-The Hindu Ten years of implementation of the Right to Information Act has spawned a new breed of activism and citizenship The Right to Information (RTI) Act has completed 10 years of implementation. According to a conservative estimate based on the Information Commission’s annual reports, there are at least 50 lakh RTI Applications filed in India every year. The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative used the data to estimate that just under 1...
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Farmers Cry Foul Over GM Mustard Cultivation -Aditi R
-The New Indian Express CHENNAI: Five years ago, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had put an indefinite moratorium on the commercial cropping of Monsanto’s Bt Brinjal. However now, the Centre is considering commercial cultivation of a genetically modified hybrid variety of mustard. Following news reports on the move of the application for approval of GM Mustard to the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee in the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change...
More »Soon, RTI adalats to clear pending cases
-The Hindu Bengaluru: To deal with the rising number of cases, the Karnataka Information Commission is contemplating holding Right To Information (RTI) adalats across the city from next month. Currently, 30,000 cases are pending before the authority, which is struggling with reduced staff strength. “We receive close to 800 to 1,000 appeals a month and each Commissioner has to deal with 30 cases a day. We have four Commissioners and one Chief Commissioner...
More »RTI empowers the citizen, but threats can make Act opaque -Shailesh Gandhi
-Hindustan Times After a decade of the implementation of the national Right To Information (RTI) Act, it is necessary to reflect on some of its key achievements and the threats it faces. It has spread across the country, and there is no district that has not received RTI Applications. It has empowered the ordinary citizen to get respect as an individual from the government and its officials. Citizens are becoming the monitors...
More »Are one per cent of Indians using RTI?
-The Hoot A decade of RTI, Part II---How many Indians are using their right to information? Studies suggest that the figure of users has yet to cross one per cent of the population in a given year, but there could be substantial under-reporting. More than eight million Right to Information applications are being made now, 10 years after the law was introduced. That’s the figure that was given by Aruna Roy of...
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