-Deccan Herald The Central Information Commission (CIC) has suggested that the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the nodal ministry to frame RTI rules, to refrain from splitting the queries made in one application and instead prepare response after compiling all details. Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra asked for revising the present system of sending different queries in one RTI application to different information officers. “Unless the RTI application contains unmanageably a large...

-The Times of India BANGALORE: A special Lokayukta court on Thursday ordered an investigation into the role of three former Karnataka chief ministers in the allocation of land to Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (Nice) for the construction of an expressway between Bangalore and Mysore. The former CMs under the scanner are H D Deve Gowda, S M Krishna and B S Yeddyurappa. Judge N K Sudhindra Rao ordered Lokayukta police to investigate the...

-The Hindu Former Cabinet Secretary Chandrashekhar deposes before JPC The former Cabinet Secretary, K.M. Chandrashekhar’s shocking revelation on Thursday to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigating the 2G scam that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had ignored his recommendation that an entry fee of Rs. 36,000 crore be charged for spectrum, has brought the ghost of the 2G scam back to the Prime Minister’s doorstep. Mr. Chandrashekhar’s disclosure that he had submitted a note...

-The Indian Express Recently, the prime minister raised concerns about RTI applications encroaching on the right to privacy. At this juncture, it may be worth remembering the case of “Auto Shankar” and his diary. About 20 years ago, an auto driver called Gauri Shankar, who had murdered more than six teenage girls, was convicted and sentenced to death. Before the appeals process was exhausted, he started writing a diary, which was...

-The Hindu A recent Supreme Court judgment and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s openly expressed views in favour of privacy have raised concerns that attempts are being made to dilute the spirit of the RTI Act and limit its use. Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey, the RTI’s movement’s leading lights, share their worries with Vidya Subrahmaniam. * Seven years after its enactment, has the RTI Act even partially fulfilled its objectives? Has it...