Just months after the 1984 gas leak at Union Carbide's plant here, the Indian government agreed to the 'terms' set by the company on compensation to be paid to victims, a Right to Information (RTI) activist has claimed. Not only that, the government treated the world's worst industrial disaster as a 'railway accident'. 'We have obtained top secret documents dated Feb 28 and March 5, 1985, that show that Union Carbide...

-The Times of India   Founder member of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) Aruna Roy on Saturday condemned the statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the Right To Information Act was adversely affecting deliberations in the government and deterring honest officials from expressing their views on file. Roy was speaking at a seminar on 'Strengthening participatory democracy: Role of RTI' at the International Centre Goa, Dona Paula. "The Prime...

Resistance to disclosure is a phenomenon that is confined not only to the executive. here have been instances where the judiciary has also shown that much of intransigence to the Right to Information Act. It is no wonder that the Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia once said at a function that sunlight is a great disinfectant, but too much of it can burn one as well. Interestingly, in June...

-Express News Service   A Mumbai-based RTI activist, who had sought information on various issues including the Adarsh Society scam, was found unconscious by roadside at Palsana in Surat district on Sunday. He later told the police that he was abducted by a gang in Mumbai. Santosh Tiwari (42), a former employee of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) who now works as a security consultant for a private firm, was found unconscious...

Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra demanded on Friday that the Central Information Commission be upgraded to the status of a Constitutional authority along the lines of the Election Commission of India and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. RTI circles interpreted Mr. Mishra's intervention, coming after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's call for a critical look at the Right to Information Act, as an effort to safeguard the Act and the...