-The Indian Express The Supreme Court has said it was not for the courts but for Parliament to decide whether there should be a "cooling off" period before considering a retired government official eligible for the post of State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC). Steering clear of the issue, a Bench of Justices A K Patnaik and J S Khehar said the appropriate authority to dwell on the necessity of a "cooling off"...

-PTI NGOs will now be liable to reveal information under the transparency law NGOs and private organisations, substantially financed by government or its authorities, come under the ambit of Right to Information Act making them liable to reveal information under the transparency law, the Supreme Court today said. A bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and A K Sikri said that even though government may not have any statutory control over such organisations...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Political leaders of different ideologies and hues whether S M Krishna, L K Advani, Sharad Yadav, Pawan Kumar Bansal or Dayanidhi Maran have one thing in common. They are all unauthorized occupants of ministerial bungalows, according to the urban development ministry. The data given by the ministry under the RTI shows that there are 36 former Union ministers who continue to squat on ministerial accommodation...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In order to shield six national parties from the RTI Act, the government decided to extend the immunity to no less than 1,444 registered political parties as it felt excluding only "recognized" entities would create an anomalous situation. The benefits to 1,444 parties are set out in a note submitted to the Cabinet under the signature of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as in-charge of the department...

-Outlook An RTI exposes how the Sikkim govt has blatantly misutilised funds meant for quake relief Whose Money Is It Anyway! Of the Rs 60.45 crore allocated for construction of roads and bridges, the state government gave only Rs 30 crore Another Rs 52.64 crore was allocated, of which the government again spent only Rs 3 crore On the other hand, the...