-TheWire.in Eleven years after order, none of the states have conformed to the guidelines, says a Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative report. New Delhi: Eleven years ago, on this day, the Supreme Court had issued directions to the Centre and state governments to transform their police forces into professional, accountable and efficient service units. However, a recent report shows that compliance remains far from satisfactory with none of the governments enacting laws to...

-PTI Provision can't be used to deny information related to corruption charges, other violations The CBI cannot claim absolute exemption from disclosing information pertaining to allegations of corruption and human rights violations held by it under the RTI Act, the Delhi High Court has held. The CBI has been denying information citing Section 24 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, which says that its provisions will not apply on intelligence and security...

-PTI The government has asked the heads of all departments and autonomous bodies to visit the onlne RTI portal on daily basis, preferably as the first task of the day, to avoid any delay in replying to applications and appeals filed by citizens. The Delhi government has warned officials of strict action for “inappropriate handling” of online RTI applications, after it received several complaints about departments not responding to pleas seeking information....

-Scroll.in RTI documents show that Niti Aayog largely worked with World Bank and top private healthcare industry. The Niti Aayog’s blueprint to increase the role of private hospitals in treating non-communicable diseases in urban India by handing district hospitals over to the private sector on 30-year leases was built largely on a template provided by the World Bank. The template was fine-tuned in close coordination with top private healthcare industry representatives. State...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Advocates of transparency have a new worry amid the euphoria over the privacy verdict - the possibility of information commissioners citing the new fundamental right to deny answers under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. As it is, RTI activists have had to contend with commissioners using Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act to refuse information on the premise that it infringes upon a person's privacy. The section...