A recent press release by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) shows that the declared minimum support price (MSP) for most kharif crops to be marketed in 2019-20 is at least 50 percent above the cost of production. The official information related to the newly declared MSP, which came two days ahead of the Union Budget presentation, gives the impression that the newly re-elected NDA government has kept its promise...
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Save-RTI plea to President Ram Nath Kovind
-The Telegraph Call to Kovind to back law he helped draft New Delhi: Former central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi has started an online petition to persuade President Ram Nath Kovind to stand by the transparency law he helped draft as a member of a parliamentary standing committee in 2004. While the petition, started on Friday, is finding traction, more such letters are being planned to appeal to the President’s conscience so that he...
More »RTI: A bill that may kill a right -Yashovardhan Azad and M Sridhar Acharyulu
-Hindustan Times The retrograde amendment would amount to creating an RTI ministry under the government Fifteen years is a good time for appraisal of an institution. The Right to Information (RTI) Act, called the sunshine legislation and promulgated in 2005, certainly deserves an in-depth study and assessment for accelerating the flow of information to the public. This calls for upgrading skills, infrastructure, processes and alacrity of response from public authorities. A decadal...
More »What new amendments mean for Right to Information Act
-The Times of India The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019, was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday amid high drama and an Opposition walkout. The Opposition says the changes put forth in the bill, which had already cleared the Lok Sabha, undermine the independence of the RTI watchdog. The government has argued that the amendments leave the information officials' powers untouched and are aimed at streamlining the commission. A...
More »EC sets up teams to probe VVPAT mismatch in Lok Sabha election -Damini Nath
-The Hindu Of 1.25 crore votes counted, 51 did not match, says panel New Delhi: After reports of mismatches between the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips and the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) count in eight cases during the Lok Sabha election, the Election Commission has set up teams to probe seven of the cases. Of the 1.25 crore VVPAT slips counted, 51 or 0.0004% of the total saw a mismatch, according...
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