Friday, February 3, 2012

[rti4empowerment] Fw: Fwd: The world’s largest hypocrisy

 

 

 
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Dear friends across India,


Free speech on the Internet is under threat in India. The government is trying to scare companies and get them to pre-screen content, but together we can get PM Singh to stop India becoming the world's largest hypocrisy. Sign the petition now:
Top politicians want to force Internet companies to control what we say and show online. Let's stop this assault on our democracy with a massive outcry.

Using laws designed to protect national security and community harmony the government wants to force Facebook, Google and others to censor articles and cartoons which challenge or mock politicians. Having failed to bully companies to comply with requests to delete such material, they have now sanctioned court cases against 21 Internet companies. If this attack on the Internet succeeds it will undermine our democracy and economy, both of which rely on free expression.

Today let's stop India becoming the world's largest hypocrisy by calling on the PM to get Kapil Sibal and other ministers to stop this court case and back off their assault on the web. We will splash our message at an upcoming trade fair in Delhi with all key industry and government players present. Sign the petition, then tell everyone:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/the_worlds_largest_hypocrisy/?vl

Google has released figures showing that a vast number of requests to delete pages or user profiles in India last year were because the material was "critical of a local politician". This is crazy -- criticising politicians and policies is at the very heart of democracy! And Google and others already comply with half of government requests, including ones which were a threat to national security.

The government's proposal that companies should pre-screen all content is totally disproportionate, and impossible to implement given the amount of material that floods onto the Internet each day. The policy would undermine our freedom of speech as well as the important services sector, which employs over a fifth of our workers. Let's tell Manmohan Singh that gagging free speech and destroying the Internet's dynamism would wreck our country's future.

We can't let the world's largest democracy become the world's largest hypocrisy. Let's raise a massive public outcry calling on our PM to get his cabinet into line, remove the government's backing for the court case, and ensure he keeps our Internet free and open. We will splash our message at an upcoming trade fair in Delhi with all key industry and government players present -- sign now, then spread the word:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/the_worlds_largest_hypocrisy/?vl

Our country's reputation and governing principles are fragile. They can only be maintained by citizens remaining vigilant and standing strong for the values which have made and can make India great. Now is such a moment.

With hope and determination,

Alex, Antonia, Emma, Shibayan, Shivendra and the rest of the Avaaz team

Sources:

Social media screening: Sibal's target was political blasphemy (Firstpost)
http://www.firstpost.com/india/social-media-screening-sibals-target-was-political-blasphemy-182117.html

Is India Ignoring its own Internet Protections? (Wall Street Journal)
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/01/16/is-india-ignoring-its-own-internet-protections/?mod=google_news_blog

Censoring social media is muzzling free speech (MSN.com)
http://news.in.msn.com/exclusives/it/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5754407

What triggered the case against Facebook, Google (NDTV)
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/what-triggered-the-case-against-facebook-google-167374?google_editors_picks=true


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[rti4empowerment] will FEB 4 th be a historical day.

 

FEB.4th.will it be a historical day?will the corrupt and arrogant P.Chidhambaram be nailed by the CBI judge. i hope so and i pray for it.
in 1919 feb 4 the history of india saw a new avathar.Mahathma gandhi spoke at the kasi vidya peet,gandhi's speech was rudely interrupted by anni beasant but students persuaded gandhi to go ahead. he went on. all the vvip's who were on the dais left in a hurry unable to bear the heat in gandhi's speech.but gandhi made mark.indelible mark.vinabha bave joined gandhi after this meeting.it was a historical day .let us hope history is repeated this 4 th also.jaihind.

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Thursday, February 2, 2012

[rti4empowerment] Two Writ petitions related with Right to Information

 

Friends,
I have filed two Writ Petitions in the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court.

The Writ Petition No 985 of 2011(M/B) is about the Notesheet of the study leave file of another IPS officer. The Public Information Officer of the Home Department had refused to give the information saying that this was personal information. The UP State Information Commission through its order dated 03/01/2012 had ordered the PIO to provide all other information except the Notesheet of the concerned file calling it personal information. In the Writ Petition I have said that the Notesheet of a government file cannot be regarded as personal information and hence shall also be provided.

In Writ Petition No 986 of 2011 (M/B), I have presented two cases in which the Commission first imposed penalty under section 20(1) and 20(2) of the RTI Act but it later reviewed its order and waived off the penalty. I have said that the settled principle of law is that only those authorities can review their order that have been specifically empowered, which is not empowered under the RTI Act or any other law to review their order.

