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Showing posts from April, 2016

Why hide info on ensuring safety of India’s intelligence operatives abroad?

By Venkatesh Nayak* The print and electronic media have extensively reported the recent apprehension of a person of Indian origin by Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies . Pakistan is said to have summoned India’s envoy to that country and issued a demarche about the alleged “interference by India in its internal affairs in Balochistan through its intelligence operative belonging to the Research & Analysis Wing” (R&AW) of the Cabinet Secretariat (Cab Sec). The Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs has vehemently denied that charge while confirming that the apprehended individual is indeed a retired Indian Navy officer and has sought consular access to him. As no other details are officially available from the Indian government, it is not possible to state anything more about this incident given its security implications. Saying anything else will only amount to indulging in speculation that may have harmful effects in several quarters. However, what should

J&K lights up northern India, but its own people face severe power outages

By Venkatesh Nayak* A problem commonly raised by participants at our training workshops on the right to information (RTI) held across Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), over several years, is the frequent and long power outages they experience, almost on a daily basis. Having sojourned through several parts of the Kashmir valley, apart from far flung areas like Kargil, during the last few years, I experienced, first hand, these long periods of power supply breakdown. LCD projectors and public address systems would stop working abruptly in the middle of a workshop due to power outage and one had to resort to other methods of teaching RTI procedures. In Kargil, a major complaint that youth participants voiced at our workshop held last year was the increased frequency and duration of power outages during the exams season. During a visit to Srinagar, earlier this year, when the State was placed under Governor’s rule and negotiations for installing a new government were still on, I came across me

Why J&K NHPC hydel projects should be transferred to the state

By Dr Shaikh Ghulam Rasool* The J&K RTI Movement calls for complete transparency in the ongoing negotiations between the Government of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K Govt) and the Government of India (GoI) regarding the transfer of hydro-electric (hydel) projects in the State, currently being executed by NHPC Ltd. Data recently revealed under the Central Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) shows that between 2001-2015, the NHPC has earned at least Rs. 194 billion (Rs. 19,431 crores) from the sale of power generated by the hydel projects based in J&K. Of this, J&K Govt. had paid Rs. 41 billion (Rs. 4,129 crores) to NHPC to buy 19.7% of the power that was generated by the hydel projects situated in the State. This information has been supplied by NHPC in response to an RTI application filed by Mr. Venkatesh Nayak of our partner organisation, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi. Seven hydel projects, namely, Kishanganga, Uri-II, Bursar, Sewa-II, Pakal Dul, Nimmo B

Facts contradict Union Coal Ministry claim of inhibiting impact of CIC

By Venkatesh Nayak* Recent media reports have highlighted a statement attributed to a serving senior bureaucrat in the Union Ministry of Coal about the inhibiting impact of the Central Information Commission (CIC) on the decision-making processes relating to development. According to these reports, the Secretary in charge of that Ministry is said to have made a comment on Facebook about the substantial contribution of 5 ‘Cs’ namely, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) , the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the Comptroller & Accountant General (C&AG) and the Courts apart from the CIC , to the creation of an inhibiting environment for quick and effective decision-making that impacts development. It is not clear which Ministries and Departments he had in mind while making this comment. However, the performance of the Coal Ministry and the public sector enterprises under its jurisdiction vis-a-vis the implementation of The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) is wor

Does promise of sab ka saath sab ka vikas include loan defaulters?

By Venkatesh Nayak* Media reports indicate that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s banker to banks (Central Bank) has submitted to the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, in sealed cover, a list of defaulters on loans, worth Rs. 500 crore or more (USD 75.3 million approx at current exchange rate), taken from those banks. The Apex Court sought this information from the RBI after it reportedly took suo motu cognizance of a recent news report published in a popular English language daily about how a majority of the public sector banks had written off bad debts to the tune of Rs. 1.14 lakh crores (USD 17.18 billion at current exchange rate) between the financial years 2013-15. This national daily had sourced this data through The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act). In order to justify its action of submitting the names of loan defaulters in sealed cover, RBI argued in its affidavit that public disclosure would dent the ‘fiduciary relationship ‘ that it has with the commercial b

Gujarat government revives LARR Ordinance, reveals its anti-farmer face

Statement by Jamin Adhikar Aandolan Gujarat (JAAG) following the state assembly passing the controversial bill on March 31 bill which does away with consent and social impact assessment in land acquisition: The Government of Gujarat (GoG) has passed in the State Assembly the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2016. What the the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance (in short LARR Ordinance), 2015 had proposed to do but could not, the GoG Bill is doing in Gujarat. With a few changes, the tone and tenor of the Gujarat LARR Bill is almost the same as the LARR Ordinance 2015. The meagre safety and rights that were guaranteed to the farmers by the LARR Act, 2013 are set to be snatched away, once and for all. The major amendments being brought by the GoG to the LARR Act, 2013 are (this is not a comprehensive list): (1) Amendm