The Indian government has proposed major amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), introducing stricter compliance requirements for NGOs, charitable trusts, educational institutions, and religious organizations that receive foreign donations.

The proposed changes include the creation of a designated authority to manage foreign-funded assets if an organization's FCRA registration is cancelled, surrendered, expires, or is not renewed. NGOs will also be required to disclose the ultimate source of foreign contributions, update operational details, and comply with expanded governance requirements.

The government says the amendments are aimed at improving transparency, strengthening accountability, and preventing misuse of foreign funds. However, opposition parties, civil society groups, and some international critics argue the proposals could expand executive control over NGO assets and operations.

India Proposes Major FCRA Changes | Tougher Rules for NGOs Receiving Foreign Funds

Student protesters at Delhi's Jantar Mantar celebrated the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, calling it a major victory for the youth movement. While welcoming the development, protesters said their fight is not over and demanded sweeping education reforms, transparency in examinations, compensation for affected families, and written assurances from the government.

Jantar Mantar Celebrates Pradhan's resignation | Students demand sweeping education reforms

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned after weeks of nationwide student protests over the alleged NEET paper leak controversy. His resignation comes ahead of the third round of talks between the Centre and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Celebrations erupted at Jantar Mantar as political leaders across parties reacted, while attention now shifts to education reforms and greater transparency in India's examination system.

Dharmendra Pradhan Quits as education minister | Celebrations erupt at Jantar Mantar

Serious questions are intensifying over the withheld Epstein files and what they could reveal. As scrutiny grows, U.S. President Donald Trump faces mounting pressure from critics demanding transparency and even testimony before the U.S. Congress.

What information remains sealed? Why haven’t all the documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein been made public? And could the unreleased material contain politically damaging revelations?

Trump 'Charged' With Hiding Devastating Revelation In Epstein Scandal 

President Donald Trump has signed a bill requiring the Justice Department to release Jeffrey Epstein-related files to the public. The Justice Department now has a one-month deadline to make the documents available, shedding light on long-standing questions about Epstein’s network, investigations, and alleged crimes.

Epstein Scandal: Pam Bondi Pledges 'Maximum Transparency' 

According to evidence provided to Congress on Wednesday by an ex-Air Force intelligence official, the US has been concealing a long-running operation that retrieves and decodes unidentified flying objects. The Pentagon refuted his allegations. The presentation of retired Maj. David Grusch before a House Oversight subcommittee was the most recent incursion by Congress into the topic of UAPs, or "unidentified aerial phenomena," as the US government refers to "unidentified flying objects." To know more watch this interview with the Director of Nuclear Studies Institute in American University, Peter Kuznick.

UFO hearing: US Congressional hearing garners interest globally

An ex-Air Force intelligence official told Congress on Wednesday that the US has been hiding a long-running programme that recovers and decodes unidentified flying objects. The Pentagon refuted his allegations. Retired Maj. David Grusch's eagerly awaited appearance before a House Oversight subcommittee marked Congress' most recent venture into the subject of UAPs, or "unidentified aerial phenomena," the term the U.S. government employs in place of "unidentified flying objects."

UFO Hearing: UFO transparency at the center of house hearing

UFO Hearing: Is the US concealing UFO craft and dead extraterrestrials?

In a major push for a hands-on approach to governance, the Modi government is planning to rope in young professionals, seek suggestions from retiring officials and make the best use of technology for project monitoring, besides various other steps to be overseen by eight different groups comprising of members from the entire Council of Ministers, sources said.

The 77 ministers have been divided into eight groups to develop technology-based resources, create a pool of professionals for recruiting in their teams and other similar initiatives to be adopted in the offices of all ministers' offices to bring more transparency and further improve and efficiency of the Modi government, the sources said.

This exercise of dividing the ministers into eight groups was done following 'Chintan Shivirs' (brainstorming sessions) of the entire council that were chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with each meeting lasting for nearly five hours.

A total of five such sessions were held - one each on Personal Efficiency, Focused Implementation, Ministry Functioning and Stakeholder Engagement, Party Coordination and Effective Communication and the last one was on Parliamentary practices.

