-The Hindustan Times The Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) has been slapped with a show-cause notice for not giving proper reply to an RTI query over shortage of water. In its order dated December 17, the chief information commissioner (CIC) of Haryana, Naresh Gulati, asked the executive engineer of division-2 of Huda, Gurgaon, to furnish correct and complete information to the petitioner free of cost. "The state public information officer-cum-executive engineer, Huda division...

-The Economic Times When asked where the coal blocks will come up, the forest officer draws a clover-shaped map. Take the right at the traffic intersection, he says, and you will enter Pathriya Dand coal block. Keep going for 11 km and the road turns to the left, which is where Gidhmudi coal block is. Come back to the main road, cross over to the other side, and you will enter...

-PTI Bhopal: As many as 11,441 appeals and complaints under Right to Information Act are pending with the Madhya Pradesh Information Commission which is currently functioning without chief and other commissioners. A total of 9,946 appeals and 1,495 complaints are pending against various state government departments for failing to give desired information sought by applicants under the transparency legislation, according to documents, updated till September 2012, accessed under RTI by an activist,...

-DNA Among the many government departments trying to subvert the sunshine Right to Information law by denying information on frivolous grounds, market watchdog Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) appears to be at the forefront of citing bizarre reasons for denial. Replying to an application filed by DNA in January 2010, Sebi said it could not furnish copies of board meetings’ minutes because photocopying them would damage the original records. “If there...

-The Economic Times The government has decided to conduct a study on the implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Act to know the cost to the government in providing information to citizens under the UPA's showpiece initiative and whether it has helped improve its "public perception about the extent of reduction in corruption". As per the RTI Act of 2005, only Rs 10 fee is required to seek information from any...