-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Drive to any Indian city. Chances are you will wade into chaotic traffic and roads full of potholes. You'll see choked drains, overflowing and smelly bins and streetlights that don't work. The reason for the mess isn't difficult to unravel. Most of our municipal bodies are cash strapped, unable to take care of the city's needs. The workforce is poor. Given the indifferent reputation of urban...
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Why no RTI in 'progessive' Gujarat, Mr Modi? -Himanshu Kaushik
-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: Narendra Modi might be wanting to encash 'brand Gujarat' in 2014, but the state he rules still prohibits information under the RTI, which can check corruption to a great extent. In 2011-12, the Gujarat Information Commissioner received 5,224 complaints and appeals, of which 2,699 were disposed off - the disposal rate was 51.66 per cent. Of the 5,224 applications, 70 per cent were appeals. The report tabled in...
More »Human intrusion leading to more leopard attacks, says report-Alok Deshpande
-The Hindu Campaign launched across tribal hamlets near sanctuary explaining dos and don’ts Mumbai: Buildings and infrastructural activities, ill-treatment by authorities and apathy of human encroachers to the animals inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), the only wildlife sanctuary in India adjacent to a large metropolis, is leading to increased conflict between people and leopards, a report published after a year-long project has said. From 2000 to January 2013, there have been...
More »With 54% green cover, Gandhinagar India's tree capital-Himanshu Kaushik
-The Economic Times AHMEDABAD: Gujarat's capital - Gandhinagar - could well be India's tree capital. The latest figures of a census conducted by the state government show that 53.9% of its 5,700-hectare area is covered with trees. Effectively, there are 416 trees for every 100 people in the city. This is more than any other city in the country. The census was conducted by the social forestry department along with various municipal...
More »Blank RTI forms too come for a price-Yagnesh Mehta
If the daily haggling to get work done at Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has left you frustrated, here is another shocker. An application under Right to Information (RTI) by a citizen Kanubhai Shah has revealed that SMC charges much more than any other civic body for even blank forms, that too more than its actual printing cost. Sample this: An unemployed person wanting to apply for job in SMC needs to buy...
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