The last brainstorming meeting was also attended by the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.

All these meetings primarily focused on improving the efficiency and the delivery system of the Modi government. The forming of groups is another step in that direction, broadly focusing on overall improvement in the governance by making ministers more hands-on approach, the sources said.

All the 77 ministers in the council are part of one of these eight groups, each comprising nine to ten ministers with one Union minister designated as a group coordinator, sources said.

Developing a portal in each minister's office that gives updates on the performance of the Centre's flagship schemes and policies, a dashboard for monitoring decisions made by the respective ministers and a system to schedule meetings and managing correspondence are among the tasks assigned to these groups.

They have also been asked to create profiles of all districts, states and ministries and develop stakeholder engagement programmes.

One of the groups has been assigned to set up a mechanism for creating a team of at least three young professionals with command over research, communication and other key areas, the sources said.

Similarly, a group has been assigned to create a portal that maintains feedback and experiences of the retiring employees, sources said.

Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Narendra Singh Tomar, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Smriti Irani, Anurag Thakur are among the ministers who are the coordinators of their respective groups, the sources said.

They have been given this responsibility so that they can share the good practices of their respective offices with other cabinet colleagues.

Most of the ministers who had given presentations during the Chintan Shivirs have been given the responsibility of coordinating their respective groups.

Meanwhile, for attending these brainstorming sessions, Union ministers on the instruction of Prime Minister Modi did carpooling with their cabinet colleagues from different ministries and hailing from different states.

In a major push for a hands-on approach to governance, the Modi government is planning to rope in young professionals, seek suggestions from retiring officials and make the best use of technology for project monitoring, besides various other steps to be overseen by eight different groups comprising of members from the entire Council of Ministers, sources said.

In a major push for a hands-on approach to governance, the Modi government is planning to rope in young professionals, seek suggestions from retiring officials and make the best use of technology for project monitoring, besides various other steps to be overseen by eight different groups comprising of members from the entire Council of Ministers, sources said. The 77 ministers have been divided into eight groups to develop technology-based resources, create a pool of professionals for recruiting in their teams and other similar initiatives to be adopted in the offices of all ministers' offices to bring more transparency and further improve and efficiency of the Modi government, the sources said. This exercise of dividing the ministers into eight groups was done following 'Chintan Shivirs' (brainstorming sessions) of the entire council that were chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with each meeting lasting for nearly five hours. A total of five such sessions were held - one each on Personal Efficiency, Focused Implementation, Ministry Functioning and Stakeholder Engagement, Party Coordination and Effective Communication and the last one was on Parliamentary practices. The last brainstorming meeting was also attended by the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu. All these meetings primarily focused on improving the efficiency and the delivery system of the Modi government. The forming of groups is another step in that direction, broadly focusing on overall improvement in the governance by making ministers more hands-on approach, the sources said. All the 77 ministers in the council are part of one of these eight groups, each comprising nine to ten ministers with one Union minister designated as a group coordinator, sources said. Developing a portal in each minister's office that gives updates on the performance of the Centre's flagship schemes and policies, a dashboard for monitoring decisions made by the respective ministers and a system to schedule meetings and managing correspondence are among the tasks assigned to these groups. They have also been asked to create profiles of all districts, states and ministries and develop stakeholder engagement programmes. One of the groups has been assigned to set up a mechanism for creating a team of at least three young professionals with command over research, communication and other key areas, the sources said. Similarly, a group has been assigned to create a portal that maintains feedback and experiences of the retiring employees, sources said. Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Narendra Singh Tomar, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Smriti Irani, Anurag Thakur are among the ministers who are the coordinators of their respective groups, the sources said. They have been given this responsibility so that they can share the good practices of their respective offices with other cabinet colleagues. Most of the ministers who had given presentations during the Chintan Shivirs have been given the responsibility of coordinating their respective groups. Meanwhile, for attending these brainstorming sessions, Union ministers on the instruction of Prime Minister Modi did carpooling with their cabinet colleagues from different ministries and hailing from different states.

