-Live Mint Fast clearance of river projects and the lack of disaster preparedness have wreaked havoc in Uttarakhand Relief operations in disaster-ravaged Uttarakhand have ended and the time seems ripe to take account of the institutional frailties that have contributed to the ongoing human disaster in the state. Chief minister Vijay Bahuguna has been blamed for inaction when the disaster first struck and has also admitted that the state did not...

-The Hindustan Times Inquiry proceedings against CBI officials may get exempted from the scope of the Right to Information Act (RTI), if the government's suggestions on the working of a proposed accountability commission get through. "Notwithstanding anything contained in RTI or any other law for the time being in force, all records of the proceedings related to a complaint and the inquiry shall not be disclosed by any person in any proceeding...

-The Hindustan Times Political parties have come together to shut the door on sharing information with citizens and the government, buoyed by the near-consensus among the political class, is planning changes to the Right to Information Act. It may take the amendment route or even promulgate an ordinance to keep political parties out of the ambit of the information act. The amendments to the act will overturn the June 3 order of the...

-The Hindu There has been no public debate on the level of watch citizens can be put through, and on what the red lines should be while using intrusive mechanisms The tussle between government agencies' need for a better, faster and real-time interception, surveillance and monitoring mechanism through the Central Monitoring System (CMS), on the one hand, and demands by privacy, civil rights and free speech activists, for ensuring higher privacy for...

-PTI Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Information Commission has issued notice to the Lokayukta office for not providing information under the Right to Information Act on the plea that that it was not in the ambit of the Act. Hearing an application moved by RTI Activist Saleem Beg, Chief Information Commissioner Ranjeet Singh Pankaj issued a notice asking why the public information officer of Lokayukta should not be punished under section 20 of the...