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A newsletter containing news, views, articles, investigative stories in the field of |
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Right to Information From Around the World |
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Issue No: 104 |
E - Alert |
Issue Date: 13-07-2015 |
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Editorial: Greetings from Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives, (CPDI). How can one understand the logic of fixing what is not broken? This is what PTI provincial leadership has been trying to do with its landmark Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act 2013. On June 23, 2015, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, without any debate, and, as it later transpired, without following the proper legislative process, amended RTI law, giving exemption to itself and, more shockingly, lowered the status of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Commission by declaring district courts the forum for appeals against the decisions of the Commission. Thanks to the aggressive campaign on print and electronic media by civil society groups and friends in the media, Imran Khan had to intervene and promise that these amendments will be revoked once the provincial assembly meets next time which is July 28. It goes without saying that RTI activists need to stay vigilant till the time these amendments are not taken back. This is important to ensure that what has happened in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa does not become a precedent. It seems federal government will have to table RTI bill in the parliament as Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting had to face music from the members of the Senate Committee on Information and Broadcasting who approved RTI bill on July 15, 2014. Subsequently, he promised that RTI bill will be on the agenda of the Cabinet when it meets next time. So far, this PMLN government has not shown any enthusiasm for introducing governance reforms and its stony silence on the issue of reforms has compelled even its sympathizers in the media to question its performance. So, there is hope for legislation on right to information in near future at the federal level.
Happy reading, CPDI
USA School charges mom $77000 to access emails about her son FOX31 Denver Ellison also said the Freedom of Information Act laws changed July 1. The biggest change has to do with people being charged too much money such ...
India 10 years of RTI: 39 activists dead, 275 harassed, says report Hindustan Times When right to information activist Guru Prasad Shukla was beaten to death by fellow villagers last month, he became the 39th person to lay down his ...
Pakistan KP Assembly speaker has to cut a sorry figure The News
India Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's Shimla Land Deal Can't be Revealed for Now, Says High Court NDTV ... Pradesh - she reportedly has bought two pieces of land - was sought last year by Debashish Bhattacharya, a Right to Information (RTI) activist.
Pakistan Committee formed to review Punjab RTI law The News
India SC rejects RTI appeal to obtain judges' medical expenses Legally India The Supreme Court dismissed a Right to Information (RTI) appeal that had asked for judges' medical expenses, citing judges' right to privacy, reported ...
Australia Diplomats rack up thousands of dollars in unpaid parking and speeding fines Sydney Morning Herald Figures obtained under freedom of information from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for Canberra revealed that the United States ...
Pakistan Punjab excels in effective RTI legislation: Report The News ISLAMABAD: Punjab has scored the highest marks in terms of effective RTI legislation when measured against the global best practices while Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has slid down in the ranking due to the negative amendments enacted recently in addition to other problems in the law.  India Make public RTI replies to stop repeated queries: Centre Times of India NEW DELHI: To check wasteful duplication of effort while responding to RTI queries, the Centre has asked all departments to do an analysis of ...
UK Fire crews rescue 650 obese people a year using winches and cranes Mirror.co.uk ... April 2014 and 2015, compared with 609 cases between 2013 and 2014, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information act.
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