PM Modi divides council of ministers into 8 groups to improve transparency, governance

The Supreme Court Friday termed as "pre-mature" the issue related to transparency in the selection process for appointing CBI Director in the future, saying the endeavour at present is to ensure that a regular chief of the agency is seated "immediately".

The apex court said it cannot lay down general guidelines on transparency in the selection process at this stage as it was seized with the issue of appointment of a regular CBI director.

It said the issue of transparency in the appointment process can be raised if fresh cause of action crops up pointing to the alleged violation in future appointment.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Navin Sinha said this while hearing a petition filed by NGO Common Cause challenging the Centre's decision to appoint M Nageswara Rao as an interim CBI director.&nbsp;

"You want an immediate appointment. Let us stop there. Let the appointment be made first. If you have any grievance that the process is not followed and transparency was not there then you can challenge it later," the bench told lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who was appearing for the NGO.

"We cannot lay down general guidelines at this stage. When you will challenge it in future, we will consider it. Unless there is a concrete cause of action, we cannot interfere in an administrative action," the bench said.

The court's observation came after Bhushan argued that the court must deal with issue of transparency in the process to appoint CBI director.

Bhushan said he was not saying that appointment of a new CBI director should be delayed but he was on the aspect of transparency in the selection process in future.

"For future, the issue of transparency in the process should be kept open," he said.

To this, the bench told Bhushan, "You can file a petition in future on this. This issue is pre-mature at this stage".

Bhushan then referred to earlier judgements of the apex court on the issue of transparency in such appointments.

The bench referred to the 1997 judgement in Vineet Narain case, in which the top court had fixed a tenure of a minimum of two years for the CBI director to allow the officer to work independently.

Justice Mishra said that judgement delivered by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on January 8 in the CBI matter also dealt with this issue and Vineet Narain verdict was quoted in it.

"We will ensure the appointment of a regular director. As for transparency, if there is any lacunae, you will have the option of future litigation," the bench told Bhushan.

"When can I raise this issue? There are so many verdicts that transparency must be there," Bhushan said, adding, "You should lay down that these are the minimum norms that must be followed in appointing the CBI director".

"Vineet Narain is not on transparency. It speaks of independence and the high-powered selection committee," he said.

However, Attorney General K K Venugopal told the court that the high-powered committee headed by the Prime Minister would hold a meeting on Friday to select new CBI director.&nbsp;

The last meeting of the committee took place on January 24 but it remained "inconclusive".

The Selection Committee comprises the Prime Minister, the leader of the largest Opposition party and the Chief Justice of India or his nominee judge of the apex court.

Taking account of Venugopal's submissions, the bench posted the matter for hearing on February 6.

Earlier, three judges of the apex court -- CJI Gogoi and Justices A K Sikri and N V Ramana -- had recused themselves from hearing the petition.

In its petition in the apex court, the NGO has sought specific mechanisms to ensure transparency in the process of appointing the CBI director.

It has alleged that Rao's appointment was not made on the basis of the recommendations of the Selection Committee.

The plea alleged that the government order of October 23 last year, appointing Rao as interim CBI director, was quashed by the top court on January 8 but the Centre "acted in a completely mala fide, arbitrary and illegal manner" to appoint him again in "complete contravention" of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.&nbsp;

The Supreme Court Friday termed as "pre-mature" the issue related to transparency in the selection process for appointing CBI Director in the future, saying the endeavour at present is to ensure that a regular chief of the agency is seated "immediately".

