-The Hindu Unlike many countries that have passed laws to protect citizens' privacy, the Indian state is collecting more and more information about private individuals under various pretexts and restricting their right to access their own information Does a serving employee of a premier intelligence agency have the right to inspect his own biodata which that agency handed over to another public authority? Then again, does a former employee of that agency...

The UPA government’s proposed bid to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act, in order to avoid compliance with the June 3 CIC order bringing records of political parties within RTI’s ambit, is sparking widespread citizen criticism and mobilisation. (Pl read the links below for more info on RTI and the bid to amend it)   An online petition put out by the National Campaign for the People’s Right to Information has...

-ANI WASHINGTON: Volunteers and Friends of Aam Aadmi Party in the United States, Singapore and Australia organized protests during the weekend against the planned amendment to the Right to Information (RTI) Act in the upcoming parliament session. The protests were planned to show the strong public demand for transparency in political parties as well as the anger against the any amendments to the act by vested interests. Protesters gathered in front of the...

-DNA UPA Government's credibility is in question as instead of approaching court to oppose the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) order bringing them under the ambit of the RTI Act, they decided to amend the Act itself, said activist Aruna Roy on Monday and asked government to hold wide ranging discussions before going ahead with their plan. Roy, who was also the member of Congress president Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, said government's...

-DNA With the union cabinet approving a proposal to amend the RTI Act to keep political parties out of its purview, the controversy about six national political parties having been declared "public authorities" by the CIC has taken a rather serious turn. Political parties, acting though Parliament, are on the verge of undoing a law that Parliament itself had given to the nation. The argument that the law should apply to...