-TheWire.in The proposed amendments not only make approaching the information commission more cumbersome and legalistic but also defy the diktat of the Supreme Court. The RTI Act has undoubtedly been one of the most empowering legislations for Indians. According to estimates, four to six million information applications are filed every year, making the Indian RTI Act the world’s most extensively used transparency legislation. National assessments have shown that a large number of...

-PTI Alok Kumar Verma, the former Delhi Police Commissioner, was on January 19, named as the chief of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) The government has refused to share details of appointment of CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma, claiming the information was exempted under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Replying to an RTI query, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said the appointment was done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led...

-The Indian Express Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has rejected the Congress allegations, saying the proposed Rules regarding the word limit and application fees remain the same as they were under the UPA government. On March 31, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the nodal department for the implementation of the Right to Information (RTI), put on its web site a circular titled “Framing RTI Rules, 2017 in supersession of...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A clutch of legal amendments the Narendra Modi government has introduced to allow corporate political donors to mask their contributions drags the world's largest democracy against global currents of rising transparency in electoral funding, analysts and activists have warned. From Brazil to Bangladesh, and Croatia to Cyprus, countries of diverse sizes and varied histories with democracy have over the past decade adopted laws and rules aimed at making...

-TheWire.in The Department of Personnel and Training, responsible for implementing the RTI, has claimed it is exempt from sharing details on the appointment of information commissioners. New Delhi: When it comes to transparency, it seems the Narendra Modi government is moving in reverse. The Department of Personnel and Training, the nodal agency responsible for effectively implementing the Right to Information (RTI) Act, has refused to share details on the appointment of information...