-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre and nine states, including Bengal, to file affidavits within four weeks stating by when they would fill their vacant posts of information commissioners and, in some cases, even chief information commissioners. The bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan were hearing a petition from rti activist Anjali Bharadwaj, who cited four vacancies in the Central Information Commission and many...

-The Hindu The rti Act Amendment Bill must be junked The Right to Information (rti) Act, 2005, has empowered millions of Indians to question governments and hold public functionaries accountable. Of the nearly six million rti applications filed every year in the country, a large proportion are by the poorest and the most marginalised who seek information about their basic rights and entitlements, like rations, pensions and health facilities. The use of...

-Times Now News The Prime Minister of India's residence- 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, does not have an electricity meter, reveals an rti query. The response stated that neither there is a consumption record nor a separate electric meter has been installed for the Prime Minister’s residence. The rti activist had also sought information about the electricity consumption of the whole Prime minister’s residential complex, for which the result is pending. New...

-The Indian Express An rti query filed by The Indian Express with the MoEF revealed that the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) was questioned as early as June of 2016 over its jurisdiction to draw up federal guidelines to regulate animal markets. New Delhi: Fifteen months before the controversial cattle trade rules were withdrawn by the Centre, questions were raised internally during the framing stage on whether the central government was...

-The Indian Express The procurement process also faced several allegations of corruption and favouritism. However, even months after the concerns were raised, the government is yet to take any action on them, reveals the rti. Pune: Across party lines, political leaders had raised questions about the process to procure over 3 lakh tonnes of tur by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd, or NAFED, last year, revealed response to...