Right to Information

from

Around the World

India:
From right to information to right to data
The daily star
OGD and Right to Information (RTI) are two sides of the same coin. In fact, the foundation of OGD lies in peoples’ right to information…

UK
Journalism Made Possible Because of the Freedom of Information Act
PROPUBLICA
If you’re unfamiliar, the Freedom of Information Act is a law that allows anyone – yes, including you – to request records and documents from the government…

India
RTI reveals failed student with 2 marks actually scored 79
The news Scroll
Dhananjay Kumar, a student from Bihar’s Rohtas district, was declared failed in the Class 10 final examination conducted by the BSEB with just two marks in Hindi…

USA
Whistleblower Sues Interior Department For Information On Staff Shuffle
Huffpost
A scientist-turned-whistleblower who resigned from the Interior Department in October citing agency chief Ryan Zinke’s “poor leadership”…

Pakistan
Graveyard of Journalism
The Newsline Magazine
Pakistan ranks fifth on the list of deadliest countries in the world for journalists; 60 have been murdered in Pakistan since 1992 – alarmingly high…

India
Delhi pollution: Facing ire over unused Rs 787 cr green cess, Kejriwal’s AAP blames Modi govt
Times Now
In a shocking disclosure, a Right to Information (RTI) query on Wednesday revealed that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government has failed to specify its utilisation of the Rs 787 crore green cess collected during 2017…

USA
More Nations Adopt Freedom of Information Laws
The Market Mogul
There are now some 112 countries that have promulgated some type of freedom of information legislation in order to enable citizens to access government data…

Pakistan
LHC to resume hearing on Punjab govt’s plea on 21st
Daily Times
He said that the Model Town massacre was recognised as ‘state terrorism’ and witnessed by the entire country where unarmed men and women were killed and tortured…

Zimbabwe
Access to information: Denying the people
Newsday Zimbabwe
The right to access of information is canvassed in sections 61 and 62 of the Constitution. So somebody somewhere intentionally violated our rights and freedoms by denying us that piece of news…

Pakistan
KP govt fails to provide relief despite allocating Rs67bn for health
Pakistan Today
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) declared an emergency in the health sector and had allocated a huge development budget of Rs67 billion for health sector from 2013-2018…

India
Breaking: RTI Act Won’t Prevail Over Supreme Court Rules: Delhi HC
Live Law
Holding that there is no inconsistency in the Supreme Court Rules (SCR) and the Right to Information Act, the Delhi High Court…

Indonesia
Paradise Papers leaks take aim at Indonesian paper firm APRIL
ECO-Business
The global Paradise Papers leak has accused Indonesian pulp and paper giant APRIL of unethically exploiting tax loopholes

Pakistan
Punjab govt asked to file reply in Model town incident by Nov 24
Express Tribune
Full bench headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh on Wednesday sought reply from the Punjab government by November 24 over a vacant post of the information commissioner…

Ghana
A Right to Information Act could have saved KABA
GhanaWeb
KABA died a brave man, never afraid to ask the critical questions. In the absence of a Right to Information Act, he risked his health, combing through stress, deploying difficult tactics to have access to information, to enrich his program…

Pakistan
APNS, CPNE, PFUJ, RIUJ express concern over closure of TV channels
The News
The APNS office bearers have stated that any curb on the freedom of press has always been counterproductive in any democratic dispensation…