New Delhi: Moving further towards greater transparency in governance, the government has extended the facility of e-filing of RTI applications to President and Vice President's Secretariat, and Foreign Ministry among others. Citizens will also be able to seek information online from ministries of Food Processing Industries, Health & Family Welfare, Home Affairs, Information & Broadcasting and Road Transport & Highways by exercising their Right to Information.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which acts as nodal ministry for implementation of Right to Information Act, has launched a website-- www.rtionline.gov.in --to facilitate e-filing of applications and payment of fees. As a pilot project, the facility was restricted to DoPT only but late last month it was extended to Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries and Department of Consumer Affairs and Department of Food and Public Distribution.
Now it has been extended to other public authorities like Department of Agricultural Research & Education, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Department of Commerce, Department of Disinvestment, Department of Public Enterprises and Ministry of Culture also, a DoPT official said. The Centre's flagship Right to Information Act, which was enacted in 2005, mandates timely response -- within 30 days-- to citizen requests for government information.
One has to pay a fee of Rs 10 for seeking information. The government plans to extend e-filing of RTI applications to all central ministries or departments through the website....
05:22 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Are extra-legal measures against the Maoists like the creation of Salwa Judum responsible for worsening of the security situation in Chhattisgarh? Senior lawyer Aman Lekhi joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the issue. Q. I think we need to follow the same which we followed against Punjabi terror? Asked by: Sathyaki A. The issue is more complex and far more serious. The response has to as effective but more...
06:28 PM, May 29, 2013
Shimla: In a setback to the previous Prem Kumar Dhumal-led BJP government in the state, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Friday quashed appointments of 480 teachers made in 2011 as these were not in accordance with law. Delivering the judgment, Justice Rajiv Sharma said the appointments of postgraduate teachers under the Postgraduate Teacher Class III (non-gazetted) Recruitment and Promotion Rules of 2011, which have not been published, are illegal....
04:25 AM, May 25, 2013
Kabul: Several large explosions rocked a busy area in the centre of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Friday with Reuters witnesses describing shooting in the area. There were at least four blasts interspersed by heavy shooting, a Reuters witness said. The first blast was a suicide car bomb and occurred at about 4 pm (1130 GMT) near an intersection in the district of Borj-e Sharahah, said Hashmatullah Stanikzai, a spokesman...
05:56 PM, May 24, 2013
Panaji: The Goa government will bring changes in the mid-day meal scheme to incorporate measures like improving the menu for better nutrition and participation of parents in monitoring quality of food. "We are introducing healthy eating habits for students by replacing bread with chapati. Fruit would be the part of the mid-day meal menu for students once a week," a senior official of the Education department said. The scheme is...
01:10 PM, May 22, 2013
Barauni: Barauni railway station in Bihar is witness to a noble initiative. Ajit Kumar and his wife Shabnam take care of orphans at the platforms, and provide them education and home-cooked meals. And their efforts have now inspired railway authorities too, to support their cause. "If government implements Right to Education and Right to Food properly then no orphan kids will be spoiled," Ajit Kumar said. While Ajit, a government...
09:56 AM, May 22, 2013
New Delhi: There is no invitation for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit Pakistan to attend the swearing-in ceremony of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, who will be forming the next government there. "There is no specific proposal on the table, of a specific request for a specific occasion," Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs told reporters when asked if there was an invite for the Prime Minister...
09:10 PM, May 14, 2013
Beijing: Chinese police have broken a crime ring that passed off more than $1 million in rat and small mammal meat as mutton, authorities said, in a food safety crackdown that coincides with a bird flu outbreak and other environmental pressures. Authorities have arrested 904 suspects since the end of January for selling and producing fake or tainted meat products, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement posted...
02:22 PM, May 03, 2013
Lahore/New Delhi: 9.45 pm: Sarabjit's body flown to his village Bhikiwind in Punjab and taken for autopsy. 7.53 pm: Plane carrying Sarabjit Singh's mortal remains lands in Amritsar. State officials receive Sarabjit's body at airport. His body will be cremated with full state honours on Friday at his ancestral village. 7.48 pm: Punjab government announces Rs 1 crore compensation for Sarabjit's family and declares a three-day state mourning. 7.20 pm:...
