Noting that the Right to Information (RTI) Act has ushered in the beginning of participatory governance, Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Tuesday said the movement must be strengthened at all levels and the support of the government, civil society and citizens was vital for its success. Delivering the inaugural address at the first “National RTI Awards-2009” organised by Public Cause Research Foundation and NDTV here, Mr. Ansari said: “I must confess...

A journalist of India Today has been selected for the first PCRF-NDTV National RTI Award for his new reports based on information he gathered under the Right to Information Act. Vice-President Hamid Ansari will give away the award, comprising a citation and Rs. 1 lakh, to Shyamlal Yadav on Tuesday, a release said. Based on the information he gathered under the Act, Mr. Yadav wrote stories on the foreign jaunts by...

The same exclusive report, with different bylines, in three rival dailies. Swathes of advertising dolled up as news stories. Is ‘paid news’ getting institutionalised? “Young dynamic leadership: Ashokrao Chavan,” read the headline of a prominent news item in the Marathi daily Lokmat (October 10). That was 72 hours before the people of Maharashtra went to vote in the State Assembly polls. The item was attributed to the newspaper’s "Special Correspondent,"...

Upset with Bihar’s NDA government for its decision to amend the Right to Information Act, social activists in the state are preparing to challenge the decision in Patna High Court. Opposition RJD-LJP too is opposed to the amendments. “We are now left with no option other than challenging the arbitrary amendment to the Act in Bihar,” senior RTP (Right to People) activist, Praveen Amanullah said on Saturday. “We will also launch a...

The Union Minister for Personnel Prithviraj Chavan said that there was no question of bringing in an amendment in the Right to Information Act without consulting the people. Speaking to a delegation of National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI) at his office on Monday, Mr Chavan assured the delegates that a final decision on the nature of amendments has not been taken as yet. Chavan said that he...