-The Hindustan Times   Nearly 20,000 Right to Information (RTI) appeals concerning central ministries are waiting to be disposed but there just aren't enough hands to do the job. Chief central information commissioner Satyananda Mishra has written at least two letters to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) asking for the five vacancies to the post of chief information commissioner be filled up, but to no avail. The RTI Act has sanctioned 10 information...

Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh admitted lapses of the past but spoke of a new beginning today in Saranda while unveiling an action plan for the forest region that was under the shadow of Maoist terror for over a decade. Armed with goodies like bicycles and transistor radios for residents of Chotanagra panchayat, about 120km from district headquarters of Chaibasa, Ramesh made it clear that the implementation of the development...

-The Telegraph   Jharkhand High Court today scrapped the appointment of 8,042 government primary schoolteachers, terming the eligibility test conducted by Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) in July to screen candidates arbitrary and illegal. The order of the division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Tatia and Justice P.P. Bhatt means schools will have to wait for teachers longer, as 18,208 posts of teachers (primary and Urdu) have been lying vacant since 2008. A petition was...

-The Times of India   A comprehensive report on teaching and learning inside rural primary schools of five states shows a huge gap between expectations and reality, when it comes to learning. It reveals that more than teacher's educational qualification, gender or work experience what matters most to students is teachers' ability to teach. The study bursts the myth that government schools are overcrowded. Prepared by Annual Survey of Education Report centre...

Resistance to disclosure is a phenomenon that is confined not only to the executive. here have been instances where the judiciary has also shown that much of intransigence to the Right to Information Act. It is no wonder that the Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia once said at a function that sunlight is a great disinfectant, but too much of it can burn one as well. Interestingly, in June...