-The Times of India   Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Investigation Agency (NIA) and newly-formed NATGRID have joined the exclusive list of organizations that are exempted from sharing information under the RTI Act except for the matters pertaining to allegations of corruption and human rights violations. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had approved in June that these three organizations would be spared from sharing information under the second schedule of the RTI Act....

-PTI   ON BOARD PM'S SPECIAL AIRCRAFT: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday denied suggestions that he had pitched for dilution of Right to Information Act. He maintained that he had never said that there should be any dilution of the Act. "There are certain ways in which things can be done. All I said is that we should reflect how to achieve in totality the purposes for which RTI was set up. I...

-DNA   Contrary to the government claims that the human rights violators are punished according to law, an RTI query by a rights group has revealed that the Centre has declined sanction for prosecution in 26 cases under Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) while permission is awaited in 16 cases. In a reply to an application under Right to Information Act by Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), the state home...

-The Times of India   The Aruna Roy-founded Rozgar Evum Suchna Ka Adhikar Abhiyan has decided to oppose any amendment to the Right To Information (RTI) Act. The Abhiyan, in an internal meeting, has decided to hold demonstrations and meetings to spread the word and halt any move to this effect. Recently Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed views that the RTI Act was adversely affecting deliberations in the government and deterring honest...

AS THE UPA government struggled to hide its embarrassment over the finance ministry note on the 2G spectrum allocation, the RTI Act — through which the note was made public — has become the whipping boy. Senior Cabinet members such as Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily and Law Minister Salman Khurshid have hit out at the ‘misuse’ of the transparency law. Moily called for a national debate as he claimed RTI...