-The Hindu It should not hit deliberative processes and thwart honest officials from airing views Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called for a ‘critical look' at the Right to Information (RTI) Act to ensure that it does not adversely affect the ‘deliberative processes' of the government and discourage honest officials from articulating their views. Addressing the 6th Annual Convention of Information Commissioners here on Friday, Dr. Singh hoped that the deliberations would also...
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Big Brother is looking over your shoulders by Aparna Viswanathan
The government's new guidelines for cybercafes will deepen the digital divide while doing nothing to curb terrorism. Following last month's tragic bomb blast at the Delhi High Court, in which over 13 people were killed, police traced an email from the ‘Harkat-ul-Jihad' claiming responsibility for the attack to a cybercafe in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, and arrested three people, including the owner. In fact, many recent terrorist attacks have been linked to...
More »Can you have Nilekani without UID? by Subir Roy
Both Nandan Nilekani and his well-wishers are today, two years after he set out on his unique identification (UID) journey, wiser if not a more disillusioned lot. Right at the outset he had acknowledged concerns over privacy issues, saying, “India does not really have a privacy law. So all this will act as an impetus to define the privacy framework for Indians.” That gaping hole is still staring us in...
More »When the RTI ‘Basmasura' chased the government by Vidya Subrahmaniam
When the controversial Finance Ministry note to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on P. Chidambaram's role in 2G spectrum allocation was traced to a Right to Information application, there was surprise — and some concern — both within the government and in RTI circles. The government's discomfiture was understandable: The RTI Act, which was its proud creation, recoiled on it much like the boon that Lord Shiva granted Basmasura. In the...
More »RTI misuse makes I-T dept, CBI see red by Santosh Tiwari
Investigating and law enforcement agencies are concerned over the growing number of attempts to misuse Right to Information (RTI) to settle personal scores and animosities, and make personal gains. A senior official from one of the investigating agencies told Business Standard that serious concerns were raised in several meetings convened by the government with the Income Tax Department, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and others in the recent past. “It has...
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