04:06 PM, May 02, 2013
India on Monday appealed to Pakistan to faciliate the return of prisoner Sarabjit Singh who was attacked by his jail inmates on Friday. ...
11:10 PM, Apr 29, 2013
India on Monday appealed to Pakistan to faciliate the return of prisoner Sarabjit Singh who was attacked by his jail inmates on Friday afternoon. ...
07:57 PM, Apr 29, 2013
New Delhi: India on Monday appealed to Pakistan to faciliate the return of prisoner Sarabjit Singh who was attacked by his jail inmates on Friday afternoon. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said, "In view of the recent tragic events and present circumstances, we once again appeal to the Government of Pakistan to take a sympathetic and humanitarian view of this case, and release Sarabjit Singh." India also...
05:01 PM, Apr 29, 2013
Amritsar/Lahore: As the family of Indian death row convict Sarabjit Singh, who is battling for life in a Lahore hospital after being attacked in a prison by his fellow inmates, prepares to leave for Pakistan to visit him, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lashed out at the government over the issue on Sunday. "If a government is not capable of protecting its citizens and ensuring their safety then that government...
12:19 PM, Apr 28, 2013
Beijing: Ignoring India's demand to revert to a status-quo in Depsang Valley, China on Wednesday firmly stuck to its stand that its troops have not violated the Line of Actual Control (LAC) "by a step" in the Ladakh region. "I want to reiterate here that the Chinese border troops have been acting in strict compliance with the bilateral agreements and conducting normal patrol on the Chinese side of the LAC....
08:31 PM, Apr 24, 2013
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday made a series of announcements to strengthen the state police. The announcements include annual recruitment of personnel for police and fire services departments, construction for their housing, creation of youth brigade, extension of closed user group telephony facility to family members, residential school for children and others measures. Jayalalithaa also announced hike in food allowances to Rs 200 from Rs 85...
05:58 AM, Apr 24, 2013
New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday expressed confidence that the economy will return to higher growth path of 7-8 per cent in next two to three years and pitched for revitalising investments in the country. "We are confident that we will return to 7-8 per cent growth bracket in the next two to three years. We need to revitalise investment in the country for this purpose," Pranab said at...
08:07 PM, Apr 23, 2013
Dhaka: A day after three crude bombs were hurled at the Indian High Commissioner's car in Bangladesh, the External Affairs Ministry on Saturday said that its too early to say if the bombs were meant to target envoy Pankaj Saran specifically as the car he was using was hired locally and did not have diplomatic plates and the vehicle wasn't identifiable as an Indian High Commission car. The Ministry has...
04:59 PM, Apr 13, 2013
In 'Accidental India: A History of the Nation's Passage through Crisis and Change', noted journalist-analyst, Shankkar Aiyar, examines India's ascent through the paradigm of seven game changers: the economic liberalization of 1991, the Green Revolution of the sixties, the nationalization of banks in 1969, Operation Flood in the seventies, the mid-day meal scheme of 1982, the software revolution of the nineties, and the passing of the Right to Information Act...
03:27 PM, Apr 09, 2013
New Delhi: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said Ministry of External Affairs' (MEA) performance can be increased by spiting it into two, with one dealing in regional diplomacy and the other in trade. While addressing the first Think India Dialogue of Network 18, Modi also mooted a new model, the P4 model, of including people in various initiatives of the government with the private sector. "It is my...
08:33 PM, Apr 08, 2013
Salboni: 147 students in Salboni, a small town in Paschim Medinipur district in West Bengal, have taken ill after consuming their midday meal. The incident happened at Kalaimuri Netaji High School. Student were taken taken to the local hospital and were put under observation. More details are awaited. ...
09:56 PM, Apr 05, 2013
