HYDERABAD: The Right to Information (RTI) Act finally seems to be serving its purpose: empowering citizens with information which they can use to demand justice. Reeling under an attack on their houses, a group of 13 displaced tribal families from remote Bhadrachalam used the RTI Act to find out the status of the land on which they had constructed their huts a year ago. Armed with this information, they have now...

The Right to Information (RTI) Act finally seems to be serving its purpose: empowering citizens with information which they can use to demand justice. Reeling under an attack on their houses, a group of 13 displaced tribal families from remote Bhadrachalam used the RTI Act to find out the status of the land on which they had constructed their huts a year ago. Armed with this information, they have now...

‘Trade secret of third party' can't be disclosed: Drugs-Controller Application seeks information on the basis of approval for import and marketing of vaccines It seeks to know protocols for permission to an NGO and ICMR to conduct ‘demonstration project' Information on the demonstration project and licensing of two vaccines to prevent cervical cancer has been exempted from public disclosure under Section 8 of the Right to Information Act, 2005. This is the reply received...

The Centre admitted on Thursday that people trying to expose corruption with the help of the Right to Information (RTI) Act were facing harassment. In response to a query whether the government knew about increasing threats to people using RTI against corruption, minister of state in the prime minister’s office (PMO), Prithviraj Chavan, told parliament, “Yes, reports have appeared in the media about the threats. The Central Information Commission (CIC) has...

Conflicting replies from the government relating to the 6 Krishna Menon Marg bungalow has deepened the mystery around the house. Two departments of the urban development ministry seem to have contrasting views on the issue with the Directorate of Estates saying the bungalow, which was allotted to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar during her tenure as a minister in UPA-1, is yet to be allotted to someone, while CPWD has...