-The Hindu Building on the work by RTI activists, India needs to set up a mechanism that can make for accountability on the sources and utilisation of party funds Throughout the world, political parties collect funds to build and sustain the organisation, to train party cadres and fight elections. Recognising that they are the main link to the citizens (as voters) and, by implication, the mainstay of democracy, many countries, including India,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Centre's response after a PIL gave chilling details of thousands of motorists meeting gory deaths every year because of trucks and trailers parked without sufficient warning on highways, many carrying iron rods protruding out dangerously. 'SaveLife Foundation', an NGO, used the Right to Information (RTI) Act to collect details of fatalities resulting from collision of vehicles with these haphazardly...

-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...

-PTI Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Information Commission has issued notice to the Lokayukta office for not providing information under the Right to Information Act on the plea that that it was not in the ambit of the Act. Hearing an application moved by RTI activist Saleem Beg, Chief Information Commissioner Ranjeet Singh Pankaj issued a notice asking why the public information officer of Lokayukta should not be punished under section 20 of the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a rare exception, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked National Technical Research Organization (NTRO) to disclose the annual appraisal report of an ex-employee. The technical intelligence agency is exempt from RTI except in cases of human rights violation and corruption. The applicant, Odisha-based Subhendushree Routroy, had sought his annual performance appraisal reports for 2008, 2009 and 2010. He was sacked from NTRO and he...