The Supreme Court Friday termed as "pre-mature" the issue related to transparency in the selection process for appointing CBI Director in the future, saying the endeavour at present is to ensure that a regular chief of the agency is seated "immediately". The apex court said it cannot lay down general guidelines on transparency in the selection process at this stage as it was seized with the issue of appointment of a regular CBI director. It said the issue of transparency in the appointment process can be raised if fresh cause of action crops up pointing to the alleged violation in future appointment. A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Navin Sinha said this while hearing a petition filed by NGO Common Cause challenging the Centre's decision to appoint M Nageswara Rao as an interim CBI director. "You want an immediate appointment. Let us stop there. Let the appointment be made first. If you have any grievance that the process is not followed and transparency was not there then you can challenge it later," the bench told lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who was appearing for the NGO. "We cannot lay down general guidelines at this stage. When you will challenge it in future, we will consider it. Unless there is a concrete cause of action, we cannot interfere in an administrative action," the bench said. The court's observation came after Bhushan argued that the court must deal with issue of transparency in the process to appoint CBI director. Bhushan said he was not saying that appointment of a new CBI director should be delayed but he was on the aspect of transparency in the selection process in future. "For future, the issue of transparency in the process should be kept open," he said. To this, the bench told Bhushan, "You can file a petition in future on this. This issue is pre-mature at this stage". Bhushan then referred to earlier judgements of the apex court on the issue of transparency in such appointments. The bench referred to the 1997 judgement in Vineet Narain case, in which the top court had fixed a tenure of a minimum of two years for the CBI director to allow the officer to work independently. Justice Mishra said that judgement delivered by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on January 8 in the CBI matter also dealt with this issue and Vineet Narain verdict was quoted in it. "We will ensure the appointment of a regular director. As for transparency, if there is any lacunae, you will have the option of future litigation," the bench told Bhushan. "When can I raise this issue? There are so many verdicts that transparency must be there," Bhushan said, adding, "You should lay down that these are the minimum norms that must be followed in appointing the CBI director". "Vineet Narain is not on transparency. It speaks of independence and the high-powered selection committee," he said. However, Attorney General K K Venugopal told the court that the high-powered committee headed by the Prime Minister would hold a meeting on Friday to select new CBI director. The last meeting of the committee took place on January 24 but it remained "inconclusive". The Selection Committee comprises the Prime Minister, the leader of the largest Opposition party and the Chief Justice of India or his nominee judge of the apex court. Taking account of Venugopal's submissions, the bench posted the matter for hearing on February 6. Earlier, three judges of the apex court -- CJI Gogoi and Justices A K Sikri and N V Ramana -- had recused themselves from hearing the petition. In its petition in the apex court, the NGO has sought specific mechanisms to ensure transparency in the process of appointing the CBI director. It has alleged that Rao's appointment was not made on the basis of the recommendations of the Selection Committee. The plea alleged that the government order of October 23 last year, appointing Rao as interim CBI director, was quashed by the top court on January 8 but the Centre "acted in a completely mala fide, arbitrary and illegal manner" to appoint him again in "complete contravention" of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.

Issue of transparency in CBI chief appointment 'pre-mature' at this stage, says Supreme Court

US telecom regulator FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday there is a need for greater transparency around operations of online platforms while clarifying that the issue does not fall under his organisation.

"I do think that there might be a conversation about what types of regulations to these platforms. For example, what kind of algorithms are they using to determine what content is seen and what content is not seen when somebody does a Google search, how Facebook feed is defined, when Twitter decides what accounts to suspend? what are the rules behind that."

"The need for transparency that will allow consumers to make better decisions is something that will serve everybody well," Pai told reporters at the India Mobile Congress.&nbsp;

He, however, refrained from commenting on fake information that float through social media platforms as their regulation do not come under his jurisdiction and added that it is difficult for government to define which view is a lie.

Pai said that the US Congress is evaluating right now, where there is a very robust conversation about what types of privacy and data security protections should be embedded in the law.&nbsp;

"I would expect our elected officials over the next several months to continue that conversation. There seems to be a bipartisan agreement between

Republicans and Democrats, and agreement in both houses of Congress that this is an issue that requires legislative attention... This is the topic of hot interest in our legislature," he said.&nbsp;

The FCC which looks after defence of US Communications infrastructure is working on regulation to check spend of funds on companies that are identified as national security threat.&nbsp;

"We have pending rules on integrity of supply chain. One of the proposals we advanced was should we think in the context of federal subsidies distributed to the careers , whether restrict that funding from spent on companies or sectors that have determined by intelligence community or congress a national security threat," Pai said.

He said that this is a ongoing proceeding and yet to be finalised.

When asked about reports that suggest that US has plans to ban chinese telecom gear firms, Pai said that the proposed regulation does not single out any specific company.

