-The Times of India NEW DELHI: As the first woman chief information commissioner, Deepak Sandhu, who has been media advisor to the PM and spokesperson for the government, on Thursday said the RTI Act had altered the relationship between citizens and government from a "mai-baap" one to a culture of accountability and transparency. Sandhu, who was administered the oath of office by President Pranab Mukherjee, said her priority would be to address...

-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...

-The Indian Express   Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013. The proposed law, which will replace the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 that suffers from various shortcomings, including silence on the issue of resettlement and rehabilitation of those displaced, stipulates mandatory consent of at least 70 per cent of landowners for acquiring land for Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects...

-Live Mint Abhijit Sen says any public-funded effort to deliver a public service should be under the RTI New Delhi: Any public-funded effort such as a public-private partnership project to deliver a public service or purpose should be under the Right to Information (RTI), Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen said on Monday. He was speaking at an event to mark eight years of the landmark legislation that enables citizens to demand transparent information...

-The Hindu     Even as the passage of the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill-2013 in Parliament seems imminent, the demand to refer the Bill to a Parliamentary Standing Committee for public consultation is gaining momentum both within and outside the House. After the Biju Janta Dal MP Baijayant Panda, another Lok Sabha MP Ajoy Kumar has written a letter to Speaker Meira Kumar requesting her to refer the Bill to a Standing...