THE MERE suggestion of any amendment to the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, sends civil society into a tizzy. Perhaps this level of anxiety is necessary to protect the common man’s most important tool to hold the government accountable. But what if the RTI is dying, not because of government intervention but negligence? The pendency of complaints and appeals in several states is on the rise, while the number of...

-The Times of India   Non-payment of wages in time under MGNREGA, rampant corruption at different levels, effectiveness of e-Shakti project, assistance for development from Finance Commission, non-issuance of identity cards to the PRI's elected representatives, formation of sub-committees in panchayats and use of Right to Information were some of the issues that cropped up during the five-day training programme for the office bearers of the three-tier panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) held...

-The Pioneer The union cabinet is expected to meet here Sunday evening to discuss the Lokpal and the food security bills, said official sources. The cabinet meeting, earlier scheduled for Monday, would now be held Sunday evening, the sources said Saturday evening Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on his way back from Russia Saturday, said the government hopes to bring the Lokpal bill to the cabinet by Sunday. "We are working day and night...

The city is estimated to have upwards of 88,000 people living on the streets Each evening this winter, as MPs have debated India's political future, more than 100 people have been gathering at a municipal park behind the Bangla Sahib gurdwara. The area has dozens of groups of protesters who arrive in the city each time Parliament is in session, to make their voices heard. The people in the park, though, aren't...

Remember the over 100 farmhouse plots allotted in Noida measuring at least 10,000 sq m each without an auction or a draw of lots, including two to Supreme Court advocate Shanti Bhushan and his son Jayant Bhushan? An audit has now found that not only was there no transparency in the allotment of these plots — 101 in all — but that the Noida Authority had fixed a very low rate,...