The jury is still out on the decision to demonetise high value currency notes on November 8, 2016, with the government claiming it has helped greater formalisation of the economy while critics saying it has failed to curb black money and reduce dependence on cash. On November 8, six years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the demonetisation of old Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 banknotes and one of the key objectives of the unprecedented decision was to promote digital payments and curb black money, besides eliminating terror funding. As per a Reserve Bank data, currency with the public has jumped to a new high of Rs 30.88 lakh crore an October 21, indicating that cash usage is still substantial even six years after the demonetisation move.
"What the RTI Act did was to make available to citizens any information that could be provided, that the government was obliged to provide to a Member of Parliament (MP). In theory, that channel remains open to us," says prominent economist and RTI activist Reetika Khera about how Indian citizens could still have access to information that they want
Theoretically, the currency with the public should expand in sync with the nominal income, which again moves in relation to the nominal growth rate of the economy. But the correlation breaks easily when other factors come into play, says Anup Roy.
As part of its efforts to strengthen customer protection, Reserve Bank is considering setting up a fraud registry to create a database of fraudulent websites, phones and various modus operandi used for digital fraud. Such a database will help prevent these fraudsters from repeating the fraud as the websites or phone numbers would be blacklisted, RBI executive director Anil Kumar Sharma said on Monday. "There is no definite timeline for setting up of the fraud registry.
The official said it was due to a technical glitch that the information could not be received by him and responded in time.
Replying to an RTI query, the PMO said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has already been formed and its investigation is underway.
Following is the chronology of events in the case in which a five-judge Constitution Bench of the SC upheld the 2010 Delhi high court verdict which said that the office of the Chief Justice of India falls under the ambit of RTI Act.
Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha was appointed as the chief information commissioner on Saturday, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement.
The new rules have given discretion to government to decide on allowances or service conditions not specifically covered by the 2019 rules which would be 'binding'.
The IAF plea has claimed that the 'information so sought includes details related to the entire entourage, names of Special Protection Group personnel accompanying the Prime Minister of India on foreign tours for his personal safety, and the same, if disclosed, can potentially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State'.
In the application, Habibullah, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad and social activist Bahadur Abbas Naqvi have also sought direction to authorities to ensure safety of women sitting on protest against the CAA at Shaheen Bagh and other places in the national capital.
At Rs 30.88 lakh crore, the currency with the public is 71.84 per cent higher than the level for the fortnight ended November 4, 2016.
The hoarding of cash accentuated from the very start of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic started taking hold the world over, and fear of the pandemic prodded people to remain liquid for emergency use.
The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has sought NCP chief Sharad Pawar's advice on conducting its AGM amid the COVID-19 pandemic and resumption of the game in the city. Pawar is a former chief of the MCA, BCCI and the ICC and his party is also part of the present Maharashtra government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com finds out how the government is seeking to change the RTI Act, and what impact it will have on the Right to Information.
The commission has also sought records related to the termination of the deal to be presented before it in an in camera proceedings for its perusal before deciding whether they can be disclosed under the RTI Act or they attract its exemption clauses.
Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said government facilitates freedom fighters and gives pension but revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh are not even give the status of a martyr leave aside any financial support to their families.
'This is not Ahmedabad Gymkhana but people's house'
The Delhi high court on Tuesday stayed a Central Information Commission order to Central Board of Secondary Examination to allow inspection of class 10th and 12th school records of Union Minister Smriti Irani.
The infra-major going belly up cracked open some major flaws in the system - the most evident being weak corporate governance and how layers of corporate structures could be formed adding to the opaqueness of the group.
'There is one negative thing which has happened very quietly. The position of the election commissioner has been downgraded.'
The CIC's directive came while deciding on a plea by Lucknow-based activist Nutan Thakur, who had based her RTI application on some media reports that RBI deputy governor Viral Acharya in a lecture in 2017 had said accounts of some loan defaulters have been sent to banks for resolution.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi scored 62.3 per cent in his masters in Political Science, Gujarat University's Vice Chancellor M N Patel has said.
The CPIO had rejected the three RTI queries on the ground that the Rs 10 Postal Order meant for fees for providing the information, was blank in one and in the other two cases, they were made out in favour of the CPIO.
In a landmark ruling to ensure transparency in the functioning of political parties, the Central Information Commission on Monday held that the parties are public authorities and answerable to citizens under RTI Act.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday stayed the Central Information Commission's order directing the police to reveal the post mortem reports of two suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists and a Delhi Police inspector killed during the Batla House encounter last year.
Valli Arunachalam had alleged that the group promoters have a gender bias against women getting into the family business and, hence, she and her sister were denied a berth on AIL's board.
The Central Information Commission has directed the Central Board of Secondary Examination to allow inspection of class 10th and 12th school records of Union Minister Smriti Irani, rejecting CBSE's contention that it constituted "personal information".
The issue of 1978 DU degree records cropped up after Aam Aadmi Party raised questions about the degree of the PM.
Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu also suggested that couples may be allowed to seek police protection from the registrar where marriage is to be performed under the Special Marriage Act.
The Central Information Commission has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to disclose proposals sent to Union home ministry seeking permission for tapping telephones.
The order is is contrary to the Central Information Commission's directive bringing six national parties under the transparency law.
Let the existing collegium system which is functioning not get derailed, the SC observed.
The Parliament and the Supreme Court buildings are facing serious fire safety issues with the apex court premises not getting safety certificate from the fire authorities for last 10 years.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday set aside a Central Information Commission's order to the Centre to reveal to it the communication between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and President K R Narayanan over the 2002 Gujarat riots
The files of Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi's office have already been digitised while the process is on for the rest of the offices of seven commissioners, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah and other officers.
Saudi Arabia said this month it had executed 81 men, including seven Yemenis and one Syrian.
While there are several instruments in the RBI's disposal, the most effective one for infusing durable liquidity is bond purchase from the secondary market
The Central Information Commission has issued a show-cause notice to Prime Minister's Office for not replying to an RTI query filed nearly one-and-a-half years ago.
The company should be given a fair chance to be heard in the matter, the judges said and posted the matter for further hearing on December 19.
