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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: 111 |
E - Alert |
Issue Date: 18-11-2015 |
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Editorial: Greetings from the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives, (CPDI). Transparency is a beloved child of politicians when they are out of power. When politicians come into power, they disown the very child they are so fond of when they are bereft of power. This is paradoxical but understandable when seen in the context of political economy of elections. The cost of competing as a candidate for provincial or national assembly seats has skyrocketed as now candidates spend tens of millions in elections. Political parties return the favour by allocating development funds for schemes identified by the members of assemblies. This is where profit is allegedly made on the investment carried out during elections. This is, perhaps, the reason why there is no real devolution of power at the local level and elected representatives are more interested in carrying out development schemes than spending time on legislation. Politicians do not like transparency because it brings out dichotomies between what they say for public consumption and what they actually end up practising. One such dichotomy has been brought to the fore recently by Centre for Governance and Public Accountability, (CGPA). Addressing a press conference in KPK’s capital city of Peshawar on October 24, 2013, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief had said that MPAs of KPK assembly would not get development funds. However, CGPA has now established through information received under Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act 2013 that PTI led KP government has allocated development funds to the tune of 8.5 billion for MPAs. No wonder, there is political consensus across the board on the need for these development funds for elected representatives. One can imagine why PMLN is dragging its feet on the issue of enacting effective right to information law at the federal level. It is through the use of right to information laws that people start asking awkward questions like how public funds are allocated and spent. No right to information law, no awkward questions. Happy reading, CPDI India Another
Ink Attack: Shiv Sena Workers Assault RTI Activist With Iron Rod,
Blacken His Face Scoopwhoop Shiv Sena workers on Friday
assaulted and blackened the face of a Right to Information
activist at Latur in Maharashtra's Marathwada region, after he … India RTI
needs to move beyond request driven process, says prominent activist
Venkatesh Nayak ... NYOOOZ ... at Indian Merchants Chamber
on FridayThe Right to Information Act needs to move beyond the request
driven process of seeking information to suo ... Pakistan Dilly-dallying
on Right to Information law deplored The News International ISLAMABAD: Centre for Peace and
Development Initiatives, (CPDI) has lamented the failure of federal
government in introducing Right to Information ... India Officers,
clerks to compete over RTI knowledge Deccan Herald Babus and clerks in the Delhi
government are being put to test over their knowledge of the Right to
Information Act in a move to encourage ... UK Thousands
of infertile couples denied IVF because of amounts paid to clinics Daily Mail ... to IVF clinics for a single
IVF 'cycle' varies fivefold – from £1,300 to more than £6,000, according to
responses to Freedom of Information requests. UK/USA Ministers
were told to destroy key evidence which showed Iraq War was ILLEGAL Daily Mail American officials have finally
released 13 pages of heavily censored documents in response to a Freedom
of Information request made by The Mail ... India 5
ministers, 37 MLAs yet to furnish asset details Chandigarh Tribune This has been revealed in the
response to an application filed under the Right to Information
Act (RTI) by advocate Nadimuddin from Kashipur recently ... UK Freedom
of Information Act misused by media to create stories, says Grayling The Guardian A Conservative cabinet minister
has signalled a crackdown on the “misuse” of freedom of information
requests as a means of researching stories for ... Australia Taxi
industry urged to improve its customer service to compete against Uber Courier Mail New Right to Information
documents, published by the Department of State Growth, show Rene Hidding
warned the industry about the emergence of ... UK Civil
Servants Support CHARGING For Freedom Of Information Requests Breitbart News The majority of Britain's civil
servants back charging the public for Freedom of Information
(FOI) requests, with some even favouring restrictions on the ... Ireland DCAL
took 552 days to respond to Freedom of Information request Belfast Newsletter One less-than-transparent
Stormont department took more than a year-and-a-half to respond to a Freedom
of Information request, it has emerged ... India SDM
gets construction of shops stopped Chandigarh Tribune ... on a complaint filed by Right
to Information RTI and social activist Ajay Uniyal, here today got
stopped the alleged illegal construction of 12 shops by ... USA Attorney
Attacks Montana's New 'Top Secret' Info Rules Newstalkkgvo But the new filing system has
received blowback from freedom of Information attorney Mike Meloy, who
has bend handling FOIA requests in Montana ... USA Search
warrants reveal discovery of camera, photos in Dylann Roof case Charleston Post Courier Fifth Circuit Judge Robert Hood
released the search warrant returns Tuesday in response to a S.C. Freedom
of Information Act request from The Post ... USA The
only thing more absurd than the $43 million gas station in Afghanistan is why
we don't know ... Quartz That incident was part of the
release of data on $2 billion in discretionary spending in Afghanistan after
ProPublica filed a freedom of information act ... USA IRS
use of 'Stingray' devices to track cellphones sparks Senate inquiry USA TODAY The newspaper cited documents
obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Lawmakers said they
were unaware that the IRS had the devices ... Pakistan Govt
yet to pass Right to Information Bill The News International ISLAMABAD: Despite passage of
almost one-and-a-half years and various assurances on different public forums
including the parliament, the ... Pakistan Expenditure
patterns: Govt allocates development funds worth Rs8.5b to MPAs The Express Tribune The details were obtained by
CGPA under the K-P Right to Information Act 2013. Pakistan The
News staffer wins RTI award The News International ISLAMABAD: Investigative
journalist of The News, Waseem Abbasi has won the annual RTI (Right To
Information) Champion Award for his work on ... India Select
