-The Hindu There has been no public debate on the level of watch citizens can be put through, and on what the red lines should be while using intrusive mechanisms The tussle between government agencies' need for a better, faster and real-time interception, surveillance and monitoring mechanism through the Central Monitoring System (CMS), on the one hand, and demands by privacy, civil rights and free speech activists, for ensuring higher privacy for...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Rajasthan gives people right to pink-slip babus -Anindo Dey
-The Times of India JAWAJA (AJMER): The complaints, like always, were many. But the tables had been turned. At the receiving end were government officers as people crowded around demanding an explanation for being denied their right. It was their day of hearing. A motley group of villagers thrust 'pink slips' towards the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) demanding to know why they were being denied the Re 1 a kg wheat promised by...
More »Six people who pulled strategic levers to open up political parties' finances -Soma Banerjee
-The Economic Times If India is now debating opening the books and operations of political parties to the public, it's because of these six people who pulled strategic levers and applied relentless pressure. Soma Banerjee traces a four-year effort that converted intent to action Balwant Singh Khera, a politician from Hoshiarpur in Punjab, is not a name that will strike a chord in mainstream politics or social discourse today. It might in...
More »CIC: Public can access govt employee’s service book -Chittaranjan Tembhekar
-The Times of India MUMBAI: You can now request for a copy of a government employee's service book under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to examine his or her track record in discharging duties in the public service. In a first, Central Information Commissioner Annapurna Dixit last month directed the railways to supply a copy of the service book of a ticket examiner (TE) to RTI activist Chetan Kothari, saying...
More »A flawed order, difficult to implement -MM Ansari
-The Indian Express In the aftermath of the Central Information Commission's order holding political parties as public authorities for the disclosure of details of political funding, the turf war between members of civil society and the parties has intensified. It is commonly believed that a major source of corruption in the functioning of government can be traced back to the method of funding of parties and elections. The efforts made by...
More »