-Outlook India rti remains the only credible means left in our polity today to access the facts within government functioning, and therefore, come closer to the truth, write Aruna Roy and Rakshita Swamy. “We the people of India….adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution”. The Preamble of the Indian Constitution articulated the intent of sovereignty and the status of all of us, as equal citizens. The Right to Information (rti) Act...

-The Telegraph The government worked the phones to bring around three unattached parties that had reservations about the amendments New Delhi: A depleted Opposition fought valiantly in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday to try and have the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill 2019 referred to a select committee but lost as the government worked the phones to bring around three unattached parties that had reservations about the amendments. The government defeated the motion...

-The Times of India The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019, was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday amid high drama and an Opposition walkout. The Opposition says the changes put forth in the bill, which had already cleared the Lok Sabha, undermine the independence of the rti watchdog. The government has argued that the amendments leave the information officials' powers untouched and are aimed at streamlining the commission. A...

-Business Standard Why are these amendments being brought about now? It is very interesting Why are these amendments being brought about now? It is very interesting. It is very important to understand that the timing of these amendments is not so innocuous; it is not so innocent; and after reviewing rti decisions some of which have already been alluded to by Mr Singhvi, I have here five cases that have propelled the...

-The Telegraph Call to Kovind to back law he helped draft New Delhi: Former central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi has started an online petition to persuade President Ram Nath Kovind to stand by the transparency law he helped draft as a member of a parliamentary standing committee in 2004. While the petition, started on Friday, is finding traction, more such letters are being planned to appeal to the President’s conscience so that he...