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A survey conducted by the NGO Transparency International India revealed that 45% Indians paid a bribe to a government official at least once in past one year, in order to get their work done. The survey, which was conducted across 11 states further revealed that nearly 37% of the respondents felt corruption had increased, while 14% said it went down.

Nearly six lakh cases are pending for a decade or more in various high courts, according to data collected by a monitoring system aimed at identifying and reducing pendency. While the Bombay High Court leads the list with over one lakh pending cases, the Punjab and Haryana High Court stands second with 99,625 pending cases, the data further revealed.

Nearly 47% of the bills in the last 10 years were passed without any debates in the Parliament, according to a report. It also revealed that 61% of these bills were passed in the last three hours of a session. Further, the number of MPs with doctorate, post-doctorate and post-graduate degrees also declined by 62% in the last 20 years.

Delhi and Gujarat collectively accounted for more than half of the fake notes seized in the country in 2016, a report by the National Crime Records Bureau revealed. The report further revealed that nearly 50% of the seized notes were in the denomination of ₹500. Interestingly, no fake currency was seized from Chhattisgarh in 2016.

Only 20% students from B-category business schools have got job offers this year, making it the most challenging placement year in recent times, a study by Assocham has revealed. Last year, 30% students were placed, the study added. The Assocham Education Council (AEC) said many parents and students are re-thinking on investing three-four years and several lakhs in a course.

The number of visas granted by the UK to Indian nationals in the year till September 2017 has increased by 9% as compared to last year, a report by the UK Office for National Statistics has revealed. As per the report, visit visas increased by 11% to 4,27,000, work visas remained steady at 53,000, and student visas increased by 27%.

India produced two million tonnes of e-waste in 2016, a United Nations-backed report revealed. The report also revealed that 44.7 million metric tonnes of e-waste, which is equivalent to almost 4,500 Eiffel Towers, was generated by all the countries in the world. At 7.2 million tonnes, China generates the most e-waste both in Asia and in the world, it added.

Over 53,000 disabled persons, elderly citizens, and widowed women in Uttarakhand have not received their pensions since October 2016 as they could not procure Aadhaar cards, reports said. Neero Devi, the widowed mother of a 30-year-old disabled man, said her son's Aadhaar card could not be made despite multiple attempts as the biometric machine was unable to register his fingerprints.

Visas issued to Pakistani citizens reduced by nearly 35% in 2017, with 34,445 visas issued this year as compared to 52,525 visas in 2016, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, as many as 12.89 lakh visas have been given to Bangladeshi nationals so far this year, compared to 9.33 lakh visas issued in 2016.

The National Green Tribunal is left with 33% of its sanctioned strength after its Chairman Justice Swatanter Kumar retired on Tuesday, reports said. Last week, the Supreme Court rejected the tribunal's plea to extend services for retiring members. Despite its depleting strength, the NGT has settled almost 20,000 of the 23,000 cases filed with it since its establishment in 2010.

The number of Bangladeshi migrants in India has come down by 7.4 lakh since 2000 and now stands at 31 lakh, a UN report stated. It claimed there were over 43 lakh people from Bangladesh living in India in 1990. Meanwhile, the report also revealed that the number of migrants from all countries living in India currently is 52 lakh.

Cases of ragging in university and college campuses have increased by over 70%, from 515 cases in 2016 to 889 cases this year, according to government data. Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 138 cases, an increase from 93 cases last year, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 100 cases, an increase from 55 cases last year.

Gurugram's Juvenile Justice Board has declared 25 minors as adults since the Juvenile Justice Act was amended in 2016, reports said. Further, five such accused have been convicted so far. The board on Wednesday ruled that the 16-year-old accused in the murder of Ryan International School's seven-year-old student Pradyuman Thakur will be tried as an adult.

Two out of every three mental health professionals in Mumbai feel they lack skills to tackle child sexual abuse cases, a study supported by the UNICEF revealed. The study further revealed that nearly 77%, three in four mental health professionals, were emotionally overwhelmed in handling such cases. This is owing to lack of training in trauma-focused counselling, experts said.

Three ministers inducted in the newly-formed Gujarat Cabinet face criminal cases, according to an Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report. While 18 of the 20 ministers are crorepatis, the average assets owned by the 20-member council of ministers are worth ₹13.34 crore. Only 50% of the ministers are graduates or have higher degrees.

As many as 18 out of 20 newly appointed Gujarat Cabinet Ministers, including CM Vijay Rupani, are crorepatis while eight are school dropouts, an Association for Democratic Reforms report stated. The data revealed the average assets of 20 ministers is estimated to be ₹13.34 crores, while 10 ministers are graduates or have higher degrees.

Out of the ₹16,400 crore collected as Swachh Bharat Cess in the last two years, nearly 25% remained unutilised, according to a Comptroller and Auditor General report. It also states the resources collected weren't distributed properly among urban and rural areas. The government collects 0.5% Swachh Bharat Cess on all services to fund cleanliness and sanitation schemes across the country.

Over 103 Indians have been arrested for suspected links with terrorist group ISIS across 14 states by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other agencies. Uttar Pradesh recorded the maximum number of such arrests at 17, followed by Maharashtra and Telangana at 16, Kerala at 14, and Karnataka at eight. These states accounted for 69% of all arrests as well.

Government think-tank NITI Aayog is the slowest among 52 central ministries and departments in addressing public grievances, according to a Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System report. NITI Aayog disposed only 54% of total 5,883 grievances received between January 1, 2014, and December 28, 2017, the report added. Meanwhile, the External Affairs Ministry was the swiftest.

Out of the ₹9,860 crore released to 60 cities under the Smart Cities Mission, only 7%, or about ₹645 crore have been utilised so far, according to the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. Of the 40 cities which got ₹196 crore each, Ahmedabad spent the maximum amount of ₹80.15 crore, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands could utilise only ₹54 lakh.