-Economic and Political Weekly The government’s response to the protests led by the youth against the gang rape incident in New Delhi, in the form of an ordinance has not met the aspirations of the many protestors and the woman rights’ organisations. It can in fact be accused of being vindictive, having ignored the thoroughgoing recommendations of the government appointed justice Verma committee's report. Albeena Shakil (albeenashakil@gmail.com) is a women rights’ activist...

-Express India Lucknow: An RTI Activist, who was also the headmaster in a government primary school, was shot dead by unidentified men in Mohammadabad police station area of Farrukhabad district on Thursday. The victim, Anand Prakash Rajput (42), had used RTI to get information which he used to get three teachers dismissed from service for getting jobs on the basis of forged documents and the process of dismissal of three other teachers...

-The Indian Express This is reflected in YASHDA’s 3-month certificate course on RTI, which hardly has any women Even as the Right to Information, (RTI) Act 2005 is being wielded as a transparency tool, authorities at Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (YASHDA) say women have not being using it as they should. Former Central Information Commissioner (CIC) - a key player in the whole RTI process - Shailesh Gandhi too said...

-The Times of India HYDERABAD: Opposing the impending appointment of new information officers with political affiliations, RTI Activists across the state are planning massive protests. They said they are afraid that the biased information officers would not provide important information. Activists are now trying to get an audience with governor ESL Narsimhan, to convince him about the issue. Activists said the whole procedure was clear contempt of Supreme Court orders as it clearly...

-The Hindustan Times In a recent order, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed by the Karnataka information commissioner as “frivolous”. It also went on to impose costs of  Rs. 1 lakh.  A closer analysis proves that this case has far reaching implications for the fundamental rights of a citizen, rights that have been codified in the Right to Information Act. The particulars are as follows. A Right to Information (RTI) applicant...