That government departments routinely spend in excess of the budget allocated to them has been brought to the fore by the Public Accounts Committee. In its latest report, the committee says some of the ministries and departments "continue to
Political instability plagues many small states but none can match Meghalaya’s story. Ever since the state came into being in 1972, only two chief ministers, W A Sangma and S C Marak, have completed their terms in office. Think of any bizarr
Believe it or not, the apex court doesn`t keep record of things that the high courts do as a matter of routine. This came to light after an RTI applicant wanted to know the number of cases for which hearings have been completed but
Sivnath Saini, a law student from Hajipur in Vaisali district, 90 km from the Bihar capital, is furious. His university has not furnished his degree certificates and he wants to know why. He has dialled 155310, a dedicated telephone line launched
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday called for better administrative coordination between the centre and the for faster development of the country. He was addressing the first annual Conference of Chief Secretaries in New Delhi. The c
Northeastern state of Meghalaya has created a record few would like to match or better. It now claims four chief ministers. One of them, Congress leader Dr Dethwelson Lapang, was sworn in as the chief minister for the fifth time in
"Mumbai for Maharashtrians" has driven a wedge between two long-time allies--RSS and Shiv Sena. They are now training their guns at each other after the RSS said it would protect the north Indians from the Shiv Sena`s attacks.
More international honours for A R Rahman. He won two Grammy awards in Los Angeles for his music from Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire". Rahman won the first Grammy of the pre-show at the Staples Center in the best
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate a two-day Conference of Chief Secretaries of states in New Delhi on Monday. The conference is organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Ministry of Perso
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday underwent routine medical evaluation at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. His health is normal, doctors said. A series of medical tests were conducted on the 77-year-old prime minister as
Two CBI directors played key role in letting NRI hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal off the hook in the bank fraud case. They rejected the advice of their own investigators and refused to appeal against Chatwal`s discharge in the case. The
The central government has announced a Rs 190 crore project to clean up rivers in Punjab. Environment minister Jairam Ramesh said the project would start with the cleaning up of Sutlej river, which falls in Jalandhar and Phillaur cities in Punjab.
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal`s statement on introducing grading in class XII has welcomed by many students Governance Now spoke to. Divya Wadhwan, who is busy preparing for her class XII exam this year, will not b
GN Exclusive President Pratibha Patil visited eight countries in less than Rs 2 lakh. Don’t believe it? If the response to an RTI application is anything to go by, Patil has manag
Members of the inquiry committee set up by the Press Council to examine `paid news` met Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, whom the EC has served a notice after complaints that he allegedly paid newspapers for publishing stories in his favou
With a view to control spiralling price, the Rajasthan government has announced VAT exemption on imported sugar in the state till June 30. "The decision to exempt four per cent VAT was taken by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Th
His name is Khan, Shah Rukh Khan. He is a hugely successful cinema personality, a consummate businessman and generally a voice of reason on social issues. He represents a post-Independence Indian who is completely at ease with his national as much
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has attacked Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani over his recent statement that Mumbai belongs to all Indians. "Marathi people have as much right over Mumbai as Mukesh Ambani has over Reliance
In a surprise move, the government has postponed to the next fiscal auction of spectrum for 3G telephony which was expected to bring in Rs.35,000 crore to the exchequer. According to senior officials in the Department of Telecom, La
The Reserve Bank of India today increased mandatory cash reserve of banks held by it by 75 basis points in a bid to suck excess liquidity to combat rising inflation. However, short-term lending and borrowing rates between RBI and ba