At least 10 RTI applicants have been killed over the past two years, with many others facing threats in their bid to expose corruption On a Republic Day when India celebrated 61 years of justice, equality and liberty, Amar Nath Pandey says he encountered the darkest moment of his life. In late evening on 26 January, a lone assailant leaped from the folds of darkness in the street outside his house in...

The wait has been long, but Prakash Sheth, 45, can now say it has been worth the wait. In a rare judgment, the chief information commissioner (CIC) awarded Rs2 lakh as compensation to Sheth, who was made to run from pillar to post to get a reply to his RTI query. He had submitted an application to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), Hyderabad, on September 29, 2009. He had sought...

The attempt of the Central Information Commission (CIC), the final appellate authority for implementation of Right to Information (RTI) Act, to bring transparency in the functioning of government departments through voluntary disclosure of information on websites has come a cropper. Of the 1,600 public authorities (government departments, apex bodies, autonomous organisations and ministries) listed by the Commission, only 125 have obeyed its directive and appointed transparency officers. The macro picture...

Indian cotton was once infamously plundered by the British to benefit their finished goods economy back home. The world-famous Dhaka muslin were woven with desi cotton. But while the foreign regime kept the Indian cotton alive, albeit for its own gains, independent India presided over its complete decimation. However, after about 50 years of domination of American cotton that had edged out the desi varieties for long, the Indian Council of...

Jammu and Kashmir is all set to get its first Information Commission after a high-power committee cleared the name of a senior Indian Revenue Service Officer for the post of Chief Information Commissioner. Official sources told The Hindu that the committee, headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and Leader of the Opposition Mehbooba Mufti as members, met in Jammu on Thursday and cleared the name...