in the face of stiff opposition in Parliament and outside, the Narendra Modi government appears to have brought it into effect without parliamentary approval through an advertisement. On July 26, the department of personnel, public grievances & pensions issued an advertisement for appointment of information commissioners in the Central Information Commission (CIC) that said the "salary,...

-The Telegraph Chandigarh: Bureaucrats in Haryana now have to stand up - "meticulously correct and courteous" - every time an MP or an MLA visits their office, according to a circular. The circular had been issued in the last week of May but came to light following the standoff between the Delhi government led by Arvind Kejriwal and IAS officers in Delhi. Several senior Haryana-cadre bureaucrats in Chandigarh claimed they had heard about...

-The Hindu Activist sought copy of proposed amendments An activist has accused the government of “illegally” withholding information about amendments proposed to the Right to Information Act, 2005, after her plea seeking details about the procedure followed was turned down. RTI activist Anjali Bharadwaj wrote to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) last month demanding to know when were the amendments to the Act proposed and forwarded to the Union Cabinet. She...

-TheWire.in Veteran IAS officers agree there is a need for greater specialisation in the civil services, but are unhappy with the cut in recruitments over the years and the move to bypass the UPSC system. New Delhi: The Centre’s move to allow lateral entry into empanelled bureaucracy has opened up a complex debate that has been ongoing for, at least, the last two decades. While a big chunk of the civil servants...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The bureaucracy - both serving and retired - may be divided over the Modi government's bid to institutionalise lateral entry, but there is consensus that the UPSC should conduct the recruitment for the 10 joint secretary posts that have been opened up to people outside the system. The failure of the Department of Personnel and training to mention who would be conducting the recruitment for lateral entry in...