RTI (Right To Information) Assessment
An 85-year-old lady was having problems getting her passport. She needed it to go and live with her children abroad. The status, the website showed, was delivered. Visits to the passport office yielded little results. “We helped her draft a right to information (RTI) application. When the department concerned was informed of the application, she got the passport immediately,’ says Shekhar Singh of National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (ncpri), Delhi. But not all RTI applications are as smooth and appeals against disclosures are common. The RTI Act, which came into existence three years ago, is now undergoing a review of its performance. Here too, the issue has triggered a debate on the agency conducting the appraisal.
The department of personnel and training (DOPT) under the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions has commissioned international accounting firm PriceWaterhouse Coopers the responsibility to review the RTI Act 2005. Activists say the study may end up protecting government officials. They are conducting a parallel study on how far the RTI has been able to keep up its mandate of providing timely response to “citizens requests for government information’. Continue reading »
Filed under India, News | Comment (0)
End of the road for Bangalore?
Bangalore Municipal Corporation’s road projects have hit a dead end due to non-availability of funds. The corporation had applied for Rs 7,536 crore for flyovers and grade-separator projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (jnnurm).
“Our city development plan had many road projects because the public expressed the need for them. We haven’t received the second instalment for a lot of projects and Rs 105 crore for developing 170 km of arterial and sub-arterial roads have still not been released. We haven’t even got an official response,’
says J Manjunath of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike. Continue reading »
Filed under India, News | Comment (0)
MOEF Defination of Waste, Material etc. Skewed
The terms ‘waste‘ and ‘material‘ are synonymous in the draft hazardous material rules of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (moef). The rules have been criticized for violating norms of the Basel Convention - an international treaty on cleaner production, minimization of hazardous waste and control on its movement—to which India is a signatory.
“The rather unusual use of two similar meaning yet different terms—waste and material—is bound to lead to enormous confusion,’ note D B Boralkar and Claude Alvares, members of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Wastes and say that the state pollution control boards won’t be able to deal with the confusion. Continue reading »
Filed under Environment, Pollution, Save environment | Comment (0)
Green Rating Problems - GRIHA
GRIHA, a rating system for green buildings developed by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), has been formalized as the first national rating system. TERI signed a memorandum of understanding with the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to this effect on November 1.
Mili Majumdar, area convenor, GRIHA, says the rating system has been designed to suit Indian conditions and in particular for non air-conditioned buildings, unlike international rating systems like US-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (leed), which is designed for energy efficiency measures in air-conditioned buildings only.But V Raghuraman, principal adviser and chief co-ordinator, energy environment and natural resources, Confederation of Indian Industry, says,
“Leed is far ahead of GRIHA. A rating system is not just about energy consumption of a building but many other things like recycling and natural habitat. There are 30 buildings certified with LEED under India.’
Filed under Environment, India | Comment (0)
