The implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 has created controversy in West Bengal. The gram sabha, the basic unit in the process of forest rights recognition, has been replaced by the gram sansad, denoting the village level constituency under the panchayati raj system. This has been followed by contiguous arrangements as well as initiatives which are inconsistent with the Act....

A 68-year-old Right to Information activist in Kancheepuram was found dead on the side of a road in Velathottam in Kancheepuram district on Thursday evening. V Balasubrmanian had filed a number of applications under the Right To Information (RTI) Act seeking information about alleged irregularities in several handloom weavers' cooperative societies in Kancheepuram district, it was learnt. Federation of Anti-Corruption Teams-India general secretary T Retnapandian of Chennai told TOI that...

Gujarat Police are close to solving the murder of well-known Right to Information (RTI) activist Amit Jethwa, a killing that has caused widespread outrage. Investigation into the brutal killing of the RTI activist in July has zeroed in on the family of BJP strongman and MP Dinu Bogha Solanki. The Ahmedabad Crime Branch says that arrested constable Bahadur Singh Vadher has confessed that Shiva Solanki, who is Dinu Solanki's nephew, allegedly...

‘Ek Cup Chya’, India’s first and only movie on the Right to Information Act, was screened by PCGT, an NGO working with RTI on Friday at the Indian Merchant Chambers. The film, which is in Marathi with English sub-titles, was made in 2009 by national award-winning directors Sumithra Bhave and Sunil Sukhtankar and produced by Dr Yashwant Oak. It features well-known Marathi actors like Kishore Kadam, Sunil Sukhthankar, Devika Daftardar, Ashwini Giri...

A police constable has been arrested and three persons detained in connection with the murder of Right to Information (RTI) activist Amit Jethva here last month. Jethva, who had filed a public interest litigation against illegal mining in the Gir forest area, was shot outside the Gujarat High Court on July 20. “After a long investigation, we have tracked down the main accused, Bahadursinh Wadher, a police constable in Junagadh district, for...