-TheWire.in RTI activist Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh K. Batra says he was provided details on the appointment of information commissioners during the Manmohan Singh era, but under the Modi government, there has been a marked change. New Delhi: Over the last 12 years, deliberate attempts have been made to dilute and lessen the effectiveness of the Right to Information Act, according to RTI activist Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh K. Batra. On the basis of the...

-PTI The SIT was set up on the orders of the Supreme Court in 2014 through a government notification to suggest methods to curb black money in the economy. The Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team on black money is answerable under the RTI Act, the Central Information Commission has held. Bringing SIT under the RTI Act, Information Commissioner Bimal Julka said every action of the government must be actuated in...

-The Indian Express In all, the 42 RRBs have sanctioned Stand Up India loans to 536 people — 97 under the SC head, 32 in the ST category and 407 general category women. Three RRBs have not sanctioned a single such loan to general category women. Every bank has been told that it will be your responsibility to ensure that wherever you have a branch, you have to give loans to two...

-The Telegraph Bhopal: A Right to Information Activist who had "exposed" corruption in panchayats was found dead with stab injuries all over his body in Madhya Pradesh's Morena district today. Police said the body of Mukesh Dubey, 42, was found in an agricultural field in Matkaura village. He had several stabbing marks all over his body, Morena superintendent of police Adityanath Singh said. Singh said Dubey was a resident of Morena town and...

-TheWire.in Eleven years after order, none of the states have conformed to the guidelines, says a Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative report. New Delhi: Eleven years ago, on this day, the Supreme Court had issued directions to the Centre and state governments to transform their police forces into professional, accountable and efficient service units. However, a recent report shows that compliance remains far from satisfactory with none of the governments enacting laws to...