-The Times of India   The Central Information Commission has directed the external affairs ministry to comply with the norms of statutory suo-moto disclosures to be made under the Right to Information Act.  The move comes following a complaint that some information given on the ministry's website under Section 4 of the RTI Act, which relates to proactive disclosures by a public authority, was not complete and comprehensive.  Complainant Saurabh Sharma alleged that the...

State notifies rules; public suggestions incorporated The State government has finally notified the rules under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. While the notification was published in the Government gazette dated November 12, the rules were displayed in the public domain (www.tn.gov.in) on Tuesday evening. With this, the State has taken an important milestone in ensuring education for all children between six and 14 years of age. Education...

The commission has now directed RBI to furnish the information by 10 December to the applicant and publish it on its website by the month-end The Central Information Commission (CIC), which enforces the Right to Information Act, has directed the central bank to make public the names of the top 100 industrialists who have defaulted on loans taken from public sector banks. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had declined to disclose...

-The Economic Times   The Congress-led government has tried to reach out to Other Backward Communities (OBCs) by drastically relaxing the definition of 'creamy layer' and including those with an annual income of Rs 12 lakh in metros eligible for job reservations. The eligibility level in non-metros will be an annual income of Rs 9 lakh.  The existing ceiling for this is an annual income of 4.5 lakh. The National Commission for Backward...

-The Hindu   Justice Markandey Katju, Chairman, Press Council of India, has issued the following clarification on his critical observations of the Indian media.   I have expressed my views relating to the media in several T.V. interviews I gave as well as in my articles in some newspapers. However, many people, including many media people, wanted clarification and amplification of some of the issues I had raised. Many media people (including several T.V. channels)...