Here's an encounter that the city police are in no mood to encourage. Within days of a Right to Information activist subjected to third degree at a city police station, TOI finds that it wasn't a stray bad experience, with cops pulling out all stops to stay RTI-proof. In fact, police officers in some stations even say they are unaware of the RTI Act and remain most unresponsive when it...

Agrarian distress and growing awareness among farmers, tired of poll-time rhetoric and freebies, may make it tougher for political parties to woo this large electorate with worn-out promises in the upcoming assembly polls.  Ahead of elections in five states, including in Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous and politically-critical state, many farmers say they are ready to pay market rates for power and other inputs provided there is reliable supply.  Swarn Singh,...

-The Times of India   "The cold, not cancer, may kill me" - the TOI story on the pitiable condition of patients and relatives braving the biting cold in wait for a bed in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) drew an anguished reaction from the Supreme Court, which on Friday asked the Delhi government to urgently set up a night shelter either inside or close to the prestigious hospital. A bench...

Within days of Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) recommending that the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act be amended in sync with the Right to Education (RTE) Act - promising free and compulsory education for children aged between 6 and 14 years - the labour ministry will hold a meeting with HRD officials on Wednesday. This is the first concrete action on NAC's recommendation. NAC's proposal, being supported by the...

-Righttoinformation.info   The NCPRI, in collaboration with Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), JOSH, Pardarshita and National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW)organised camps for public consultations and registering grievances in Delhi. Two days camps on the 15th and 16th of December were held in Malviya Nagar, Trilokpuri, Nandnagri and Takiyan Kalekhan. The camps concluded in an Open Forum with representatives from political parties and citizen groups to discuss the essential features of a Grievance...