The outgoing CIC interprets the RTI Act in a liberal spirit to direct the Calcutta High Court to provide information to an applicant. IN a landmark decision before he completed his term as Chief Information Commissioner on September 30, Wajahat Habibullah rejected the Calcutta High Court's contention that it was not subject to the CIC's jurisdiction under the Right to Information Act, 2005. The Calcutta High Court has the distinction of...

India has slipped to 87th spot in Transparency International’s latest ranking of nations based on levels of corruption, with the global watchdog asserting that perceptions about corruption in the country increased in the wake of the Commonwealth Games Against the backdrop of alleged irregularities in the recently held Commonwealth Games (CWG), India’s perceived corruption levels have gone up, with a corresponding worsening of its world ranking. According to Transparency International’s Corruption...

Five years ago, when the proposed National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was a subject of fierce controversy, Bunker Roy compared the attitude of the government to that of a dog who crosses a road half-way, can’t decide whether to go forward or backward, and gets run over. This enlightening image applies again today, in the context of the proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA). The National Advisory Council (NAC) discussed...

Media persons from all over the country have a great opportunity to witness the dance of democracy in Jaipur beginning Gandhi Jayanti. A peaceful ‘dharna’ organized by grassroots organizations like the MKSS and RTI Manch, among others, is already attracting some of India’s top writers, editors, development thinkers and civil society activists, besides thousands of common people from all across Rajasthan. The movement will continue indefinitely from October 2 onwards...

Altogether 19 of the 44 accused in the multi-crore public distribution system (PDS) scam in Arunachal Pradesh have been arrested so far, head of the Special Investigating Cell (SIC) investigating the scam M S Chauhan said here today. Altogether 19 accused including former chief minister Gegong Apang have been arrested but 18 of them have been granted bail by the Yupia fast track court while the bail plea of Apang...