Indian ministers' foreign travel plans have been grounded by the government's austerity drive. Till July 1 this year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had turned down as many as 24 foreign trip applications from members of his ministerial council, compared to 10 such refusals in the whole of 2010. The change is stark considering that the PM had earlier been obliging almost all his colleagues. In 2009, after the UPA returned to...

India’s transparency watchdog the Central Information Commission has decided to take upon itself the task of safeguard interests of the Right To Information (rti) applicants who face harassment for seeking information. In 2010, 28 rti activists were allegedly attacked after filing their applications and this year two activists Manglaram of Rajasthan and Amarnath. India's transparency watchdog the Central Information Commission has decided to take upon itself the task of safeguard interests of...

After colleague Veerappa Moily, Law Minister Salman Khurshid has expressed concern over the Right to Information (rti) Act affecting government functioning. Advocating a re-look at rti, Khurshid said its misuse was affecting “institutional efficacy and efficiency”, with even the bureaucracy becoming reluctant to record its opinion. A “balance” has to be maintained between transparency and accountability and institutional efficiency, he said. “There is a confidential communication between a minister and the Prime...

All pending information sought by a Right to Information (rti) activist, who has subsequently been murdered, will henceforth be placed in the public domain. This decision was taken by the Central Information Commission (CIC), which has been under pressure to do its bit to stem the mounting casualties of rti activists and applicants. The nature of information sought, the CIC believes, will reveal the motive for the murder. In a resolution...

At a time when it is being regularly embarrassed via information disclosed through the Right to Information Act — the latest being the Finance Ministry’s controversial note on 2G — a wary UPA has issued a circular to all states, ministries and departments asking them not to draw “inferences” or make “assumptions” or provide “opinion” or “advice” in rti replies.   Citing a Supreme Court ruling in an rti-related case, the two-page...