three information commissioners in six weeks: Delhi HC Economic Times NEW DELHI: With the Central
Information Commission facing a huge pendency of cases, the Delhi High Court
on Friday directed the centre to finalise ... India The Hindu An analysis by Right to
Information activists confirms that the Central Information Commission is
returning requests for information at a high rate to the ... Mexico Information
freedom new era for Mexico Mexico News Daily Thanks to its freedom of
information laws Mexico has come to be regarded as an exemplar of
transparency with a healthy culture of investigative ... Canada Lack
of information on bridge concerns MLA Delta-Optimist According to Huntington, a freedom
of information request, filed last year by Delta South constituent and
Optimist columnist Ian Robertson, requested ... USA Ronald
Koven, foreign correspondent and media freedom defender, dies at 80 Washington Post Simon also credited Mr. Koven
with identifying in the early days of the Internet the need to ensure freedom
of information and expression online. UK Child
abuse cases delayed by police backlog BBC News More than half of the 40 UK
police forces that responded to a Freedom of Information
request from the programme reported delays of at least three ... India No
passport for PM's spouse, as she has no marriage certificate The Hindu Earlier, she had applied under
the Right to Information (RTI) seeking details of her security and
order of the government of India to provide her security ... UK Theresa
May has to recognise that questions over the Bradford fire disaster will not
go away The Independent ... that the West Yorkshire
Police force seemed breathtakingly indifferent to when I asked them, through
a Freedom of Information request this summer, ... India RTI
Reveals Lies by Corporation Officials The New Indian Express ... a blind eye to unauthorised
buildings in Sowcarpet, and often provide false information under the Right
to Information Act to shield illegal structures. UK Labour
criticises plans to exclude universities from FOI requests The Guardian Government plans to exempt
universities from freedom of information (FOI) requests have been
condemned by Labour. The government's higher ... Ghana Ghana
Right to Information Bill to be passed next year – Majority Leader Ghana Business News Mr. Alban S.K. Bagbin, Majority
Leader in Parliament, has said the Right to Information (RTI)
Bill would be passed in the first quarter of next year. India MEA
denies information under RTI Act Daily Excelsior Srinagar Nov 10: The Union
Government denied information under Right to Information Act
about those who have been denied passport since 1990 ... India Palaszczuk
government unable to fill science, technology vacancy The Australian Right to Information documents obtained by The Australian reveal a $10,000
international recruitment campaign was launched in July after a
fruitless ... India Study
finds MP govt depts lag on RTI proactive disclosure front Hindustan Times ... schemes and administrative
set-up, as required under the proactive disclosure rule of the Right to
Information (RTI) Act, a web research conducted ... India City
police register fifth offence in a row against Mukesh Sahu Times of India Nagpur: Right to information
(RTI) Act activist Mukesh Sahu has been booked in the fifth case on the trot
by the city police. The latest case, charging ... USA In
freedom of information triumph, Chicago police misconduct complaint
records now online Chicago Reader Tuesday morning's publication
of the records is a triumph for freedom of information India Maharashtra
leads in number of custodial death cases The Hindu After several rounds to
Mantralaya, letters to the Chief Minister and scores of Right to
Information pleas to know the stage of investigation, the State ... UK Sir
Jeremy Heywood wants to limit our Freedom of Information Act Daily Mail ... and added: 'The prospect of
restricting citizens' right to information following the commission's
review [into FoI] sends the wrong signal to developing ... India No
need to impose fine in every case: HC Bangalore Mirror ... need to impose a fine every
time there is a delay by a competent officer in issuing information under the
Right To Information (RTI) Act. An education ... UK Daily
Mail comments on why the public sector fears the Freedom of Information
act Daily Mail But how ironic that those same
ministers are hatching plans to curtail the Freedom of Information
Act, without which this vital investigation into how our ... India UT
education dept falls short of tabla instructors in schools Hindustan Times As per information received
under Right to Information (RTI) in September this year, only eight
local schools have table instructors. These include: ... India Talks
to end strike cost FTII Rs 4 lakh The Indian Express A Right to Information
(RTI) plea filed by The Indian Express has revealed that the institute also
spent Rs 4.04 lakh on travelling, food and lodging ... India State,
Centre 'delaying' compensation for Bhopal Gas tragedy survivors: NGOs Economic Times ... Pensionbhogee Sangharsh
Morcha, Balkrishna Namdeo, said that documents obtained under Right to
Information (RTI) Act show that the experts of ... Bangladesh The Daily Star The Right to Information
(RTI) or Freedom of Information (FOI) regimes evolved globally following the
end of World War II premised upon people's ... India Bhopal:
PMO conducts RTI first appeal hearing over telephone Hindustan Times In a trendsetting example, the
Prime Minister's office conducted hearing for a right to
information (RTI) first appeal by an applicant from Bhopal on ... India Mumbai
University VC Deshmukh fails to clear LLB exam Moneylife ... to clear his LLB
examination, he appeared before being appointed as the VC, reveals a reply
received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. USA Chicago
Police May Have Spied On Black And Left-Wing Activists Chicagoist The Sun-Times, based on
internal CPD documents obtained through the Freedom of Information
Act, argues otherwise. At its core, this is a controversy ... USA Illinois
Lottery sales plummet to lowest point of year after payout delays Fox News The high was about $260 million
in March, according to data obtained in a freedom of information
request. ADVERTISEMENT. The figures confirm ... India Positive
trend: 60 percent of children adopted in India over three years were girls Firstpost These three states accounted
for 40% of female adoptions, according to information obtained under the Right
to Information by Bangalore-based ... India 301
Doc Posts Vacant in 9 Dts: RTI The New Indian Express According to the data compiled
from Right to Information (RTI) responses over the last 10 months, the
backward Ramanathapuram district topped the ... |
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