The two Writ Petitions shall be heard tomorrow where I shall appear in person.

Hope, my friends agree with my logic and reasoning.
Amitabh Thakur
# 94155-34526

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[rti4empowerment] Fw: TYPHUS ARTICLE IN 3 PARTS [3 Attachments]

 
[Attachment(s) from Urvi Sukul Singh included below]

This is the appalling state of things in our country.I think the media's behaviour is almost questionable-are they informing the public or creating panic? Far more deplorable is the state of hygiene in the country.Also,given the controversy surrounding the last outbreak of swine flu--one wonders if this doesn't have the makings of a health scam?
Regards
Urvi

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Attachment(s) from Urvi Sukul Singh

3 of 3 Photo(s)

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[rti4empowerment] Fw: TYPHUS ARTICLE IN 3 PARTS [2 Attachments]

 
[Attachment(s) from Urvi Sukul Singh included below]

This is the appalling state of things in our country.I think the media's behaviour is almost questionable-are they informing the public or creating panic? Far more deplorable is the state of hygiene in the country.Also,given the controversy surrounding the last outbreak of swine flu--one wonders if this doesn't have the makings of a health scam?
Regards
Urvi

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Attachment(s) from Urvi Sukul Singh

2 of 2 Photo(s)

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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

[rti4empowerment] HIGH ALERT: RTI ACT Being Ammended : Through Backdoor [2 Attachments]

 
[Attachment(s) from lokesh batra included below]

HIGH ALERT : RTI ACT Being Ammended : Through Backdoor
 
Is government backing out from its commitment given to the Parliament ?  
 
 
02 February 2012  
 
 
Dear All,  
 
 
In his post of 01 February 2012 (below) Venkatesh ji has very well narrated how the Government is bringing Amendment to RTI Act, 2005 through backdoor.
 
(Request to Moderators of Groups: While posting this ... Please do retain Venkatesh ji post and Attachments below.)
My Take:   
 
 
Is government backing out from its commitment given to the Parliament ?
 
On 26 August 2010, the than Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Shri Prithviraj Chavan in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha had committed to the Parliament that the "Amendments (in RTI Act), if any, will be made after consultation with stakeholders." 
 
 
Hon'ble Minister's statement in Parliament can be read on PIB Link:
 
 
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=65307 
 
 
For ease of reference, I am reproducing the amendments proposed to RTI Act in "The Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill" (NSRA Bill).
 
 
AMENDMENTS TO THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT, 2005 (PROPOSED IN NSRA Bill)
 
 
Quote :
 
"1. In section 8, in sub-section (1), after clause (c), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—
 
"(ca) information referred to in clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 20 of the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Act, 2011".
 
2. In the Second Schedule, after item 7, the following item shall be inserted, namely:— "7A. The Regulatory Bodies established under sub-section (2) of section 25 of the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Act, 2011."
 
Unquote 
 
--------------  
The information referred to in clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 20 of the NSRA Bill reads :
 
 
Quote :
 
"20. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of foregoing provisions, and the measures referred to in sub-section (1), the Authority shall —
 
(a) xxxxxxxxx ;
 
(b) xxxxxxxxx ;
 
(c) ensure transparency by systematic public outreach on matters relating to nuclear safety without disclosing sensitive information and compromising confidentiality of commercially sensitive information of technology holders.
 
Explanation.—For the purpose of this clause, the expression "sensitive information" means information pertaining to—
 
(i) physical security of nuclear material and facilities, or 
 
(ii) reprocessing of spent fuel, enrichment of fissile material or heavy water production technologies;
 
(iii) any information under section 26 which has been accessed by the Authority or has come to its knowledge or made available to it in the discharge of its functions;"
Unquote
 
 
You would notice that there is NO NEED for these amendments as the Section-8 of the RTI Act as it exist, provides all the safe-guards.
 
LET US ALL OPPOSE THESE AMENDMENTS.
 
 
Kindly go ahead and read Venkatesh ji post below which has analysed the entire issue in details.
 
