NGOs

In an effort to encourage Indian scientists to come up with innovative ideas for finding solutions to difficult health problems, apex health research body ICMR has launched a new initiative The initiative-- First in the World Challenge -- aims to foster novel, out of the box, futuristic ideas, new knowledge generation, discovery or development of breakthrough health technologies (vaccines, drugs or therapeutics, diagnostics, interventions etc.) which has never been thought, tested or tried in the world till date. "Over the years the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has encouraged researchers within and outside ICMR by providing funding support through various research schemes. To move ahead of the curve, ICMR is looking for innovative, out of the box ideas from researchers across the country," the call for proposals document said. "Inspired by Chandrayan 3 landing on the south pole of the moon, making India the first country to do so, the ICMR is launching a new initiative

The Union Home Ministry has announced that the validity of all FCRA registered NGOs whose renewal application is pending will stand extended till September 30 or till the date of disposal of renewal application. According to a notification, the home ministry also extended the validity of those Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registered NGOs whose five years validity period is expiring during July 1 to September 30 and which have applied or will apply for renewal before expiry of five years validity period, will stand extended upto September 30 or till the date of disposal of renewal application, whichever is earlier. "The validity of registration certificates of such entities whose validity was extended till 30.06.2024 in terms of the public notice dated 28.03.2024 and whose renewal application is pending, will stand extended till 30.09.2024 or till the date of disposal of renewal application, whichever is earlier," the notification said. The home ministry also advised

The Environics Trust had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, contesting the notice issued to it under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs cancelled the FCRA licences of five prominent NGOs. Here is why

The Union home ministry on Thursday extended till June 30 the validity of all FCRA registered NGOs whose licences are expiring on March 31, in a relief to those whose renewal applications are still under consideration. The ministry has also given time till June 30 to all NGOs whose five-year validity period is expiring between April 1, 2024, and June 30, 2024, so that they can apply for renewal before the expiry of their validity. According to the law, all NGOs receiving foreign contributions have to be registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. In a notification, the home ministry said the central government, in the public interest, has decided to extend the validity of FCRA registration certificates of the FCRA registered entities whose validity was extended till March 31, 2024, in terms of the public notice dated September 25, 2023, and whose renewal application is pending. The validity is now extended till June 30, 2024, or till the date of disposal of the rene

India tops the charts in terms of trust in businesses and NGOs, but it is fourth in terms of trust in media and fifth for the government, an annual trust barometer showed on Monday. The Edelman Trust Barometer 2024, released here ahead of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, put Saudi Arabia on the top for trust shown by their people in the government and China for trust in media. In terms of trust shown in one's employer, Indonesia emerged at the top followed by India at the second place. The 24th annual survey, which covered over 32,000 respondents across 28 countries, showed developing countries having a lead over developed ones in terms of overall trust perception of their respective populations. On the overall index, prepared on the basis of average per cent trust in NGOs, business, government and media, India moved to second place from fourth in 2023, while China retained its top spot. The UK replaced South Korea as the least trusted nation. The survey also showed less t

The Supreme Court has imposed a stay on an office memorandum issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change allowing ex post facto environmental clearance which permits projects to carry out operations without getting environmental clearances. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta issued a notice to the Ministry of the Environment and Forests (MoEF) on the plea filed by NGO Vanashakti. "Issue notice returnable in four weeks. Until further orders there shall be stay of the office memorandum dated January 20, 2022," the bench said. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for Vanashakti, submitted that environmental impact assessment mandates prior approval before the commencement of any activity and allowing ex post facto environmental clearance was anathema to the Environment Protection Act. He argued that the Environment Impact Assessment notification of 2006 stipulates prior environment clearance for all projects and the problem arose with an

More than Rs 55,000 crore in foreign contributions were received by over 13,500 FCRA registered NGOs in the country in three financial years 2019-22, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in order to accept foreign contributions, all associations or NGOs have to obtain registration or prior permission under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA, 2010). "A total of 13,520 associations or NGOs have received a total of Rs 55741.51 crore foreign contribution in last three financial years i.e. 2019-2020 to 2021-2022," he said in a written reply. Rai said a total of 1,615 applications for registration under FCRA were received in the last two years i.e. 2021 and 2022. Out of these, 722 applications have been granted and 225 applications have been rejected as on December 14, 2023. The refusal of these applications was due to not fulfilling the eligibility criteria in accordance with the provisions of the FCRA, 2010 and rules

In a telephonic conversation with ANI, Nilaksha Aich who runs an NGO working on tribal education in West Bengal's Purulia district said that accused Lalit Jha was a member of that organisation

A conglomerate of major churches, political parties and other organisations in Mizoram, on Thursday appealed to the Election Commission to reschedule the date of counting of votes cast in the November 7 state Assembly election. Representatives of the bodies met the state chief electoral officer Madhup Vyas on Thursday and requested for the change in date for the third time. They also requested him to take steps to change the date of counting, a leader of Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee (MKHC), the church conglomerate, said. They also submitted a written appeal to the CEO requesting for a change in the date of counting from December 3, a Sunday, to either December 4 or 5, he said. As per the Election Commission's schedule the counting of votes in Mizoram will be held along with four other states - Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana where Assembly elections are being held. Vyas assured that he will inform the matter to the Election Commission for consideration,

The watchdog for US assistance to Afghanistan has warned that the Taliban are benefiting from international aid through the establishment of fraudulent nongovernmental organisations. The Taliban have exerted greater control over national and international NGOs since seizing power in August 2021. They have barred Afghan women from NGO work and sought to push out foreign organisations from the education sector. A report from the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, found that the Taliban benefit from American-funded education programming through the generation of tax revenues and from more nefarious methods like the establishment of fraudulent NGOs and extorting and infiltrating existing NGOs to obtain or direct international donor aid. Taliban spokesmen weren't immediately available for comment on Monday. In May, a SIGAR report highlighted the Taliban's interference with NGO work in Afghanistan. The economy ministry, which supervises the sector, ..

