-The Times of India   A Elayaraja (30), an RTI activist from Thirugnanasambanthan village, Sirkazhi in Nagapattinam district, has filed a complaint with the state director general of police and the chief minister's special cell, asking for police protection from S Ravi (40), president of Alalasundaram panchayat under which Elayaraja's village falls. In his complaint, Elayaraja has alleged that panchayat president S Ravi (40) is threatening him and his family members...

-PTI   Nearly six years after the Right to Information Act (RTI) was enacted, the Government has constituted a Special Task Force to ensure effective implementation of the Act and to bring in more transparency and accountability in governance. The task force is mandated to seek ways for effective implementation of Section 4 of the RTI Act for proactive disclosures by the public authorities and to explore the possibility of prescribing simple...

An arrest in a small corner of Chhattisgarh has become the subject of an 'urgent action' petition circulating worldwide. Amnesty International, a human rights watchdog, has urged people to write to authorities "calling on them to drop the false charges against Ramesh Agrawal and Dr Harihar Patel and release them immediately". A week ago, Agrawal and Patel were arrested in Raigarh based on a complaint filed by Jindal Power Limited. A...

RTI activist Ramesh Agarwal has been arrested and chained to a hospital bed Chhattisgarh's Raigarh after a complaint by business group, the Jindals. Agarwal was arrested on May 28 by Chhatisgarh Police based on a complaint filed by the Jindals. Photographs available with CNN-IBN clearly show that Ramesh has been handcuffed. Agarwal is apparently paying the price for being a whistleblower as he had written to Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh...

-The Hindustan Times   Unidentified men assaulted a Right to Information (RTI) activist from Bharatnagar, Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) on Friday. The police said he suffered injuries to his head, knee and hands. Senior inspector UK Rathod, from Kherwadi police station said: “Ismail Patwari approached us on Sunday after he was attacked by three men with iron rods. Patwari, a resident of Bharat Nagar, was outside a photocopy store near Chetna College when...