PIB Snippets
2 Quick Facts
UPSC Prelims & Mains
PIB Snippets — November 2, 2026
Today’s quick facts — the Conference of Chairpersons of Public Accounts Committees and the National Organ Transplant Games 2026
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Conference of Chairpersons of Public Accounts Committees
Why in News?
The Lok Sabha Speaker will inaugurate the Conference of Chairpersons of Public Accounts Committees (PACs) of Parliament and State and Union Territory legislatures at Thiruvananthapuram on 3 November 2026, with the valedictory address on 4 November.
Key Points
- Theme: “Audit, Accountability and Good Governance: The Evolving Role of the PAC”.
- Participants: The Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman, the host State’s Chief Minister and Speaker, and PAC chairpersons and members from Parliament and the States and Union Territories.
- Purpose: To share best practices and strengthen legislative oversight of public spending, transparency and financial discipline.
- Issues: Challenges in public financial management and the changing audit landscape.
About the Public Accounts Committee
- Nature: Neither constitutional nor statutory. It is a parliamentary standing committee formed every year under Rule 308 of the Lok Sabha Rules of Procedure, with its authority drawn from Articles 105 and 118.
- Role: One of three financial committees of Parliament, with the Estimates Committee (1950) and the Committee on Public Undertakings (1964). It examines the appropriation accounts and CAG reports, and checks spending after it happens.
- Origin: The oldest parliamentary committee, set up in 1921 under the Government of India Act, 1919, after the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms.
- Composition: 22 members, 15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha (associated since 1954-55), elected by single transferable vote. A Minister cannot be a member.
- Term: One year.
- Chairperson: Appointed by the Lok Sabha Speaker, and from the Opposition by a convention since 1967.
- The CAG: A constitutional authority (Articles 148 to 151), who attends the Committee’s sittings as its “friend, philosopher and guide”. The CAG’s reports go to the President (Article 151), who has them laid before Parliament, and the PAC then examines them.
- Powers and limits: It can summon witnesses and records, but its recommendations are advisory, and the government submits Action Taken Notes. It does not examine matters of policy.
- States: State legislatures have their own PACs.
- Conference recommendations: Earlier conferences suggested that the PAC be consulted on the CAG’s appointment and be able to examine public-private partnership projects.
Source: PIB
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National Organ Transplant Games 2026 and Organ Donation
Why in News?
The Vice-President inaugurated the National Organ Transplant Games 2026 in New Delhi and called organ donation a “Mahadaan”. 570 transplant recipients and donors performed Tadasana together in a world record attempt.
Key Points
- Organisers: The Renal Care Foundation, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO).
- Purpose: To celebrate the resilience of transplant recipients and spread awareness to dispel myths about organ donation.
- Message: One deceased donor can save up to eight lives, and people should share their wish with their families.
- At the event: Medal winners of the World Transplant Games 2025 (Dresden) were felicitated, and attendees took the Organ Donation Pledge.
About Organ Donation in India
- NOTTO: The national apex body for organ and tissue donation, under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
- Law: The Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 bans the sale of organs and recognises brain-stem death as legal death. It was amended in 2011 to cover tissues.
- Indian Organ Donation Day: 3 August.
- 2023 changes: The 65-year age limit and the domicile requirement for registering for deceased-donor organs were removed.
- Living donors: Must be at least 18 years old.
Source: PIB
