-MoneyLife.in After several weeks of disgust over political parties trying to slip out of the RTI Act, good news beckons for citizens in India and abroad who want to file RTI online Do you want to seek information under Right to Information (RTI) about public distribution of grains or demand a copy of your answer sheet in your Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination or seek details about a water conservation project...

-MoneyLife.in The CIC remarked that it was a sad reflection on two of the most important offices in India if the knowledge of where the information is held is not available in both places. This is the 172nd in a series of important judgements given by former central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi that can be used or quoted in an RTI application The central information commission (CIC), while allowing an appeal, directed...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With Parliament failing to provide a safety net, political parties now have to comply with the central information commission (CIC) order bringing them under the Right To Information law as not doing so exposes them to the risk of legal action, including summons to party presidents. The commission on July 28 received a complaint of "non-compliance" from activist S C Agrawal who, along with Association...

-The Indian Express Holding back the RTI amendment is not the best way to address public concerns about party finance. There has been great civil society uproar over the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2013, which aims to extricate political parties from mandatory public disclosures, and nullify the central information commission's recent order. While passing the amendment would have been all too easy, given the broad political consensus, a last-minute turnaround in...

-Outlook For the first time, a central government employee, who exposes corruption in his department, will be able to get protection against any threat to his life. According to an amended resolution notified by the government, a nodal officer has been designated in each central ministry to look into complaints of corruption received from whistleblowers--a term given to people who expose corruption in government departments. "The Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) of the Ministries...