"Our proposal is to not single out any particular company but to the extent that the intelligence community or the Congress make determines that any company is a potential security risk. We haven't taken a view on any of the companies but whatever the quantum of risk is, should we prohibit funding from going into those companies," Pai said.&nbsp;

US telecom regulator FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday there is a need for greater transparency around operations of online platforms while clarifying that the issue does not fall under his organisation.

US telecom regulator FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday there is a need for greater transparency around operations of online platforms while clarifying that the issue does not fall under his organisation. "I do think that there might be a conversation about what types of regulations to these platforms. For example, what kind of algorithms are they using to determine what content is seen and what content is not seen when somebody does a Google search, how Facebook feed is defined, when Twitter decides what accounts to suspend? what are the rules behind that." "The need for transparency that will allow consumers to make better decisions is something that will serve everybody well," Pai told reporters at the India Mobile Congress. He, however, refrained from commenting on fake information that float through social media platforms as their regulation do not come under his jurisdiction and added that it is difficult for government to define which view is a lie. Pai said that the US Congress is evaluating right now, where there is a very robust conversation about what types of privacy and data security protections should be embedded in the law. "I would expect our elected officials over the next several months to continue that conversation. There seems to be a bipartisan agreement between Republicans and Democrats, and agreement in both houses of Congress that this is an issue that requires legislative attention... This is the topic of hot interest in our legislature," he said. The FCC which looks after defence of US Communications infrastructure is working on regulation to check spend of funds on companies that are identified as national security threat. "We have pending rules on integrity of supply chain. One of the proposals we advanced was should we think in the context of federal subsidies distributed to the careers , whether restrict that funding from spent on companies or sectors that have determined by intelligence community or congress a national security threat," Pai said. He said that this is a ongoing proceeding and yet to be finalised. When asked about reports that suggest that US has plans to ban chinese telecom gear firms, Pai said that the proposed regulation does not single out any specific company. "Our proposal is to not single out any particular company but to the extent that the intelligence community or the Congress make determines that any company is a potential security risk. We haven't taken a view on any of the companies but whatever the quantum of risk is, should we prohibit funding from going into those companies," Pai said.

Need greater transparency around online media platforms: Ajit Pai

Stressing on the need to bring more transparency in the appointment process of Supreme Court judges, Justice J Chelameswar on Monday said the elevation of the High Court judge to the apex court is done on their impression rather than on their performance.

Speaking during a panel discussion titled 'The Indian Higher Judiciary: Issues and Prospects', the apex court judge said the one responsible for the selection process must put "assessment on record", which would "eliminate most of the problems".

"An assessment of the performance of a high court judge, I am talking about elevation to the Supreme Court, is hardly done. Generally, the assessment goes by impression," Justice Chelameswar said.

During the discussion, Justice Chelameswar, while speaking on reforms required in the apex court, said if it happens then as the sanctioned strength of the top court is 31 judges, each state will stake its claim for a seat.

"The SC today has a sanctioned strength of 31. The moment Supreme Court with 31 judges is created, the first thing that happens in this country is every state believes it is entitled to a seat in the top court," he said.

Stressing on the need to bring more transparency in the appointment process of Supreme Court judges, Justice J Chelameswar on Monday said the elevation of the High Court judge to the apex court is done on their impression rather than on their performance

Stressing on the need to bring more transparency in the appointment process of Supreme Court judges, Justice J Chelameswar on Monday said the elevation of the High Court judge to the apex court is done on their impression rather than on their performance. Speaking during a panel discussion titled 'The Indian Higher Judiciary: Issues and Prospects', the apex court judge said the one responsible for the selection process must put "assessment on record", which would "eliminate most of the problems". "An assessment of the performance of a high court judge, I am talking about elevation to the Supreme Court, is hardly done. Generally, the assessment goes by impression," Justice Chelameswar said. During the discussion, Justice Chelameswar, while speaking on reforms required in the apex court, said if it happens then as the sanctioned strength of the top court is 31 judges, each state will stake its claim for a seat. "The SC today has a sanctioned strength of 31. The moment Supreme Court with 31 judges is created, the first thing that happens in this country is every state believes it is entitled to a seat in the top court," he said.

SC judges appointed on impression, not performance: Justice Chelameswar

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