In yet another blow to the Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Alumina Ltd , the environment ministry has decided to halt the company’s plans of expanding its Rs 4,600-crore Lanjigarh refinery in Orissa. The existing one million tonne Lanjigarh refinery will, however, continue to be in operation. The ministry has found the Lanjigarh refinery’s expansion to be “unauthorised” and in serious violation of environmental laws. It has decided to revoke the permission given...

Unhappy with law ministry's disclosure of then chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami's "confidential" complaint against his colleague Navin Chawla, the President's secretary had asked the personnel department to frame procedural guidelines and make requisite changes in the law to avoid such "embarrassing" situations. The department of personnel and training, after receiving a three-page communication from President's secretary Christy Fernandez in March, issued directions to all government departments to make public records...

Newly appointed state chief information commissioner (SCIC) Vilas Patil admitted that there are lacunaes in the Right to Information Act. He felt that this needs to be addressed urgently so that the act can be smoothly implemented. Patil added that due to this lacunae the percentage of recovery of penalties imposed on the errant officers duringimplementation is either low or unknown. After the swearing-in on Thursday, Patil took charge from outgoing SCIC...

The Aadhaar or UID project has grave implications for every Indian. It will enable the government to profile every citizen and track their movements and transactions. There is no guarantee that intimate personal information -- pre-existing illnesses, romantic relationships etc -- won't be shared with other agencies, warns Praful Bidwai. An elaborate charade has begun with the rolling out of the first Aadhaar unique identity numbers in a tribal district of Maharashtra by...

The first five years in the life of most laws is usually a tumultuous period when it moves towards maturity through its application and implementation, and its limits are tested and defined through judicial interpretation. How has the RTI Act fared, where is it now, and what about the future? Danubhai G. Vasava, a poor tribal from Sangroad in Umarpada block of Gujarat’s Surat district, attended a Right to Information (RTI)...