Obama, India Team Up for Open Gov't

On his final day in India, President Obama and Prime Minister Singh announced the launch of a “U.S.-India Partnership on Open Government,” an effort largely focused on using technology and grassroots organizations to make government more transparent. India has a lot to teach the U.S., blogs the White House’s Samantha Power. One program on display at the open government expo, where Obama and Singh announced the initiative, was the website Ipaidabribe.com, where Indians upload videos of their experiences paying a bribe, refusing to pay a bribe, or “not having to pay a bribe.” Another was Arghyam, which holds public gatherings in rural India to test drinking water—and holds local officials accountable if their water doesn’t pass inspection.