Best,
{Commodore Lokesh Batra (Retd.)
Social & RTI Activist
BringChangeNow
www.bringchangenow.org
-------------------------------
On Feb 01, 2012, Shri Venkatesh Nayak Wrote:
 
 
Dear all,
 
Even as we tirelessly debated and agitated over the Lokpal Bill and related issues such as grievance redress, whistleblower protection and judicial standards and accountability in 2011, the Government of India very quietly introduced amendements to the Right to Information Act, 2005. 
 
The Government introduced The Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill (NSRA Bill) in the Lok Sabha in September 2011. This Bill seeks to add a new exemption to Section 8(1) of the RTI Act about nuclear safety matters and recommends the exclusion of an unspecified number of yet-to-be-established nuclear safety agencies from transparency obligations by placing them in Schedule 2 of the RTI Act. 
 
Thanks to information received from friends at PRS-India a couple of weeks ago I woke up to the existence of this Bill.
 
What is the NSRA Bill all about?
The Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions introduced this Bill (attached) in the Lok Sabha in September 2011. The same Minister is responsible for the administration of the RTI Act also.
 
This Bill is also available at: 
 
 
http://164.100.47.5/newcommittee/press_release/bill/Committee%20on%20S%20and%20T,%20Env.%20and%20Forests/Nuclear%20Safety%2076%20of%202011.pdf
 
The Bill seeks to establish a legal framework for strengthening radiation and nuclear safety in India. For more details please see the second attachment.
 
 
What amendments to the RTI Act have been proposed?
The NSRA Bill introduces two amendments to the RTI Act under Sections 8 and 24. For more details please see the second attachment.
 
What are the implications of these proposed amendments?
The proposed amendment to Section 8(1) of the RTI Act is superfluous. The formulation of the proposed exemption also poses problems. The Bill seeks to exclude organisations concerned with nuclear safety that have not yet been established. Such organisations clearly do not fall within the categories of intelligence and security organisations mentioned in Section 24 of the RTI Act. For more details please see the second attachment.
 
 
What is the current status of the Bill?
The Bill was referred to the Department-related Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests soon after tabling. The Committee invited comments on the Bill in September itself. The press release issued by the Committee's secretariat is accessible at: http://164.100.47.5/webcom/MainPage.aspx Friends at PRS-India say that the Committee has completed its hearings in January 2012 and is working on its report. So the report may be finalised any day before the budget session starts.
 
 
What can we do to prevent negative amendments to the RTI Act?
There is an urgent need for the entire RTI movement in India to write to the Chairperson and Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee to reject the amendments proposed to the RTI Act. The list of committee members is given in the second attachment.
 
 
Please use the following para to send an email to the Parliamentary Standing Committee:
 
"We the people of India who have been actively using RTI to promote transparency and accountability in government are distressed to learn that the Government of India has proposed amendments to the Right to Information Act, 2005 through The Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill, 2011. This Bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha in September 2011 and has since been referred to your committee. These amendments are unnecessary in view of the adequate protection for all legitimate interests provided under Section 8(1) of the RTI Act. The exclusion of special nuclear regulatory authorities referred to in Clause 25 even before they are established by the Government is a clear instance of misuse of Section 24 of the RTI Act. Such bodies by their very nature, purpose and functions cannot be categorised as intelligence and security organisations. We urge you to recommend deletion of all clauses that seek to amend the RTI Act.
 
No Amendments Through the Backdoor : Save Our RTI Act"
 
Please send your letter/fax/email (rsc-st@sansad.nic.in) addressed to:
 
The Chairperson
Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on
Science, Technology, Environment and Forests
Rajya Sabha Secretariat,
Room No. 005, Ground Floor,
Parliament House Annexe,
New Delhi-110001.
Tel.: 011-23034597 Fax: 011-23015585
 
 
No Amendments Through the Backdoor : Save Our RTI Act
 
 
 
Sincerely,
Venkatesh Nayak
Programme Coordinator
Access to Information Programme
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
B-117, First Floor, Sarvodaya Enclave
New Delhi- 110 017
Tel: +91-1143180215/ 43180201
Fax: +91-11-26864688
Website: www.humanrightsinitiative.org
Skype: venkatesh.nayak@skype.com
Alternate Email ID: nayak.venkatesh@gmail.com
 


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Attachment(s) from lokesh batra

2 of 2 File(s)

NuclearSafetyRegsAuthorityBill-2011.pdf
NSRABill-Mailalert-Feb12-Delhi-VenkatN.doc
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[rti4empowerment] children below 18 years may increase poll percentage : watch aishwarya parashar's appeal

 
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