A team from the FATF is expected to visit India in November and meet representatives of non-profit organisations, including international ones, to get a first-hand understanding of the situation

The govt errs on the side of excessive regulation

The Union home ministry has set up a helpdesk for NGOs to submit their queries related to foreign funding, licensing and other issues with regard to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), officials said. Nearly 880 users have already registered and 121 tickets (related to the issues and queries) were resolved on the online helpdesk till Monday evening, according to a notice uploaded on the home ministry's website. The helpdesk, the officials said, will help resolve various complaints of the non-government organisations (NGOs) and associations that face problems regarding FCRA-related issues. The government is now strictly monitoring the activities of the FCRA-registered NGOs, which receive foreign funds. All NGOs that receive foreign funds have to mandatorily register under the FCRA. According to the home ministry's data, all NGOs together have received foreign funding amounting to Rs 55,449 crore in the last three years. A total of 16,301 NGOs in the country had valid F

An NGO which supports various activities for marginalised communities, including transgenders, distributed Mahila Samman Savings certificates to sex workers in the Kamathipura red light area recently. The Mahila Samman Savings Certificate was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the 2023-24 Union Budget to commemorate the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The two-year tenure scheme for women offers an attractive and fixed interest of 7.5 per cent interest compounded quarterly with flexible investment and partial withdrawal options with a maximum ceiling of Rs. 2 lakh. The scheme is valid for two years up to March 31, 2025. The certificates were presented to the sex workers by Nidarshana Gowani of the Kamala Ankibai Ghamandiram Gowani Trust as a part of her philanthropic endeavours. The certificates of Rs 15,000 investment each were distributed among 100 sex workers. "We are happy to felicitate 100 sex workers from the Kamathipura area with the Mahila Samman Savings certifica

An American-based aid group said that at least USD 900,000 was stolen from it's Congo programs by members of the organisation who conspired with outsiders. GiveDirectly said that it learned that people on its Congo team worked with people outside the organisation to defraud the cash transfer programme, diverting aid from more than 1,700 impoverished families over six months, starting in August 2022. This fraud was only possible because of a specific change we made in our payment process in order to work in this remote, insecure region of (Congo), according to the statement from Monday. We feel deep regret for not catching this sooner and take seriously the vulnerabilities it exposed, it said. GiveDirectly said that an investigation is ongoing and that it was able to recover a very small portion of the lost funds, but the majority of the USD 900,000 will likely be uncoverable. But the group is working to ensure that families impacted by the fraud get their money. More than 1 per c

A social worker and office bearer of an Assam-based NGO has filed a defamation case against the former CJI, Ranjan Gogoi, claiming that the latter's autobiography contained some offensive things

NGO Association for Democratic Reforms has moved the Supreme Court against Arun Goel's appointment as Election Commissioner claiming it is arbitrary, and violative of institutional integrity and independence of the poll body. The NGO has sought the constitution of a "neutral and independent committee" for the appointment of members of the Election Commission. The plea alleged that the Union government and the ECI have through their acts of "omissions and commission" participated in a carefully orchestrated "selection procedure" for their own benefits. "The writ petition is being filed in public interest challenging the appointment of Sh. Arun Goel as Election Commissioner vide notification dated November 19, 2022, on the ground that the appointment is arbitrary and violative of institutional integrity and independence of Election Commission Of India...," the plea said. The top court on March 2 had ruled that the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and ECs will be done by

The Centre on Friday extended the validity of the FCRA registration of non-governmental organisations, the renewal applications of which are pending, till September 30. In a public notice, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the validity of the registration of those FCRA entities whose validity had been extended till March 31, 2023 and whose renewal application is pending, will stand extended up to September 30, 2023 or till the date of disposal of renewal application, whichever is earlier. It also said that the validity of those entities which were registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and whose five year validity period is expiring during April 1, 2023 to September 30, 2023, but have applied for will apply for renewal before expiry of the five year validity period, will stand extended up to September 30, 2023 or till the disposal of the renewal application -- whichever is earlier. "All FCRA registered associations are therefore, advised to take note .

The government has cancelled FCRA registration of 1,827 NGOs for violation of laws in the last five years, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said on Wednesday. Rai told Rajya Sabha that Section 32 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 provides for revision by the central government of any order passed in a proceeding against any association registered under the Act. During 2018 to 2022, the FCRA registration certificates of 1,827 associations have been cancelled due to violation of the provisions of the Act and rules, he said in a written reply. There were 16,383 FCRA-registered organisations as on March 10, 2023.