-PTI Finance Ministry should appoint a nodal officer to distribute RTI applications to the concerned central public information officer for processing, the Delhi High Court has directed while upholding the order of Central Information Commission in this regard. The Finance Ministry has five departments-- Economic Affairs, Revenue, Expenditure, Financial Services and Disinvestment. Each one of them have different sets of Central Public Information Officers for processing RTI applications but there is none to...

-The Hindu     Imprecise estimates of slums in the 2011 census could affect welfare programmes for least privileged groups The recently published census 2011 report on housing stock, amenities and assets in slums, the first of its kind in the country, reassuringly announced that the number of urban slums has declined and the percentage of households in slums has dropped from 23.5 (2001) to 17.4. On the face of it, this reduction appears...

-The Times of India No obituary notice can do justice to Justice J S Verma. A judge for over 25 years, Chief Justice of India (CJI), Chairman National Human Right (NHRC), Verma Commission on Security Lapses, Verma Commission on rape laws. The list is endless. Many judges hanker for post-retirement jobs, Justice Verma did not. A CJI has to chair of NHRC. He did not ask for the job, but did...

-The Hindu Bangalore: Rajarajeshwarinagar MLA M. Srinivas has been booked by the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) for grabbing five acres of government land in Kaggalipura village, Uttarahalli hobli, in Bangalore South, which was meant for landless farmers. The Bharatiya Janata Party leader, in the thick of his re-election campaign, allegedly sanctioned the land to his supporters as president of the Bagair Hukum Committee, said BMTF sources. The April 20 first information...

-The Hindu Waking up to the vulnerability of children in various institutions - schools, children's homes, households and other establishments dealing with minors -- the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) on Tuesday released a set of draft guidelines for prevention of child abuse. Confident that these draft guidelines, which have been now opened for comments, would be notified by next month, DCPCR chairman Arun Mathur said: "The aim is...