-The Indian Express Eight years may seem like a short stretch to appraise a landmark law such as the Right To Information Act, especially in a large and diverse country such as India. But the transparency law enacted on October 12, 2005, has managed to leave its imprint in this short period, becoming a new weapon in the hands of people. Not only has the rti act been used to know more about...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: On the eighth anniversary of India's landmark transparency legislation today, data mined on the Right to Information (rti) Act shows it is, indeed, India's sunshine law, with an estimated 40 lakh people using the Act during 2011-12, the latest year for which all-India data is available. The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an independent organisation closely associated with the rti legislation, data-mined annual reports filed by the...

-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"...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Indian citizens living abroad can now access information from 176 Indian missions with the government extending the facility of electronic Indian postal order to the missions. The department of personnel and training said it had received feedback that non-resident Indians (NRIs) were facing difficulties in accessing information from the Indian missions and posts under the ministry of external affairs. "In order to facilitate for obtaining the...

-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...